25-05-2025
Why Do Tomatoes Split? Experts Explain This Gardening Mystery—and How to Prevent It
Tomatoes typically split due to sudden changes in watering, especially after a dry spell followed by heavy rain or overwatering.
Tomatoes with thinner skins, like heirloom varieties, are more susceptible to splitting compared to thicker-skinned types.
Preventing splits involves consistent watering practices, mulching to retain soil moisture, and harvesting tomatoes as soon as they matter if you're a novice gardener or a seasoned pro, there are always plant mysteries that we endeavor to solve. If you love growing tomatoes, you may have noticed that your tomatoes sometimes split or crack, but have you ever wondered why? We asked gardening pros to explain this phenomenon, plus let us in on a few tricks for preventing your precious tomatoes from splitting this Power, founder of The Botanical Institute
Nikhil Arora, co-founder and CEO at Back to the RootsRelated: How to Grow Tomatoes From Seeds, According to Gardening Experts
In short, tomatoes will split because of water irregularities. "Tomatoes often split due to quick changes in watering, causing rapid growth and expansion of the fruit," says Nikhil Arora, co-founder and CEO of Back to the Roots. This often occurs when tomatoes receive heavy watering after a period of drought.
Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that you're the culprit for overwatering your tomato plants—a sudden deluge of rain could be why tomatoes crack. "When tomatoes experience a dry period followed by a lot of water (either from heavy rain or irrigation), the inside of the tomato grows quickly as it absorbs water, but the skin can't stretch fast enough to accommodate the sudden growth," says Daniel Powers, founder of Botanical Institute. "This leads to splitting or cracking."
Other reasons for tomatoes splitting have less to do with water and more to do with either growing too fast, being near ripe, or being a variety that is prone to splitting, like cherry and heirloom tomatoes, Powers says. "Sometimes, tomatoes might split when they grow too quickly in general, not just due to water intake," he says. "This can be caused by a sudden spike in temperature or fertilization that triggers fast growth, causing the skin to crack."
So you've noticed some tomatoes on the vines are beginning to split—now what? You'll want to harvest them early, even if they're not entirely ripe yet. Splits and cracks in tomato skin can lead to rot and disease if left unchecked. For nearly ripened tomatoes, leave them on your kitchen counter to continue the ripening process and watch the splits carefully. You can still eat split tomatoes, but you'll want to make sure they don't smell sour or have any seepage from the crack.
If you'd rather grow tomatoes that split less often, consider planting one of these varieties:
Roma
San Marzano
Plum
Big Beef
Big Boy
Golden Sweet
Grape Tomato
Sun Gold
Celebrity
Related: A Guide to Tomato Varieties, From Classic Beefsteak to Green Zebra
Consistency is key for keeping your tomatoes from splitting, says Arora. "To prevent splitting, it's important to maintain more consistent soil moisture by watering regularly and avoiding sudden changes," he says. Tomatoes will be less overwhelmed by a sudden rainstorm if they have been consistently well-watered before that.
One trick that both Arora and Powers recommend is mulching around your tomato plants. "Mulching around the base of the plants can help regulate soil moisture as well as mixing in high-quality organic compost to increase water retention in the soil," Arora says.
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