When is the Optimal Time to Pick Tomatoes?
Should you let tomatoes ripen on the vine, or pick them early? Let’s look at how tomatoes ripen to find out. Join backyard vegetable grower Jerad Bryant as we determine the optimal time to pick tomatoes.
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Tomatoes can be tricky vegetables—with so much information available about them, it is difficult to know which methods work best. That is why I always encourage experimentation in your garden. When you change variables each year, you learn what works and what doesn’t.
Tomato harvesting is one of those hotly-contested actions, and each gardener has uniquely tried and true methods. We now know that harvesting tomatoes a little early has little impact on their final flavor so long as they’ve started to change colors.
Let’s learn all about tomato picking!
The Short Answer
The “breaker stage” (40-50% color change) is the optimal time to pick tomatoes—it helps you manage incoming tomato harvests, store tomatoes for later usage, and prevent birds or squirrels from getting to your fruits before you do. The breaker stage occurs when more than half a tomato has changed color to its ripe hue. Pick and bring them inside to ripen fully for the best flavor and texture.
The Long Answer
Tomatoes taste best at the height of their ripeness—this means underripe and overripe fruits will taste different than you’d like them to. Some say to let them ripen fully on the vine, however this can cause a myriad of issues.
If you let tomatoes turn fully red on plants—you’ll have to fight birds, squirrels, and rodents over your fruit. Overripe fruits are also disease and pest magnets, inviting garden invaders that quickly turn harvests into mushy messes.
But if you pick too early, like when they first start changing color, and they’ll be hard, bland, and mealy. They’ll lack the sweet juices we expect from this crop.
Let your tomatoes ripen halfway, pick them, and let them ripen fully inside. This method works great in all USDA growing zones—it particularly helps gardeners with short growing seasons.
How Tomatoes Ripen
When you pick tomatoes as 40-60% of their skin changes color, you still pick “vine-ripened tomatoes.” This stage is the breaker stage when green fruits “break” color. Taste tests show that fully vine-ripened and those picked at the breaker stage have identical flavor, sweetness, and texture at maturity.
Once more than half a tomato fruit changes color, it draws less nutrients from the vine. All the sugars and flavors it needs sit inside the fruit; they activate with warmth and light.
This means you can pick a partially ripened tomato— it’ll ripen to its full potential on your kitchen counter. You’ll know it’s fully ripe when all its skin changes to the final color and the flesh is firm, not mushy. At this stage, you’ll want to eat them, store them, or process them into sauces and canned goods.
Your Garden Conditions
Your climate, ecoregion, and soil type affect the tomato maturing process. Regions like the southern West Coast valleys will have tomatoes at the breaker stage by early summer. Other gardeners, like those on the East Coast, may have fruits ready for picking by midsummer or fall.
If you have a long growing season with warm temperatures from spring through fall, you’ll be harvesting all summer! Keep up on your harvests throughout the season. If you have too many fruits, try preserving them in sauces, or make tomato paste. Harvesting them continuously allows your plants to keep producing more fruits.
Growers like me in the Pacific Northwest can still have considerable tomato harvests; they occur later than in warm winter zones. Growing zones 8 and below have even less warm temperatures to mature tomatoes. If you let all the fruits ripen on the vine in these regions, they’ll turn mushy with fall frost. Pick at the breaker stage, then bring your harvest indoors for a higher quality yield.
Different Tomato Varieties
Some varieties are ready to pick earlier than others. Cherries like ‘Yellow Pear’ turn color much quicker than large, heirloom types. The cherry tomato fruit is small, meaning it has less fruit to ripen. My small-fruiting varieties are always the first ones ready.
Other types have genetics that allow them to ripen their fruits quicker; these varieties are often the ones we eat at the grocery store. Types like ‘Early Girl,’ Oregon Spring,’ and ‘Pozzano’ work well with short growing seasons. They’re also great if you want ripe tomatoes earlier than your neighbors!
Late-ripening varieties fall on the opposite side of the spectrum—they won’t be ready to pick until at least midsummer, and by fall in cool summer regions.
Choice Early Varieties:
How to Pick Tomatoes
Some varieties are easy to pick, like cherry types. Simply pull them and they’ll pop right off the vine. Other types, like big, beefy heirlooms require some tools to harvest. Pulling them off the vine could damage stems and leaves in the process.
Use harvest snips or pruners to slice through tomato vines. Cut fruits off the vine, leaving a bit of the “green hat” (pedicel or sepals) attached to the top. This keeps the fruits sealed until you want to eat them.
Tomato Storage Methods
Once you pick at 40-60% ripeness, you’ll want to ripen them fully indoors at room temperature before refrigerating. Since they are shielded from water stress, heat, and pests, your fruits will lack blemishes or bruises when they’re ready. Follow these two steps to have flavorfully sweet fruits every harvest.
Step One: Leave On The Counter
Half-ripened tomatoes need some time at room temperature to ripen further. Place them on your countertop in the kitchen and let them ripen until they reach peak maturity.
Refrigeration slows down sugar building and flavor development, so putting a fully ripened tomato in the fridge won’t hurt it; in fact, it’ll preserve it at peak ripeness!
Check your countertop regularly to see if they’re ripe. Lightly push on their skin—it should be firm but not hard. The final color of your fruits will depend on their variety. Some, like ‘Cherokee Carbon,’ grow purple with blotches. Others turn red, like the traditional ‘Roma’ varieties.
Eat fully ripe tomatoes fresh, or cook them in your favorite recipe. If you’re not ready to eat them, you’ll want to store them in the fridge!
Step Two: Store In Your Fridge
Fully ripe fruits are ready for cold storage. Cold storage prolongs their shelf life for two weeks, meaning you can harvest today to eat in a few weeks! They’ll stay flavorful, textured, and delicious in your crisper drawer.
The only time you’ll want to avoid cold storage is with green or partially ripe tomatoes. They’ll stay at the stage they’re in. When you pull them out of the fridge expecting ripe red fruits, you’ll have bland, hard fruits. Always let them ripen on the countertop before putting them in the fridge.
If desired, you can bring them back to room temperature and sprinkle with salt for optimal flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How red should tomatoes be before picking?
You’ll want to pick tomatoes once they’re half ripe, or 40-60% ripe. You can leave tomatoes to ripen further on the vine, although this may attract animals that’ll eat your fruits before you do. I recommend picking them half-ripe for inside storage.
Why do my tomatoes split after picking?
Tomatoes sometimes split after picking if they’re overripe and mushy. They also split after recent water stress. If your plants experience water stress, stick to a regular watering schedule and see if the splitting goes down.
Will picking green tomatoes ripen?
Picking fully green tomatoes will not ripen. They need to be at least 40-60% ripe to ripen fully after picking.
