What is wrong with my tomato?

I haven't grown tomatoes for years but decided to make room for one plant this year as I have become a bit fed up of the flavourless rubbish they sell in my local supermarket!

I am growing a variety called Black Russian. All the flowers on the plant and the resulting tomatoes are all deformed and miss shaped. I can't say yet what they taste like but I hope they are still going to be edible. Is it a bug or a virus? I should add that the rest of the plant seems absolutely fine. The plant has been kept evenly moist and not allowed to dry out as I seem to remember this causing my toms to split. The plant is growing in a pot outside .

 

Cat facing

EDIT: Cat Facing is scarring, not the splitting of the skin associated with uneven watering.

 

Possibly uneven watering. Lack of water - the skins thicken, then some watering and the fruit swells and the skins split. In my humble opinion. I've had the same but it doesn't affect the flavour.

Cheers, Tony.

 

If you have ever grown "Marmande" you would consider that to be normal.
Never grown "Black Russian" so cant say, but it's not just split fruit, some toms do actually grow like that.

 

i always thought you had to have more than one tomato plant so they can pollinate each other? is this not the case at all then? my poor little brain is all confused ....easily done but still!

 

They have been subjected to some quite high temps in my conservatory. On a bright sunny day it's not uncommon for the temps to reach 55*c +. I have since moved the plant outside. The plant is growing well, but still producing 'cristate' flowers.

 

thank you John, i did not know that

 

Harvested my first Tom today. Not really a success, the fruit was quite 'spongy' with very little seed/juice sacks. The flavour was there but I just don't like the texture. Maybe that is normal for this tomato I don't know. I was trying to be clever and grow something unusual this year, think I will stick to more tried and tested outdoor varieties!

 

Probably a good idea, the ones that are common are common for that reason.

Have you tried cooking them though, some are better cooked than others, usually the less juicy kinds.

 

Hadn't really bought about cooking them. I'm cooking a Paella tonight, might throw one in.

 

Quite often the first fruits can be like this Coolsox, they also tend not to be as sweet as the later ones that ripen on the plant. Don't be put off just yet, wait and see how the others are.

 

Good old Maskotkas FC. They are the outdoor winners for me too. Scruffy plants but happy and loads of fruits developing daily,
can't go wrong...
Jenny