"Stemmy" Tomatoes
 

The plants look healthy and are producing well. However, most of my
tomatoes have an unfamiliar internal defect.

The outside of the fruit looks normal. On the inside, the upper half of
each tomato contains a considerable amount of white fibrous material. It
seems as if the tissue of the stem has intruded into the fruit. This white
matter is firm and flavorless.

This defect occurs in several cultivars (Fourth of July, Better Boy, Super
Fantastic). I've grown tomatoes in this same small garden spot (rotating
as much as possible) for many years and not seen this problem before.

Have other Triangle.Gardens people observed this phenomenon?
Identification? Remedies?


Daniel B. Martin

"Stemmy" Tomatoes
 

Daniel B. Martin wrote:
Have other Triangle.Gardens people observed this phenomenon?

Yes, and I've never seen it before, and I'll be interested
to see what others say about it. Glad you mentioned it!



_______________________________________________
Ken Kuzenski AC4RD kuzen001 at acpub .duke .edu
_______________________________________________
All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001

"Stemmy" Tomatoes
 

Daniel,

I think you may be talking about a tomato problem known as "green shoulder"
(even though your tomatoes look okay on the outside).

According to the NCSU extension service article at
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/cabarrus/sta...wsart/gs.html,
"When the top part of a tomato fruit stays green. It is called green
shoulder. I have this problem in my garden but don't remember in our garden
when we were growing up. I wasn't near as observant back then but I'm pretty
sure it wasn't a problem. I don't remember the cores running way down in the
tomatoes either.

The green is caused by chlorophyll failing to breakdown in the fruit as
ripening takes place. Nobody knows exactly what happens, but excess sunlight
or high temperatures during ripening can trigger the problem. Leaves lost
due to fungal diseases creates more sunlight and can set up the green
shoulders. Excess pruning could do the same thing.

Nutritional problems may also trigger this. I have my soil in good shape,
but a heavy load of tomatoes can demand a lot of nutrients from the soil."

Are your tomatoes staked? I've had to re-learn how to grow tomatoes here in
the South. Previously, I pinched off all suckers, but here in NC, I now
leave some suckers at the top of the plant to keep the fruit from getting
"sunburned" (sorry, I can't quite describe how they look outside, except
that the shoulders are ugly and blotchy).

I wish I had some advice for you, but I don't. I grew Better Boy this year,
but they have not done very well. (But at least they're better than the
German Johnson plants -- which I would never have bought!)

Anne Lurie



"Daniel B. Martin" wrote in message
m...

The plants look healthy and are producing well. However, most of my
tomatoes have an unfamiliar internal defect.

The outside of the fruit looks normal. On the inside, the upper half of
each tomato contains a considerable amount of white fibrous material. It
seems as if the tissue of the stem has intruded into the fruit. This
white
matter is firm and flavorless.

This defect occurs in several cultivars (Fourth of July, Better Boy, Super
Fantastic). I've grown tomatoes in this same small garden spot (rotating
as much as possible) for many years and not seen this problem before.

Have other Triangle.Gardens people observed this phenomenon?
Identification? Remedies?


Daniel B. Martin

"Stemmy" Tomatoes
 

stemmy???


wrote in message
...
Daniel B. Martin wrote:
Have other Triangle.Gardens people observed this phenomenon?

Yes, and I've never seen it before, and I'll be interested
to see what others say about it. Glad you mentioned it!



_______________________________________________
Ken Kuzenski AC4RD kuzen001 at acpub .duke .edu
_______________________________________________
All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001

"Stemmy" Tomatoes
 

stemmy???

It seems as if the tissue of the stem has intruded into the fruit. If you
know the correct name for this defect, please tell.

Daniel B. Martin