Every year since moving to Vancouver Island, many of my small (cherry) tomatoes split, usually after a rain. Other than getting hundreds of tiny umbrellas, how can I prevent this from happening?
Welcome to the Forums, Mike! Tomatoes split due to fluctuations in the amount of water they receive. Sometimes a heavy rain or over-watering causes the insides of the tomatoes to grow faster than the outer skin which makes them crack. Since the water is coming to the plants via their roots, no umbrella of any size would help. Some of my cherry tomatoes growing in containers split when they are ripe so we just eat them right away. Under-ripe tomatoes might develop problems if you were to try and leave them until they ripen. That's where a good recipe for something like curried green tomatoes would be useful. This article offers some good suggestions on how to keep tomatoes from splitting as much as possible. Try These Simple Tricks to Prevent Tomatoes from Splitting
Susceptibility to splitting varies with different varieties; but, in my experience, cherry tomatoes are most susceptible. I keep my tomato plants well-watered, but the Sweet Million variety still splits every year after the rains start. The old cherry tomato variety Tiny Tim is not as susceptible but is not as sweet or as productive as Sweet Million.
It may help if you grow tomatoes in a greenhouse and reduce watering at the time of fruit ripening. It may help if you grow tomatoes in a raised bed and cover your plants with a tarp or film before rains. Here is how I cover my tomatoes + figs + melons raised bed before rains:
Thanks for the replies. It has been my limited experience that no amount of watering causes the splitting. I have accidentally over watered by a lot, with no sign of splitting, yet a small amount of rain has resulted in a lot of split tomatoes. My tomatoes are in a, somewhat, raised garden (not in pots). Yes, some varieties are more prone to split than others. It is mostly the ripe tomatoes that split. I also get a lot of splitting while picking (rain or no rain) when the calyx is removed no matter how gentle I try to be.
