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Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

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Old September 11, 2012   #1
cecilsgarden1958
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Default Pick tomato ripe from vine or not

My neighbor was asking why I picked my tomatoes before they were all the why ripe and I told him I learned here that they had all there sugar set prior to full ripening and did not need left on the vine. He wants to know how that is different from what shippers do. Why not leave them ripen all the way on the vine?

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Old September 11, 2012   #2
habitat_gardener
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Shippers pick them green, and they choose varieties that stay fairly hard, ripen uniformly, are a standard size, and look plastic. They're (sometimes? always?) refrigerated, which ruins whatever vestige of flavor may have remained. And ethylene gas is used to make them turn red so that they "look like" tomatoes but bear no other resemblance to the tomatoes grown in a garden.

Tomatovillians (speaking for myself) pick them with some or a lot of color, having chosen varieties that don't stay hard or look uniform. They might be contenders for Ugliest Tomato contests, but the flavor is out of this world. Waiting until full ripeness would make the tomato irresistible to other critters, including squirrels, birds, and passers-by at the community garden. Also, many real tomatoes are quite fragile at the peak of ripeness and would be reduced to sauce (or juice) on a bouncy truck ride (or, in my case, a bouncy bicycle ride -- it only happened once).
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Old September 11, 2012   #3
Worth1
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CRITTERS!!!!!!

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