Picking Tomatoes

[imp]

Ripen on the plant or pick at first Blush?

I see a lot of comments about picking the garden tomatoes at first blush of color and ripening inside, even during the mid season point, and wondered what is the reason? Why not let them ripen on the vine?

Does it make a difference in taste to pick them at first blush, or is there a difference in taste or textures if picked early? Or better to vine ripen?

Disease or predator pressure? More productivity if you pull tomatoes at the first color?

I have picked tomatoes as they began to color up, either due to end of season or for fried green tomatoes, but curious as to any other reasons to not let the fruit ripen on the vine.

[spacetogrow]

I remember another thread on this very topic a few years ago but, after a few minutes of searching, I couldn't find it.

Most of my gardening is in a community garden. Fully ripe tomatoes are too attractive to critters (some of whom are apparently two-legged, especially early in the season). Also, I often get out there only on the weekends. So I harvest everything that is turning color and have the rest of the week to eat or process a portion of them per day, as they ripen in the house.

Some people say that the flavor is better if the fruit is vine ripened. My taste buds aren't that sensitive. Besides, much of my harvest goes into salsa, with enough hot pepper that slight nuances of difference in tomato flavor would not be very apparent anyway.

With some of the black tomatoes, however, I find that the flavor is richer and more tangy (the way I prefer) if the fruits are consumed when slightly under-ripe.

[Imthechuck]

I pull the larger tomatoes when I first see them blushing and let them ripen in a cardboard box.

I let cherry types ripen on the vine

The insect/disease pressure is great down here though / South Florida. So if a 1 pound + tomato lasted that long on the vine without something happening to it, then it must be a lucky one!

[Gardeneer]

At some stage when a tomato reaches maturity (in size and internally), it won't be getting anything from the mother plant, be it water or anything else. From there on the ripening is a bio chemical process internal to the fruit.
Now the question is how do we find out when the fruit has matured. Lets take a variety that gets red when ripe. At some window of time we can observe that the dark green color is getting lighter and pale, almost colorless. Maybe it is mature then but how can we be sure ?
But when you see some suggestion of color ( color break starting from blossom end) we can tell with some certainty that it has matured. If we examine its connecting stem at that stage we will find it woody and very hard that even a sharp knife cannot cut it easily. This is true about a lot of fruits : melons, apples, pears , etc.
From that stage on the fruit is just hanging on the vine/branch until the joint becomes soft and the fruit falls dawn.
Commercial growers take advantage of this and pick the fruits early. This provides a much longer shelf life. However when the fruits get to the store they might not have been fully ripe by then. That is one of the reason why the store bought tomatoes don't taste as good. But if you let them sit on the counter for a few days you might find some improvement in the taste and color. The same thing thaat is true about pears, peaches, grapes.

For the home gardener there are more reasons to pick their tomatoes early : Rats, squirrels, birds, .. cracking, spoilage due to rain ...
Having said that if you do not have the mentioned culprits and your weather is nice, you can just let the tomatoes hang on there on the vine for a while and pick them when you are ready to eat or cook them. . JMO

Gardeneer

[Father'sDaughter]

I lost too many tomatoes to critters when I tried to let them ripen on the vine. One day I'd look at an almost ripe tomato and think, it just needs a few more days, then the next day I'd find it on the ground with bites taken out of it.

[kath]

I pick mine when blushed to save them from bird pecking and worm holes. Sungold F1 is the only one that I leave to ripen on the vine- the birds don't bother them too much and there are lots of them anyway.

[Worth1]

Big tomatoes I pull early.
Critters.
Greed.
I like to loom over them in the house for a few days before I eat them.
Cherries I leave in the vine till full ripe.
Few make it to the house.

Worth