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plkelly
Senior Member
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 1:52 pm
Location: Springfield MO

When to pick tomatoes

Yesterday I was reading the gardening column in our local paper. It's written by a local master gardener and is always informative.

People had written to him concerning how long it was taking their tomatoes to ripen, and he advised picking them when they were just light red with even a little green. According to him, the plant seals off the stem to the fruit at that point and it doesn't receive anything more from the vine. It is fine to pick them at that point and let them further ripen off the vine.

I wouldn't call myself an experienced vegetable gardener, but still, I'd never read anything like that before.

What do you think? Does anyone follow this advice? I have picked them at this point if I was leaving town or afraid some critter would get it before me, etc., but wondered if it is common practice.

TZ -OH6
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2097
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

Picking at the breaker stage, which is just when the very end tip of the fruit starts to change from green to pink is generally considered the point when a tomato can be sold as "vine ripened" because it does not need to be gassed, and will ripen on its own off of the plant. Many of us pick fruits before they are fully ripe and then let them finish ripening indoors because...

1) It is easier to pick everything with color every three days and bring it in for final selection rather than trying to judge when a fruit is eating ripe on the vine.

2) It keeps the fruit from splitting if it rains.

3) It keeps bugs, birds and neighbors from getting ripe tomatoes.

4) As long as you wait long enough the flavor is just as good as when you leave it on the plant. I think some people jump the gun and eat early picked tomatoes when the color first looks right rather than waiting another day or two for the flesh to soften a bit. A day or two at that stage can mean alot where flavor is concerned.

There is alot of variability in flavor due to environmental conditions/weather so you will get different flavor quality among the fruits off the same plant, and also a fruit that sees 90F days and 60F nights in the garden may taste different than one kept at 75F on the counter top for those last 4-5 days of ripening, but that has nothing to do with being attached to the plant.



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