Tomato issues

Problems with Indigo Rose tomatoes this go around.  I planted them in a row that has never had tomatoes.  I built a UV plastic cover over the section of the garden to protect them from the tropical downpours - as I live in the mountains of Costa Rica.  I put composted manure with magnesium sulfate (3T / gallon of liquid compost) on them every 2 weeks - which normally works wonders.  

But some of them are blotchy - red with green blotches, ripening irregularly (some), and the larger ones tend to split at the stem end.  

I thought maybe I was watering them too much so now I'm only turning on the drip tape once a week.  Maybe give them more magnesium?  Now putting on maybe 2-3 cups of the mix every 2 weeks.

Wondering if you have any ideas for this lone wanderer in foreign lands.

I'm not sure if there is anything wrong. I'm growing tomatoes for the first time, too, and to me, it appears that is kind of how fruits ripen- starting off as one color (usually green) and then slowly changing color to different color.

hau Golda,

If your tomatoes are splitting at the  stem end, you are giving them too much water. I would recommend you try adding some potassium and potash along with trace minerals instead of magnesium sulfate (sulfates yield sulfuric acid, changing the soil pH).

Most of the time tomatoes will ripen in a blotchy manner, especially if they are being given too much water and their nutrients aren't balanced.
Try adding some mycorrhizae to the plant roots too, that will attract the right bacteria and help balance the nutrients for you.

Redhawk

Our tomatoes have gotten so much water this year that we are preparing to rip the plants up and start a new batch.
We have averaged 12 inches of rain per month since January this year and several 7 inch days as well as the normal rains.
It has caused many vegetable growers here to abandon the initial plantings and start new crop plantings to try as salvage the season (for us it is May thu November).

Redhawk

This has so far been a weird year but I have the feeling we need to get adjusted fast because it is likely to simply be the new normal.

Tomatoes are indeed a strange fruit to grow because you can get splitting from too  much or too little water. We have been growing them in straw bales for the  last 5 years and this is the first time for the troubles.
Is it possible for you to use a raised bed for yours? That might be at least part of the answer, to allow for better drainage of water away quickly but still have enough available for the plants when they need it.

The best things about bale growing are compost after two growing seasons with a lot of it already conditioning the soil below and they hold enough water to last for 5 days of 100 degree heat and 85% humidity (our normal summer conditions, at least that used to be the conditions), now that the warming of the planet has gotten to noticeable on the skin levels, things are changing rapidly here.

I'm going to run a trial on a mango tree from seed, since our winters have almost stopped having sub 40's temps I might be able to grow one and only need a cover for the winter weather should we get any.

Good luck with the tomatoes.

Redhawk