Vine ripened tomatoes

[tim]

Please remind me how they do it?

These aren't!!

[tim]

[Barnowl]

Grow them horizontally?

[tim]

So why?

[Barnowl]

...because the ones at the same height seem to ripen at the same time - but I wasn't being particularly serious  :)

[Baccy Man]

Vine-ripened does not mean they were picked when in full color, as one might assume. It simply means they were left on the vine a tad longer, only long enough to show a minute changing of green to color (known as Stage 2 -- often not even enough to be considered a blush!) at the blossom end.

[tim]

But then they are all fully red when bought?

[Baccy Man]

Gassing with ethylene helps to acheive that effect.

Some commercial harvesting info here.
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable/peet/profiles/harv_tom.html

Pictorial guide here.
http://www.victoryseeds.com/information/why_heirloom_tomatoes.html

Finally the hydroponically grown ones here.
http://ag.arizona.edu/hydroponictomatoes/harvest.htm

[tonybloke]

the ones in wissington are ripened on the plant. the bottom of the truss is removed to leave the desired number of fruits. This reduces the yield, hence the price hike!! growers only do this because people are daft enough to pay more!! ;)

[tim]

Thanks. Eye opening!!

I think I shall stick to the old routine.