OK...this is my first time growing a 'black' tomato.

So how do I tell when it is at the peak of ripeness?

I used to wonder the same thing about the green zebras. Size and relative firmness, I guess.

The green zebras are ripe when you see some yellow appearing between the green stripes, and they begin to soften.

Don't know about the black ones.

This thread gave me a little chuckle this morning because the main reason I have never tried some of these tomatoes (other than space - but I can always work around that) is I always worried I wouldn't know when exactly to pick them.

It's actually a good question. Some heirlooms are hard to tell when they are ready. Trial and error works. We had a few mushy ones last year, waited too long.

I grew "black pearls" last year, a large cherry type. They were ripe when the shoulders were sort of aubergine, then fading to reddish on at least one side, with some dark green near the bottom. Many of them ripened inside on the window sill and they still showed the same sort of variation, with darker shoulders, etc.

But here's another way - find a picture of the variety you are growing, usually from a supplier on line, such as Burpee. They invariably show ripe fruit.

here's a pic of the Black Pearl from Burbee's

Thanks for all the input...and there I thought I was just being silly....

I went ahead and picked the two I was looking at..will make DH eat them tonight

I think I might have waited a tad too long for one of them.

When I read the topic title, I was like "when they are red,silly", but then I read the thread, and I never grew many of those varieties, just a mr. stripey, and yellow varieties.

yep...I grew a yellow and red striped before..that was easy, because you could still watch the red parts

I am still not sure if I picked these correctly... guess I will have to wait for more to ripen, and continue the trial and error way

I just started googling, to find a picture

great advice...the different black tomatoes can be VERY different when ripe

What about red tomato? Do i wait unti it is all red but still hard? Or do I let it get vine ripe soft a little?

I find that if they get a tad soft, you have to eat them THEN. (as in within 2 hours is good).

Otherwise they mush super fast and start to grow mold within a day. But maybe that is just me?


So I pick red tomatoes as soon as they are all (or mostly) red, and right before they start to soften.

quote:

Otherwise they mush super fast and start to grow mold within a day. But maybe that is just me?

I keep tomatoes indoors at room temp up to a week. They're very rarely mushy - the really ripe ones are super juicy, but I like em that way.

Almost any green tomato will ripen at room temp if you let it. I find it's better to harvest them a little bit green and ripen indoors - otherwise, I risk losing them to pests or critters. The exception I make is cherry tomatoes - those I can safely let ripen on the vine. My SunGolds are starting to turn color now – WOOHOO!!!

I try to pick my tomatoes before they are ripe, other wise the @*&^# squirrels take them. There is nothing worse that a squirrel running off with the beefsteak you planned for lunch.

Black tomatoes are sort of a mix between green and red tomatoes. They are usually ripe when the green part turns a little darker than it was. Hard to explain, I know I messed it up too at first.

Ellen

I usually pick about 80% of my tomatoes before they are ripe, due to my short season. I have north facing windows with a shady overhand, including a greenhouse window, and they can sit there for literally weeks, with the most ripe getting ripe first and the greener ones ripening gradually. I rarely have any that don't ripen.

They aren't as tasted as sun ripened, but they work well. And those black pearls were great even ripened on the north window.

Maggie