Tomato Zippering: How To Prevent This From Happening?

Tomato fruits are one of the most well-known fruits grown in home gardens. Growing these fruits made you notice some of the problems it may encounter during the development stage; zippering is one of them. Insects, diseases, nutritional deficiencies, weather woes, and too much watering can afflict the prized tomato plant. Some problems are bad, while some are cosmetic, for which zippering is an example.

What is tomato plant zippering?

Among the plethora of ills in tomatoes is called zippering. It is a zipper-like that appears on the skin of the plant. If you have heard about zippers on tomatoes, you might be familiar with them. So, what causes tomato zippering conditions? It is what you will learn at https://tomatomentor.com on how to stop it from happening.

Tomato fruit zippering is a disorder causing a thin, vertical scar that runs from the steam of the tomato. The zipped scar can reach the entire length of it, up to the blossom end. Zippering is the short transverse scars that are crisscrossing the vertical marring. The zipper appearance is shown on the skin of the tomatoes.

The fruit can have single or even several scars. Why did it happen? It is what you will learn here why it happened and if there is any way to avoid it from happening. Zippering can be similar to “catfacing” in tomatoes, but they are not the same.

Both are caused by pollination problems, which are very common in the fruit. One more cause of zippering is lower temperature fluxes.

Causes of zippering

There are different causes why tomatoes experience zippering. But, the zippering condition is a physiological disorder that occurs during the development of the tomato fruit. Here are the top causes of fruit zippering:

  • Anthers stick to the side of a newly developed fruit
  • High humidity

When the temperature is cool, tomatoes are prone to zippering. So, it is essential to ensure that the weather can’t cause the zippering, and try to grow tomato varieties that are not prone to this skin problem of the fruit. It is the reason why tomatoes grown in cool countries are planted in a greenhouse.

The greenhouse can help control the climate, which is why even if it is so cold outside, the tomatoes are still safe from pests, and diseases, especially zippering. Also, you must avoid excessive pruning because it increases the odds of zippering.

If your tomatoes show signs of zippering, don’t panic. Not all fruits will be instantly affected, you still have time to address the condition.