ArcaMax

Q: I took your advice and tried some new vegetables in my garden this year. I have several colors of tomatoes that are not red. I am new to gardening, so how do I tell when the various colors of tomatoes are ripe?

A: Even though everyone thinks they know how to pick red tomatoes, I would guess that many people pick them at the wrong time. Different colors make it even harder. Some varieties are ripe when others are not, even with the same characteristics.

First, you can get a good idea of when the tomatoes should be ripe by reading the seed package or the label that came with the plants. Some ripen a week or two earlier than others. At the same time, weather changes, watering problems and sunlight or shade can all influence the growth of the plant and when it begins producing flowers and fruit.

Tomatoes that ripen on the vine taste better than tomatoes picked too early. Pick a ripe tomato and eat it in the next day or two for maximum enjoyment. As tomatoes ripen, they produce ethylene gas, which is a natural ripening chemical found in many fruits and vegetables. Once this chemical is being produced, the tomato can be harvested.

Commercially produced tomatoes are picked when green and treated with ethylene gas to ripen them. Green tomatoes are not ready to produce their own gas, and the artificially ripened tomato isn't mature enough to have flavor and other chemicals yet.

If you pick the tomato just after it starts to turn its mature natural color, it is mature enough to already have the full complement of flavor and other chemicals. (Tomatoes have around 30 different chemicals that contribute to taste and fragrance.) This is much earlier than most people will pick a tomato. The problem with waiting a week or more until it has its full color is that it is exposed to mammals, insects, snails and slugs, weather damage and cracking from inconsistent watering.

Tomatoes ripen from the bottom up and from the inside out. When you begin to see the right color, the tomato is already 50% ripe. If the tomato comes off the stem with a slight tug, and the tomato is firm but not hard as a rock, it is ready to be picked. If you pick it now, you save it from all the bad things that could happen, but you still need to allow the tomato to finish ripening indoors.

Store the tomato stem-side down, out of direct sunlight, in a cool, dry location. Do not store it in the refrigerator. Placing one or more in a paper bag will speed up the ripening. In a couple of days, the tomato will be perfect -- not overripe and not damaged. Tomatoes that look perfect on the vine are often too soft and are starting to go bad.

Sound like too much work? OK, here is a cheat sheet. Small tomatoes: Pick when full color but still firm. Large tomatoes: Pick when the top shoulder is slightly green and the rest is full color. Paste tomatoes: Pick in full color but still firm. Heirloom tomatoes: Pick in full color and before it starts to soften.

There are exceptions, of course. Some purple tomatoes turn color way before the tomato is ripe on the inside. Wait until the bottom of the tomato that has been green when the rest is purple turns red. The fruit will soften slightly at the same time. The shoulder of Cherokee Purple tomatoes turns dull olive green when the tomato is ripe.

Play close attention to your tomatoes and do taste tests. You will figure out when the best time to pick your tomatoes is for you.

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Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Copyright 2025 Jeff Rugg. Distributed By Creators.