Is there a best time of day to pick tomatoes?

msgenie516 · Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:59 pm

Hi,

Just wondering if there is a best time of day to pick tomatoes to get better or sweeter flavor? Thanks for your help!

Genie

TZ -OH6 · Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:00 am

If you are going to eat them that day I have generally found that hot tomatoes picked in the afternoon have less flavor than cooler morning picked fruit. I usually pick mine several days before they are ripe so it doesn't matter what time of day I pick.

engineeredgarden · Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:04 pm

Veggies that are picked in the morning have alot more sugar content - therefore will taste better.

EG

Gary350 · Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:34 am

I harvest every thing in the garden early in the morning when the sun is low before it gets hot outside.

Then I spend the day inside the house canning tomatoes, bean, in mason jars. It is 9:45 am I just finished canning 9 pints of tomatoes.

Corn gets boiled within 5 minutes of picking to stop the sugar from turning to starch.

LindsayArthurRTR · Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:10 am

Afternoons get miserably hot here. Hot tomatoes taste cooked to me. Way more bland than morning tomatoes.

gixxerific · Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:24 pm

I don't have the list but I believe most veggies are best picked early morning after the dew is off (too prevent spreading disease). But than I have heard that (maybe) peas and beans or maybe one or the other are better picked later. Though I honestly can't remember why. Maybe someone can chime in.

I have actually wanted to get a list together of what does better when.

Other than that I do most of it in the morning when I can other wise I do it in the afternoon after it has cooled down a bit. I work all day and I get up way too early to be picking things in the morning, it's usually still dark when I leave or the sun is just rising.

msgenie516 · Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:56 pm

Hi again!

Thank you everyone for your help! I'm home almost all the time so I think I will try to pick mid to late morning. I sometimes go out very early (like 7:00 AM) to tend to the garden but from what everyone is saying, that may be too early to pick tomatoes. I certainly don't want to encourage diseases. Thanks again!

Genie