FRQ - Help! When do you pick your tomatoes?

C

colleenmomof2

Well-known member
I have never successfully grown tomatoes until this year and there are hundreds on 3 container grown plants. In Michigan, a few of the grape tomatoes are coming ripe. I want them to have the maximum benefit of ripening on the vine but what exactly does that mean? And can I pick them "red" but leave them on the windowsill to ripen more? In each grape tomato cluster there are various levels of ripe. Should I cut the cluster and bring it inside or try to pick individual tomatoes? Do you pull or cut tomatoes and where, above the top or below? Have you added anything additional to the soil over and above tomato fertilizer? I can't wait for the full size tomatoes to ripen! What an adventure!

Thank-you for your expert advice! Colleen

 
colleen, some info...

there are many variables.

First and foremost, do you have any critters (birds, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, etc.) that are also admiring the new tomatoes? If that's the case start picking when they just turn red and use whatever deterrants you can to keep the tomatoes safe. You can finish ripening in a sunny window.

Of course it is better to ripen fully on the vine. Be careful about not over-watering since that has a tendency to make tomatoes crack.

The big tomatoes will be safer to cut. You can pull/twist them off, and when they're really ripe, they come off easily. But for thick branches, I cut so I'm not pulling and stressing the plant.

The grape tomatoes I pick as they ripen, and they just fall right off. I put my container (or hand) under the tomato and just sort of push it and it falls off, and I leave the still green/not ripe ones on the cluster.

I fertilize with a tomato fertiziler 1/x month. You want to be careful which ratio of nutrients you use because the wrong ratio will get all leaves and no blooms.

You asked about soil, it's a little late to do much about that now, but I used a mixture of potting soil, peat, compost, and perlite. The first year I did my containers I used regular garden soil and they were so heavy and the constant watering leached the soil to the point it was a heavy clod of clay and the plants didn't do well. I also use tomato cages which makes things so much tidier, compact, easy to manage, etc.

Congrats on the tomato crop!

 
Speaking of - anyone else having problems with slow ripening this year?

Mine are usually all done by now, and a lot haven't even started turning yet.

 
Mine were a totally bust this year

For the last 8 years (since I've had a vegetable garden) I've been growing lots of tomatoes (17 plants typically per year) and the crops have been amazing. This year my 8 plants, if I'm lucky, will produce a combine output of....8. They are pathetic. I don't know what happened and I try not to get too upset over it but when I look at my scrawny, dying plants I often start to hyperventilate:)

Deb

 
I don't remember what I was watching but there was a farmer in NJ who grows heirloom

tomatoes and he said his were just coming in, almost a month later than normal. something about the early summer being so wet, I think.

 
The local farmer said tomatoes need 90 degree days and 70 degree nights

consistently to ripen. We've yet to have that, so my tomatoes are still green. smileys/frown.gif

 
Nope - they are just super slow ripenig this year. I think Mo is right about the heat -

it has been cooler this year than the past few summers.

I had crummy luck with tomatoes all around this year - 2 tries with mail ordered heirloom seeds failed, and the Home Depot guys have been lackluster, to say the least.

 
Lisa, you're in a cool area. It's been a very hot summer down the road in Long Beach and everyone

in our garden has had a great year for tomatoes.

I have to find SOME disadvantage to those cool ocean breezes of yours! You may be able to find varieties that tolerate cooler weather.

Also, if you're planting them in the same spot each year the soil will accumulate viruses. They should be planted in a different spot from year to year.

 
Thank-you! Just the info I needed!

Thank you so very much for sharing! I know what to do now.

A couple more days of 90 degree weather this weekend and maybe the big tomatoes will begin to ripen so I can roast them as you suggested above. I was right there with you in your kitchen smelling wonderful smells! Colleen

 
Yes, I do need to move the tomato bed, maybe we did one year too many in this spot.

Plus, my neighbors had to remove their pine tree, which had been generously dumping needles in our yard and on that spot for who knows how long, adding lovely nutrients to the soil.

I'll have to ask them if I can climb the fence and start scooping them from their backyard. smileys/bigsmile.gif

We definitely have our own little microclimate here, actually all over the peninsula because of the hills and contours. We have a steady breeze here year round, except when the Santa Anas are in town. My friend, who lives less than a half- mile from me, but at the top of the hill, is constantly battling the heat. She's added awnings, shades, window tints, etc to try to keep the house cool with little success. Of course in the winter, they don't have the 5:00 fog rolling by like we do here, either.

 
Mine are about a month behind schedule too. It was a rainy summer and not

to hot until this week. In partial shade, but same spot as other years. I've noticed there are not too many local ones in the stores either, so I think it's just the way it went this year around here.

CynUpstateNY, are you gwing tomatoes this year, and how are they doing?

 
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