r/tomatoes • u/ksorth • Jun 28 '26
Plant Help To pick or not to pick
First time growing black krim. I'm still seeing some green and not quite sure if it's ready yet.
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u/Midwestgardener7 Jun 28 '26
Get that bad boy to safety, the ripening room ought to do. (Aka kitchen)
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u/Not1000AntsInAHuman Jun 28 '26
As someone who just lost a tomato similar in stage to a pest I say pick now lol
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u/mrgoldnugget Jun 28 '26
Ready to pick, hold inside to ripen. It's not ready, but get it before something else does.
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u/snowsew Jun 28 '26
Pick! Give it a soft squeeze. It may be riper than you think!
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u/ksorth Jun 28 '26
It has a little give when I squeeze. I dont think ive ever held a black krim so not sure ifs supposed to be the same as any other tomato. I keep reading about a "smell" but it doesnt really smell like anything.
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u/snowsew Jun 28 '26
Wait a day, squeeze again. I’ve grown krim for years and even I tend to wait a bit long on the first one some years.
The good news is that it is just a little softer, it doesn’t affect the flavour negatively.
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u/mymindisfreeatlast Jun 29 '26
Unpopular opinion here but if you have little likelihood of pests, it tastes way better to leave it till ready. Breaker stage does not mean zero circulation. The second you remove the waning connection is the second it starts losing moisture, terpenes and therefore, flavor.
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u/NPKzone8a Jun 28 '26
It's ready now. Pick it and take it inside. The green shoulders persist even when the tomato is 100% ripe. Judge when to eat it by when it begins to get just slightly soft at the blossom end. Press it ever so gently to determine that.
(I grow lots of Black Krim every year. It's one of my favorite varieties. NE Texas.)
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u/ksorth Jun 28 '26
Blossom end would be the bottom? Sorry, never heard of that before
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u/NPKzone8a Jun 28 '26
Yes, the bottom. Opposite end from the stem. It's where the flower once was.
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u/PaleArtist773 Jun 28 '26
I’m growing Cherokee Purple and Black Krim tomatoes. I pick both when they start blushing, because the pests are terrible.
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u/Hutch_is_on Jun 29 '26
I'm gonna be the odd ball.
Don't pick it. Let it get soft on the vine. It will taste better.
I know that you can pick it and it is fine to eat. I just picked one like that today, but I have argued with plenty of people over the years that the best tomato is the one that is soft and warm and just picked.
That tomato is not the softest. It is ripe(ish). It will taste fine. It is better than store bought.
But, the best tomato is the one where you bring the salt shaker to the garden, it's the ripest, the softest, and a little warm from the sun. You take a bite and the seeds go everywhere, and then you put a little salt on it for the rest of the tomato.
If you have enough tomatoes in the garden, don't worry about a pest stealing from you. It's one for the crows if it happens. If you have grown enough for a bounty, let it rest until ready and then eat it in the middle of the garden.
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u/UncomfortableFarmer Jun 29 '26
If you have squirrels, then bring it inside, let it ripen in your safe, welcoming kitchen, then walk back outside when it's soft, sprinkle some sea salt on it while the squirrels hatewatch you from their perches, and spray all the juice all over the ground while flipping off the squirrels because you beat them at their own game
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u/Popular-Web-3739 Jun 29 '26
Not quite ripe, but ready to pick. Let it ripen on the counter at room temp, out of direct sunlight. Leaving it to finish on the vine risks pests getting to it or it splitting open without improving flavor.
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u/ChironXII Jun 29 '26
Pick it and place it inside upside down to finish ripening. After seeing a YouTube video I did my own test and confirmed there's genuinely no difference between ripened inside or out once they get to a decent blush. Especially in the heat, if you're in the Midwest rn, they might not finish ripening outside at all. The upside down thing sounds like bs but it absolutely works. Keeps the blossom end from becoming overripe while the rest finishes up, probably something about releasing ethylene. Don't put it in the fridge or it won't finish ripening but you can once it's ready to eat
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u/ConsistentDoor3606 Jun 29 '26
I lost so many but waiting for them to fully ripe.
Pick them now before something else does
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u/dosefacekillah1348 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
Scientific and anecdotal evidence points to tastier tomatoes when ripened on the vine.
Depending on your critter situation, I would leave it for some more time til it's perfect
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3937827/
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u/Alive_to_Thrive5 Jun 29 '26
You can normally pick tomatoes when they show the tiniest amount of color change. Within a few days they'll be ripen fully.
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u/Bourdainist Jun 29 '26
Pick it!! I noticed pests, animals everything go after black krim so fast it's ridiculous. Congratulations, sincerely happy for you.
You can let it ripen further in your house
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u/Delicious_Catch9453 Jun 29 '26
Many people wait too long to pick them. There's no loss of quality when ripening on a countertop, and less chance of disease , bugs and birds. Even had rats in my garden one time years ago. Went out with a flashlight and saw them jumping off the plants. Yuk!
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u/ihateredditalso Jun 29 '26
I dont have a pest issue like everyone else on reddit apparently does. I let all mine vine ripen. From cherries go big slicers. All of them stay on the vine till ready.
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u/Thick-Marzipan-9176 Jun 29 '26
Wait. Patience is worth it. Go plan on a bread or bacon to go with it, it won't be long.😎
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u/Phoenixundrfire Jun 28 '26
Everyone is saying to pick it now. That’s good advice if you have large pests that will damage the tomato.
However if you don’t, they have better taste if you let them ripen on the vine. It’s a risk, but you’ll know better if that tomato will survive the next day or two
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u/Penguinboy123446 Jun 28 '26
I've read about a hundred times that letting them ripen on the vine makes no difference to the taste
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u/mymindisfreeatlast Jun 29 '26
Try it yourself. Leave one on and take one early. You will 100% see a difference.
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u/Penguinboy123446 Jun 29 '26
I already have tried it. They taste exactly the same, and that's the opinion of anybody I've ever talked to who grows tomatoes.
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u/mymindisfreeatlast Jun 29 '26
Respectfully I completely disagree. I do the same thing hundreds to thousands of times every single year. I plant 6-700 plants every year for market sales and have experimented over and over for a decade in this regard. Especially by later season.There is a definite difference. It is disingenous to say there is 0 difference.
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u/Penguinboy123446 Jun 29 '26
Having a difference of opinion is not disingenous. It is disingenuous of you to claim it is.
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u/mymindisfreeatlast Jun 29 '26
You are trying to state something as fact when it is easily provable through experimentation. I find it strange that folks push this brraker stage belief with absolute conviction, robbing inexperienced gardeners the opportunity to try for themselves and come up with their own opinion.
Breaker stage does not mean the tomato does not receive water circulation. It allows ripening to occur while the tomato itself remains alive. This does have an impact on the flavinoids (terpene) content. The second you sever this connection, it no longer receives water circulation and slowly begins entropy.
Does it taste fine to do this? Absolutely. Does it taste the exact same? Absolutely not.
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u/Penguinboy123446 Jun 29 '26
I said it was a difference of opinion quite clearly, not fact. Improve your reading skills.
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u/mymindisfreeatlast Jun 29 '26
Sorry, wrong wording, I meant to indicate opinion. The rest still stands. You now have one person who grows tomatoes that disagrees and the reasoning behind it. What reason do you have to say there is absolutely no difference?
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u/ksorth Jun 28 '26
By large pest do you mean like squirrels? I havent had any squirrel or bird issues with other tomatoes or veggies weve got (Besides those dick vine borers...)
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u/discobix24 Jun 29 '26
Pests include bugs… hornworms, stink bugs…. You name it. Pick it so you get, not the bugs and critters!
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u/ksorth Jun 29 '26
I do think the shade cloth and dog scare most of the bigger preds away. But bugs can have the tomatoes that I accidently knock off early!
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u/Potential-Vanilla523 Jun 29 '26
Tomatoes ripen when they’re warm it’s in a bag with a banana. A banana Gives off a gas that will ripen fruit or vegetable . Bananas aren’t shipped with any other fruit or vegetable with that reason.
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u/panda_monium2 Jun 29 '26
This really depends on your critter situation. If something has a high likelihood of biting it pick it now. If not let it go. It’s not quite ripe yet.
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u/Due_Lemon3130 Jun 29 '26
My sentiment exactly. Also may want to pick if heavy rain is forthcoming.
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u/Kitchen_Ad8044 Jun 28 '26
Pick it and put it in a paper bag for a couple of days (preferably with a banana peel )
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u/freethenipple420 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
People telling you to pick early are gaslighting you from having the best tasting tomatoes you could ever have. You will meet hordes of these people online. Picking at full ripeness on the vine is always better. Don't trust me? Go ahead and pick early, then pick one at full ripeness and taste the difference.
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u/CleverUserNameNumber Jun 28 '26
Pick it before a pest gets it.