Tomatoes:Ripen off the vine?

[Kstornado11]

Do you have any luck w/ having your tomatoes ripen off the vines? I've been doing battle w/ caterpillars, and since I refuse to use pesticides they are giving me a run for my money. I thought I'd pick some that looked pretty good sized & see how they do in the window. Trying to figure which is which (Martin?) I have Monkey Ass, Wisconsin 55 & Apricot Brandywine. Which are the ones that are pointed on the bottom?



To my delight I found these pretty orange cherry ones tonight on one of my younger plants!

[oneokie]

I picked 25+ gallons of green tomatoes just before frost last Thanksgiving. Still eating fresh tomatoes January of this year. Stored in boxes under the beds.

[Paquebot]

Monkey Ass is an oxheart type. They are pointed on the bottom like a real oxheart. They also are usually ribbed at the shoulders. Looks like you've got some nice ones there. One fruit last year was close to 2# and almost solid meat.

Martin

[VegRN]

I pick all my tomatoes when they start turning a little bit yellow and are no longer bright green. They have all ripened nicely in a basket on my kitchen counter. I did have some advice to not ripen them in sunlight, but rather to put them in a paper bag in a dark place like a cabinet to ripen. I did not change what I was doing because if it ain't broke don't fix it, but if you are having trouble with things not ripening it is a thought.

[where I want to]

For one thing, BTH will work on caterpillars and it is not a chemical pesticide- it's a bacteria that causes caterpillar's guts to stop working. Does not effect people or animals or bees, etc.
But also, I spent years living on the coast where temperatures did not get warm enough to ripen tomatoes unless you had a greenhouse. I would collect what I could during summer, then at the end of the season, I would pull up the whole plant, roots and all, and hang it upside down in the garage. The green tomatoes would continue ripening for some time. Of course, it was also cooler than a lot of other places in the US.

[Our Little Farm]

I had to pick all my tomatoes green last year due to a blight. I had one of those 5 tier shelf greenhouses and put them in there with the cover on, but open at the front. They ripened beautifully and you would never have known the difference in taste.

[Marcia in MT]

If at all possible, tomatoes should be totally ripened on the vine. Sure, you can pick them any time after the "break" stage and they will turn color and soften, but the plant is no longer pumping nutrients and carbohydrates and such into the fruit once you take it off the plant. So it's much better for taste and nutrition to leave it.

This isn't always possible, as some posters have noted, so picking them and putting them somewhere warm (not necessarily in direct sun) will enable them to change.

[PrettyPaisley]

Love the tomatoes all over your kitchen.

I am having to purchase tomatoes this year. Of the 55 plants I have blight is tearing them up. I'm getting them from a local farmer who pulls them after the break stage-the man is growing thousands of tomatoes. I had no idea about the nutritional value going down but it surely doesn't surprise me. Since my goal is to can so many (to keep from having to buy them canned at the store) I'm stuck in that "well it's better than off the shelf" conundrum.

[ksfarmer]

It is my understanding that the tomato receives nothing from the plant after the "break stage" is reached. As a professor of horticulture told me, "There is nothing good can happen to a tomato after it reaches break stage". The only things that can happen are negative; insect, sunscald,bird or animal damage, etc.

[Belfrybat]

OK - dumb question here. What is the "break stage"? I try not to pull tomatoes until they begin to turn colour -- is that what you are talking about?

[nancy237]

Glad to see this thread.
This is my first year to do more than 1-2 plants.

I have had a lot of my ripe tomatoes get a tiny hole
that has been invaded by ants on the last few days
, so I have been getting them
in before they fully ripen. They seem to taste great after they ripen but I did wonder
if I should spray for the ants or just keep getting them in a few days
early.

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by Belfrybat

OK - dumb question here. What is the "break stage"? I try not to pull tomatoes until they begin to turn colour -- is that what you are talking about?

That's close enough. When the seeds inside are mature, the next process for the tomato is to finish ripening. They may or may not be showing color outside but will ripen naturally. In the tomato industry, such tomatoes are considered vine-ripened even if finished off the vine.

Martin

[Osiris]

Have you tried dish soap diluted w/ water to spray on your plants? You can also make a tea out of tobacco (the old cigarette butts) and spray in on plants. Bugs don't like that stuff. Another is Chrysanthemum tea. Mums contain pyrethrin: an insecticide. You'll never see a mum plant being eaten by bugs.

There are a host of plants that also do well to inhibit insects in the garden and fix nutrients in the soil. And many ideas for companion planting are very helpful and important.

http://www.gardenguides.com/100296-v...atibility.html

http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/companionplant.html

[Marcia in MT]

Originally Posted by ksfarmer

It is my understanding that the tomato receives nothing from the plant after the "break stage" is reached. As a professor of horticulture told me, "There is nothing good can happen to a tomato after it reaches break stage". The only things that can happen are negative; insect, sunscald,bird or animal damage, etc.

This has me puzzled! How could a fruit NOT keep receiving nutrients while it's still on the plant? After all, the plant is trying to ripen the seeds inside.

I think the difference is in what different people consider "vine-ripened." As has already been pointed out, the industry has different standards than home gardeners, and that could be what this professor was referring to. Especially with his referrals to negative things that could happen afterwards, something that would concern a mass grower more than a home gardener. Not to say it cpouldn't happen to us, too, but we don't have the economies of scale that large farmers have.

I'm still trying to find a scientific opinion -- and even after that, I'm pretty sure that my opinion of those tomato-shaped objects in the grocery store won't change.

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by Marcia in MT

This has me puzzled! How could a fruit NOT keep receiving nutrients while it's still on the plant? After all, the plant is trying to ripen the seeds inside.

The professor was right. At breaker stage, the seeds are already fully mature and the fruit receives nothing more from the plant. They will ripen to the same quality if hanging on a vine or sitting on a shelf. Consequently grocers, or even yourself, can sell them as vine ripened if picked at the breaker stage. Do a blind taste test and you'll see it for yourself.

Martin

[where I want to]

Besides cutting an unripe-appearing tomato open, how can you tell that it has reached the break point? Tomatoes are ripening at different times on the same vine.

[Paquebot]

Originally Posted by where I want to

Besides cutting an unripe-appearing tomato open, how can you tell that it has reached the break point? Tomatoes are ripening at different times on the same vine.

Green green and breaker green are two different colors and vary by variety. Often it's the difference between deep green and olive green. The last thing to ripen is the outside and that can take place overnight. To get an idea, look at a spray of cherry tomatoes. You'll be able to see the slight changes in color from the ripest to the greenest.

Martin

[oneokie]

An analogy: http://msucares.com/crops/corn/corn7.html

[bee]

don't get tobacco anything around your tomatos..TMV is tobacco mosaic virus and a very serious tomato disease, just get out your seed catalogs and see how many kinds are noted to be resistant.

Wow, learn something every day,,breaker stage??!!!!

[Kstornado11]

OK Thanks Martin, I had a few that looked like the "Monkey Ass" you'd picture in your mind, such beauties, but something ( some nasty bug) beat me to them! Never hear of "oxheart", will haveta Google that one,too!
I will have to try the BTH, never heard of it, thanks! I have looked & looked for pests, but they seem to be in good hiding. Thanks to the poster who reminded me that I did use dish soap dilution for bug spray last year, w/ some good success, but can't remember what I mixed it with...? Garlic,maybe?

I dunno, but I think that after the awesome luck I have had w/ my cherry tomato TREE, I may just stick to that variety! If only I could cross the TASTE of thew Apricot Brandywine w/ my (knock wood) problem-free SUPER productive Cherry Tree, I will be one happy gardener!! Only problem I have had w/ the Cherry Tree is being FAST enough to pick 'em all !!!