Ep. 263 It's Not a Disease! Common Tomato Fruit Problems You Can't Spray Away | #GoodGrowing

Tomatoes may be the most popular garden crop, but they can also be the most frustrating. If your tomatoes are cracking, developing black spots on the bottom, refusing to ripen, or showing strange yellow shoulders, you're not alone. In this episode, Chris and Ken dig into the most common tomato fruit disorders caused by weather, watering, heat, and nutrient imbalances. We also discuss late-season tomato care, including topping plants, ripening green tomatoes indoors, and cleaning up the garden to reduce problems next year. Skip to what you want to know:00:42 Hey Ken! Where are we making our tomato problem observations this year?  04:09 Ken has tomato fruitworm (corn earworm), and he's proud of it.  05:33 What's a psychological disorder?  08:06 Tomato fruit cracking  11:45 Tomato yellow shoulder  13:27 White core of tomatoes  16:00 Blossom-end rot  21:00 Tomatoes are not ripening, or there are no tomatoes even though there are flowers  29:50 Late-season tomato maintenance  30:14 Topping tomatoes  33:22 Tomato plant full of green tomatoes with a frost imminent  35:17 Cleaning up the tomatoes from the garden at the end of the seasonTroubles with Tomatoes https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2020-05-01-troubles-tomatoesStalled Green Tomatoes: Why won’t they turn red? https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2025-08-29-stalled-green-tomatoes-why-wont-they-turn-redContact us! Chris Enroth: cenroth@illinois.eduKen Johnson: kjohnso@illinois.edu Emily Swihart: eswihart@illinois.edu Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingSubscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribeAny products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.Barnyard Bash: freesfx.co.uk --You can find us on most podcast platforms.  iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377     Tunein - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR    Vurbl - https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/    Listen notes - https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/    Ivy - https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902    Castbox - https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us