Did they have an episode of erratic watering? That's usually the cause.

Some varieties are prone to cracking - regardless of anything else. They just do. Usually larger toms.

yeah only the larger tomatoes that I have get the splitting on the top. I thought this was caused by the triple digit temps but I guess it's normal?

Congratulations on your tomato crop! Sorry to hear about the split skins. I'll just add my voice to the chorus that the larger the tomato, the more likely it is to split here, and the more fluctuations in water the more likely they are to split. I always visualize a beating heart, LOL, swelling up when they have lots of water and then contracting a bit when they're a bit drier, so that occasionally splits form as they suck up water in the heat. Usually they're still very good to eat. In general, I grow small tomatoes like mini yellow pear and 'Sun Gold' my favorite cherry tomato, as the smallies seem less likely to split/crack, but even they do now and then.

Please let us know what you think of the flavor of your 'Phoenix' variety. We're curious!

Take care and happy gardening!
Grant

DustyRoseAZ emailed me a couple of pics to embed here so folks can see. I have total tomato envy, LOL! Dusty, can you share with everyone how they tasted? Great job on these puppies!

{{gwi:404785}}

{{gwi:404786}}

{{gwi:404787}}

{{gwi:404788}}

after 4 years of trying to grow tomatoes in Phoenix, I gave up because they split... I could only grow Roman varieties, and they're not the same as "regular" tomatoes.

I am trying green chile instead.