It’s a common problem and it’s the result of too much water. If you have experienced a sudden downpour of rain then this is the most likely culprit. The excess moisture taken up by the plant, often coupled with warm temperatures promotes accelerated growth. It’s when this growth is too much for the plant to handle that splitting occurs.

Also known as “cracking”, the split can also radiate from the stem. It seems to occur more often close to maturity rather than earlier in the plant’s development. As the tomato fruit gets close to maturity, the skin may start to harden off. With a sudden burst of growth, the hardened surface is torn apart, almost like stretch marks on a heavily pregnant woman.

If the split happens earlier in development it tends to be deeper, just like the split in my tomato here.

The problem with this split is that it becomes vulnerable to fungal attack. So keep an eye on it. If the fruit has turned orange or yellow, it may continue to develop without any secondary fungal attack and you’ll still be able to eat it.

If you haven’t experienced any heavy rain, then the problem may be your watering techniques. When a tomato plant has lots of water followed by very little water and then followed again by lots of water, then this inconsistency can prove problematic to the developing fruit. Aim to be consistent with your irrigation, perhaps even invest in a timer on your watering system. Regular, similar amounts of water are required for consistent growth and development of fruit.

Good quality organic fertiliser used on the garden is also good practice. Organic fertilisers like manure and compost feed the plant when it needs it. Soluble and synthetic fertilisers will feed the plant directly and can put on too much growth if given too often or too strong. Fertilisers that are high in nitrogen will encourage soft sappy growth and will make plants more vulnerable.

Sometimes you might find that it’s only happened to some of your tomatoes and not others. Take note of the variety because it is suggested that some are more vulnerable than others.

You may also find this happening to other crops in the garden too. Here’s a carrot that shares the same problem in my garden. Most root crops are also vulnerable to this type of splitting, not just your humble tomato.

If you want to grow juicy tasty tomatoes every year, get the book on how it’s done.

The trampoline that took up most of the backyard has now gone … teenagers have outgrown the bounce now, so I have a bare spot in the yard where I intend to put in some more veggie beds later. In the meantime, it served as the perfect spot to store my pruned tree limbs until I figured out what to do with them. They’ve been left to rot down in the “shared zone”. I call it a shared zone because, in reality, it belongs to my 5 chickens who allow me to venture into their domain on the proviso that I bring food and cuddles for them (in that order). They follow me around, getting under foot as I trim back branches, prune fruit trees and harvest what I can for myself. Nearly all the plants are surrounded by bricks so the chooks don’t scratch them out and the area often looks more like a weird brick garden than an orchard.

To make the job easier, I’ve been tossing up whether to buy a mulcher or hire one.

All my investigations have suggested a cheap hardware store backyard model is pretty well useless for anything more than a few twigs. So now I’m toying with the idea of hiring a larger (noisier) industrial version. Well, perhaps not industrial … but it’s got a lot more grunt and should work much better on some of the 100mm (4 inch) branches that I’ve taken down.

I’m dragging the chain a little because, as a female, I’m a bit intimidated by these male dominated, macho, he-man, big power tool hire service companies. But being the registered horticulturist of the household, I get the job of doing most of the garden maintenance instead of my husband. Besides, my hubby would probably be a better virtual gardener than a real one and should stick to his strengths in the digital realm.

My lack of courage is simply a lack of experience with large power tools and equipment. Most of the time, once I’ve gotten over any initial intimidation, I’ve actually enjoyed similar situations where I’ve felt out of my comfort zone. But for now …. the pile of pruned plant material is still sitting there as a reminder of my gutlessness.

Until this morning!

A large, noisy cockatoo came to visit my backyard and frightened the chooks. I came out to see what all the squawking and screeching was all about and found the chickens cowering under a vine near the fence (wimps! – okay, so I know where they get that from now). After chasing the cockatoo away and rounding up the chickens to reassure them that there was nothing to worry about, I noticed that one of them was missing.

“Flighty Whitey”, as she is affectionately known as, was gone. I couldn’t find her anywhere. I looked around for a while and then headed in to tell the family that Whitey was missing, but I stopped at the back door and looked over my should in the hope that she might somehow appear. She did! She suddenly jumped out of the pile of tree branches stacked up in the middle of the shared zone.

I went over to see where on earth she’d been hiding. When I got there I found a hole with a little more than I expected.

There in the middle of this pile of leaves and branches was a nest that the chickens had made, complete with a stash of 7 eggs! I suddenly had one of those “Ah ha!” moments that instantly explained why it seemed like the chooks had stopped laying. I had searched other areas of the garden with no avail. They have been known for sending me on egg hunts around the garden on other occasions but this time I had completely missed their secret stash deep inside the pile of garden waste.

So there’s my answer. How can I possibly get rid of it now? I can save my money and avoid the macho power tool hire shop in order to save my chicken’s new nest. Or is that still just avoiding the inevitable?

Okay, I’ll get over my intimidation and get a quote from those he-man power toolies ….. tomorrow …. or maybe the day after … or ….

I can’t help feeling cynical. The big supermarket wars are on again!

I live only 10 minutes drive in a westerly direction from one Bunnings store and 10 minutes drive in a southerly direction from another one. Now, their equivalent giant competitor, has opened it’s doors only 10 minutes drive in a northerly direction from me. Scattered in between are a number of small independent hardware stores and nurseries.

It just makes me wonder how much landscaping, gardening, hardware and renovating materials can a community actually purchase?

These are the super-stores with massive quantities of anything and everything to do with the home. Shelves are piled high with every colour, variety and brand of pots, plants, timber sleepers, kitchen cabinets or toilet bowls that you could possibly imagine.

I felt discouraged and even sad as I walked out the doors back to my car.

I didn’t go there to buy anything, instead, I went there for a gawk, a sticky-beak, to see what the hype was all about. It confirmed all of my suspicions … and left me saddened by the experience.

I love gardening and actively encourage others to get down and dirty too. But I also love my community of local families, farmers, producers and small-business owners. What is going to happen to them? My fear is that as the big get bigger, the small go out of business.

A store as massive as Masters or Bunnings will only contract to suppliers who can handle the quantities they demand. So it puts the small wholesale businesses out of the running for any local support. Then, as shoppers switch to these giant super-stores because of price competition, our small retailers start to lose their clientele. Small businesses just can’t compete with price cutting strategies in the long term.
Both Masters and Bunnings promote best price advantage.

To ensure price competitiveness, a company needs economies of scale to reduce the cost of inputs. Labour costs have to be minimized also, so we can possibly expect cheaper, younger, less qualified staff to be employed by theses giants. What happens to our qualified horticulturists then?

I’ve seen some incredible waste of products already at other larger stores when plants don’t sell. Overgrown plants with poor quality in-store handling and care become unsaleable and have to be thrown out. Empty shelves look bad for the retailer, so more stock is brought in to replace it, only to end up on the scrap heap again. What a waste.

The economists say it’s a matter of supply and demand and that competition will sort out an equilibrium. But when the market is driven by oligopolies like these then fair trading ceases to exist.

David slayed Goliath. The young boy beat the giant. Can we reproduce a biblical story and beat the supermarket giant? What pointy rock and slingshot are you going to use in the supermarket battle to ensure an equitable future for everyone?