Most backyard gardeners grow tomatoes, but when a crop turns out to be less than appetizing, vegetable enthusiasts often are at a loss to figure out what went wrong. Depending on the cause, there may be little you can do. But next year, you may be able to manage your plants to prevent some of these conditions. Ferretti lists some common problems afflicting tomatoes and recommends some possible solutions. Misshapen fruit is most commonly caused by improper pollination or from flower parts sticking to the reproductive parts of the plant.
Malformed fruit is more likely to appear early in the harvest.
This malady, which produces fruit with dark, sunken and leathery bottom ends, is caused by calcium deficiency during pollination. Ferretti recommends proper liming, not cultivating around plant roots and taking care not to over-fertilize. Too little or too much moisture also can upset calcium nutrition, so be sure to mulch and irrigate properly. Good color fails to develop if temperatures are too high or too low during ripening. Higher temperatures speed up ripening, but the final color is more orange than red.