What is Catfacing?
Catfacing is a deformation which appears in some tomatoes, strawberries, and stonefruits. Contrary to what you might expect, catfacing does not actually cause the face of a cat to appear in a fruit. Instead, the fruit develops tannish scars which run along the blossom end of the fruit, and sometimes extend into the cavity of the fruit, rendering it largely inedible. Catfacing is not dangerous, but it is irritating, and it can reduce the sale value of a fruit. Usually, when a fruit develops catfacing, it starts by pucking and scarring, and it may also develop deep cracks. The catfacing radiates out from the area of the fruit where the blossom used to be, and if it is especially bad, it can wrap all the way around the fruit. In the areas of scarring, the fruit is woody and inedible, in addition to unsightly, and many people regard catfacing as a turn-off when it comes to buying fruit as a result. The causes of catfacing are not fully understood. Exposure to low temperatures when trees an
I just read recently that catfacing is due to incomplete pollination. The tomatoes are still edible, but if they’re really ugly you probably wouldn’t want to. Around here the temperature has been quite cool and rainy. I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t causing a number of tomato problems. I posted about my plants yesterday–they’re just sitting there, not developing their fruit.
