Knowing When to Harvest Tomatoes
When and how you pick decides how a tomato tastes and how well it travels. Harvested at the right stage and handled gently, fruit holds its flavor and keeps longer — and picking often keeps the plant producing. The ripeness signs are simple once you know them.
Step by step
- 1
Read the ripeness signs
Pick when the fruit is fully colored for its type but still slightly firm. Fruit you'll move or sell travels better picked at first full color and finished off the vine than dead-ripe.
- 2
Pick gently
Twist the fruit until it releases, or cut the stem with clean shears. Pulling tears the plant and bruises the fruit — and bruised tomatoes don't keep.
- 3
Harvest regularly
Check plants every couple of days at peak season. Frequent picking keeps the plant setting new fruit and stops ripe tomatoes splitting on the vine.
- 4
Handle and store with care
Keep picked fruit out of direct sun, and store it at room temperature rather than the fridge — cold dulls the flavor. Move fruit in shallow layers so the weight doesn't crush the bottom.
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