"Paul M. Cook" wrote in message
...
Despite a very mild summer, temps barely in the low 90s at worst, my
celebrities have come in and are sun split. They have latitudinal splits
starting at the stem end. They taste great, are rather large compared to
last year and overall a good crop. But what accounts for the splitting of
the skin? I just harvested 20 tomatoes and all but 2 were split to some
degree. Of course organic tomatoes are cosmetically imperfect but I'd
like to address this next year if possible.



I've never heard it said that the temperature of the roots vs the top of the
plant could make a difference with regard to splitting tomatoes, but it
might be worth trying to shade the pots, even if it means draping them with
something as ugly as burlap.