One year I picked all my green peppers right before the predicted first frost, but left the plants with buds, flowers and small peppers in the ground. The frost didn't happen, but it was just few above it. Despite it, I had another pick of the peppers almost three weeks later)

I usually pick up the tomatoes when temps are at night in the 40s.

It's risky imo, to leave the toms on the vine, when the forecast says - let's say 38' F - because it's very easy to get... 28' F that night. It happened to me. Few hours at 28' F, and you can say "good bye" to your tomatoes. That did NOT happen to me, because I picked them up before the frost.

Last year (2014) here in Long Island, NY, we had an AWESOME Indian Summer.

The picture bellow was taken on Tuesday, October 27, 2014 - so, only few days
before November 1. That day, we had… 72’ F. End of… October !!!

I hope something similar this year, but...

I leave them until after the first good frost. Learned over the years that you almost always get some ripening even after that first frost.

Dave

IDK, I'm sure it depends on the climate, and the exact weather forecast, but here up North the weather conditions are often rapidly deteriorating and it is often cold enough by the first frost that leaving them out there is often akin to sticking them in the refrigerator -- they would ripen faster inside, and better to have them ripening indoors without having had frost exposure. Plus as daniel mentioned temps are often worse than predicted and the first frost can be a doozy. JMO.

Dave,
what temperature is a “good” frost?

Well, my
rule of thumb is simple: forecast for the night in low 40s, time to pick up the
tomatoes. They ripe VERY slow on the vines anyway. I prefer them to ripe in my
basement, where they ripe VERY… fast.

a frost can happen at 36 with clear skies. A good frost, in my experience, is 29-32 and kills tomato plants. A freeze freezes tomato fruits, and is below 26 or 27. Tomato fruits do not freeze at 32 due to sugars.

Cold - 40's. Growth slows, ripening slows, and my patience wanes.

Hot - mid 90's for extended time because of 130% summer humidity. Going to try shade/filter cloth next year.

Thank you glib.

A J, depending on the percentage, a shade cloth will reduce the temperatures with 10+ degrees.

To clarify my above comment. I pick all fruit at the blush/breaker stage. I never leave any fruit on the vine that is showing any color regardless of the temps/weather/time of the season.

So the only thing I am talking about leaving on the vine until frost is anything that has not yet reached blush. If it hasn't shown any color by the time the first good frost hits -"good frost" means you get up in the morning and the roof and the grass and the leaves have a white coating :) - then it isn't going to ripen and they get picked green and turned into pickles.

Dave

Dave, what's the temperature of that "good frost" ?

I gotta agree with Dave.. in general, I follow his plan of pick while the blushing is good, and after that first morning I look out the window with coffee in hand and see the white coating (for me its the long patch up the easement drive where the best dew and frost collects), that is the good frost around here.. Then at that point I strip down the warm plants.. and that depends on the plant.
I have containers I will bring inside. Some plants that are heavily laden with fruit, then those get pulled out, cleaned up of dying foliage, and hung upside down in my solarium for a couple extra weeks of growing/storing/harvest.. not sure what one calls the process of hanging plants for other ripening.
Anywho. Other plants that just have some greens and such on them- at first good frost they get stripped of fruit, plant cut up and placed into cartons for slow ripening.. then the plants tossed into the compost bin.

I tend to do this process in stages.. like right now nights are starting to get down into the 50's, so the container plants have been brought in to acclimate to their fall inside season. When the forecast calls to dip down below 55, but above 42, I will pull plants for hanging up. When that first good frost hits, I will pull the whole shebang on whatever warm season is still out there.

This is all so helpful! I will be looking for the white frost on grass. I want my fruits to mature as much as possible on the plant. I too pick the tomatoes at first blush because I garden away from home. Thanks all!

Same here for picking early as well. Turning - spring and early summer; breakers for summer and beyond. I didn't even know the terms until Dave mentioned this. I pick like this because of the sheer amount of tomatoes weighing down the plant and keeps bugs away longer. All ripen perfectly off the vine.

Heirloom varieties and having high organic matter are the only time I leave till fully red on vine. Those are worth it.