[Tomato Dirt #110] Is It Ripe? A Guide to Picking Tomatoes at Season’s End

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[Tomato Dirt #110] Is It Ripe? A Guide to Picking Tomatoes at Season’s End
August 18, 2016

Tomato Dirt Newsletter
Volume 6, Number 16

Dear Tomato Dirt reader,

Welcome back to Tomato Dirt! A couple of times a month, we’ll send you this newsletter packed with tips about growing tomatoes and using them.

End of the Summer – a Great Time to Save!

Gardener’s Supply is having its end-of-season clearance sale – up to 80% more than 260 items. Check out the deals!

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FEATURE: Is It Ripe? A Guide to Picking Tomatoes at Season’s End

Image: USDA

How do you know a tomato is ripe? This is an especially important question to ask at season’s end, when you’re concerned about cold nights and wonder whether or not to pick fruit … or take a chance and leave it on the vine.

You’re not the only one with that question!

In fact, the US Department of Agriculture has created standards that help growers and vendors to know how ripe a tomato is. The standards are identified as “stages” and are based on fruit color. Each stage represents a progressively increasing amount of color.

You can use these helpful guidelines to pick tomatoes in your garden.

Stage 1: Green. The surface has not yet begun to turn color, although the shade of green may vary from light to dark.
Stage 2: Breakers. The tomato’s skin shows a definite break in color from green to tan, yellow, orange, or pink – but not more than 10% of its surface
Stage 3: Turning. Between 10-30% of the tomato’s surface shows a definite change in color
Stage 4: Pink. Between 30-60% of the tomato’s surface shows a definite change in color
Stage 5: Light Red. Between 60-90% of the tomato’s surface shows a definite change in color
Stage 6: Red. More than 90% of the tomato’s surface shows a definite change in color.

Get more details about when to pick tomatoes … and be sure to check out our Harvesting Tomatoes Pinterest board for more helpful information.