🍅 Have you ever seen tomatoes like this?

🔥

Ever pull a tomato off the vine and think... "What on earth happened here??"

If it looks similar to the one in the photo → that's called 𝗰𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴.

🐱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴?

It's a physical deformity that shows up as scarring, puckering, and sometimes deep cracks or holes near the blossom end (the bottom of the tomato, opposite the stem).

Apparently, someone thought the scarring looked like a cat's face. But I may have to disagree there. What do you think??

🌺 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝘁?

Cat facing happens when the plant is under stress right around the time a flower is forming.

That stress messes with pollination, and the flower ends up developing extra plant tissue that's fused together instead of forming smooth & round.

That flower still turns into a tomato, but the fruit grows around all that extra tissue, which is where the scarring and puckering come from.

𝗔 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀:

𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, especially nights below 55°F (13°C) while the blossom is forming
𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗿, which pushes leafy growth over healthy flower development
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘁 landing on the plant at the wrong time
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 right around the flower clusters

🍅 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗗𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀

This happens most commonly with big beefsteak-style and heirloom varieties, think Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, and Cherokee Purple (which is what's in my hand in this photo).

Their flowers are naturally bigger and more complex, which increases the chance of cat facing.

Cherry and grape tomatoes almost never cat face since their flowers are small and simple.

𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲?

Yes! It's just cosmetic. You can cut away the scarred parts and enjoy the rest.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿?

Not necessarily; it depends on what stressors your plants encounter around bloom time & which varieties you're growing.

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘁?

You can't control the weather, but you can stack the odds. Wait to transplant until nights are reliably above 55°F (13°C) and go easy on the nitrogen.

Anyone else have a cat faced tomato show up this year?

Drop a pic if you've got one, and we can see if anyone's actually looks like a cat 😂🍅

17 comments

🍅 Have you ever seen tomatoes like this?