Tomatoes splitting at the stem.

[Aaron Koecher]

What causes the biggest of my tomatoes to split like this? Grown in ground with fertile soil and plenty of water. Brandy wine varietals.

 

[Chuck]

What causes the biggest of my tomatoes to split like this? Grown in ground with fertile soil and plenty of water. Brandy wine varietals.

That is called cracking. It is caused by too much water at one time. The tomato cannot grow fast enough in size to make up for the volume of water the plant is uptaking. This often happens during protracted rain or keeping the plant too wet.

 

[Beth_B]

Yep the last couple of summers here were much wetter than normal. I barely ever watered my veg garden but all that rain caused a lot of splitting (and slugs!)

If you're watering your tomatoes, wait until the soil is fairly dry in between watering, then give them a good soaking. Doesn't hurt them to get a bit wilted on occasion either.

 

[petesede]

Yep, too much water in bursts, the plant cannot control itself and pumps the water into the tomato faster than the tomato can grow. If you are watering the tomatoes yourself, try doing it multiple times a day at smaller amounts... but usually this happens when there is a big rain after a week or two of dry conditions.