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| They just don't look appetizing. Of the four brandywines that have ripened, two of them have huge cracks on the bottom, one had a caterpillar in it, two have black spots inside, and one had an inch long round pile of what I am assuming to be caterpillar poop. They TASTE good... But after cutting off all the unappealing parts, I don't even have much tomato left. And I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to be eating them... Is this normal for homegrown, organic tomatoes???? Can you eat the cracked parts? |
This post was edited by winstella on Mon, Jun 16, 14 at 16:36
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| Is this normal for homegrown, organic tomatoes???? Normal? Not at all. If it were then millions of home gardeners wouldn't be growing tomatoes in their garden, right? :) They are a result of gardening methods, not the plants or fruit themselves. While home gardening can sometimes result in less than perfect-appearing fruit, that in no way means damaged or pest infested fruit. Fruit cracking is caused by inconsistent soil moisture levels and that is grower controlled. But no most don't eat the cracked areas as they are usually contaminated by bacteria. Just cut them out. And the caterpillars and black spots inside are a result of insufficient pest management by the grower - tomato fruitworms and/or hornworms. Organic and synthetic controls are available for both but they have to be monitored and applied by the gardener to work. Dave |
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