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Ely Mn

i see alot of people picking there tomatoes at first blush.
i like to make sure they have stopped growing or around 60 % ripe.
i have seen as much as 3/4 of an inch cc gain from blush to 60%ripe.

8/27/2014 4:15:15 PM

Central NY

Now ya freekin say sumthin!!.., cut my Marley mater :(..... Next year I'm growing to 12" and gonna let em rot on the vine...

8/27/2014 5:22:22 PM

Muddy Waters

I was afraid mine would be mush or get damaged so I went early.

8/27/2014 6:25:54 PM

Central Minnesota

I am with Mark. If I wait I think the blossom ends crack open so I pick early on the good ones. There is no doubt I got almost an inch cc growth on the last two I let ripen. But one of them cracked open the day before picking.

8/27/2014 11:04:30 PM

France

I fully agree with you Dan.
It keeps growing and is denser.

8/28/2014 7:30:30 AM

Joliet, IL

it doesnt take much ripening to have some of the brown scabbed over upper stem side dry fissure cracks that heal as grow to open up and leak juices in my experience which makes the DQ. i have lost a few nice ones that way. its a tough call if you can get another 1/8th pound to beat a personal best or record but afraid it might develope a soft spot. maybe the answer depends on how extesive and deep those upper stem side brown scabbed over crevices are and examine the tomato very carefully after first blush and then decide to pull it or let it go to 60% riping then pick it.

8/28/2014 12:12:45 PM

Allentown, PA

I have always picked as soon as the tomato has flashed color.

I will now wait until significant ripening has occurred prior to cutting the tomato off the vine.

8/28/2014 1:12:41 PM

Ely Mn

i have not had that problem shazzy and Scott have had.yet anyway.
not bragging,but all my tomatoes went very heavy because of this.

8/28/2014 3:14:56 PM

Ely Mn

i have not had that problem shazzy and Scott have had.yet anyway.
not bragging,but all my tomatoes went very heavy because of this.

8/28/2014 3:31:49 PM

Joliet, IL

all good info Dan.....the more we all share and brainstorm ideas the more we can push these freaks to freakier levels....lol.......you have put a charge into the entire giant vegetable community......you have no idea. i showed pictures of your tomatos to non-growing friends who now want a plant or 2 next year when i start a bunch. kudos Master T....lol

8/28/2014 8:41:21 PM

Ely Mn

thats awsome shazzy!master T ...lol

8/28/2014 9:30:52 PM

Joliet, IL

you earned it Master T.....lol.....i showed your picture to my mom and she said, "Oh boy you have lots of work to do." .....lol.....you just produced a tomato the size of a fat baby....thats how i associate the weight when i show people the picture...lol.

8/28/2014 9:37:58 PM

Ely Mn

that is to funny!yea i kept saying that it weighed more than my girl when she was born.lol

8/28/2014 10:37:37 PM

Muddy Waters

I think its great leaving them if the timing is right,but I can store a flashed mater up to 40 days in the fridge for local weigh -off prizes like Hamilton & OVGPG ,How long will a red one keep in the fridge? How risky is the chance of leakage?Shazzy do you have any mater money at your weigh-off?Could you send me information on your contest.I want to bring one of my Fantastic four(kins) to your weigh-off.

8/29/2014 6:34:07 AM

Joliet, IL

no mater money Mark....prize money for Bengtsons will be finalized after some more sponsorship leads are tied up. should be close to last years. that list is somewhere on last years gpc page. Bengtsons retains winning pumpkin for entire month of october and seeds retrieved by myself. no exceptions to that rule and try to make it very clear each year so everyone thinks that through.

8/29/2014 8:23:03 AM

valparaiso, in

Bubba how much weight do you lose during that 40 days?

8/29/2014 2:41:31 PM

East Carbon, Utah

Pick at first blush if:

1) There are significant splits, cracks, wounds that would likely ooze if allowed to ripen fully. Leaking would disqualify your tomato from competition.

2) You are more than 10 days away from competition date. Fully ripe tomatoes, unless they are in perfect condition, just really don't last very long, even if stored at 55° or so. A mostly green tomato, on the other hand, could potentially keep for 2-3 weeks if stored and handled properly.

By the way I've tracked weight loss over time for a number of big tomatoes: plan on 0.5% weight loss per day, so a tomato picked at 5 lbs. would weigh about 4.83 lbs. after 1 week, 4.66 lbs. after 2 weeks.

8/31/2014 9:43:21 PM

East Carbon, Utah

But, if you're close to weigh off date and your tomato is in good condition, leave it to ripen on the vine!

Using precision calipers (can detect about a 2 micron growth in diameter), I've measured growth rates of over 1,000 tomatoes over the past few years, from fruit set through harvest. At around 36 days, very often I have detected a contraction (shrinkage), coincident with first blush, that can persist for 2-3 days. But in virtually every case, the tomato starts to grow again and continues to grow right up until it is 100% ripe. Though this late stage growth surge is usually modest, it is still significant and more than makes up for that contraction that many other growers have noticed when using a tape measure.

8/31/2014 9:44:08 PM

East Carbon, Utah

I have also indirectly recorded tomato density (using a water displacement method) on over 800 tomatoes of all sizes, shapes, maturation stages, and many varieties.

RIPE TOMATOES ARE MORE DENSE THAN GREEN TOMATOES!

Tomatoes ripen from the inside out. So a tomato that is just starting to turn pink on the outside is already well on it's way to being ripe.

But judging from external appearance only, I have been able to detect no difference in density from a tomato that is 25% vs. 50% vs. 100% ripe. Relative to water, density is roughly 0.95 for ripening or ripe tomatoes. But under 25% - that is, hard green through first blush, average relative density is 0.90. There is some significant variance with these numbers, but 0.95 vs. 0.90 has worked pretty well for predicting relative density of ripe vs. green tomatoes.

8/31/2014 9:46:29 PM

East Carbon, Utah

A ripe tomato is around 94% water, 1.8% fiber, 1% glucose, 1% fructose, 0.8% protein and 0.6% ash. Tomato seeds are particularly dense, with high concentrations of protein and DNA. Tomatoes with a high ratio of seeds to flesh, such as cherry tomatoes, typically sink in water. But the big tomatoes we're talking about nearly always float.

As a tomato ripens, starches are converted to sugars which can partially explain the higher density of ripe tomatoes. Higher sugar concentrations (represented as Brix scores) in fruits means higher density.

More importantly, in my opinion, is maturation of the seeds. Immature seeds float in water while mature seeds sink. Holding volume and other variables constant, a tomato with just a few immature seeds will be significantly lighter than one with many mature seeds.

Here are some comparative densities (in g/cm^3):

Pure water: 1.000 (at 4° C; 0.996 at 30° C - elevation differences are even less significant)
Fructose: 1.694
Sucrose: 1.587
Glucose: 1.54
Starch: 1.5
Cellulose: 1.5

Probably overkill, but this stuff is interesting to me...

8/31/2014 9:49:20 PM

sevierville, Tn

thanks, that was great VERY usefull info !!

8/31/2014 10:43:00 PM

Going Green

If close to weigh-off that would make sense. I have to store mine for 20-40 days sometimes and if it shows pink you must pull if you have to store it!

9/2/2014 10:20:01 AM