‘Colour is not a good indicator’ The exact time to harvest tomatoes in August

Gardeners' World: How to make tomatoes ripen quickly

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If you sowed your tomato seeds in March, there is a good chance they will be ready to be harvested in August. However, while supermarket fresh tomatoes are often bright red in colour, experts have warned this is not a good indicator that your fruit is ready to be picked from the vine.

According to Amy Grant, an expert at Gardening Know How: “Tomatoes are sneaky.

“We’re used to purchasing vibrant red tomatoes from the grocers, but the fact is that colour is not a good indicator of when to pick tomatoes.”

In fact, waiting for a time when the tomatoes are uniformly red might even mean you are picking them too late.

When to harvest tomato plants

According to experts, harvest time for tomatoes should occur when the fruit is a mature shade of green.

You should then allow tomatoes time to ripen off the vine.

Ethylene gas is produced by fully formed mature green tomatoes

As tomatoes ripen, two growth hormones change and cause the production of ethylene which makes the fruit transition to a shade of red.

Gardening Know How said: “The ethylene increases the carotenoids (red and yellow colours) and decreases the chlorophyll (green colour).”

Allowing your tomatoes to continue ripening off the vine can boost the flavour of the tomato and even help the plant itself.

The riper a tomato becomes while still on the vine, the more it lures in potential pests.

According to Old World Garden Farms: “Although the tomato stops absorbing nutrients from the plant when it begins to turn when it is allowed to remain, it does slow the production and ripening process for the other tomatoes.”

Picking your tomatoes before they turn red can also help to limit the weight on the tomato plant vine.

Once the plant gets too heavy, it can result in branches splitting and breaking off.

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Old World Garden Farms explained: “For maximum results, the best time to pluck the tomatoes from your plant is when they have turned to about one-third to one-half of their full ripening colour.”

You can usually see a light blush of colour emerging onto the tomato around this time.

For most types of tomatoes, especially heirlooms, this is most noticeable at the bottom of the fruit.

Feeling your tomatoes can also be a good indication that the time to harvest them has arrived.

You should be able to feel the tomato growing firmer.

Gardening Know How said: “Grasp the fruit firmly, but gently, and pull from the plant by holding the stem with one hand and the fruit with the other, breaking the stalk just above the calyx that has formed to protect the bud.”

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