How do you pick your tomatoes? Do you take them off stalk and all or do you just remove the fruit and leave the stalk behind?
I used to pick and leave the stalk behind (often unintentionaly as the fruit would come away without it), and only very occasionaly pick with the stalk still on.
Recently though i saw an article in a magazine advocating picking with the stalk on, since it makes the fruit keep longer. So I decided to try it with my most recent picking, and actualy found it easier to remove them from the plant because it seems there is a natural weak point on the stem just behind the fruit (called an abscission layer), a bit like you may have found on the leaves when removing them.
As i only picked them like this yesterday, i cant say if the claim of longer shelf life is true so only time will tell. However i did see similar advice on a tv programe about picking apples - again leave the stalk on to make them store longer. So it is quite possibly true.
Can anyone back this up with their own experience?
I have no idea, although I will be watching this thread with interest ! The fruit I have picked has been variable, some with, some without.
I always try to pick the fruits with the stem on - yes they last longer, and often with the more fragile toms, you can actually make a small puncture wound in the skin without even realising it, so they start to deteriorate quicker. Beefsteaks are very hard to remove with or without the stalks, so I always cut those away. This year I have grown a lot more cherries and have tried to resist picking them until the entire vine is ripe and ready. They have been devine and looked great!
Stalk on, so far as possible. Scissors for beefsteaks! :)
Have got such a lot of beautiful different colours and types that I have gone quite arty and place them on a dish for display. They look beautiful with that touch of green. My pa wants to pop them in his mouth as he goes by and would prefer the stalks off. Last year I had a load that just wouldnt ripen outside so I took big piece of vines and hung them round the curtain rail on metal hangers. They did ripen. They did look strange!!!
Quote from: maggie on September 02, 2006, 15:05:56
My pa wants to pop them in his mouth as he goes by and would prefer the stalks off.
I think thats partly why I tended to pick them without the stalks. I love to just pick one up and eat it like a sweet, especialy the cherry ones. Having no stalk makes this easier. the othe thing is you can get more in a bowl without the stalks. However leaving them on makes sense so will endeavour to do so.