Keep 'em coming

Some toms have soft skins and some have fairly hard skins, my question is when being judged what type of toms would the judges prefer to see to enable them to award points. If the judge put to much pressure on the tom and it split how would he decide how to point it although it was of the right size and condition?



I'm assuming you've grown a variety such as Gold Star in the past which has thin skins and is notoriously prone to splitting during transit. You always had to take spares with you but sometimes they split after you had staged them and left the hall! Nowadays Cedrico is the one to beat as it's what is known as a vine ripe variety that stays firm on the trusses for weeks in good condition and is a lot less prone to splitting. Irregular watering followed by a deluge is one reason why tomatoes will suddenly split so make sure you stick to a regular watering and feeding regime.

In theory judges don't have favourite varieties but should judge each exhibit on merit. A well grown set of an old variety such as Shirley can win against a poorly grown set of Cedrico no problem. The judge should handle each and every vegetable during his deliberations to decide on the placings, but he should do it with confidence and care, so with tomatoes that means not putting so much pressure on them that he clumsily pierces the skins. However, if a tomato split during normal handling then i'm afraid it would have to be downpointed on condition as it would signify an over-ripe and soft skin, or one that had been poorly grown for reasons mentioned above.