When are purple tomatoes ripe?

[TheWaterbug]

Back on June 18 I bought some 4" tomato plants from Home Depot and put them in. This last weekend I had my first fruit!
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/FirstTomatoes_web.jpg[/img]

I have Romas, Black Prince, and Cherokee Purple.

Are those black/purple guys fully ripe? When I read descriptions of the "purple" cultivars, they typically say that they have "green shoulders" which I guess sorta matches what I'm seeing here. They had good tomatoey flavor, but they weren't nearly as sweet as I was hoping for.

The little round guys (I think those are the Black Prince) came right off the vine with barely a tug.

The beefsteakey guys required a little more pulling, but not much.

How does one tell if they're ripe?

[soil]

the black varieties usually have more in the way of complex flavors rather than straight out sweetness. when they come off with a light tug they are done.

[gixxerific]

Those all look great to me. And yes the CP's will have green shoulders at times, not all the time but depending on the circumstances some heirlooms will, it just how they do. Some are more prone to splitting and some more to radial cracking. But do not let that get you down there are a myriad of different flavors, colors out there that you can't find with hybrids. They may not always be the prettiest perfect round red tomato but after you sink your teeth in all those things are far from your mind.

Don't forget you can pick when slightly green as well. They don't have to be fully ripe to pick. Once they go past the breaker stage they are good to go as they are cut off from the plant at that point.

If you have big tomatoes and CP can get there somewhat, garden shears or something like that can be your friend. Some of the big ones don't want to let go without damage to the plant.

[TheWaterbug]

Thanks for the heartening replies. We just bought a tub of fresh mozzarella yesterday, so I'm going to eat one of those CPs tonight.

The big holes on those are the result of peafowl pecking at them before I put up the bird netting. Now the peafowl don't peck the tomatoes, but the bird netting trips me .

Do tomatoes fall when they're ripe/overripe? Or do they hang on until they rot? Now that the netting's protecting them I'm tempted to just leave them on until I'm sure they're as ripe as they'll get.

[gixxerific]

Thanks for the heartening replies. We just bought a tub of fresh mozzarella yesterday, so I'm going to eat one of those CPs tonight.

The big holes on those are the result of peafowl pecking at them before I put up the bird netting. Now the peafowl don't peck the tomatoes, but the bird netting trips me .

Do tomatoes fall when they're ripe/overripe? Or do they hang on until they rot? Now that the netting's protecting them I'm tempted to just leave them on until I'm sure they're as ripe as they'll get.

Don't forget you can pick when slightly green as well. They don't have to be fully ripe to pick. Once they go past the breaker stage they are good to go as they are cut off from the plant at that point.

Normally tom's fall when they are over ripe or diseased

[gixxerific]

You will learn when to pick never fear. All tom's are the same when they are firm and have color they are good. Take a few and let them sit for different periods of time. You will see after eating them when they are best. With all the different variety's out, there is no ONE real rock solid way of telling whiteout trial and error as far as color. Feel is a much better way to tell.

Good luck.

[PunkRotten]

After having a rat or possum eating some of my ripe tomatoes I started picking all of them right when they displayed a faint yellow or pink on them. They all ripened days later. I even picked all green ones before and they ripened eventually.

[TheWaterbug]

They had good tomatoey flavor, but they weren't nearly as sweet as I was hoping for.

Ok! That was on Sunday, when I picked 'em. After a few days on the kitchen counter, they were _wonderful_ today. Mmmmmm. I did a bunch of reading online, and apparently once they've picked up a fair amount of color, picking prior to full ripeness doesn't affect flavor all that much.

I picked some more just now:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/SecondTomatoes_web.jpg[/img]

Some of those Black Princes are way past their prime, and in fact the whole plant seems to be going downhill , but that's for another thread.

[PunkRotten]

Hey you think you will have any Black Prince seeds available to trade later?

[TheWaterbug]

Hey you think you will have any Black Prince seeds available to trade later?

I'll try to remember to save some. Any tips on saving seeds? I've never done this before. I just buy plants from Home Depot and transplant.

[TheWaterbug]

After a few days on the kitchen counter, they were _wonderful_ today.

I made myself my first BLT sandwich today, and it was _awesome_. Prior to growing my own, I really didn't think I liked tomatoes!

I'd have made myself another one, but the cat ate the last of the bacon

[PunkRotten]

Cut open a fully ripened tomato and squeeze out the seeds and gel into a little container or ziplock bag. Add some water and let ferment for 4-5 days. After that give it a good rinse and let it dry on a paper plate for several days. Then you can store seeds long term in pill bottle or envelope. They store for years too. I think this is better than buying plants really saves on cost. Plus you can trade around and get other interesting seeds from others. They have instructions in the seed forum on how to save seeds.


I have collected several tomato varieties, several peppers, some herbs etc. I would trade you some of my tomatoes if you would be interested. I got a whole list of all my seeds.

[TheWaterbug]

^^I'll try to remember to save a few of those for you.

We grilled hamburgers last night, and we sliced up a beautiful CP:
[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/SlicedCherokeePurple_web.jpg[/img]

Delicious! That slice is about 4.5" in diameter. Covered the entire burger!

It was a bit more purple in real life; my camera's colors aren't always true on indoor shots.

[gixxerific]

After having a rat or possum eating some of my ripe tomatoes I started picking all of them right when they displayed a faint yellow or pink on them. They all ripened days later. I even picked all green ones before and they ripened eventually.

A bit off topic but off topic but I think the in theme has beens answered. I have mouse problems I sometimes leave a fruit they have been messing with on the plant. They seem to keep going to the ones they know of and leave the rest alone. Or so it seems anything can happen. Just a thought.

Dono