Picking tomatoes

Since am a little late on this, and that's yoyve got all the answers you need (be patient and wait a little longer), I can only add that it's still okay to harvest tomatoes much earlier before they're red. But you'll have to do this just as they are turning red, to which you can leave them to ripe indoors.

There's actually nothing with this, and the taste isn't different. It's just that it makes no difference because even the picked tomatoes might take the same period to ripen. This s early picking only works when you initially planted them outdoors and the weather is becoming cold (something tomatoes aren't great at) and thus you need to have them ripened up indoors. So yeah, be patient. But if there's need to pluck them earlier, it's okay. That's something I just had to clarify.

The good thing with waiting though, is that once the tomatoes have had their first ripening, you'll enjoy a longer harvest.

I had my first two ripe cherry tomatoes this week! I photographed them and showed it to my DD. “Are you going to eat them?” She asked. I told her no, I’m just going to admire them!?. The others are starting to ripen now and we live in the north of England. I have standard outdoor tomatoes that are just getting their ripening act together too. Give yours time.

Shattered now, one thing leads to another in the garden. Two large vegtrugs emptied, liners were still surprisingly ok but I have replaced with new ones and completely renewed compost in one trug. 8 bags of john innes and one of grit as I am putting a mix of dwarf echineacea in and a couple of little lady lavenders, just planning ahead, to make like easier in a drought. Will be good for many years to come

I shall be using a good grobag on top of the older compost in the other trug, for the same outdoor tomatoes as this year. I grow 2 plants in a bag, in halos. Gone are the days when I had 19 outdoor tomatoes in halos in large buckets. I shall probably squeeze one sungold somewhere in the garden soil

Won`t be long now to autumn blight season, am happy to get my tomatoes inside to ripen

All mine are ripened, picked, eaten or frozen.

I live in the South

I usually leave my tomatoes in right up until the end of October some years and they are fine here in East Anglia. This year we had work being done on the house, and so the tomato harvest was completed last week. I had gluts of red, yellow, orange from different varieties, and lots of green ones too. But they were all put to good use. Some are left to ripen in bowls by a sunny windowsill. Others are made into tomato sauces, mixed with herbs from the garden and put in the freezer. The smaller varieties, cherry, are packed into glass jars, topped with herbs, a sprinkle of sea salt and a homegrown chilli. The jar is then filled with olive oil and sealed. These are perfect to use in soups, stews, and pasta dishes. The excess oil can also be used in cooking. I still have a few tomato plants in pots that have been moved elsewhere in the garden and they will be used later in the autumn. This year being especially hot has been a bumper harvest, and I have even grown aubergine too!

Worcestershire based and no problem getting them ripe this year but I'll leave any green ones until the end of Sept and then bring indoors to ripen. I have a huge glut but I fill my slow cooker with cut up toms, leave it on a timer so I take advantage of cheaper electricity during the night then blitz with a stick blender, once cool they go in the freezer. I find it a cheap easy way to get loads of toms to use in soups, sauces etc. i don't bother to peel. I also stick any herbs I have in the garden before blitzing.

s somerset and all tomatoes are now picked this morning, outdoor variety. This has been the best year I have had, the tastiest large tomatoes ever. It feels chilly out today, windy and damp air, definitely a change in season. 4 large bowls indoors in the warm and under dark t towels. I am not going to fret if they ripen all at once, the many spares will be put into bags in the freezer

I'm just south of Edinburgh and ours are ripening nicely now. We had two huge bowls of them sitting on the windowsill, so I've now got a batch of 'sundried' tomatoes doing away in my Ninja at the moment.

My dgs 'helped' to pick some yesterday. They are still green but will ripen in the kitchen.

I came back from a week away and picked about three kilos. They are delicious. I am in North Bucks, no rain for months, plants dying and grass with not a blade visible, I hope it recovers. My beans have given up the ghost despite watering, it is just too damned hot!

I've been growing a variety called Pink Brandy Boy in my greenhouse and it has been wonderful, huge lumpy fruits in abundance weighing anything up to a pound each and the taste is divine! I've been giving them away, there have been so many, and all the recipients have said what a wonderful flavour they have. My freezer is now full of boxes of skinned chopped tomatoes ready for winter soups and stews. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Just gave my neighbours some of our lovely ripe home grown tomatoes. They said they had never tasted such delicious tomatoes.

Commercial tomatoes are grown with a ripening inhibitor so they are easier to transport and store.

Kittye

A couple of years ago I grew some tomatoes from a couple of tomatoes I’d bought from the supermarket. I had dozens of plants all produced an abundance of tomatoes. They had absolutely no taste ?

That's a shame after all your effort. There's such a variety of seeds available now days, most not available in the shops. I guess that commercial ones are grown for size and keeping quality as opposed to taste.

A couple of years ago I grew some tomatoes from a couple of tomatoes I’d bought from the supermarket. I had dozens of plants all produced an abundance of tomatoes. They had absolutely no taste ?

We're in the North West and our tomatoes only started ripening 2 or 3 weeks ago. Now we have many more than we need, and are making soups and giving some to friends and neighbours.
Once they start ripening you get far more than you need.

Been not need

I would be more patient, but as a matter of interest I have picked green tomatoes in October and ripened them off on a tray indoors, and still need eating them in March. Perhaps not quite so tasty but better than boughten ones.

I used to grow tomatoes in my greenhouse in Glasgow and in that protected environment they would not start ripening until mid August so I suggest you be patient as they really are nicer ripened on the vine.

Oddly enough, the 2 tomato plants in the greenhouse are being slow to ripen, but the Tumbler tomatoes that are in a hanging basket outside are ripening quickly. And bearing a lit more fruit. Might not bother with greenhouse varieties next year, the Tumbler tomatoes are much sweeter.

Mine are ripening on the vine but in your shoes I would definitely pick some to ripen on the windowsill.

My greenhouse tomatoes have only just started ripening (Durham).

Patience is a virtue

Some summers I’ve had to wait well into August and I’m way down south.

Thank you all. I thought I was being impatient so will give them a bit longer on the vine. ☺️

My tomatoes are only this week beginning to ripen - I'm expecting them to go on till the middle of September. They're much nicer ripened outdoors. I'm in the West Midlands.