How Long Do Tomatoes Take to Ripen on the Vine?
With tomato plants tucked in for the season, we anticipate their juicy rounds with summer’s warming temperatures. Knowing when to pick makes a difference in capturing the best quality. Get a gauge on how long it takes tomatoes to vine-ripen for peak flavor with gardening expert Katherine Rowe.
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Tomatoes take off as temperatures warm, relying on long, warm days and nights. The stems and leaves grow almost before our eyes. And then, we wait until we see the bright yellow blooms set budding fruits. The heat-loving fruits take between 60 and 100 days to mature, depending on the type and variety.
Tomatoes are ripe when the skin is shiny and even in color. They have a firm, fleshy feel and separate from the vine with a tug. Harvest them a little early to prevent cracking and let them ripen in a sunny spot in the kitchen. They’ll be tender under a light squeeze when ready.
So, how long does it take for them to get to peak flavor? It depends on the type and growing conditions. We’ll explore which tomatoes ripen the fastest and which take the most time to develop their big fruits. The beauty of homegrown tomatoes is their flavor over commercial fruits. Thin walls, tender skins, and juicy, soft flesh yield delicious rewards.
Brandywine Red & Yellow Blend
Brandywine Red & Yellow Blend Pole Tomato Seeds
Tomato Basics
Climate and growing conditions play a role in when tomatoes ripen. Tomatoes are frost-sensitive annuals, needing long daylight periods to fully develop. Chilly days and nights can hinder growth and fruiting. While the nightshades thrive in warm air and soil temperatures, heat waves or dry spells, too, have a bearing on when they ripen. The stress from weather extremes causes a conservation in resources and energy, where reproduction (fruiting) takes a backseat to survival.
Tomatoes do well with consistent moisture, though soils can dry to an inch or two between sessions. Reduce watering near harvesting to prevent cracked fruits, which expand as they fill. Water fluctuations (overly saturated soils or excessive drying) also impact ripening.
When it comes to fertilizer, a slow-release organic granular at planting sets the foundation. Stop fertilizing with nitrogen just before flowering and fruiting. Nitrogen promotes leafy upper growth but reduces energy input to flowering. At flowering, give a boost with a phosphorus and potassium-rich formula to stimulate fruiting.
Determinate vs. Indeterminate
Tomato vines are either determinate or indeterminate. Determinate types grow to a set size and produce fruits all at once (or nearly so). Indeterminates continue to grow all season, with lengthy vines that produce in rounds all season.
Indeterminate stems benefit from staking, caging, or trellising to maintain production and health. There are also semi-determinate types, yielding small to medium fruits on more compact vines.
Time the Harvest
To get a feel for predicting readiness, count out the days to mature fruits from your sowing or transplanting date. Check the variety or seed packet, which indicates the fruiting timeframe as “days to maturity.” You’ll know if you’re looking at the two-month point or longer based on selection.
Harvest times vary by cultivar, and compact varieties often mature more quickly than large selections. It takes time to develop hefty slicers. Many ripen two to three weeks after the flower sets the fruit. It can take six to eight weeks from the point of pollination to get fully developed fruits.
If you catch your plant starting to bloom, count the days until the fruits develop. In optimal conditions, ripening is proportionate to the number of days it took the flower to form the fruit.
Pick Early
Plan to harvest early, shaving a little time off the days to maturity. Tomatoes continue to ripen off the vine, and picking them a few days early has advantages. Pick them at the “breaker stage”, when 50-60% of their mature color shows. 50% green and 50% red/purple/yellow doesn’t compromise flavor as they fully ripen off the vine.
As the fruits ripen on the stem, they fill with water and may crack or split. Environmental factors like water fluctuations, heavy rain, and sun contribute to this. Picking them when slightly firm prevents cracking. It also protects the soft, ripe fruits from pests like insects, birds, and small mammals.
Harvesting in the breaking stage also avoids overripening. Tomatoes reach peak flavor quickly in the summer heat, and picking them as you can in advance means you won’t miss the prime flavor.
Determining Ripeness in Colorful Varieties
Discerning peak ripeness in tomatoes that mature in colors other than red can be challenging. In dark varieties like ‘Cherokee Purple’ or yellows like ‘Golden Jubilee,’ use color gradation and the fruit’s shoulders as a guide.
Tomatoes ripen from the blossom end (bottom) to the shoulders (stem). Look for tones of the mature color at the bottom fading to lighter shades toward the top. The shoulders should be transitioning from green to their mature color. Shoulders will be slightly soft. Pick when fruits show half or more of their final color.
Plant Selection
Through fruit size and breeding, tomatoes vary in how long they take to ripen on the vine. Some are early to fruit, withstanding the cool temperatures of late spring and seasonal transitions to warm conditions.
Favorite Early Producers
To enjoy a harvest early in the season, look for selections with short days to maturity. Cherry tomatoes, Roma/plum, and small slicing varieties are likely to ripen the most quickly. These are a fit for climates with short growing seasons (and anywhere else, too).
‘Sungold’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Sun Gold’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 6′ |
‘Sungold’ glows with perfectly round sundrops. This early-maturing cherry variety is a favorite for its bountiful fruits, vibrant color, and deliciously sweet flavor, like a taste of summer. ‘Sungold’ matures in 57 days from transplanting.
‘Sungold’ is resistant to splitting as well as fusarium wilt and tobacco mosaic virus. Their firm texture, high yield, and sugary flavor make the one-inch globes ideal for snacking and sharing. The productive variety yields about 120 tomatoes per season.
Clusters of cherry tomatoes begin to ripen at the stem and progress to the lower fruits on the tips. The staggered ripening spans a few days of continual picking. Once the clusters get going, the harvests continue weekly into fall.
‘Glacier’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Glacier’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 30″ |
‘Glacier’ is an early-bearing dwarf variety with one of the sweetest flavors among the early group. Its two-inch, bright golden-red fruits emerge extra early and recur throughout the season. ‘Glacier’ is a Swedish variety that withstands cool spring temperatures better than most.
‘Glacier’ is a semi-determinate type that yields an initial crop with successional fruits until late in the season. Though the vines are compact, they benefit from support but need little additional maintenance.
The chill-tolerant selection may withstand a light frost and is a good pick for areas with short growing seasons. These tomatoes ripen on the vine about 8 weeks after transplanting.
‘Yellow Pear’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Yellow Pear’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 6-8′ |
Heirloom ‘Yellow Pear’ is always one of the earliest to emerge and produces loads of one-to-two-inch tangy, golden tomatoes. The historic variety dates at least to the 1700s in Europe. American colonists used them for pickling and canning, and they’re also delicious for enjoying fresh from the vine.
Many strains of yellow pears are available today. The easy-to-grow, vigorous, and heavy producers are indeterminate, with yields all season.
Later Yields
Later-season tomatoes are worth the wait. Enjoy the early producers while the slow and steady crop develops. There’s nothing like a big homegrown tomato to show for a long season of growing.
‘Cherokee Purple’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Cherokee Purple’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 6’+ |
‘Cherokee Purple’ is one of the best among purple beefsteak tomatoes. Its shiny, dusky rose and purple fruits have pinkish-red flesh and a rich, sweet flavor. Large and juicy, the rounds ripen mid-season and go through frost (they’re ready in 80 days).
‘Cherokee Purple’ is a pre-1890 heirloom from Tennessee with ties to Cherokee Indian origin. Many large heirlooms and beefsteaks are susceptible to cracking and defects because of their size, but ‘Cherokee Purple’ is resistant. It’s also a productive yielder.
‘Brandywine’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Brandywine’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 4-6′ |
‘Brandywine’ is a classic beefsteak. The Amish heirlooms are among the best-known varieties and are renowned for their flavor and large fruits. The original ‘Brandywine’ is pink, while other strains are deep red.
‘Brandywine’ has a rich flavor suited to fresh eating and also for canning, roasting, and in sauces. The fruits grow to a pound and are ready to pick in mid to late summer.
‘Brandywine’ is an indeterminate grower, which means it will continue growing and setting fruit all season. It needs staking, caging, or a trellis for support.
‘Mountain Merit’
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botanical name Solanum lycopersicum ‘Mountain Merit’ |
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sun requirements Full sun |
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height 30-36″ |
‘Mountain Merit’ is a standout for slicing and fresh-eating. The All-America Selections award winner is firm, flavorful, and disease-resistant to wilts and viruses common to tomatoes. The bright red fruits weigh 8 to 10 ounces.
‘Mountain Merit’ is ready in about 75 days and has a four to five-week harvest period. With a compact, well-branched habit, the versatile vines fit a variety of scales, including small spaces and containers.
Stagger the Harvests
Since determinate tomatoes produce all at once (or within the same timeframe), staggering the planting time yields multiple harvests. Plant a few rounds of the same variety or use different cultivars suited to early, mid, and late-season harvests. Cherries planted at the same time as romas and classic slicing tomatoes often mean the small fruits are ready first, followed by a yield from the romas, and finally the large slicers.
By staggering the planting time or the varieties, you’ll get multiple yields in the same season. In subtropical and tropical gardens, you can even grow tomatoes into fall, where they get a reprieve from summer extremes.
Small tomatoes, such as Roma and cherry varieties, are good picks for successional rounds of planting since they develop more quickly than large varieties. Time the harvest so the tomatoes don’t overlap with an existing yield unless you want lots of tomatoes at the same time.
