After all the hard work you put into your tomato garden, the last thing you want to do is either pick tomatoes too soon or to leave them on the vine too long. Here are some tips on how to know when to pick tomatoes in your garden.

When To Pick Tomatoes

By Patricia Wainwright

If you have started your own tomato garden, have worked at it for months, tending to the plants, making sure they got all they needed, and you are now trying to find out what the best moment for harvesting them is, please read on. You will learn when to pick tomatoes to get the most out of you hard labor.

When to pick tomatoes is a personal option. If you need one or two tomatoes to satisfy your family’ daily needs, then the wisest thing to do is to pick the ripest tomatoes, and leave the rest to mature on the plant. The best thing to do, therefore, is to let your tomatoes ripen on the plant. It is not wise to pick them all at the same time, unless you are thinking of freezing them or using them for preserves, because they do not last for a very long period, even if kept in the fridge.

If you allow your tomatoes to ripen on the plant, you will probably see that they do not turn bright red, they get rather orangey. This is because the substance that gives tomatoes their red color does not form if temperatures are too high. If you live in a very warm climate, then, you may not get red tomatoes, but they will still be as tasty as ever.

Another good indicator that will tell you when to pick tomatoes is firmness. The tomatoes need to be colored (whether orange or red) and firm, but not rock-hard. If they are at that stage, let them stay on the plant for a couple more days. You must also be careful not to let them get too ripe, because when they are too soft they attract birds and other garden pests.

Finally, the last thing you must take into account to know when to pick tomatoes is climate. If most of the summer has passed, and you are still left with some green, not yet ripe tomatoes on the plants, it is imperative that you pick them all before the first spell of cold weather, even if they haven’t reached their normal size yet. If you leave them on the plants and the cold gets to them, they will be ruined completely. Once you have picked all these green tomatoes you can speed up the ripening process by putting them all into a box, one next to the other, making sure they are not on top of each other, and adding a couple of ripe apples. Close the box, leave it like this for a couple of days, and you will see that when you remove the lid they are ripe. The reason for this is that the apples, when ripening, emit a gas called ethylene that accelerates the ripening process.

Hopefully, this article has solved the problem of when to pick tomatoes, giving you clear guidelines and tips on how to make the most of your tomato crop. The feeling of actually picking the fruit from the plant is great, and one that every gardener, should experience!

Author Patricia Wainwright Resource: Get all the facts about gegetable gardening and gardening articles at GreenThumbArticles.com!

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