After about a month of drought we got just shy of 3" of rain late yesterday afternoon and early evening. This morning when Pickles went to check on the tomatoes she brought in some ripe ones and apparently overnight all of the Dwarf Russian Swirls that were ripening split massively open. I've never seen such sudden and huge splitting before! They weren't that way yesterday morning.


Has anyone else grown Russian Swirl and if so, have you experienced bad splitting with it?

There are a lot more greenies on the plant so it's not a total loss.

That really sucks.
I've had it happen to me on a much larger scale.
Best to make salsa lots of salsa.

Captain Hindsight would say you should have picked at first blush.

A tomato in the hand beats two in the bush.

Mine have shown splitting since we started to get thunderstorms, but not that bad. I sure am tossing a lot out though. Once the critters and fruit flies get in that’s pretty much it.

That's some splitting! I guess you need to harvest everything that's blushing before a rain.

Yep, I'm going to have to pick everything at first blush. We had another 3.1" last evening so heaven only knows what I'll find this morning. Going out there with a tray for the "still goods" and a bucket for compost candidates.

Very dry season so far but plants have never looked better and shown no disease for so long. Remnants of the hurricane are supposed to come for 4 days starting Wed with high humidity so the disease honeymoon could be over. Most tomato plants setting like crazy but no blushing yet. Good to have the reminder to pick at the blush stage. Rarely do that but will consider that with our crazy weather this summer!
Those dwarf Russian Swirls are otherwise a beautiful tomato. Don’t know them! Flavor?

@Gardadore, I don't know about the flavor. The tomatoes are pretty ratty and they're not ripe yet so I'll have to wait for the greenies to get done.

Gardadore wrote: ↑Mon Jul 08, 2024 7:43 am Very dry season so far but plants have never looked better and shown no disease for so long. Remnants of the hurricane are supposed to come for 4 days starting Wed with high humidity so the disease honeymoon could be over. Most tomato plants setting like crazy but no blushing yet. Good to have the reminder to pick at the blush stage. Rarely do that but will consider that with our crazy weather this summer!
Those dwarf Russian Swirls are otherwise a beautiful tomato. Don’t know them! Flavor?

I was thinking the same, made it into july with no Septoria or blight or spot...it really has been dry, huh. I just saw something on july 4th, one variety only. The leaves on this type look a little different, and leaves near the top started showing little bits of browing at the tips. Will check that again today. Multiple plants of the same variety. No sign of it on plants north or south of them.
@GoDawgs I never grew that type, but to me it looks like any tomato would split after growing in such dry conditions. That is why I like to water a day before a heavy rain, and really ought to pick early if they are well colored. But I rarely do. You never know if you're get 3" of rain or just a 1/2".

@JRinPA , this tomato as well as the four other Dwarf tomatoes are being grown in 7 or 10 gallon buckets, whichever I had at the time. They get watered every morning so they were hydrated when the deluge came. I have learned my lesson and will be picking at blush from now on. Don't know why I didn't. Just forgot about it I guess with the excitement of just seeing them coming on.

@Gardadore, Russian Swirl is one from the Dwarf Tomato Project. I got the seed in the MMMM and is the first time I've grown it.

https://www.dwarftomatoproject.net/prod ... ian-swirl/

Well, I have seen similar splitting from in ground tomatoes. It doesn't even need 3", my tomatoes are grown fairly dry, so 1" a few days before picking has done it. But they still taste good when split. Whereas too much water for a week near the end, they won't necessarily split from 1 more inch at the last day, but they are already bland and watery tasting.

Hmm maybe I should worry if they don't split when I think they should...

MissS wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 11:04 pm That's some splitting! I guess you need to harvest everything that's blushing before a rain.

That's what I did yesterday in preparation for the rain coming from Texas. The dining room table has at least 4 dozen tomatoes in various stages of ripening with the ones ready to eat up front. That makes it easier for Brenda to have her tomatoes and cottage cheese for breakfast. I like old heirlooms (she calls them ugly) and she likes a round red picture perfect tomato that tastes somewhat better than the tomatoes bought at the store.

I am trialing Big Beef right now for her, I am up to F5 now. Slightly larger with a somewhat improved taste. ( improved at least to me, taste is subjective) I've tasted hundreds, both large and small, over the last several years. One thing I have not done is lower the height of the plant (still 8-10 foot). I did this once with Banana Peppers, had great luck with them but an unfortunate accident destroyed all my saved seeds.

Last night, I took several tomatoes and other vegetables to an older friend at church. He only has 3 dwarfs that I gave him and the squirrels getting them before he can. Until he can eliminate the squirrels, I have plenty to take to him.

@Ken4230 Your wife and I enjoy eating the same dish, but I will only prepare it if I have a delicious tomato. Most hybrids just don't make the grade for my tastebuds. It's so nice of you to work on getting her a red ball that has some flavor. They are hard to find, but there are a few out there. They just don't seem to have the punch of flavor that I prefer.

It's so nice of you to share. I'm sure that your friend appreciates it. It's very frustrating when the critters are the only ones that are dining on all of your plants. This year my close neighbors and I are working on removing the introduced red squirrels and decreasing the gray squirrel population in our yards. I think that it will be an ongoing task for years to come.

I’m really sorry to hear that.. that is one of the reasons why I got the pop up greenhouses yes there on tables and in pots but it worth it for me to keep them out of the rain .. my husband bought a greenhouse tarp and built a shelter over my main garden bed with a tarp and tent poles.. it has saved my garden from the heavy rain and mud flying up on everything.. he is building a permanent structure this fall so all we have to do is remove the tarp and tuck it away every year Wich I do not mind it was a game changer for me I can control the water and not worry about rain so much..

Looks like we may not get the amount of rain originally forecast. Desperately need a good soaking rain. Heat wave here is a real challenge. Am watering morning and night. Earthboxes are using up water especially fast as the really big tomato plants soak up the water. I use the vegetable square ones for tomatoes and am amazed how much better they do in those but most are planted in straw bales or broken down bales which seem to hold water reasonably well. Still no blushing yet except a Rosella Cherry, but lots setting and flowering. Wondering how this humidity will affect setting of more new tomatoes.

@GoDawgs hope your next round do better. My only two dwarfs this year are Maralinga and Rosella Crimson, both of which have been excellent producers with great flavor. So will be interested in how the Russian Swirl taste.

I showed someone at work the pictures and he was flabbergasted and didn't know they were tomatoes.

MissS wrote: ↑Tue Jul 09, 2024 10:25 am @Ken4230 Your wife and I enjoy eating the same dish, but I will only prepare it if I have a delicious tomato. Most hybrids just don't make the grade for my tastebuds. It's so nice of you to work on getting her a red ball that has some flavor. They are hard to find, but there are a few out there. They just don't seem to have the punch of flavor that I prefer.

This year my close neighbors and I are working on removing the introduced red squirrels and decreasing the gray squirrel population in our yards. I think that it will be an ongoing task for years to come.

Last week I eliminated 20+ squirrels. I sit in a chair and watch the birds at the feeders, when a squirrel comes along, I try to put him in my iron skillet. Any that are too shot up, I leave for the local Red Shouldered Hawk family. We are surrounded by TVA forest, We live on Kentucky Lake, heavily wooded, with an abundance of wildlife.

As an old man, I get up before sunrise, fill the feeders, take a stroll through the garden and then sit and drink my coffee. I hope I didn't offend anyone by posting about killing squirrels. If so, I apologize.

Ken4230 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 09, 2024 9:16 pm

MissS wrote: ↑Tue Jul 09, 2024 10:25 am @Ken4230 Your wife and I enjoy eating the same dish, but I will only prepare it if I have a delicious tomato. Most hybrids just don't make the grade for my tastebuds. It's so nice of you to work on getting her a red ball that has some flavor. They are hard to find, but there are a few out there. They just don't seem to have the punch of flavor that I prefer.

This year my close neighbors and I are working on removing the introduced red squirrels and decreasing the gray squirrel population in our yards. I think that it will be an ongoing task for years to come.

Last week I eliminated 20+ squirrels. I sit in a chair and watch the birds at the feeders, when a squirrel comes along, I try to put him in my iron skillet. Any that are too shot up, I leave for the local Red Shouldered Hawk family. We are surrounded by TVA forest, We live on Kentucky Lake, heavily wooded, with an abundance of wildlife.

As an old man, I get up before sunrise, fill the feeders, take a stroll through the garden and then sit and drink my coffee. I hope I didn't offend anyone by posting about killing squirrels. If so, I apologize.

Not offended, though I'll admit to being a bit soft-hearted and soft-headed where squirrels are concerned. Just a gentle caution in case you haven't considered it -- if you're using lead ammunition, you could end up poisoning your hawk family accidentally with the carcasses you're leaving for them.

Maybe you can add your squirrel recipes to one of the cooking threads here.

Well... I think would have to force feed those Hawks lead by the cup full like they did to those poor ducks in the seventies. AFTER they decided to try to ban lead shot and neded some "science" to back it up.

I hate to have to say anything...DDT was truly causing thin egg shells. Lead shot was just political. I hate to have to say anything and I mean no disrespect, but saying nothing is tacit agreement. I'm sure they teach it in public school but that doesn't make it true.