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One year our tomatoes were plentiful. We overplanted expecting the inevitable losses, but despite a wet start to the season, the plants took off. But even with our huge harvest, our tomatoes weren’t ideal. The wet weather left us with big, juicy fruit, but it was ugly and not much tastier than the grocery store variety. Our tomatoes had catfacing.
Cat-faced tomatoes are difficult to use on sandwiches and antipasto plates. They don’t taste good and they look bad. You can’t sell them at the market and they tend to rot.
Our catfacing year was definitely a bit of a disappointment. Now I know how to turn a good tomato season into a great one – no catfacing, no matter the weather!
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What is catfacing?
It’s a strange term, but if you look at an upside-down cat’s-head tomato, it all makes sense. Catfacing is a physiological disorder, that is to say, it is a disturbance of the body of the tomato.
Cat-faced tomatoes have scars at the end of the flower and often more scars on the sides. They are misshapen, often with large scar folds or bumps. Instead of having a slightly rounded shape (sometimes with the few soft creases natural to many heirloom varieties), cat-faced tomatoes are deeply grooved.
These misshapen fruits are often kidney or flower shaped. Sometimes the stretched scar on the bottom looks like a yawning cat or a scowling gnome. Cat-faced tomatoes often have deep holes in the fruit. These are not pest holes. If you look closely you can see that there is no exposed flesh. The fruit just grew extremely convoluted.
Regardless of their shape, cat’s-head tomatoes aren’t as attractive as they could be. They are also culinary problematic. All that tough, scar tissue is no good. You often have to cut off a large portion of the fruit to use cat’s head tomatoes in a recipe.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with eating a cat’s head tomato. They often taste just as good as those pretty round fruits. But cat-faced tomatoes often ripen unevenly, which can make them half-ripe when harvested.
It’s also nearly impossible to sell them in markets or shops – most people will choose a smooth, red tomato over a scarred, misshapen one any day.
Catfacing is different from blossom end rot. Head over to our guide to learn more about it.
Blossom end rot on a tomatoCauses of catfacing on tomatoes
My cat’s head tomatoes are the result of a month of cold, wet weather. July is usually a warm and sunny month, but in early summer the rains and cool days persisted. Our beans and cabbages loved the cool weather, but the tomatoes suffered.
Here in northern New England, the tomato season is already quite short. Last summer, I wasn’t sure there would be a season until the weather warmed up in late July.
Here are the most common causes of catfacing:
1. Weather
All that wet and cool weather is a perfect recipe for dealing with cats. Tomatoes are more susceptible to catface when temperatures drop below 50°F. If the plant has flowers during the cold spell, those tomatoes will catface. Longer cold spells, where the weather hovers below 60°F, can also cause catfacing.
These cold snaps are even more likely to cause misshapen fruit if the weather is wet. Overwatered tomato plants, constantly wet flowers, and cool weather create the perfect environment to deal with cats.
2. Soil conditions
You will also see catfacing on tomato plants when there are high levels of nitrogen in the soil. Too much nitrogen prevents the plant from concentrating on fruiting. Too much nitrogen will give your tomato plants plenty of green leaves, but not enough support to produce flowers and fruit.
This lack of flowering and fruiting support makes the plant stressed. Stressed tomato plants do not produce the best fruit. Of course, tomatoes are big eaters. They like nitrogen-rich soils. But sometimes, in an effort to provide that rich soil, we overdo it. Remember to maintain a balance.
3. Oversize
We all want our tomato plants to produce well, so when we see little suckers or excessive branching, we prune them, right? Not always. A small size goes a long way.
If you prune your tomato plants too much, the plant is stressed. He’s getting a little desperate ultimately come out of the fruit. So, in an effort to do this before that branch is also pruned, the tomato produces an inferior fruit.
Although no one knows exactly why these conditions cause catfacing, it’s likely that stress on the plant during flowering is a major factor. All of these conditions cause the plant to rush the fruiting process. Cat-faced tomatoes are the result.
Catfacing mainly occurs with early tomatoes. The first fruits of the harvest are most at risk of deformation. But during a cool season or in a nitrogen-rich bed, catfacing can continue throughout the growing season.
Prevent catfacing
Since catfacing is caused by certain stressors on the plant, we prevent it by reducing those stressors. Start by delaying transplanting.
1. Plant at the right time
If you’re like me, the first warm spring days make you want to grow all your seedlings in the garden. But wait! Just because the daytime temperature is above 70°F doesn’t mean the nights will be warm. Or that tomorrow will continue the trend.
Expect the days and nights to be consistently warm (ideally over 60°F at night). Then you can safely plant. Of course, you might encounter a surprising cold spell later. If you do, cover your plants with blankets to help them retain some of the earth’s heat overnight.
2. Balance your soil
It’s always a good idea to test your soil before planting. You may discover major imbalances that will lead to unhealthy and low yielding plants. So test that soil, then patch it, before you put your tomatoes in the ground.
Make sure that, in addition to nitrogen, your plants contain phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Healthy tomatoes need a balanced diet. You can find fertilizers made specifically for tomatoes to help you strike the right balance, like this one from Miracle-Gro.
3. Size
Pruning tomatoes is an essential part of raising healthy plants. But sometimes we overdo it. One thing to remember when pruning your tomatoes is that this plant has the potential to grow big. Trellis your tomatoes well, then prune them lightly to keep the plant tall and strong.
As for the flowers, prune the fused tomato flowers if you want to reduce catfacing. I don’t prune fused blooms, but I don’t mind cat-facing either.
Fused flowers will almost always produce cat-faced fruits. This is because connected flowers begin to form connected fruits. So if you’re 100% against cat-faced tomatoes, pluck those flowers before they produce ugly fruit.
Inheritance, hybrids and resistant varieties
I am a big fan of heirloom tomatoes. They taste amazing and they look pretty cool too. My garden is full of “Brandywines”, “Black Krims” and “Cosmonaut Volkovs”. But when it comes to dealing with cats, heirlooms aren’t always the best option.
Heirloom tomatoes often have a gnarled, grooved profile, so when conditions are right to face the spade, they can warp quickly.
Resilient Legacy
If you regularly fight cats in your yard, skip the heirlooms for a while. You can always go back to old varieties next year. But, if you have the opportunity to put some cold climate heirlooms in the garden, go for it.
“Cold weather” heirlooms, developed in northern climates, are often somewhat resistant to catfacing. I have never had catface issues with the ‘Cosmonaut Volkov’ variety from Ukraine. Siberian ‘Grushovka’ and ‘Sasha’ tomatoes are also catfacing resistant heirlooms.
Hybrids
Tomato hybrids are often more resistant to catfacing than heirlooms, with a few exceptions. Large beefsteak tomatoes catface very easily. “Big Boy” and “Better Boy” tomatoes tend to turn over under the right conditions.
The higher a hybrid is, the more likely it is to have catfacing issues. Cherry, grape and Roma tomatoes are rarely catfaced. Smaller varieties and tomatoes in sauce are naturally resistant to catfacing. But there are a few taller hybrids that are resistant to catfacing.
If you want to plant a low-stress garden of hardy hybrids, try planting ‘Walter’, ‘Duke’ and ‘Floradade’. ‘Walter’ and ‘Duke’ are medium-sized cultivars that produce attractive, round, red tomatoes.
“Floradade” tomatoes are disease and cat’s-head resistant tomatoes. These plants produce regular medium to large sized fruits. ‘Walter’, ‘Duke’ and ‘Floradade’ tomatoes do best in warm, humid climates.
For those of us who live in the North, cold weather heirlooms are often the best bet. Search for “Oregon Spring”, “San Francisco Fog” or “Northern Lights”.
Of course, no tomato is entirely resistant to catfacing, so use preventative measures as well to have the best tomato crop ever.
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