How and when is the best time to pick tomatoes
Knowing when to harvest tomatoes can be difficult as picking them too early means they may not mature and remain hard and flavourless. Picking them too late might result in overripe and squishy fruit.
Now, gardening experts at Homebase have shared how and when to harvest tomatoes.
The experts said tomatoes can be ready to harvest from early summer and on throughout the season.
Gardeners need to pick fruit that is “firm to the touch” and “slightly orange”.
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Despite popular belief, the fruit does not need to reach its full colour in order to be picked.
The fruit will continue to ripen once it’s picked. The experts also highlighted the advantages of picking tomatoes “early”.
“Early picking also reduces the opportunity for insects and disease to damage them,” they said.
The size of the tomatoes will depend on the particular cultivar. The plant will usually have six to eight trusses (stems that have flowers) before the fruit starts to grow and turn the right colour.
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Most tomatoes will usually turn red, orange or yellow. Rarer varieties might have some variations.
When harvesting tomatoes, pick the fruit using your fingers making sure to leave the flower-shaped leaf at the top of the fruit intact.
The flower-shaped leaf at the top of the fruit is known as the calyx and will help the fruit ripen at the “correct rate”.
Before picking tomatoes, it’s important gardeners keep up with a good pruning routine for the “best harvest”.
The experts said: “It is important to prune your plant properly to get the fruits to mature at a correct rate for the best harvest.”
Once the tomatoes have been picked, gardeners need to keep them out of direct sunlight to ensure they ripen evenly.
Instead, put them in a cold, dark place in a single layer. Once ripe, refrigerate them for a few hours before consuming.
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