Newbie question - why pick at first blush?

[glypnirsgirl]

I have seen several posters mention that they pick their tomatoes at first blush. I am curious about why one would choose to do that. It seems to me that one of the advantages of home grown tomatoes is to get them all the way to ripe on the vine to maximize flavor, so why pick early?

Elaine

[Lee]

To keep the critters from getting them.
To keep them from splitting due to an unexpected rain storm.

Supposedly, once the fruit starts to blush, they are technically ripe.... at least
as far as flavors go. So you won't see much difference in flavor by letting it
sit longer on the vine. The tomatoes in the store are picked green (ie. unripe and
hard which makes for good shipping.) They are gassed to get them to change
color, but they don't get the "ripe" flavor.

Hope others can chime in with their opinions as well.

Lee

[PaulF]

I was a little skeptical about the "first blush" picking when others wrote about it. I felt vine ripened was best. I still cannot bring myself to pick at first blush but wait until mine are mostly ripe to pick. Cracking and critters are one reason, but the other is laziness on my part. If I am in the garden and I see a tomato mostly ripe it is easier to harvest then rather than come back later and maybe have an overripe fruit.

The taste is so close to vine ripened I can't tell the difference. So pick away.

[Barbee]

I pick at first blush.The mockingbirds try to beat me to the ripe ones, so picking at first blush keeps them from damaging the fruit. And like the others said, it keeps them from splitting when rain is forecasted.
Cherry tomatoes. I clip them at first blush and bring them in on the counter. Once they are ripe, the stem is dried up and flicks off without tearing the cherry tomato or ripping the skin. This works really well for those varieties that split when you try to pull the stem off. Matt's Wild Cherry comes to mind LoL

[creister]

I have picked even when the fruit is at the very white color, just before blush, and the flavor is still there. I would rather wait till blush. Anyway, as the others have already said, critters will get them if you wait.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by glypnirsgirl

I have seen several posters mention that they pick their tomatoes at first blush. I am curious about why one would choose to do that. It seems to me that one of the advantages of home grown tomatoes is to get them all the way to ripe on the vine to maximize flavor, so why pick early?

Elaine

There are too many mockingbirds, squirrels, raccoons, stink bugs, and other critters out there to risk leaving tomatoes on the plants. Every time I have left a tomato on the vine a day longer, I've regretted it as I come back and find bird, rodent, or bug bites.


Pick Early, Pick Often

I think the whole "vine ripened" thing is a myth. My tomatoes taste just fine even when picked early and ripened indoors.

[carolyn137]

I think when you pick is strictly related to what critters might damage the fruits if left on the vine as well as WHY you're picking them when you do.

When I was selling to farm stands and chefs I had to pick, never at first blush, but maybe half way up so there was some shelf life for them.

For home eating I never picked them at first blush either b'c I felt and still feel that I want them to ripen more on the vine.

When I was setting up fermentations for seed saving sometimes I'd have a half a bushel of just one variety and they'd be at all stages of ripeness.

When I eviscerated the ripe fruits I usually took a few big bites if it was a variety that was new and then record my impression of taste to go along with all the other data I'd already noted about a variety in the field.

And then I'd let the less ripe ones ripen up before setting up more fermentations. So with one variety I'd taste fully ripe ones and then ones that ripened off the vine.

So I guess I'm the last of the Mohicans, so to speak, whose tasting experiences don't always confirm what others say about fruits ripening up with the same taste even if picked at first blush.

[dice]

Science weighs in:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/20...toes071805.htm

[Blueaussi]

Originally Posted by dice

Science weighs in:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/20...toes071805.htm

That was interesting. Thanks for posting that.

I've always preferred to let my tomatoes ripen on the vine, but I have a mystery beast stalking the tomatoes this year. Whatever it is eats half the almost ripe tomato on the vine and leaves the rest. So, I'm bringing mine in at first blush this year.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dice

Science weighs in:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/20...toes071805.htm

Well, that's Chuck Marr's opinion, isn't it.

And yes, I know all about the scarring that's supposed to shut off anything getting into the fruits, but I often wonder about that, I really do.

I'm still not going to pick my fruits for home eating at first blush based on my own experiences.

[dice]

I imagine that the exact timing of complete abscission of
the fruit at the stem may vary a bit from one cultivar to
another. His examples in the lab were probably commercial
cultivars grown on a sufficient scale to be interesting to
local farmers. Who knows, he might have used Jetstar as
a study specimen.

[ContainerTed]

I've been doing some "observations" this year in regards to when to harvest for best seed production. No real data to report, but my current impression is that the maturity of the seeds is further along and more favorable to seed saving when the fruit is about half blushed/vine-ripened. I sense a tendency to have less immature seeds in fruit that has been left a little longer. I am also seeing some variation from variety to variety.

Right now, my recommendation is that if taste is the key, harvest anytime from "whitening" to full ripe. If seeds is the goal, let them stay until half ripe or better.

Again, no real supporting data, but just my "gut" feeling right now. My research continues.

Ted

[glypnirsgirl]

Hmm. Maybe it is psychosomatic, but the fully vine ripened fruit tastes better to me. I can tell the difference between the fruit that I pick (fully ripe) and the fruit my husband picks (well past first blush, but not fully ripe). He likes to set the tomatoes that he picks in our east-facing window and wait a couple of days to eat them. I like mine ready when I pick them. Maybe we are not letting the fruit that he picks ripen all of the way before eating them. I am going to try to be more observant.

We have lost very few of our fruits to the birds --- which is surprising to me because we have lots of birds in our neighborhood, but I never see any in our yard. I think that the birds are afraid of our dog -- who watches them intently for a chance to take a bite. So the only critters I have had to worry about are ants and hornworms.

thanks for the information.

Elaine

[Fert1]

I keep reading about Mockingbirds going after tomatoes. I must say my Mockingbirds seem very well-behaved under the circumstances. I've got lots of Mockingbirds in my yard. One does love to get outside my window when I'm trying to sleep in the morning and start chirping like crazy. Other than that, they behave. They've never gone after my tomatoes, nor have squirrels or other critters. Insects are a different matterly entirely though. Maybe the birds are happy and full from eating all the insects. LOL!

Anyway, I don't pull mine at first blush either, but I do tend to pull them at about the 80-90% ripe stage, especially varieties that are very prone to splitting. I can't tell any difference in taste. If there is a difference, it must be a minor difference, at least to most of us.

[the dudee]

i was wondering about this topic today, i've lost two maters in the last week to an unknown pest, most likely a bird. i will harvest at first blush from now on, i have three that i will pluck in the morning