Question about picking when near ripe

[rzr]

I am planting jd's special tex, and a few others, maybe: better boy, mortgage lifter, brandywine, or something red, my wife likes red.

When picking these tomatoes last year I waited until they fully ripened on the vine, but half of my tomatoes were damage from someway or another before fully ripening.

So the question is, how much worse is the taste if you pick it right at starting to ripen and let it ripen inside?

[Ruth_10]

You'll get responses pro and con. In my opinion, if you're losing half your crop to pests or damage, then by all means pick them before they're fully ripe and let them ripen inside (they don't need to be on a windowsill to ripen). You will still have tomatoes with good flavor.

My own experience is that you do lose some flavor by picking early and if you can leave them on the vine until ripe you will have let the fruit reach its full potential.

Good luck!

[phreddy]

Ditto Ruth...

All I can say is that Supermarket pick them early.
Enough said?
On the other hand, end of season picking and ripening is a must - but that wasn't the question.

[tomatoguy]

Expanding on Ruth's comment; If you do need to bring them inside early, keep them separated from each other and place them right-side-up. If you don't, you will find that they can go from near-ripe to rotten very quickly.

mater

[nctomatoman]

I've actually found that really good varieties, when picked slightly underripe, do very well sitting on the shelf for a few days - the flavors come out just fine. The key is not letting them get near the interior of the refrigerator!

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by rzr

I am planting jd's special tex, and a few others, maybe: better boy, mortgage lifter, brandywine, or something red, my wife likes red.

When picking these tomatoes last year I waited until they fully ripened on the vine, but half of my tomatoes were damage from someway or another before fully ripening.

So the question is, how much worse is the taste if you pick it right at starting to ripen and let it ripen inside?

I think you were lucky to get 50% of the crop by leaving these tantalizing pest-magnets on the vine until dead ripe. In my opinion, there is absolutely no reason to wait until the tomato is fully ripe before picking.

Tomatoes at grocery stores taste awful because they are:

• Poor-tasting varieties (BHN444, Celebrity, Carnival, Sunmaster, etc.)
• Fed chemical fertilizers in practically sterile soil
• Picked completely green
• Gassed with ethylene
• Shipped up to 3,000 miles
• Refrigerated for days

All of those things conspire to produce the flavorless bags of pink water we get at the grocery store. Even that 'vine ripened' tag you see could legally describe tomatoes which are picked at the first sign of a white starburst on the bottom indicating breaker stage 2 (?) but not anything anyone of us would call "ripe".

Pick them when you see a substantial blush and you aren't missing anything -- except huge losses to insects, fungus, and splitting from unexpected rainstorms.

[rzr]

excellent replies, thanks!

[bryanccfshr]

I agree with Feldon. Let them start to turn and get them out of the garden and in to the safety of th ehouse. A bright near or fully ripe tomato is releaseing ethelyne gas andoterh indicators to bugs and birds that the dinner bell has been rung. Nothing is worst than seing a bright tomato nestled in foilage reaching in to pick it and having it turn to mush in your hands because you didn't find it in time.. Yuck!

[creister]

When they star to blush on the bottom, pick them. As Feldon said, don't put them in the refridgerator. Set them on a counter top. I haven't noticed much difference in taste between completely vine ripe or picked half ripe. As long as you grow good tasting varieties, taste will be there.

Why feed the bugs and mocking birds?

[rzr]

When I let them ripen in the house, wont they attract fruit bugs? What is a way to prevent this if that occurs?

[feldon30]

I have not had any problem with fruit flies being attracted to ripe (but not overripe) tomatoes.

[gardengalrn]

I haven't had a big flavor issue bringing them in when they have a blush. As someone pointed out, if the tomato was good to begin with, you won't lose MUCH flavor. It sure beats losing the whole tomato to bugs or splitting. Also, I've not had fruit fly issues when the tomatoes weren't over ripe. Of course, when you have a bunch on the counter sometimes it is unavoidable to have one or two a little over ripe by the time you get to it...maybe that's just me though.

[barkeater]

As a general rule, for peak flavor I pick 3 days before dead ripe.

From Produce Express:

"The term ‘vine ripe' can be confusing-the best way to ripen tomatoes is to pick them off the vine just as their color is starting to change from orange to red, and to keep them inside for several days at room temperature. This will maximize their sugar and acid content, which actually decreases if the fruit is left on the vine to finish ripening. "

[hoping4tomatoes]

I do exactly as Barkeater does....I pick almost fully ripe, plenty of "color", but not fully ripe....Otherwise, the birds know they're there!!!! I've watched mine hourly before, put up deterrents, and still lost the battle. When I save them a bit early, it has worked out great!!!

[duajones]

Agreed, I have to pick a little early to keep the mockingbirds from getting to them and I havent noticed much difference at all versus ones that were picked vine ripe.