• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Diseases
    • Plant Profiles
    • Raised Bed Gardening
    • Seed Starting
    • Tools & Equipment
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Why Are My Tomatoes Splitting?

August 9, 2019 by Jeanne

Why are my tomatoes splitting? Call them cracks or splits, they still amount to the same thing: a problem with your summer tomato crop that needs to be solved.

Splitting or cracking tomatoes aren’t just ugly. They rot faster, and the cracks invite insects and birds to feast on your produce. I always have problems with crows finding the smallest cracks and using their beaks to peck open tomatoes.

If your tomatoes are splitting, there are a few simpler reasons and easy fixes I’ll discuss below. You can also watch the video if you prefer. It’s under two minutes and offers a fast, simple way to listen to this blog post.

Crack-Resistant Tomato Varieties – from Horticulture

Why Are My Tomatoes Cracking? – Article

Video – Why Are My Tomatoes Splitting

Why Tomatoes Develop Cracks

There are several reasons why tomatoes split or crack:

  1. Too much water after a long drought, such as a few days or weeks without rain followed by a sudden downpour;
  2. Uneven or overall too much water
  3. Some varieties are just prone to splitting

The primary reason tomatoes split is too much water or uneven watering. Tomato skins can’t expand rapidly enough to accommodate all the water absorbed by the roots. The skin splits under the pressure of too much water. If you want to know, “Why are my tomatoes splitting?” Look first to the amount of water they are getting. I’ve found that this is the primary cause almost all the time.

a picture of tomato plants in the garden with a soaker hose
Soaker hoses provide an even drip of water to the roots.

Some varieties are also simply prone to splitting. I planted Purple Delight tomatoes this year and I will NEVER plant them again. They are horrible and split at the slightest provocation. I end up picking them very under-ripe and letting them ripen on the countertop to prevent splitting. Once they split, they shrivel up like an old, empty balloon. Ugh. Never again.

Choosing varieties that resist splitting and cracking helps prevent a ruined crop of tomatoes. If tomatoes do split, they can still be used as long as mold or insects have not penetrated deep within the flesh. If the tomato is moldy, throw it out.

Filed Under: Vegetable Gardening

Previous Post: « Easy Healthy Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
Next Post: Recipe Rehab – Low Sodium Diet Meal Ideas »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

Latest Articles

  • Sunscald on Tomatoes: What It Is and How to Prevent It
  • Herbal Profile: Growing Calendula
  • Battling Anthracnose: A Cucumber Grower’s Guide to a Sneaky Fungal Foe

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

a close up of a cucumber leaf with anthracnose

Battling Anthracnose: A Cucumber Grower’s Guide to a Sneaky Fungal Foe

If you’ve ever stepped into your garden and noticed strange brown spots or sunken blemishes on your cucumbers, you might be facing a common but troublesome fungal disease known as anthracnose. Caused by Colletotrichum orbiculare, anthracnose thrives in warm, humid conditions and can quickly spread across your crop if not addressed early. This year in…

Read More

cucumbers and tomatoes in harvest basket

How to Grow Cucumbers: A Complete Guide

Learn how to grow cucumbers in this complete guide. I’ve grown cucumbers my entire life, and I still marvel at the prices of them at the supermarket. I can only imagine that we’re all paying for the transportation, for cucumbers are some of the easiest vegetables to grow. In fact, you may find yourself muttering,…

Read More

small round eggplant

Growing Eggplant: A Guide for Gardeners

Growing eggplant (a small garden devoted to fresh, seasonal edibles) is relatively easy in zone 7, where I garden, but combating the bugs is another story. Growing epplant in pots, containers, raised beds, or garden soil is all possible if you are willing to go the extra mile to control its nemesis, the Colorado potato…

Read More

cherry tomatoes in various stages of ripeness

Volunteer Plants – Nature’s Unexpected Gifts

Volunteer plants are one of nature’s most delightful surprises. They spring up unbidden, often in places we didn’t expect—cracks in sidewalks, corners of compost piles, or nestled beside a stone foundation, like the vibrant coleus seedlings growing near my deck shown in these pictures. These botanical freeloaders aren’t weeds; they’re plants that have reseeded themselves…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme