Green-When-Ripe, Piriform, 2013 - Page 2

remy · July 25, 2013

Very nice Travis!

DAC596 · July 29, 2013

I'm going to grow some green tomatoes next year for the first time. How can you tell when
a Green tomato is ripe?

**Lee** · July 29, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAC596

I'm going to grow some green tomatoes next year for the first time. How can you tell when
a Green tomato is ripe?

1. Feel... They become softer than when unripe
2. Variation in color from unripe green... also look for blossom end blushes (ie. amber/pink)
3. Go to Tatiana's site for reference or http://tomatopalooza.org and look at the pictures of the GWRs there.

Lee

travis · July 29, 2013

Dac, a green-when-ripe tomato essentially goes thru the same ripening process as a red tomato.

In the first stage, the hard green fruit takes on a white cast for a few days. This is called green wrap or green ripe. If you were to pick a red tomato in the green ripe stage, and slice it in half laterally, the gel inside the tomato would glisten, and appear green but transparent, and sort of watery like Jello that hadn't quite set up. And your knife wouldn't slice any seeds in half. That's green ripe, and the fruit is finished sizing up, sugaring up, and is just starting to "break color."

Green-when-ripe tomatoes go thru this stage just like red tomatoes do.

The next stage is the initial color break when the blossom end of a red tomato will take on a pink blush, and when you gently squeeze the fruit, the outside fruit walls will give or feel a bit pliable. Most green-when-ripe tomatoes do not take on this initial pink blush right at the same stage, but they do feel pliable to the touch. They still are not ready to pick.

Now, there are variations of green-when-ripe tomatoes. Some have clear skin (epidermis) and some have yellow epidermis, respectively just like "pink" or red tomatoes do. Some green-when-ripe tomatoes have bicolor interior flesh that streaks with red lycopene staining thru the core, and some green-when-ripe tomatoes will just have starburst pink or red flesh streaks just under the skin and in the pericarp (the outer wall flesh).

Some green-when-ripe tomatoes have both these red flesh streaking characteristics, and some will not show any streaking characteristics during cooler weather but will show one or both streaking characteristics during hotter weather. Example of pink starburst under hot conditions: Green Giant. Example of pink streaking in interior flesh and pink starburst at blossom end pericarp: Captain Lucky.

And then there are some green-when-ripe tomatoes that have alternately dark green and light green skin stripes, and when the tomato becomes ripe, one set of stripes will become yellow if the skin is clear, and amber if the epidermis is yellow. This is most pronounced at the blossom end. Example: Green Zebra.

Same is true of the other type of streaking ... the red streaking in the flesh. Those that have clear epidermis but red flesh streaks or starburst, the coloring will appear pink. Those with yellow epidermis will appear streaked in red or amber. Example: Aunt Ruby's German Green.

Obviously, the hardest green-when-ripe tomatoes in which to determine ripeness are the type that remain essentially free of red flesh streaking, or the least bit of lycopene staining just under the skin, and especially those with clear epidermis.

Those have to be judged ripe by touch. After a while, you will begin to detect ripeness in all of the green-when-ripe types by little nuances of color changes day by day.

Suggestion: Pick a few green-when-ripe tomatoes at the first detection of flesh softening, even if they appear completely green, and day by day watch the color shading change on the counter inside the house.

[Now Dac, in the meanwhile since I first read your question, I have been trying to carry on a telephone conversation with my nearly totally deaf, 94 y/o father, and I'm sure someone else has answered your question much more clearly than I have]

DAC596 · July 30, 2013

Thanks Lee and Travis. It will be fun to watch them grow next year. You've both been very helpfull.

NarnianGarden · July 31, 2013

Thank you travis for the extensive explanation

Now if someone could shed some light on tomato fruit growth: when the fruit has got into its glossy stage, is it done growing in size?

July 25, 2013	#16
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	Very nice Travis! __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop

July 29, 2013	#17
DAC596 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: MICHIGAN Posts: 26	I'm going to grow some green tomatoes next year for the first time. How can you tell when a Green tomato is ripe?

July 29, 2013	#19
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Dac, a green-when-ripe tomato essentially goes thru the same ripening process as a red tomato. In the first stage, the hard green fruit takes on a white cast for a few days. This is called green wrap or green ripe. If you were to pick a red tomato in the green ripe stage, and slice it in half laterally, the gel inside the tomato would glisten, and appear green but transparent, and sort of watery like Jello that hadn't quite set up. And your knife wouldn't slice any seeds in half. That's green ripe, and the fruit is finished sizing up, sugaring up, and is just starting to "break color." Green-when-ripe tomatoes go thru this stage just like red tomatoes do. The next stage is the initial color break when the blossom end of a red tomato will take on a pink blush, and when you gently squeeze the fruit, the outside fruit walls will give or feel a bit pliable. Most green-when-ripe tomatoes do not take on this initial pink blush right at the same stage, but they do feel pliable to the touch. They still are not ready to pick. Now, there are variations of green-when-ripe tomatoes. Some have clear skin (epidermis) and some have yellow epidermis, respectively just like "pink" or red tomatoes do. Some green-when-ripe tomatoes have bicolor interior flesh that streaks with red lycopene staining thru the core, and some green-when-ripe tomatoes will just have starburst pink or red flesh streaks just under the skin and in the pericarp (the outer wall flesh). Some green-when-ripe tomatoes have both these red flesh streaking characteristics, and some will not show any streaking characteristics during cooler weather but will show one or both streaking characteristics during hotter weather. Example of pink starburst under hot conditions: Green Giant. Example of pink streaking in interior flesh and pink starburst at blossom end pericarp: Captain Lucky. And then there are some green-when-ripe tomatoes that have alternately dark green and light green skin stripes, and when the tomato becomes ripe, one set of stripes will become yellow if the skin is clear, and amber if the epidermis is yellow. This is most pronounced at the blossom end. Example: Green Zebra. Same is true of the other type of streaking ... the red streaking in the flesh. Those that have clear epidermis but red flesh streaks or starburst, the coloring will appear pink. Those with yellow epidermis will appear streaked in red or amber. Example: Aunt Ruby's German Green. Obviously, the hardest green-when-ripe tomatoes in which to determine ripeness are the type that remain essentially free of red flesh streaking, or the least bit of lycopene staining just under the skin, and especially those with clear epidermis. Those have to be judged ripe by touch. After a while, you will begin to detect ripeness in all of the green-when-ripe types by little nuances of color changes day by day. Suggestion: Pick a few green-when-ripe tomatoes at the first detection of flesh softening, even if they appear completely green, and day by day watch the color shading change on the counter inside the house. [Now Dac, in the meanwhile since I first read your question, I have been trying to carry on a telephone conversation with my nearly totally deaf, 94 y/o father, and I'm sure someone else has answered your question much more clearly than I have]

July 30, 2013	#20
DAC596 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: MICHIGAN Posts: 26	Thanks Lee and Travis. It will be fun to watch them grow next year. You've both been very helpfull.

July 31, 2013	#21
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	Thank you travis for the extensive explanation Now if someone could shed some light on tomato fruit growth: when the fruit has got into its glossy stage, is it done growing in size?