How to Harvest Tomatoes

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are closely related to chiles, eggplants, potatoes and tobacco. It is native to South America and was brought to Europe and North America during the period of European colonization in the 15th and 16th centuries. The tomato is an important cash crop as well as a favorite perennial of private gardens. The following steps will show how to harvest tomatoes.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step1

Pick tomatoes continuously throughout the summer. Each individual fruit should be taken when its quality is at its peak.

Step2

Wait until the tomato has turned red on the vine and is just slightly soft when squeezed. This indicates that the flavor and natural sugars have fully developed.

Step3

Harvest all of the remaining tomatoes before the first frost, even if they are still green. Tug on the roots a little to disturb plants with green tomatoes. This will hasten the ripening process by sending a signal to that plant that it is time to go to seed. Reduce watering when the tomatoes are almost full size to further hasten ripening.

Step4

Ripen green tomatoes indoors by storing them in a cool, dark place. Put them in brown paper bags or a tray and cover with newspapers. They should start to become red within a week.

Step5

Produce a better tasting tomato indoors with a little more work by pulling the entire plant from the ground and hanging it upside down in a cool, dark place. The tomatoes will fall to the ground as they ripen so hang them low and place an old blanket underneath them.