If you pick a tomato when it's green will it still turn red?

Question

I have a tomato plant that has several LARGE tomatoes and they're starting to weigh down the plant. I have a tomato cage, but it's still very heavy. If I pick these tomatoes while they're still green, will they turn red eventually, or should I leave them on the plant and hope for the best?

Answer 1

Yes they will turn red.

Answer 2

If it's not too green.  There has to be some maturation beginning.  And the flavor will be lacking.  Tomatoes need the sun and the mother vine to ripen properly.

Answer 3

Yes I have a tomato plant and i pick them early so bugs don't eat them and they turn red after a few days

Answer 4

If your green tomatoes have started to turn red at all, then they will turn red if you pick them and leave them exposed to light. Otherwise they won't.

Answer 5

yes...like a banana!

Answer 6

Just put it in front of a window where the sun can hit it and it will turn red within a week!

Answer 7

Vine ripened, are the best. Idealy you want to support the vine with stakes and rope as necessary. This will allow the tomatoes to ripen on the vine.

Good Luck,  ;-)

Answer 8

Yes, after picking, tomatoes will still ripen up. Companies that sell produce to supermarkets pick their fruit and veg while it is still green, so by the time it has reached the shop and ready to be sold it will be ripe.

If your tomatoes look about the right size, pick them and leave them together in the window. The other tomatoes and the sun will speed up the ripening process.

Answer 9

Once they are full they would get ripe.(red)

Answer 10

Yes they will turn red just place them on a window sill and turn them every few days

Answer 11

they wont turn red off the plant. u might need to keep them on. they b one good tomato then!

Answer 12

Yes...it will turn red if The Almighty Thor sees fit.

Answer 13

Yes it will.  I remember my mother placing green tomatoes on the window ledge and watching them turn red.  I'm not sure if they would have turned red on their own, but memory of the tomatoes sitting on the kitchen sill is a lovely summer memory.

Answer 14

Yes it should,

it means they arnt ripe yet :)

x*x

Answer 15

If they're weighing down your plant considerably, pull them off.  They should continue to ripen to red, but may decompose faster.

Always store tomatoes at room temperature, on a plate or something with the stem side down.

Answer 16

YES

Answer 17

yes, they will turn red, take them inside and place them on a window sill or counter top, they will ripen and turn red

Answer 18

Does the community need a chuckle on this one?  Of course vine ripened are the very best - - - however, at my house the dogs think I grow tomatoes just for them.  They especially like the Roma tomato but they aren't too picky.  So, we pick tomatoes green and let them ripen either outside or in the house.  Once in awhile the dogs will miss one and we get a ripe tomato from the garden. Labs are pretty smart, aren't they.

PS  The garden is fenced and nearly every day they find a new way to get in.  I'm thinkin' next year about putting in a concrete edge with the wire fencing in the concrete.

Answer 19

Hi Tomato Grower,

You can pick them right away and put them in your window so they get some light to finish ripening or even on your table in the dark they still ripen. I've done both.  Our plants also are still producing tomatoes and they are so tasty.

All summer during the Tomato scare we never had to buy them from the grocery store we really enjoyed our little garden. Nothing like a home grown tomato. I wanted to leave mine to completely ripen on the vines but the birds here seem to think they are tasty too so picking them early was a good thing.  I also heard that if you put an apple near a tomato there is some chemical that the apple produces that helps the tomato to ripen.

Best wishes,

Mama Jazzy Geri

Answer 20

my dad has a tomato plant!! XD

he usually picks out the green almost ripe tomato

so it will have longer shelf life. and yes it will still turn red.