How long for tomatoes to ripen?

[SableCollie]

One of my tomato plants has 2 little green tomatoes on it (so excited! my first tomatoes ever!) but I have no idea how long it takes until they are ripe enough to pick. What should the tomatoes look like when they are ready?

Also, my eggplant plants don't seem to be doing anything...they have lots of green leaves, but nothing that looks like and eggplant, but again, I know nothing about them. This is my first ever veggie garden.

[hazelrunpack]

Don't know about the eggplants, but the tomatoes I have experience with (and they usually don't even die despite hazel's ministrations, which make them very hardy plants! )

The tomatoes will grow some, then start getting orange. You'll know they're ripe when they easily twist off the vine. If you need to pick them a little early, place them in a brown paper bag (they ripen in the dark) and check them every day till they're deep red and a little soft. I think most large varieties of tomatoes take 50 - 70 days to ripen, depending on variety. If you kept the little info tag from the tomato plants when you bought them, it should tell you how long it will take.

Yum! Mine are starting to bloom and set fruit, too! Can't wait till they're ripe!

[SableCollie]

Thank you! Mine didn't come with a tag, my mom bought them at the farmer's market. They came from a local historic farm that had been abandoned for a while but recently turned into an organic farm. Unfortunately the people volunteering at their booth at the farmer's market were about 16 years old and didn't really know much about tomatoes....they said they were "jet star" variety. Not sure what that means.

I thought for sure the plants would die within a week, but they didn't! I just water them every day and I took some old horse manure from a barn near my work for them. And then last week tiny green tomatoes appeared on one of the plants! I was so excited I had to tell all my friends that my tomato plant was growing tomatoes. They didn't see what the big deal was!

[Lukka'sma]

I remember how excited I was the first time I planted a garden or any time that I plant something for the first time and it blooms. Thats great SableCollie. I can almost taste a toasted tomato sandwich now with tons of Miraclewhip and salt. Ummmmm

[jiorji]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

I think most large varieties of tomatoes take 50 - 70 days to ripen, depending on variety. If you kept the little info tag from the tomato plants when you bought them, it should tell you how long it will take.

50-70 days is for plant maturity not tomato ripeness. I should take abotu 2 weeks in full sun and adequate conditions for a tomato to ripen from the time it flowers to it being fully red. But you should be able to feel if it's ripe because if you grab it and squeeze it a bit it'll be soft. But be careful not to pull it off

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by jiorji

50-70 days is for plant maturity not tomato ripeness. I should take abotu 2 weeks in full sun and adequate conditions for a tomato to ripen from the time it flowers to it being fully red. But you should be able to feel if it's ripe because if you grab it and squeeze it a bit it'll be soft. But be careful not to pull it off

he he Oh, ya! Thanks jiorji! Can you tell hazel isn't much of a gardener?

[SableCollie]

Originally Posted by jiorji

50-70 days is for plant maturity not tomato ripeness. I should take abotu 2 weeks in full sun and adequate conditions for a tomato to ripen from the time it flowers to it being fully red. But you should be able to feel if it's ripe because if you grab it and squeeze it a bit it'll be soft. But be careful not to pull it off

Thanks! I check on them every day...still green today. They are definitely in the sun now, the landscapers trimmed down all of the shrubs near the garden last week, so now they get more sun.

Originally Posted by Lukka'sma

I remember how excited I was the first time I planted a garden or any time that I plant something for the first time and it blooms. Thats great SableCollie.

Yes, this is my first time growing anything edible besides basil. It hasn't been much work at all, and I am thinking of expanding the veggie garden next year!

[rainbow]

We planted our two plants the last week of May and picked our first ripe tomato three days ago. <insert mmmmm good smilie here>