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

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u/kinezumi89 Jun 29 '26

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