A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Cracking cherry tomatoes

Hello everyone...The past few days my cherry tomatoes are cracking open, they aren't over ripe (still orange and green). The only thing I can think of is that we have had rain for a solid week, often really heavy. The grape tomatoes haven't had any issues, just my cherry tomatoes.

Any ideas???

Thanks in advance

Shawn

That's the reason! Many cherry varieties are prone to cracking.

Thanks for the info John. This is the first year I've had them crack. Hopefully the rain clears up this weekend. I hate the rainy season here, atleast no real monsoons to date.

Shawn

Korea huh? South or North?

Yep, mine crack wide open too..
(can be the rain, definately)

Mine also do if I don't pick them fast enough!

How fast should cherry tomatoes be picked?

Mine are now starting to turn orange green.

Should we let them ripen completely on the vine?

Sometimes it depends on you and your likes...
I like a ripe tomato...
I leave mine on...

But I do grow ALOT of cherry tomatoes...
*I eat them as a snack as I'm gardening,
and my husband takes a salad a day *6 days a week* for his lunch... and gets about 10~13 a day.

So, I pick as I need them...

but I also watch the weather reports,
when it's going to rain..
and if I have some tomatoes that are red..
I will go pick them before it rains..
If it rains, *and I don't relize it*
I pick them as fast as I can..

It seems just over night or a few hours sometimes they can crack...

but if they are reddish, and orange.. and you
like a firmer tomato, pick them...

And the more you pick, the more the tomato will
make more tomatoes and ripen more...
*Cause it thinks all of it's seeds are being taken or gone, and still must complete it's task of MAKING seeds*

Weezie, question: Do seeds have to wait a year or a season?
In other words, if you live in a warm climate, can you just take seeds out of a tomato and plant them right then?
Or, if you let the seeds dry, couldn't you plant them in a week?
Also, why would seeds have to be dry or aged? Is something taking place inside a seed during the waiting- to -plant time?

I had a long post here, and I moved my mouse the
wrong way, and it ate it...

Gonna try this one again..

I am not 100% sure???

I do know that when they save seed,
they put it in a cup/pail/bucket, etc.. of water.

They then let it sit, and sit and sit..
and it ferments... and gets all yucky on top..
*it has to go thru that process to break down
that outter sac around the seed*

they then pull that load of stuff off the top..
and the seeds I believe are under it, or on the bottom, and you have to wash the seeds several time to get that stuff off of it...

And then let to dry...
Like on top of a screen..

I get mine to volunteer in the garden over the winter by placing them on the side of the beds' and they over winter *and break down that way*
and come spring time, they sprout with the warming of the ground...

track of how you did what and which came up and which didn't... and how it easy/hard it was,
and what rate of sprouting occured...

Oh..... OK, I kind of get it. I mean, I got the hull part but I still wonder about the resting part.
As you say, the best way is to try it.
Thanks !

The only thing I might think of for not
doing it really fast would be that the seed
could mold or rot... if the seed is too wet (it'self, inside* and then you put it in wet *watered* ground.. it wouldn't sprout?????

I dunno??
Really...

Try it both ways and let us know..
I'd love to find out myself..

Hey, that makes sense, Weez, about rotting inside.

Deb, if you ferment the seed to break down the gel-coat on them, you can plant them right away. Otherwise the gel won't break down right away and the seeds won't germinate for a while. This is why volunteers don't come up the same season.

Well see...
there's your answer...

I figured as much on the coating and the winter time breaking it down..
but wasn't sure about the planting of undried seed...

Thanks, Weezie and John.
Now I get it-that coating is nature's way of ensuring a food supply a year later.
But if we step in, a seed could sprout earlier.
Got it !

Ciao all,

Fermenting the seed is a heat-releasing or exothermic reaction as well as being anaerobic or without oxygen, both of which get rid of seed-borne viruses and other potential bad things that could make your plants sick as they grow. It's one solid step to ensure your plants get a good head-start.

Cheers,
Julianna