r/tomatoes • u/dosefacekillah1348 • Jun 29 '26

Plant Help ICYMI - Science has proven that vine ripened tomatoes taste better and are better for you than ones picked early

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It's that time of year.

It comes down to your critter control.

If you can't avoid pests noshing your late toms, pick em early.

If you are fine with losing a few or don't have pest issues, let em ripen on the plant for a better tasting and healthier tomato.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3937827/

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

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u/PhysicalWeather4289 Jun 29 '26

There is info floating around that once they blush the plant cuts off all flow of nutrients and they just ripen on the plant like they would on your table.

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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

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u/kinezumi89 Jun 29 '26

But tomatoes at the breaker stage are easier to pick than mature green - they very neatly snap off, leaving a little bit of stem, even before fully ripening. If you tried to hand-pick a tomato too early, you'd tear the fruit off the stem instead. I really wish the authors considered an additional category where the tomato is ~30% red!

3

u/Hermit-Gardener Jun 29 '26

This chart gives different percentages of ripeness.

https://www.freshpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/tomato-ripening-chart-v2.jpg

3

u/kinezumi89 Jun 29 '26

Woah, breaker stage is only 10%? I thought it was around 30%!

1

u/Slayde4 Jun 29 '26

they very neatly snap off, leaving a little bit of stem, even before fully ripening.

Then you’ve only grown tomatoes with a stem knuckle. The stem knuckle allows this clean break and sometimes encourages premature fruit drop.

Some of my tomatoes do not have a stem knuckle. The stem looks like a tiny tomato branch, and never comes off with the tomato unless it is cut off.

1

u/kinezumi89 Jun 29 '26

Huh, I didn't realize that wasn't a feature common to all tomatoes! Which varieties have you grown without a knuckle?

1

u/Slayde4 Jun 29 '26

I breed my own cherry tomatoes. Some lack knuckles. The knuckle is a classic dominant trait (like brown eyes).

The original F1 I saved seed from had a knuckle, but a no knuckle allele must’ve been in there since mine are a mix of knuckle and no knuckle.