Garden Tomatoes – What Time Is Best?
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The length of time that it takes a tomato to bear fruit from the time it is planted varies. Depending on the type that you planted the growing and fruit bearing time can be as short as 50 to 65 days for a short season type tomato or as long as 80 to 90 days for late season varieties. As to when to pick them that is entirely up to you. Of course if they are firm and red they are ready, but it is a personal preference.
It is always best to allow tomatoes to ripen on the vine and unless you plan on putting them up (canning) for delicious winter menus it will be to your advantage not to pick them all at once. Tomatoes that are allowed to ripen on the plant will not be bright red, but have more of an orange hue. This happens when the climate temperatures become too high. Climates that have very high temps usually still have flavorful tomatoes but not bright red ones you never know.
Whether the tomato is orange or red, make sure that it is good and firm before you pick it off the vine, very hard firm tomatoes should be left on the vines until they begin to soften. Be careful not to leave them on to long, and extra day or two is fine. Allowing them to become too soft will only attract garden pests and birds. Most of your garden vegetables, especially the tomatoes will need to be picked before the first frost comes. By the passing of late summer, if you still have a lot of tomatoes, then they must be picked, even if they have not reached their normal size. Cold will destroy your tomato plants quickly, so if you are expecting a few more warm tolerable days and there is a threat of frost at night, cover them with heavy plastic or blankets.
If you must pick them green before the frost, pick them bring them indoors and store them in a box with a lid and placing them in a single layer and adding a few apples to help with the ripening process that the ethylene gas from the apples will emit. I have tried this method when I have left my plants out after the frost. I have kept them covered during the night and uncovered during the day, until I bring them in and this allows me to have tomatoes for a longer period of time. Of course the climate you live in will play an important role in how long your plants will last, but there is nothing like being able to enjoy the fruit of your own harvest for as long as you can.
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