Full Flavor

Starlight · July 3, 2015

I'm having to pick my tomatoes in the blush stages if I want to have any. Too many critters.

I was wondering, since all I am growing is new heirlooms to me, I have no idea what they should taste like.

Does picking in the blush stage, ripening on counter cause loss of flavor when the tomato eventually ripens?

Are there some tomatoes that do taste better if left to ripen on the vine?

brooksville · July 3, 2015

You are going to a lot of different opinions. I too pick pick at blush to prevent big damage and to me they are fine.

BigVanVader · July 3, 2015

I have seen no effect on taste if I pick early or wait till fully ripe. I always pick mine early if its going to rain or if there are critters about and have eaten a vine ripened and one that ripened on the table for a few days in one sitting, the taste was indistinguishable between the two.

VC Scott · July 3, 2015

In my experience, there is no difference in flavor between vine ripened and counter ripened.

Just don't let your dear spouse put them in the refrigerator.

efisakov · July 3, 2015

I had to pick Peg's Round Orange last year (plant was gone). They all ripened and were just out of this world. I picked them ripe this year, very good taste. They were better picked green, hm. What to do?

Gardeneer · July 3, 2015

In order to find out do this:

1-Take almost 2 identical ( on the same truss).
2- Pick one at blush and let it ripen on the counter, the other one on the vine.
3- Do a blind taste test. ( have some one to assist you)

That should settle it.

Gardeneer

Cole_Robbie · July 4, 2015

I thought everyone picked at first blush. That's how I do it. Sometimes I miss a tomato here and there, and they do get very ripe on the vine, but I have not noticed those fruit to taste any better.

b54red · July 4, 2015

I pick all my tomatoes at first blush unless I miss one because of critters and fear of splitting from the rain we get frequently and unexpectedly. I have never noticed much difference in the taste. I have noticed it is much easier to let a tomato get too ripe when you leave it on the vine just a few hours too long especially some of the black tomatoes like Black Krim.

Bill

AlittleSalt · July 4, 2015

Until this growing season, I would have answered to pick at first blush. I let a couple tomatoes stay on the vine until they were over-ripe. I was going to use them for saving seeds and didn't have room on our seed saving area for them yet. One was, "Bradley" I cut it open and the flesh was so deep red and it glistened. I had to try it - it tasted wonderful.

I did this with a Black Krim, and again, it tasted real good.

I still pick most at first blush because my wife likes firm tomatoes better, but I leave a few to fully ripen too.

luigiwu · July 4, 2015

Wow, I had assumed the opposite, that people let the tomatos ripen on the plant! I've always had issues with tomatoes splitting from too much rain so picking at first blush is how it should be done??
Is 'first blush' literally just any color on the tomato or does it mean something more definitive?
Cherries like Sungold, people leave to ripen on the plant, no?

Cole_Robbie · July 4, 2015

First blush means any color at all. I pick cherries the same way. Cherries will crack just like slicers if they get too much water while ripening.

Gardeneer · July 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by luigiwu

Wow, I had assumed the opposite, that people let the tomatos ripen on the plant! Is 'first blush' literally just any color on the tomato or does it mean something more definitive?
Cherries like Sungold, people leave to ripen on the plant, no?

With an exception of GWR, when you see a suggestion of the ripe color, that is called "Color Break". So you can pick Sungold when it is mostly green with some yellow on the blossom end. With Sungold being prone to cracking ( due to very thin skin) is pays off to prevent spoilage by picking at color break.

AlittleSalt · July 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by luigiwu

Wow, I had assumed the opposite, that people let the tomatos ripen on the plant! I've always had issues with tomatoes splitting from too much rain so picking at first blush is how it should be done??
Is 'first blush' literally just any color on the tomato or does it mean something more definitive?
Cherries like Sungold, people leave to ripen on the plant, no?

Luigiwu, I do let our cherry tomatoes ripen on the vine, but that's because it is usually hot and dry here by July.

**carolyn137** · July 4, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starlight

I'm having to pick my tomatoes in the blush stages if I want to have any. Too many critters.

I was wondering, since all I am growing is new heirlooms to me, I have no idea what they should taste like.

Does picking in the blush stage, ripening on counter cause loss of flavor when the tomato eventually ripens?

Are there some tomatoes that do taste better if left to ripen on the vine?

Most of the time when I was growing several hundreds of varieties each summer I had no idea what they were supposed to taste like and nor did my tomato friends b/c there were no Tania pages to look and no mention of many of them , as to taste, in either Gleckler's or Seeds Blum, where I bought many seeds before I became an SSE member in 1989.

I know that taste is personal and perceptual and that there's a human genetic component involved, so it's perfectly possible that someone might love the taste of a variety and others can't stand it, and we've seen that here in many threads. Just too many variables involved in growing tomatoes that can affect the taste such as the weather in any seson, how the plants are grown as in containers, inground, staked, trellised, etc, as well as which amendments might be used and if so, how much and when used.

I never picked at first blush, and yes, there are four breaker stages which are used mostly by commercial farmers who use ethylene gas to hasten ripening to ship them out, thus the hard pink ones many of us see in the winter, at least where I live.

I never picked at first blush b'c many times the seeds were not mature enough to process by fermentation and where I grew my tomatoes there were no critters to deal with/ However when picking tomatoes for fermentation I would pick mostly ripe ones knowing the seeds were better, but also some that had colored up maybe half way, about breaker 2 stage, process the ripe ones first, and by that time the others would have ripened up.

I did my tasting of varieties when I was setting up the fermentations. Take a huge bite out of several fruits, then process the seeds and keep the notebook nearby that I'd used to record all other info about the varieties as they were growing in my field and enter my taste comments there as well.

Carolyn

zipcode · July 6, 2015

I find that tomatoes keep better left on the vine (if no one comes to eat them of course).
So let's say you get 2 tomatoes on one truss that start to ripen at same time. Pick one at blush, let the other one on the vine. The first one will definitely get softer sooner. And this way you can 'overripen' the vine one (compared to the other one) and it will be sweeter. Tried it a few times, I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination. So my conclusion is that if you want sweeter (which in fact I don't) then it's better to vine ripe them completely.

July 3, 2015	#1
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	Full Flavor I'm having to pick my tomatoes in the blush stages if I want to have any. Too many critters. I was wondering, since all I am growing is new heirlooms to me, I have no idea what they should taste like. Does picking in the blush stage, ripening on counter cause loss of flavor when the tomato eventually ripens? Are there some tomatoes that do taste better if left to ripen on the vine?

July 3, 2015	#5
efisakov Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: NJ, zone 7 Posts: 3,162	I had to pick Peg's Round Orange last year (plant was gone). They all ripened and were just out of this world. I picked them ripe this year, very good taste. They were better picked green, hm. What to do? __________________ Ella God comes along and says, "I think I'm going to create THE tomato!”

July 4, 2015	#10
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	Wow, I had assumed the opposite, that people let the tomatos ripen on the plant! I've always had issues with tomatoes splitting from too much rain so picking at first blush is how it should be done?? Is 'first blush' literally just any color on the tomato or does it mean something more definitive? Cherries like Sungold, people leave to ripen on the plant, no? __________________ Subirrigated Container gardening (RGGS) in NY, Zone 7! Last edited by luigiwu; July 4, 2015 at 07:04 PM.

July 3, 2015	#2
brooksville Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: South Georgia Zone 8a Posts: 179	You are going to a lot of different opinions. I too pick pick at blush to prevent big damage and to me they are fine.

July 3, 2015	#3
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	I have seen no effect on taste if I pick early or wait till fully ripe. I always pick mine early if its going to rain or if there are critters about and have eaten a vine ripened and one that ripened on the table for a few days in one sitting, the taste was indistinguishable between the two.

July 3, 2015	#4
VC Scott Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: San Marcos, CA Posts: 352	In my experience, there is no difference in flavor between vine ripened and counter ripened. Just don't let your dear spouse put them in the refrigerator.

July 3, 2015	#6
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,916	In order to find out do this: 1-Take almost 2 identical ( on the same truss). 2- Pick one at blush and let it ripen on the counter, the other one on the vine. 3- Do a blind taste test. ( have some one to assist you) That should settle it. Gardeneer

July 4, 2015	#7
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I thought everyone picked at first blush. That's how I do it. Sometimes I miss a tomato here and there, and they do get very ripe on the vine, but I have not noticed those fruit to taste any better.

July 4, 2015	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I pick all my tomatoes at first blush unless I miss one because of critters and fear of splitting from the rain we get frequently and unexpectedly. I have never noticed much difference in the taste. I have noticed it is much easier to let a tomato get too ripe when you leave it on the vine just a few hours too long especially some of the black tomatoes like Black Krim. Bill

July 4, 2015	#9
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Until this growing season, I would have answered to pick at first blush. I let a couple tomatoes stay on the vine until they were over-ripe. I was going to use them for saving seeds and didn't have room on our seed saving area for them yet. One was, "Bradley" I cut it open and the flesh was so deep red and it glistened. I had to try it - it tasted wonderful. I did this with a Black Krim, and again, it tasted real good. I still pick most at first blush because my wife likes firm tomatoes better, but I leave a few to fully ripen too.

July 6, 2015	#15
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	I find that tomatoes keep better left on the vine (if no one comes to eat them of course). So let's say you get 2 tomatoes on one truss that start to ripen at same time. Pick one at blush, let the other one on the vine. The first one will definitely get softer sooner. And this way you can 'overripen' the vine one (compared to the other one) and it will be sweeter. Tried it a few times, I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination. So my conclusion is that if you want sweeter (which in fact I don't) then it's better to vine ripe them completely.