Why do tomatoes grow cracks? (Why do tomatoes grown at home tend to crack easily?)

Tomato is an annual herb and one of the most widely grown vegetables. However, cracks often appear in tomatoes during the fruiting period. So what causes the cracks?

It occurs during the young fruit stage and the mature stage of tomatoes, seriously affecting the appearance and quality of tomatoes. If prevention and control are not timely, it will cause great economic losses to growers. So, what is the cause of tomato fruit cracking?

Causes of Tomato Cracking

① Lack of trace elements such as calcium and boron

A major factor causing tomatoes to crack is a lack of calcium and trace elements such as boron. For example, the cracking of the navel of a tomato is caused by a lack of calcium and boron .

Tomatoes require a large amount of potassium fertilizer during the fruit growth period, while the demand for nitrogen fertilizer decreases. If potassium fertilizer is neglected during this period, it will cause potassium deficiency in the fruit and affect the crop's absorption of boron.

If fruit cracking still occurs despite the application of sufficient boron and calcium fertilizers, it is because high temperature and drought have hindered root absorption.

② Large changes in soil moisture supply

There are human factors and weather reasons.

The man-made factor is that farmers took water control measures in the early growth stage of tomatoes to prevent the plants from growing too tall, and then watered them too much in the fruit-bearing period.

Under conditions of sufficient fertilizer and water, the tomato flesh grows fast, while the skin grows relatively slowly, resulting in fruit cracking.

The weather factor is that during the fruit-bearing period, the sun is shining brightly one moment and it rains heavily the next. The tomatoes cannot adapt to the drastic changes in soil moisture and the fruits crack.

③ Excessive leaf thinning

Tomato plants are tall with lush branches and leaves. Some growers want to make the tomatoes color and turn red as quickly as possible, so they will excessively remove the leaves, removing all the leaves at the bottom and leaving only a few leaves on the tips of the branches.

Doing this will often cause the functional leaves to be removed. With fewer functional leaves, insufficient photosynthetic products are produced, and the fruit cannot get enough nutrition, resulting in fruit cracking.

In addition, the fruit is completely exposed, and the tomato skin is too thin and may crack under strong sunlight.

④ Improper use of medication

Tomatoes will have many diseases during their growth process. In order to quickly cure the diseases, some growers will arbitrarily increase the concentration of drugs. Excessive use of drugs will affect the growth rate of the peel and cause tomatoes to crack.

There are also hormone drugs used to make tomatoes swell and change color, but if the dosage is too large, it will also cause the tomatoes to crack.

⑤ Variety factors

Generally speaking, varieties with thicker peels and better resistance to transportation are less prone to fruit cracking; varieties with thinner peels have poorer adaptability to the environment and are more prone to fruit cracking.