Extended time in the fridge can make them tasteless, mealy and watery. A very short chill in the fridge, maybe an hour or two max, can help an overly soft mater's texture, imo. I say this because my toms are subject to brutal heat and tend to soften faster than they ripen sometimes, especially if they're cracked, which is more often than not at this point.

As I understand it from Mulio who has forgotten more about tomatoes than I will ever know, a tomato is a climacteric fruit and will fully ripen off the vine if picked after it blushes with color. I have been picking mine at the first sign of color with excellent results. It is important to me to get them in air conditioning though.

I had an Arkansas Traveler on a BLT today that spent about a week indoors and it was awesome. The best mater of the year so far.

Yeah, as mojavebob said, pick'em when you first see a blush. If the stem separates easily when you pull the mater up, that means that very little stuff was moving from the plant into the fruit anyway.

As discussed not long ago here, tomatoes will ripen from the inside first, when left isolated, such as when they are on the vine. This can result in a mushy inside, while the outside is barely ripe. You can crowd them together in a container, or wrap them up, and they will get ripe faster, because they ripen from the outside also. Result=perfection!

Letting them ripen on the vine is too much temptation for critters.

Best time to pick, when the leaves are dry. You can spread diseases around easier when the folage is wet.

Pick when first blushing or shortly after. That is when I pick all mine. I have learned when I can pick and have them really red by. Every variety is different, but If I pick on Sunday night, Monday morning they will be Tomato red and ready to eat for my Wednesday Market.

They will ripen just fine in a cool place in your house. We have a basement store room that I keep all mine in. I put an AC vent in that corner too. We keep the door shut and it stays much cooler in there. 66-68 when the AC is running. Since there is no return air, it just keeps it cooler. NEVER put a tomato in a fridge.

These tomatoes I picked today will look like the second picture on Wednesday. Actually, the ones in the first picture are further along than usually. However it has been in the low 80's all weekend long. I left them on the vine because it is cooler. A tomato will not get bright red when it is above 90-95 degrees. They will just be pink.

{{gwi:22336}}

Very good information everyone. Thanks.

I don't think that time of day affects the flavor of tomatoes picked before they are eating ripe, but I have found that "eating-ripe" tomatoes picked early in the day taste better than "hot" tomatoes picked during the afternoon, which could make sense from a temperature based biochemcal reacion rate point of view. I don't pick green "Blushing" tomatoes because they just take up room in the house while they sit around to ripen, so everything is generally at least half ripe when I pick over the plants every 2-3 days.

Good question you had socks. I had remembered reading something about early morning, only problem is the leaves are usually still wet before I leave for work. I've only been picking ripe, ready to eat. Some of the bigger ones I'll pick after blushing especially if a rain storm threatens, I don't want to give them a chance to split if avoidable.

spiced_ham, you don't have Mockingbirds do you? If you did, you would understand. They are the smartest, most determined bird I've ever seen. You know that female raptor in Jurassic Park and how she tested the fences...my mockingbirds descended from her. I've actually watched one test the covering until it found a weak spot. It flew around the covering and then systematically pushed the bottom until it found the entrance. You have to admire that will to live.

If I don't pick them at the very first blush, I don't get tomatoes.

The upside is that bird hunts down untold amounts of bad bugs too. We have an understanding now. I've shown my adaptability and get to have tomatoes.

I have a couple of tomatoes (Pink Brandywine) that are half green and half pink. The tomatoes are somewhat misshapen in a V shape with the pink side soft and seems ripe, but the green side hard as a rock. I'd post a picture if I could find my camera. Have other people seen this before? How do I get the green side to ripen faster?

Sorry to hear about the mockingbirds. We had some nesting outside of my building when I was at Southern Cal, and they would swoop down on people going to class. It was fun to watch papers and books go flying.

I just have to worry about rain splitting softening fruits, and that doesn't happen until they get a lot of color.

How much color is first blush?

I have a couple of Purple Cherokees and Black Krims where I'm seeing just a hint of color. I also chased a squirrel away who may have been scouting (first one I've seen, but that doesn't mean they haven't been there).

Does anyone have a picture of first blush they could post?

First blush, would be the lower breaker stage in the chart below. I catch most of mine as they are "turning".

Thanks...

I picked one of the Krims today that looks like it was at the turning stage.

Thanks for that chart, Bob.

I have to get them at first blush or the deer will eat them. This year the deer are even eating some of the green tomatoes as well as the foliage. They chewed some of my romas down to the roots. I have been covering the tomatoes and peppers with netting and or old sheets at night to keep the tomatoes safe.

I ended up picking two Krims on Wed. at what I thought was the turning stage - may have been closer to pink.

They're ready to eat now and I'm going to use them tomorrow. Also picked a Mortgage Lifter on Thurs. that will be ready tomorrow or Sunday. Didn't do anything special (left then on the counter)... I can't imagine leaving them on the vine would have done much.

left "them" on the counter

So, I just picked a few, thinking in the late-day sun that they were at first blush. Now that I'm up at the house, they look pretty darn green. DH says I blew it. What say you?

A tomato will not get bright red when it is above 90-95 degrees. They will just be pink.

Wrong. It hasn't been down to 95 in the daytime for weeks here, it's in the mid-high 80s at night, and my tomatoes are ripening just fine, going to full red on the vine if I don't find them before then.

That said, I pick most of them when they are starting to turn color because they are less likely to be eaten by the birds.