Growing Tomatoes
HOW TO GROW TOMATOES STEP BY
STEP
HARVESTING
Supermarket tomatoes are picked underripe. They are firm and easy to pack and transport, but lack flavor. Leaving the fruits on the plant to ripen naturally greatly improves the flavor. The longer you leave them, the sweetet they'll get.
Towards the end of the season, start to prune off the older leaves to prevent fungal disease grey mould taking hold and to let in more sunlight.
If you find that the outdoor varieties are not ripening at the end of the season, try removing foliage, covering with cloches or picking fruits to rippen indoors.
During warm weather tomato fruit should be harvested twice a week. The red color in tomato fruit does not form when temperatures are above 86°F. Fruits allowed to ripen on the vine may be yellowish orange in extreme summer heat. For this reason, it is advisable to pick tomatoes in the pink stage and allow them to ripen indoors for optimum color development. About 70°F is ideal to ripen tomatoes. Light is not necessary to complete this ripening process. After tomatoes are ripened, they may be stored in the refrigerator for about one week at 45 to 50°F.
If fruit is left on the vine to ripen it should be removed from the plant while it is still firm.Allowing the fruit to remain on the plant until full maturity increases the chances of the fruit cracking. Cracking is more of a problem after rain. Just before frost in the fall, remove the green tomatoes on the vines, remove the stems, and wipe with a soft cloth. Wrap each tomato in newspaper or waxed paper. Store in a cool, dark area about 55 to 60°F, and check frequently to remove any decaying or damaged fruit. As the fruits begin to turn pink, remove them and ripen at 70F. You should have ripe tomatoes until Thanksgiving or Christmas using this technique.
