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["Sage Austin | Eureka! Design" <eureka AT hctc.net>]

The blackened end could also be what's called tomato end rot. You can 
read more about it at 
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2000082444023571.html
We see that here in our desert, too.

All of our tomatoes are cracked here due to the heat and drought, even 
though they are drip irrigated. Bev's description is good, although we 
really haven't had rain...we are just irrigating beyond how the heat has 
toughened the skin.

I wouldn't save the seed from the WalMart tomatoes unless you know they 
were heirloom, but chances are they are F1 hybrids and won't produce 
true to the parent.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas
(still reading, but too busy to post these days)



Leslie wrote:
> THE GOOD
>  
> 4 Roma Tomato plants purchased at Walmart..... are producing unbelievable amounts of tomatoes.  I've picked over 150 already, and haven't made a dent in the number of visible tomatoes in varying stages of ripening (and more babies keep hatching).  For the most part, these are perfect tomatoes.  No cracks, no blemishes.  The leaves are super green, very thick in foliage, and the plant is and has been growing larger and larger...  No bugs that I'm worried about.  A morning spider web is usually all I see.  They pretty much get the exact same amount of water every day (they are on a timer).
>  
>  
> THE BAD
> I threw some hybrid seeds in the ground.  These are also growing unbelievably 
> well, and I had to cage them.  They are almost 5' tall.  Good green foliage, 
> thick, but not as thick as the Romas.  They do get a small amount of filtered 
> shade from the giant sunflowers.  This is a larger variety of tomato, like a 
> beefsteak size.  These have green tomatoes on them, with the first one now 
> ripening.  The only bug I have seen was an unusual green catepillar (unusual, 
> as it looked like a prehistoric monster, with a curved horn on it's head, and 
> legs only on the front half of the body, with the back half of it's body 
> curled under like a snail... LOL).  This plant is also gets irrigation, 
> pretty much same amount every day.
>  
> However.... when I checked the first tomatoe, which is just starting to turn color,,,, I noticed one crack on each side of the tomato.  What causes that?  
>  
>  
> THE UGLY
>  
> I threw Roma tomato seeds in the ground right next to the 4 purchased plants.  Those also grew, have lots of thick foliage (no yellow leaves, no spots, no tan, nothing - the plants look very healthy) and the first of the tomatos are starting to ripen.  This is on the same timed irrigation line as the other Romas.  I haven't used any chemicals, and the only fertilizer was well composted horse manure that I worked into the ground last year.
>  
> But when I brought the tomatoes inside, on the end of the tomato (opposite end to where it attaches to the plant).......... it is brown to black.  The whole end of the tomato is useless, but the rest of the tomato is fine.  I ate the other half and my taste test is no indicator, but it tasted fine.
>  
> 1.  What causes the blackend /browed distal end?
>  
> 2.  Can I can the good part of the tomato after cutting off the end?
>  
> 3.  If this is some kind of virus or disease do I need to remove the affected plant(s).
>  
> 4.  If 3 is a yes........ is this something that will affect the seeds in the Walmart plants (since I want to save seeds for next year).
>  
> Any help appreciated.
>  
> I haven't been able to find a pic on the internet yet that matches what I'm seeing.  
>
>
>       
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