If you’re standing in your garden and wondering when to pick your tomatoes, you’ve come to the right place. Knowing the right time to harvest your tomatoes is a combination of observing color, feeling the fruit, and understanding your tomato variety. This guide will help you know exactly when to pick for maximum taste. Read on to find out how to pull your tomatoes off the vine for the best flavor.
Quick Facts
Best Tasting Tomatoes: Look for uniform color, give them a gentle squeeze, and know your tomato variety to determine the best time for harvest.
Harvesting Techniques: Use a gentle twist, snip with shears, or take entire clusters to save time and keep tomatoes fresh.
Early Picking: If faced with frost or pest issues, pick tomatoes early and ripen them indoors using ethylene gas.
When to Pick: The Timing
Growing your own tomatoes gives you control over the quality and timing of your harvest. The timing of harvest plays a big role in the flavor of your tomatoes. The right time can make the difference between a good tomato and a great one.
To master this timing, pay attention to three things: visual ripeness indicators, the feel of the fruit, and your tomato variety. Let’s get into it.
Visual Indicators
The first and most obvious sign of a ripe tomato is its color. A fully ripe tomato will be uniform in color with no green near the stem. This mature color will vary depending on the variety of tomato you’re growing, so always check the seed packet or catalog for guidance.
Once the tomato shows its mature color all over, it’s probably ready to eat. So keep an eye out for that color change!
The Squeeze Test
Color isn’t the only indicator of ripeness. The feel of the fruit can also give you clues. When you gently squeeze a ripe tomato, it should yield to pressure; an unripe one will be hard. Ripe tomatoes will also come off the vine with a slight twist. A gentle pull will tell you if the tomato is ready to be picked. Ripe ones will come off the stem easily.
For example, the beefsteak tomato is ready to eat when it’s full color and yields slightly to pressure.
Knowing Your Varieties
Knowledge is power, and knowing your tomato varieties will greatly improve your harvest. Different tomato varieties have their own ripening signs and timelines. Early maturing varieties can be ready in as little as eight weeks, while late-maturing varieties can take up to 12 weeks. Knowing the characteristics of your tomato variety will help you time your harvest for maximum flavor. Always check the seed packet or plant tag for information.
How to Harvest
Now that we know when to harvest our tomatoes, we can get into the methodology of harvesting. Picking tomatoes is more than just pulling fruit off a plant. It’s a delicate process of selecting ripe, healthy tomatoes and removing them from the plant without damage.
The best ways to do this are a gentle twist, using shears, or harvesting entire clusters. We’ll get into each method.
Gentle Twist
The simplest way to harvest tomatoes is the gentle twist. This involves twisting the tomato until it comes free from the stem. Be gentle to avoid damaging the tomato or the plant.
Grip the tomato during the twist, and if done right, it should come off with the calyx and a small piece of the stem. This indicates a successful twist-harvest.
Using Secateurs
For larger tomatoes or those with tougher stems, garden secateurs are a gardener’s best friend. They allow you to cut the stem just above the fruit without damaging the tomato or plant. You can also use the secateurs on the main stem to cut the fruiting branch and harvest multiple tomatoes at once.
This method is ideal for heirloom tomato vines.
Harvesting Clusters
If you have smaller tomato varieties like cherry or grape, it’s best to harvest in clusters. Once most of the fruit in a cluster is ripe, you can remove the whole cluster. This saves time, keeps the tomatoes longer, prevents fruit flies, and allows for better air circulation around the fruit.
So when you see a cluster of ripe fruit, snip the stem and enjoy!
Preemptive Picking: When to Harvest Early
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, nature throws us a curveball. Unfavorable weather, pests, or disease can force us to harvest our tomatoes earlier than we want. This is called preemptive picking.
But don’t worry. An early harvest doesn’t mean you have to compromise on flavor. With the right knowledge and technique, you can still enjoy delicious tomatoes.
Weather
Weather can play a big role in your tomato harvest. If frost is forecasted, harvest your tomatoes early to prevent damage. If temperatures are going to drop, pick your tomatoes at the mature green stage and let them ripen indoors at room temperature.
Tomatoes that are just starting to show color can also be harvested and allowed to ripen off the vine to protect them from adverse weather.
Pest and Disease
Pests and disease are another reason you might need to preemptively pick. Pests are more prevalent as fruit ripens on the vine, and disease can spread quickly and destroy your whole crop. Regular checks for disease, like blight, are crucial.
Harvesting early can mitigate these risks and still let you enjoy your tomatoes.
Indoor Ripening Methods
Whether you had to pick your tomatoes early or want to extend your harvest season, there’s good news! Tomatoes can still ripen off the vine thanks to a natural hormone called ethylene gas. Indoor ripening methods tap into this gas and provide the right conditions for your tomatoes to reach their full flavor.
Ethylene Gas Hacks
Ethylene gas is a natural plant hormone involved in the ripening of tomatoes. Placing your tomatoes near fruits that produce ethylene, like bananas, can speed up the process. Simply put your tomatoes with bananas in a paper sack or cardboard box at 70-75°F to get faster and more uniform ripening.
You can also check the color change at the blossom end of the tomato, a good indicator that ethylene production has started and ripening has begun.
Indoor Ripening Conditions
Besides ethylene gas, the right temperature and environment are key to indoor ripening. Tomatoes ripen best when allowed to ripen indoors at 75-85°F during the day and 60-70°F at night. Place your tomatoes in a bright area of the room but not in direct sunlight. Ensure they don’t touch each other for even ripening.
Follow these tips, and your tomatoes will ripen in a week!
Your Tomato Harvest
You’ve harvested your tomatoes at the right time; now what? Storing your tomato bounty properly is just as important to enjoy their full flavor. Whether you want to use your freshly picked tomatoes in the next few days or preserve them for longer, we’ve got you covered.
We’ll look into the best ways to store your tomatoes at room temperature and methods for long-term preservation.
Room Temperature Storage
Storing ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator is a common mistake. Cold temperatures can change their natural flavor and make them tasteless. Instead, keep your ripe tomatoes in a cool, dry place at room temperature. If you’ll use them in a few days, this is the way to go. Unripe tomatoes can be stored at room temperature away from direct sunlight to ripen.
Long-Term Preservation Methods
If you had a big harvest and can’t use all your tomatoes right away, long-term preservation methods are your savior. Freezing whole tomatoes is a simple way to extend their shelf life for up to six months. When you need them, you can defrost them at room temperature in about an hour.
Converting your ripe tomatoes into homemade sauce and freezing it is another great preservation method. This way, you’ll have a ready-to-use ingredient for future meals.
Heirloom and Green Tomatoes
Are you growing heirloom or green tomatoes? These varieties need a little extra care. Heirloom tomatoes are more prone to splitting and often need to be harvested before they’re fully ripe. Green tomatoes can be a great ingredient in the kitchen, with unique flavors and culinary uses.
Let’s look into the special handling requirements of these varieties.
Heirloom Tomato Handling
Heirloom tomatoes are old-fashioned varieties handed down through generations. They can be more fragile than modern hybrids and are more prone to splitting from sudden changes in moisture.
The solution is to harvest them when they’re half to three-quarters ripe to avoid over-ripening, splitting, or decay. With proper handling and care, you can enjoy the unique and rich flavors of heirloom tomatoes!
Green Tomatoes
If you find yourself with a bunch of green tomatoes at the end of the season, don’t panic! These unripe fruits can be a great ingredient in the kitchen, with unique flavors and culinary uses. Here are some ideas for using green tomatoes:
- Make salsa verde
- Bake into a pie
- Pickle them
- Fry into green tomato slices
- Use in green tomato chutney
Green tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, are versatile and can add a great twist to your recipes.
Your Tomato Plants
Growing tomatoes is rewarding, but it doesn’t stop at harvest. Regular monitoring and care of your tomato plants are key to an abundance of harvests throughout the season. Even after the first harvest, your plants still need love and care to maximize yield.
We’ll go into how to check your plants and post-harvest care.
Checking Plants
Being a successful tomato gardener involves more than just planting and harvesting. Checking your tomato plants regularly can help you catch problems early and keep your plants healthy and happy. From monitoring for diseases like blight to ensuring they’re watered and fertilized regularly, checking can make a big difference in your harvest.
Post-Harvest Plant Care
You might think your work is done after the first harvest, but post-harvest care is just as important. Pruning your tomato plants can help the plant focus its energy on ripening the fruit already on the plant.
Reducing water and removing plants from the garden after the season is also important to manage disease and prepare the bed for the next season.
Growing and harvesting your own tomatoes is a journey. From learning when to harvest to how to harvest to how to store and preserve your bounty, you now have the knowledge to get the most out of your tomato plants. Remember, the key to a great tomato harvest is to observe and understand your plants. With these tips and techniques, you’re on your way to a big harvest of perfectly ripe, delicious tomatoes.
