Every summer, I’m likely to find a tomato or two twisted on my plants, and I don’t think I’m alone in this. We rarely get a bumper crop of sweet, juicy fruit without a single blemish in sight, right?
But sometimes I come across a tomato that looks so strange and monstrous that I start to wonder if I should even eat that thing.
What I have here is a tomato with a cat face.
Why it’s called that, I’m not quite sure. I don’t see the resemblance, but if you’ve been wondering why your tomatoes look deformed with cracks and scars, I have answers.
First, what is catface?
Catface is a physiological disorder that causes a tomato to develop serious physical abnormalities at the flower end of the fruit (opposite the stem). Abnormalities often appear as irregular lobes, cracks or indentations in the fruit, with brown cork-like cracks and scars that look like rings or zippers. (By the way, don’t confuse cat face with naturally ribbed tomatoes.)
The damage may extend deep into the flesh, causing a misshapen tomato, or it may form near the surface, with the only sign of cat face being a scar on the underside of the fruit.
By the way, if you see cracks on the skin, it is not always a cat’s face. Cracks and splits on tomatoes can also be caused by heavy rain or overwatering.
Common Causes (and What You Can Do)
Catfacing is actually a fairly common problem, but until now it has not been fully understood. However, it is quite common that scientists have developed some theories about its cause.
Is there anything you can do about it? Yes… and no.
Traditional varieties and large fruits.
Malformations are more common in heirloom tomatoes and large-fruited varieties, so the first (and also the easiest and least expensive) way to prevent cat face is to grow tomatoes that are less susceptible to it.
The larger and rounder the fruit, the greater the chances of it forming a cat face. So, avoid those big beefsteak heirlooms and stick with smaller tomatoes (like the cherry, grape, plum, or icicle types) or hybrid varieties that are typically unaffected.
Cool night temperatures
Cat face is generally believed to occur when there is damage to a developing tomato flower. This happens if there is a series of cold night temperatures (below 55°F), resulting in inadequate or incomplete pollination of the flower. When the flower is stressed immediately after being pollinated, the tomato ends up puckering and bulging as it tries to grow around the damaged flower.
This is most commonly seen in early summer (or fall), when temperatures tend to drop at night. Fortunately, it disappears as the weather warms, so you’ll only get cat-face tomatoes with the first flush of fruit.
Using tomato teepees or “water walls” (which you can see in action in my post on growing tomatoes in pots) can help on those cooler nights early in the season, but only works with younger (smaller) plants. ).
In my garden, I keep an eye on the weather all season long and am prepared to cover my plants with frosted fabric if it looks like nighttime temperatures will drop dangerously low.
I also found from experience that growing tomato varieties that are cold tolerant helps offset any pollination problems that may occur. These varieties include Oregon Spring, San Francisco Fog, Siberia, Glacier, Northern Lights, and other tomatoes with similar names that were bred for colder climates.
As for those cold fall nights, you can try an early-ripening tomato variety that will ripen before things start to cool down at the end of the season. (Look for tomatoes that ripen in 80 days or less, not those that take 100 days.)
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where to buy
Season extenders for tomatoes
Large temperature changes
Cat-face also seems to occur if there is an extreme fluctuation in temperatures between day and night. I see this in my central Oregon garden, where I grow large heirloom tomatoes in a climate that can range from 85°F in the middle of the day to 50°F at night (even in summer). Wow, that’s two strikes against me.
One way to mitigate the effects of the weather is to grow a short-season tomato variety that flowers and sets fruit before the hottest days of summer arrive. You can also hang a shade cloth over your plants to offer some midday relief (which can also help with flower drop – see my recommendation in the box above). Other than that, there’s not much you can do on those hot days.
intense pruning
Heavy pruning of indeterminate tomatoes can also cause cat face, as it reduces the amount of auxins in the plant (auxins are natural hormones that regulate growth). This is not definitive, just a theory.
If you regularly prune your tomatoes to just the main stem and notice a lot of cat-faced tomatoes, it may be worth letting some plants grow freely to see if that solves your problem. I like to use a woven Florida trellis to help control all the vines.
Thrips Damage
It is sometimes thought that a thrips infestation can cause cats to attack, as these pests damage the pistils of tomato flowers.
If you see thrips (or any pest) on your tomato plants, be sure to handle them immediately so the pests don’t spread to other plants. Remove damaged foliage and discard.
Biological controls are my favorite way to get rid of thrips and similar plant-feeding pests, so my goal is to grow a variety of flowering annuals and perennials that attract their natural predators (including green lacewings, tiny pirate bugs and parasitoid wasps). While you wait for those plants to grow, you can attract the good bugs with this homemade bug food.
Many of these flowers are also favorites of other beneficial insects, like our beloved bees and butterflies, so place them throughout your garden: daisies, cosmos, marigolds, sunflowers, sweet alder, yarrow, dill, parsley, mint and many more. further.
Read more: The Best Bee-Friendly Flowers to Grow in Your Garden
To eat or not to eat
In general, a tomato with a cat’s face, although imperfect or downright ugly, is still edible.
Sometimes the lumps and folds can cause the skin to stretch too much and simply tear, leaving an open wound on the fruit. The wound may scab over, leaving a brown spot or a very thin area of skin. Any type of wound on a plant can invite bacteria, so in these cases, use your best judgment to determine if the tomato is safe to eat.
If it looks like it’s starting to rot, you can often just cut off the soft part and save the rest of the tomato. If you already have mold, compost it all. If it’s cracked, scarred, and looks strange but is otherwise intact and feels solid? Feel free to eat it!
Every time I buy a tomato with a cat face, I make sure to eat it first. That way, I can open it and find a hidden soft spot before I turn the fruit into a mushy, rotten mess.
