The Mulching Hack That'll Help Prevent Your Tomatoes From Splitting And Cracking

Nothing is better than making salsa or a caprese salad with fresh and juicy tomatoes grown in your own garden. Tomatoes are a popular garden plant because they are not only delicious but relatively easy to grow. In fact, cherry tomatoes in particular are often considered to be one of those fuss-free plants that are great for beginners. However, it's never fun when you walk out into your garden to pick some fresh tomatoes only to see that they are all split down the middle. While split tomatoes are typically safe to eat (as long as you can cut off the split open section), they definitely aren't as attractive as un-split tomatoes and often need to be picked and eaten quickly before they become infected with fungus or bacteria. Luckily, there is one way to stop your tomatoes from cracking — simply add mulch around the plants.

While mulching seems like a simple solution that is too good to be true, the reason why it works is because split tomatoes are usually caused by fluctuations in water and moisture in the soil. In fact, tomatoes often split after heavy rains when the sudden increase in water available to the plant causes the insides of the tomato to grow too fast, bursting the skin. Because of this, the easiest way to prevent split tomatoes is by keeping the moisture levels of your garden soil more constant — which you can do by adding a layer of mulch to encourage water retention and prevent evaporation.

To help prevent your tomatoes from splitting, you should add a two to three inch layer of mulch around each of your plants. Tomato plants respond well to organic mulches like pine needles and shredded bark. On top of this, shredded leaves, grass clippings, and peat moss are also good options. However, according to some tomato gardeners, although it's a popular option, you may want to choose something besides straw. As explained by one Redditor on r/tomatoes, they've "used straw but much prefer shredded leaves [because] ... they retain a lot more moisture." Another Redditor on the same thread recommended using cedar mulch because "it has worked great [at] retaining moisture, plus it is not attractive to rodents like straw mulch is." However, if you go the wood mulch direction, make sure to purchase the undyed or natural dyed version as some artificially colored mulches can be toxic.

While mulching your tomato plants will help a lot when it comes to preventing splitting, it is also equally important to water them regularly. Tomatoes need about an inch of water every week spread out over the course of a couple days. Maintaining a consistent watering schedule along with mulching will help prevent your tomato plants from being surprised by sudden heavy rains and experiencing a quick growth spurt that will cause cracks.