It's taken a LONG time but a few of my slicing tomatoes are now starting to change color. My Cherokee purple tomatoes are cracking like crazy! Granted it rained a lot in the past 24 hours but they started to crack before this. Also, I would find it difficult to believe that I've been over-watering them. Does any one know what's causing this?
The Black Krim tomatoes look an awful lot like the Cherokees. I wonder how their taste will compare.
I expected my Red Siberian Tomatoes to be the first to ripen but I was dead wrong. In this case, the seed packet lied! They are prolific though.
I'm guessing that this Clear Pink Early tomato will be the first slicer to ripen. I will check on it every day.
Can you spot the odd ball? My Sungold tomatoes are ripening in larger numbers now. Super sweet, we love snacking on them. The other day, Marc asked me why they had such a strong smell to them. I told him that's how a fresh ripe tomato is supposed to smell!
The odd ball is Couer de Pigeon Jaune, the seed of which was given to me by my pal Winnie. It's not very sweet but still quite delicious.
Update - I just found this great little article about concentric cracking. I guess it is common during hot spells (which we've certainly had lately) and is a result of several things (hot temperatures, the fruit being exposed to excessive light and sudden changes in moisture level. I think I'll add extra mulch to the tomato beds and try to water more regularly.
I believe Black Krim tends to crack, wonder the labels are mixed up?
ReplyDeleteMac - they are both cracking but the Cherokees more severely. I just hope they don't crack wide open.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatos are looking great! Not sure about the cracking. Ours had blossom end rot.
ReplyDeleteMy Cherokees look perfect (so far), but my Amish Paste has just one tomato on it, and my Sungold looks like your Couer de Pigeon Jaune!
ReplyDeleteYour vines all look so lush and healthy! Not that I would expect anything less from your garden :-)
I am soooo jealous! We got a really late start this year because I was busy dealing with crazy parents. So ours are just starting to get a few green tomatoes forming. I sure hope we don't get an early frost this fall!
ReplyDeleteYou know, Thomas, I've found that the more I starve my tomatoes for water, the better they do for some odd reason. It just rained here for the first time in a month and everything is cracking also. They're still good, you've just got to use them fast!
ReplyDeleteTomato plants are looking very healthy. Bottom leaves on mine started to turn brown, but fruits are in perfect condition (so far).
ReplyDeleteYou are about to launch into tomato heaven! Lots of good fruit development on all those plants. I have some Siletz fruits but the other plants are just forming tiny fruits on them. We are hard pressed to get tomatoes to grow here because of the cool and more often than not overcast conditions in the summer. As Rebecca said... I sure hope we don't get an early frost this year.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they're cracking, but they all look great to me! :)
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend!
Perhaps your slicing tomatoes are simply creating lines for your knife to follow?
ReplyDeleteThe heirloom tomato that looks perfect is very rare... don't worry about it! Most heirlooms are either cracked up top or green, the flavor is unmatched though! Hence the reason for hybrids, people decided they wanted perfect looking tomatoes and they have been bred and manipulated to resist this and other things, but the heirlooms retain the genes that only nature provided, just enjoy!
ReplyDeleteTurling - lol....you crack me up. A smart tomato...I like it!
ReplyDeleteYour tomato's and the rest of your garden is looking wonderful! Sadly, my new garden (all the raised beds) are doing poorly, so, the bulk of the veg is not producing. However, my corn and pumpkins which I planted in the old garden are thriving!
ReplyDeleteLooks like I'll be hitting the farmer's market this year until I can get my soil levels corrected..
You have quite a few changing color! My tom's are like KitsapFG, a few bigger siletz's and lots of tiny green late season ones. I think the cracking is caused by uneven moisture. Lots of dry/hot weather followed by lots of rain is the biggest culprit. If you water daily when you have a hot spell it should help. Either way it is nothing a pairing knife can't fix.
ReplyDeleteLooking good, Thomas! Concentric cracking on tomatoes drove me crazy last year.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look great Thomas...and the plants are massive! I can't wait until ours are that big! : )
ReplyDeleteI adore my black tomatoes (Black Krim are my favorite) though they never produce as heavily as my other heirlooms they always have a place in my bed.
ReplyDeleteYour maters look great! Amish Paste are my favorite variety of tomato since I primarily grow them for sauce making and not fresh eating! My black varieties were the first to turn for me, too!
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look great! I wish that I could see mine. We are still away and won't be home until Tuesday. Word from home is that almost 20 lbs of tomatoes have been harvested since we left! I have been having cracking in my larger tomatoes as well.
ReplyDeletei have been away way too long !!!
ReplyDeleteloved seeing your tomatoes...wish i could reach in the screen...and hold one...
i am having tostados tonight..i could use a good tomato :- )
i've missed you. my friend
sending summer best wishes
kary
I am really becoming upset by the lack of fruit set on all my tomatoes. Only the hybrids are continuing to produce, all heirlooms have the brown dying blossoms. :(
ReplyDeleteYour tomato plants are looking really healthy! I predict in a couple of weeks you'll be swimming in tomatoes and thinking "I can't believe I was worried they'd never make." What a large variety you're growing as well (if I recall correctly from a previous post, something like 21 varieties??).
ReplyDeleteNice healthy lush plants! Soon you'll be drowning in tomatoes. Thanks for the update on the concentric cracking. Black tomatoes do that for me often and never knew why.
ReplyDeleteNice garden!
ReplyDelete