Harvest time for tomatoes then should ideally occur when..."

[Shrinkrap]

"Harvest time for tomatoes then should ideally occur when the fruit is a mature green and then allowed to ripen off the vine. This prevents splitting or bruising and allows for a measure of control over the ripening process."

Read more at Gardening Know How: Harvest Time For Tomatoes: When To Pick Tomatoes http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edib...r-tomatoes.htm

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I just had to pick these. I found hornworm frass, and couldn't find the worms.

I even sprayed a bit of BT before going to work, KNOWING it would be 90+.

They are NOT getting these.

Chocolate Lightning, Dwarf Purple Heart, and I think Fred's Tie Dye.

I also posted this on gardenweb.

[Ed of Somis]

I have never picked anything that green. I am sure others' have. Let us know how they color up and taste.

[imp]

Every one does it different, as they choose to do. Me, I like them to get ripe on the vine barring any special problems. I'll pick early for frost and such.

[Shrinkrap]

Uh oh.

Well, I did pick two other varieties early, when one was breaking a stem, and I was going out of town. Colored up nice, and seemed fine!

Not sure I'm a good judge. As it happens, I'm not a huge fan of raw tomatoes.

[Ricky Shaw]

You just don't see the term 'raw tomatoes' much, I'm going to sleep on that.

[Shrinkrap]

Perhaps I should have said I prefer cooked tomatoes.

After the initial binges....



http://www.finecooking.com/articles/...-tomatoes.aspx



Here is one I let go a bit longer. The yellow one was half green when I picked it two days ago.

[Gardeneer]

Once you see a blush or color break, that means that tomato has matured and no longer gets anything from the plant. But ripening goes on inside the fruit itself. You can let it hang on the plant or pick and keep inside until it is fully ripened.
The next time make and experiment : Say there are 2 tomatoes with similar color break on the same vine/truss. Pick one and let it ripen on the counter and leave the other one on the vine until both are fully ripe. Then run a blind taste taste.

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks all! Here's more;

"If you live in a region prone to very hot summers, it might be beneficial to know how to slow ripening tomatoes in order to extend your tomato crop harvest. Temperatures over 95 F. (35 C.) will not allow tomatoes to form their red pigments. While they will rapidly ripen, even too rapidly, they end up a yellowish-orange hue."

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edib...o-ripening.htm

Read more at Gardening Know How: Tomato Plant Ripening: Can You Slow Down The Ripening Of Tomatoes? http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/slow-down-tomato-ripening.htm"

We are expecting about 106 in a few days!

[Shrinkrap]

Gardeneer's experiment.

http://ancientgardenerblog.blogspot....icking-at.html

When the tomatoes reach the “breaker stage”—about half green and half pink—“a layer of cells forms across their stem, sealing them off from the main vine. At this state, tomatoes can ripen on or off the vine with no loss of quality or flavor,” Marr explained.

And

http://ancientgardenerblog.blogspot....-tomatoes.html

". Some large-red varieties, including many heirlooms, tend to split when near ripe and often begin to mold or have other problems. If you pick them before they reach this problem stage, you will harvest better quality fruit. This has happened already this season in the Tomato Patch. A gnarled Brandywine Red split at its blossom end before it was fully ripe and began to mold. I tried to salvage some of the ripe fruit but had to discard most of it. Picking early may avoid the splits and the mold."

No mold problems here. We can probably dry on the vine. I tried that with Principe Borghese for awhile.

I suppose Im talikng to myself. I guess everybody is sleeping.

Wish this would work with nectarines and figs. The birds get most of mine.

[oakley]

I rarely ripen on the vine. If it happens, it is because i missed them in all the foliage.

I've only had a couple dozen SunGold so far. The up-coming two weeks starting this weekend i will be harvesting my first basket. Like many tomato lovers, (not all), i like to pick a 'sturdy' tomato. Blushing and firm. They travel well and i like to keep an eye on them in the kitchen that has a cooler 78 and steady temp than the garden that is getting thunderstorms and 90+ temps.

[bower]

I often let mine go to the fully-coloured but still firm stage, then they ripen fully after picking in a day or so. But if daytime highs are too low, I'll pick at blush and ripen indoors. And if there's any threat of mold, insects, critters I would for sure pick at first blush.
I have ripened many many tomatoes in the fall that were picked 'mature green' and there was no loss of quality IMO compared to vine ripened. The no-good ones are less-than-mature-green.

[MissS]

If given the option, I will always allow my tomatoes to fully ripen on the vine. To me, they taste better. The only time I pick them at any stage of green is when frost is approaching.

I know that they say that the fruits seal off and no longer receive anything from the plant, but I do not believe it. If that were the case then how do you explain ripe fruits cracking from excess moisture after a rain? Is not the water being fed to the fruit?

[xellos99]

Many people here seem to be saying when the color breaks the tom is no longer gets anything from the plant etc.
Thing is though I have watches a time lapse of a tom from start to finish and when the color broke the tome continued to swell and grow while it was turning red. It was very obvious and put on very clear to see size increase.
Mybe not all toms do that but the vid I have seen were definitely doing it.

[imp]

Every one does the picking according to their preferences, and there is no one "right" way. Vine ripened, if possible, for me is what I like best.

As for getting nothing from the plant after color break, I'd like to see the scientific data on that.

Frost coming? Sure, I'll pull the greenies then, but other than that or some other dire thing, I prefer the taste and quality of the vine ripened.

YMMV.

[Shrinkrap]

Next day