Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Labor Day Weekend is upon us, marking the unofficial end of summer. Get out the grill and celebrate! Make sure you grill some fresh corn on the cob with those burgers and hot dogs. Summer may be fading but that also means fall is around the corner, not only the start of fall harvest but the beginning of college football season.

As we enter the month of September, don’t forget fall is a great time to soil test your garden, lawn, or agricultural crop fields. Soil testing is the easiest and most reliable method of assessing a soil’s nutrient status. It provides a basis for recommending the correct amount of lime and fertilizer to apply for garden, crops and pastures. Soil testing takes the guesswork out of fertilization and is extremely cost effective.

Once you find out what your soil is lacking, fall is a great time to add soil amendments such as lime, compost or fertilizer if needed. The WVU Soil Test is an important tool Wood County homeowners, gardeners and farmers to utilize produce a great lawn, garden or crop in the field. Soil testing is a free service provided by the West Virginia University Soil Testing Laboratory.

I highly recommend using the WVU Soil Lab for soil testing. Home kits are not nearly as reliable as a source of information. The WVU Soils lab analyzes over 10,000 samples a year, so the results are much more accurate than home kits. The major categories for soil samples are separated by land use and include home lawns, crops, hay production, pasture, home gardens and specialty crops such as small fruits or fruit trees. A trend we have seen over the last few years is a large increase in the number of food plots deer that is being tested.

Getting soil for the sample is not complicated. You collect a thin slice of soil from the top 4 inches of several well-spaced, representative spots in the garden. Then mix them together in a clean plastic pail and let air dry. Never dry the soil in an oven or microwave oven. Fill a zip lock bag with soil from the pail and mail it to the WVU Soils Lab with the WVU Soil Test Form.

Be sure to indicate on the soil test questionnaires sheet that the crop is for a vegetable garden, agricultural crop field, or a lawn. Your soil test results will also give you results of how much phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium is in your soil. It will give recommendations of how much of each nutrient is needed. When reading your soil test results, one of the most important pieces of information is the soil pH. This indicates whether your soil is the acidic (sour) or alkaline (sweet).

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This week I want to discuss cracking in tomatoes. Tomatoes often have problems with cracking caused by pressure inside the fruit that is more than the skin can handle. In essence, the plant receives too much water too fast, causing the interior of the tomato to expand too fast for its skin to stretch enough. The skin then cracks to relieve the pressure. Cracks are usually on the upper part of the fruit and can be either concentric, which is in circles around the stem or radial, which are radiating from the stem.

Fruit cracking is associated with wide fluctuations in soil moisture levels. Tomatoes have a root system which is very dense and fibrous and is quite efficient in picking up water. Unfortunately, the root system can become unbalanced with the top of the plant. Early in the season, it may be small in relation to the top growth of the plant resulting in blossom-end rot during hot, dry weather.

Later it may be so efficient that it provides too much water when we receive a heavy rain after a dry spell. This quick influx of water can cause the tomato fruit to crack. Fruit cracking can be prevented by supplying the tomato plants with an even, consistent supply of moisture during the summer months. During dry periods, a thorough soaking once every seven days should be adequate for most tomato plants. Mulching will also help because it moderates moisture levels in the soil.

Wide fluctuations in temperature can also cause cracks. If tomato plants have lost some leaves and fruit is exposed to the heat during the day and then cools off considerably at night. Over supply of nitrogen fertilizer may also contribute to cracks.

If you have cracking, your best option is to harvest fruits immediately, before they begin to rot. These fruits are edible and can be allowed to finish ripening indoors, though any fruit that develops a sour smell or begins to ooze should go straight to the compost pile.

Generally, fruit cracking is most common on the large, beefsteak-type tomatoes. Kansas State University has evaluated varieties for cracking in tomato research trials. Some varieties just more susceptible to cracking while others are much more resistant. The difference seems to be pliability of skin rather than thickness-the more pliable the skin the more resistance to cracking.

Jet Star has been the most crack resistant according to research. Newer varieties with more controlled growth are often more attractive to gardeners. Mountain Spring, Mountain Pride, Mountain Fresh, Floralina and Sun Leaper are smaller vined types that have shown good resistance to cracking. Contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension Office 304-424-1960 or e-mail me at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with questions. Good Luck and Happy Gardening!