Hi Jackie,

Why are is the rind of my oranges and the peel of my tomatoes splitting?

Best regards,
Home Growing Gardener

Dear Home Gardener,

The splits and tears in the skin (peels) of many fruits is much like stretch marks on the human skin.  When the skin or peel of many fruits get to a certain maturity, it is much less elastic.  Mature fruit skin cells are much less forgiving, especially when they have been under fed or under watered for much of their immature (or developmental ) growth stages.  As the cells “harden” or mature, if they are given a sudden or unexpected large dose of water (or especially water plus nutrients) they will split and cause those mysterious growth bursts that results in anything from a simple crack to a total splitting in halves or thirds that seemingly come out of nowhere.  It is really just a matter of the roots absorbing that additional water and sometimes the nutrients that came with it, and a resultant growth expansion of the fruit that was already to mature for the skin to also grow or stretch to accommodate that growth-thus the split.  Not unlike human mature skin that shows those unglamorous stretch marks when we gain weight, whatever the reason.  To prevent the fruit from splitting, water more regularly and deeply when it is blossoming and setting fruit and keep any additions of fertilizer broken into smaller applications, rather than an all or nothing state.

Regards,

Jackie R 🪴