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Garden Gate:  oh my splitting beefsteak!!  |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 07:10:38 AM
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Ok, here's my issue. My beefsteak tomatoes are splitting along each crease up by the stem. It isn't an over-watered split, its very dry and almost crusty. I have three other varieties of tomatoes, and none are splitting. It doesn't make any difference weather I pick green, or let them vine ripen,  they are split. I've never had this problem before, and I have so many canning plans for these tomatoes! Any ideas?
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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marthajane
True Blue Farmgirl
196 Posts
Anna
Orlando
FL
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 8:32:10 PM
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Why Id just pick them and use them up...maybe your plants will take the hint and get you some more perfect ones...I would also try mulching the ground very heavily
why are you called heartbroken farm girl?
Happiness IS being a MoM |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 04:53:33 AM
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Hey Martha. I am using my tomatoes. Sauces and bases, but they're not pretty. That may sound silly, but I pack up veggies and share. Family, neighbors, church...and every stinkin beefsteak is doing it :(. I have a dozen large vines, so there are a lot of them.
Heartbroken is a LONG story. A culmination of bad choices on my part, and a tough hand dealt me throughout past years. I'm outgoing, fun, and working on being a better me. The name doesn't need to describe me forever. but I can tell you, I live your signature, "happiness IS being a mom!"
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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marthajane
True Blue Farmgirl
196 Posts
Anna
Orlando
FL
USA
196 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 09:49:19 AM
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thank you, my son inspired that...i never felt that way before I had him!
i tried to say maybe your soil needs minerals and i think a rock or heavy pebble mulch might give them that?
wow, we could be kindred spirits...dont we all make mistakes but not all take responsibility for them, or become better, through humility?
congratulations on doing it the hard way!
Happiness IS being a MoM |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 10:03:10 AM
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usually when tomatos crack and split/scar, (and beefsteaks are the worst for this, due to size)it is because of un-even moisture, which is not usually the your fault. Extra dry days, followed by extra humid days, cloudy days, etc...even if you water exactly the same "constantly", other weather related factors will knock it out of wack...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 10:04:03 AM
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Wow, thank you! How sweetly humbling that was. (((Hugs))) to you!
As far as my garden goes, this is the first year we had one here. We just purchased the house a year ago. There was a lawn in the back yard, but who needs a lawn in front AND back?!? ;) so I pulled it out, rototilled up, and seeded down. After 30 years of grass and weeds, the soil isn't great! This fall/winter I am going to mulch, add a years worth of compost, more newspaper, and let the chickens free range. Hopefully we can revive and re-nurish the tired soil. You're right, the condition of the soil is prob the majority of the problem.
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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mickib
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
Michele
Coeur d'Alene
Idaho
267 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 10:28:01 AM
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| Tina, the gal I bought my tomato starts from this year told me the same thing. I told her I loved the tomatoes I grew from her starts the year before but they seemed to have tender skins and split. She said it was uneven moisture and suggested that I at least try to water consistently, not let them dry out and then water heavy, which sometimes happens! Good to know that the weather plays a part also. Takes the heat off my watering skills. |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 1:54:12 PM
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Michele, I live in the very high desert of So. Cal., and this is an on going war with tomatos,lol...so yes it is a pain, but I very thickly mulch, water with soaker hoses, and moisture test with an inexpensive moisture meter, cause we never know what the weather might do...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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Garden Gate: oh my splitting beefsteak!! |
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oh my splitting beefsteak!!
