Why your tomato looks like it has a face
Catfacing is the gardening term for tomatoes that come out lumpy, scarred, lobed, or generally weird-looking. The fruit splits and reforms, leaving deep scars across the blossom end, or grows in a multi-lobed shape that looks more like a brain than a tomato.
They're still edible. Often delicious. But they look strange enough that most people assume something is wrong with the plant. Here's what's actually happening and how to grow smoother fruit next year.
What causes catfacing
Catfacing happens at flowering, not at fruiting. The flower itself develops imperfectly, and the resulting fruit grows with deformities baked in.
The biggest triggers:
- Cold weather during flowering (nights below 12 degrees)
- Sudden temperature swings while flowers are forming
- Nitrogen overload (rich fertiliser around the time of flowering)
- Some herbicide drift (2,4-D in particular)
- Very thirsty or stressed plants during flowering
- Heirloom and beefsteak varieties are more prone to it than F1 hybrids
Once a flower has been deformed, the fruit from that flower will be catfaced. It can't be reversed mid-season. The fix is for next year.
Heirloom varieties are catfacing champions
Beefsteak tomatoes (Brandywine, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Costoluto, German Pink) are notorious for catfacing. They have huge flowers, complex fruit structure, and are very sensitive to temperature swings during pollination.
If you grow heirlooms, expect catfacing. It's part of the deal. The lumpy ones often taste better than the perfect ones (more flesh, deeper flavour, more 'personality').
How to reduce it next year
Plant later, when nights are warm
Don't rush. If you plant out in early September and the nights are cold, the first flush of flowers will be deformed. Wait until nights are reliably above 12 degrees. In NZ that often means mid-October at the earliest.
Don't over-fertilise
Too much nitrogen in the early growth phase confuses the plant. It grows huge leafy foliage but deformed flowers. Feed with potassium and phosphorus once flowering starts, not heavy nitrogen.
Water consistently
Drought stress during flowering causes flower abortion and catfacing. Water deeply once or twice a week during the flowering and fruiting period. Mulch the bed heavily.
Pick the right varieties
If you want smooth perfect tomatoes for slicing, plant F1 hybrids and modern selections like 'Money Maker', 'Roma', 'Sungold', 'Sweet 100', 'Russian Red'. For deep flavour and weird-looking joy, plant heirlooms and accept the catfacing.
What to do with catfaced tomatoes
Eat them. Cook them. Pass off the deformities as 'rustic.' They taste exactly the same as their pretty cousins, often better.
Some uses where the shape doesn't matter:
- Pasta sauce (you're blitzing them anyway)
- Soup
- Salsa
- Roasted on a tray with olive oil and garlic
- Stuffed and baked (the lobes hold filling beautifully)
- Chutney
The honest bit
Catfacing is mostly cosmetic and mostly heirloom. If your tomatoes are growing lumpy and scarred, the plant is fine. The fruit is fine. Either accept the rustic charm or switch to smoother varieties and warmer nights for next year.
Welcome to the dirt cult. We eat the ugly ones too.
