Our tomatillo's are the size of a pingpong ball and as they grow they are breaking open, ridges around the fruit is splitting open, then they are turning yellow...this is all way before I would normally harvest them...any ideas as to what's went wrong please...Thank you, Deb
Tomatillo Help Please
Do you mean the fruit itself is splitting or that the husk
is splitting ?
Has it been warmer than normal where you are?
it's the fruit which is splitting and yes, we have had record temps here...is that it????
Hmm... I've had completely the opposite problem. Our plants have been HUGE with TONS of flowers for about 4 months, but not a single piece of fruit in sight!
I'm totally new to growing tomatillos, so I might not be much help... but that said, if it were tomatos or melons with the same problem I'd say they're probably getting too much water.
I do have that problem trying to over-care for my plants!! I read on a site that the splitting is natural & when it happens you should eat them out of hand because they are sweet...the article also said you can harvest the fruit at any size & use them??? also says you need two plants since tomatillo's aren't self fertilizing...are you familiar with any of that??
This is my second year with Toma Verde. I grow them mostly for my Hispanic neighbor who frequently brings me a plate of her great cooking. I have read that they're supposed to fill out and the husk will yellow and split. Some of them do but the majority stay green for a very long time. I have many times seen what looks like a full size green husk and found the husk empty. What could be causing that?
I have 6 plants that I just cut back and fertilized. They're loading up with blooms again and I need to get it right this time.
Mine are that way too.....lots of them are large with no fruit inside the husk...Deb
Fruit splitting sounds like too much water. I'm having great success this year with my tomatillos. Give them decent amount of water but they like to grow on lean soil with no fertilization after planting out. They really don't need much care at all. They like hot & dry conditions more than most plants. If you have empty husks, it might be a pollination issue.
I've grown tomatillos for a few years. Many claim that they are overripe when they turn yellow and start to split, but I preferred them at that stage as they were sweeter. If your husk seems empty be patient as the tomatillo takes time to grow within the husk. To find out if the tomatillo is ready I just go from husk to husk and give each a very light squeeze to find out how big the tomatillo is inside the husk. I just pick the ones that have filled out the husk. Good luck.
Oh no! Are you telling me I've been sabotaging myself by picking and trashing those big green empty husk? Do the crazy things really grow a full sized husk sometimes and then fill out the fruit? What blows my mind is that some will be full and some will be empty when they're both looking alike. If this is true, I guess I need to go get a tattoo with IDIOT on my forehead.