I am just wondering what causes most of my tomatoes to split. The bigger tomatoes split at the top, the cherry tomatoes split on the side. They did it all summer, cold or hot, wet or dry. Also, how do I prevent it for next year? Any help on this is appreciated. Thank you.

Some varieties are more prone to cracking than others. Some show concentric cracking, while others only laterally. It is more common with cherrys too, but in general, environmental conditions are the main cause. Specifically moisture. We had a very wet season this year and most of my fruit showed some cracking. They sure don't taste any different though. You can try making it a point to pick ripe and almost ripe fruit just before heavy rain or thunderstorms are expected. Also, make sure your beds offer well draining soil. Other than that though, there really is nothing you could do to prevent it.

I heard it was too much moisture as well. I think melons and squash crack sometimes too!

Also keep on top of picking ripe fruits..'

*If they're ripe and ready, pick'em..
Don't leave 'em hangin'...*

That way it also ripens the other fruits behind it too..

After the first disappointing harvest, when I noticed the cracks, I started to pick them just as they were starting to turn. That helped especially with the cherry tomatoes, but I still ended up tossing many tomatoes because they seemed to go bad almost as soon as they cracked. I noticed that the majority of the cracking occurred with my beefsteak tomatoes.

So, basically, avoiding the 'extreme dry to exteme wet' cycle that they had by watering them when it's dry and picking them before they can get overly soaked by the storms is the 'cure' so to speak. Thank you all very much.

Gheer, what about planting only the varieties that say they're crack resistant?

Now there's an idea...it never occurred to me that they would make a crack resistant variety. Please don't laugh too hard...this was my very first garden.

As I read my last post, I realized that it sounded awfully sarcastic and smart alec like...I was smiling when I wrote it. I really have never thought to look for that variety...I hope I didn't come off as snotty.

I didn't take it that way..
It is very hard to be a new gardener..
That's why we strive to be nice here...
I know I learn new things every day here..
And if you don't ask those questions,
you'll never know..
So, don't worry...

Connie, do you know what varieties you grew?