When to Harvest Tomatoes (With Photos)

Tomato Ripening Stages

The first thing to know is the stages of a ripening tomato. Below is a commonly used USDA classification guide for tomato ripening by color used for a red fleshed variety of tomato.

1. Green. The surface of the tomato is completely green in color
2. Breaker. There is a break in color from green to yellow, pink or red. It covers less that 10% of the surface of the tomato
3. Turning. 10-30% of the surface shows a definite change in color from green to yellow, pink, red or a combination of the three.
4. Pink. 30-60% of the surface of the tomato shows pink or red color.
5. Light Red. 60-90% of the surface shows pinkish-red or red color
6. Red. 90% + of the surface shows red color.

This classification guide varies based on the color and type of tomato. In my garden, I have a pink heirloom tomato called German Johnson. I’ve picked several of the tomatoes to give you an idea of the stages of tomato ripening for a pink tomato. See below.

I also picked cherry tomatoes see below:

They don’t “break” in color the same way slicing tomatoes do. More often the entire tomato starts to turn color, rather than just the base and they do so very quickly.

The Worst Time to Harvest a Tomato

In order to communicate the importance of timing when harvesting a tomato, I will first share when NOT to harvest a tomato. 

Commercial farmers harvest anytime from the mature green stage to the breaker stage to avoid damage to the tomato in shipping. Based on the classification chart above, the breaker stage is when the tomato is starting to show color but it’s less than 10%.

You likely know grocery store tomatoes taste awful so let’s avoid harvesting when they do! The poor taste is due to many factors including harvesting too early, chilling, use of artificial ethylene for ripening, and the variety of tomato.

And obviously, another poor time to harvest a tomato is when it’s forming.

The Best Time to Harvest a Tomato

There will forever be a controversy on when to harvest tomatoes. Do you want peak tomato flavor? Or peak tomato quality? It’s hard to achieve both but it’s possible if you are willing to compromise just a little.

The best time to harvest tomatoes for a home gardener is at the pink stage when 30-60% of the tomato shows pink or red color. Here’s why it’s beneficial to harvest at this point:

1. No splitting
2. Less bug damage
3. After ripening at room temperature it is able to reach nearly the same full flavor and nutrition of a vine ripened tomato. 

It may seem strange to pick tomatoes at this time. But rest assured there is very little flavor difference between a tomato harvested at the pink stage and allowed to ripen indoors and one harvested at the red stage that is ripe on the vine.

If you are wondering if nutrition is affected by picking at the pink stage, it is but not by much. A credible source states once you reach the breaker stage the amount of nutrition and water flowing the fruit isn’t cut off but it does slow down significantly. 

Therefore a tomato harvested at the breaker stage and beyond gives quality fruit without much loss of nutrition.

Note: On the internet and among the gardening community, the term “breaker” tomato is often used loosely to refer to a tomato breaking in color showing on 1% to 90% of the tomato. This is incorrect. However, the idea of harvesting prior to it being at the red stage is what’s most important and the end result of avoiding late harvest damage is achieved. In this article, I use more specific terms like “pink stage” to help give a better idea of ideal timing.

Common Mistakes when harvesting tomatoes

Learning how to grow tomatoes can be tricky for beginners and experienced gardeners alike. These are common mistakes that are made when harvesting tomatoes:

Harvesting too early. If you harvest too early, tomatoes haven’t developed their full flavor compounds and can be mealy in texture. Wait until at least 30% of the tomato has it’s ripe color.

Harvesting too late. If you harvest too late you can run into several problems. Tomato hornworms and tomato earworms will chomp through a tomato. There may be other additional pests based on your area. Splitting is common for heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes when left to ripen on the vine too long. 

Rough Handling. Tomatoes require gentle care during the harvest. The bruise can split easily if tossed in a bucket or are loaded on top of each other. To fix this, place tomatoes in one layer on a tray when harvesting.

Not Checking Tomatoes Often Early in the season tomatoes ripen slowly but at peak season they can ripen quickly. Check often for tomato ripening so you can harvest at the ideal time.

How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors

There are times when green tomatoes are harvested and ideal harvest times are set aside. The main reason to harvest mature green tomatoes is if a frost is imminent at the end of the growing season. 

To ripen green tomatoes, it’s important to have knowledge of how tomatoes ripen so those conditions can be mimicked off the plant.

Ripening and color development in tomatoes is produced by two main factors: temperature and the presence of a naturally occurring hormone called ethylene. So here are some options to enhance the ripening conditions:

Place in a brown paper bag

Tomatoes are placed in a paper bag to trap the ethylene gas they produce which speeds up the ripening process. 

Keep them in a warm spot

The optimum temperature range for ripening mature green tomatoes is 68–77 deg. F.

Place them next to ripe bananas or apples

An unripe tomato has low ethylene. However, when it is placed next to another climacteric fruit (aka a fruit that ripens off the vine) like a banana, that ethylene gas from the banana can ripen the tomato more quickly.

Ideally, do all three of these! Place the tomatoes in a bag, with a nearly ripe banana, in a warm spot. 

Other options are to harvest the entire vine, tomatoes and all and hang it from the ceiling in a basement, garage, or other area for the tomatoes to ripen.

Storage Tips for Freshly Harvested Tomatoes

The best storage conditions for tomatoes is to keep them at room temperature out of direct sunlight. If you have fully ripened tomatoes you can store them in cooler temperatures to prolong their shelf life. 

However in general, you should not refrigerate whole tomatoes because doing so can reduce flavor and impact texture.

For longer term storage, you can dehydrate tomatoes or water bath can them since it maintains most of the flavor. We like to make them into canned pizza sauce or homemade canned ketchup. The possibilities are endless.

Learn More About Growing Tomatoes

• When to Plant Tomatoes (Don’t Make this Common Mistake)
• The Best Fertilizer for Tomatoes
• 10 Best Tomatoes to Grow
• Tomato Companion Plants