What Is The Right Time To Harvest Your Tomatoes

What Is The Right Time To Harvest Your Tomatoes

Tomatoes are arguably the most popular vegetable, or fruit that people grow in their home garden. These plants are very easy to grow even on warm summer months. Therefore, it’s possible to grow a wide variety of this fruiting plant. The biggest reward you’ll get is at harvest time. But, when exactly is the best time to harvest your tomatoes?

Different types of plants crop differently. Those plants labeled “indeterminate” may grow to over 6′ tall while other varieties will spill over the edges of pots or walls, as hanging plants. The “indeterminate” varieties of plants tend to crop for the longest time – and will sometimes take a couple of months, while many of the small-fruited varieties tend to last quite a while as well. The medium-sized plants, or the “determinates” types, usually crop for about three weeks to one month.

Pick your tomatoes when they’re already “well colored” or when they’re already soften. They will keep growing longer once picked, especially if they’re still firm.
Tomato fruits will continue to ripe even after they’re picked, especially if they’re on a place where there are enough light and warm temperatures.

Therefore, crop all remaining tomatoes if there’s a frost forecast in your area. Once touched by frost, they will turn into a mush, so gather all your fruits before this will happen. Although they’re not yet ready to be harvested, crop them right away and put on a bright windowsill where there’s light, to make it ripen.

If you’ve already started your planting, then work at it for months. Tend the plants and ensure that they get all that they needed.

Deciding the proper time to crop your tomatoes is actually a personal choice. If you need only few tomatoes, just to satisfy your family’s daily needs, then the wisest thing to do is to just pick those ripest ones, and leave the rest of the fruits to mature.

The best thing to do, therefore, is to let them ripen while still attached to the plant. It’s not a good idea to harvest all of them at the same time, except if you’re thinking of freezing them, or use them for preserves, because these fruits won’t last, even though they are well kept on a fridge.

If you allow your tomatoes to become ripe, you’ll notice that they do not turn red or become rather orangey. This is because the substance that makes it red won’t form if the temperatures are high. If you’re living on a place with very warm climate though, then you won’t get red tomatoes, although they will still be tasty as ever.

Another good indicator that your tomatoes can be harvested is the “firmness”. They need to be colored (orange or red) and has to be firm, though not really “rock-hard.” If they’re not at that stage yet, let it stay there for just a couple more days. You should also avoid making them too ripen, because if it becomes very soft, they will attract birds and other pests.

Finally, the last thing you should consider on picking your tomatoes is climate. If the summer has passed, and you’re still left with some green tomatoes on your plant, instead of the ripe ones, then it’s imperative to gather all of them.

If the cold weather comes and you just leave them there, they will surely be ruined completely. Once you have picked all these green tomatoes, you’ll speed up its ripening by storing them inside a container, one next to the other, and ensuring that they’re not on top of each other, so to avoid it from getting crushed.