Fruit to Flower

​There is a buzz in the air.  Yes, that’s a good thing.  It means that our pollinators are doing their thing.   But the buzz is questions being asked:  Why are the tomatoes taking so long to ripen?  When will the green beans be ready?  I know that green beans will be ready 1-2 weeks after they flower.  I don’t have a clue for the other vegetables in my garden. I just know the wait seems longer each year. For northern gardeners it can take a big chunk of the summer for a small green tomato to become lush, large, juicy and red.  Why?

Tomatoes After some research I discover that depending on the tomato variety and the weather it can take anywhere from 40-60 days between bloom and harvest.  With my plants flowering at the beginning of summer, it can be near the end of August before I pick a ripe tomato. That’s a long wait for a BLT sandwich. 
 
Tomatoes take their sweet time from a pollinated flower to ripeness.  They remain green until they reach full size. As can be expected, a small cherry tomato will reach maturity sooner than a massive beef steak.   Only when a tomato reaches its mature size does it ripen and change color.
 
I expect hot weather would speed up the ripening process but that is not what happens.  If air temperatures are over 85 degrees plant growth stops.  Tomatoes stop making carotene and lycopene pigments.  Those two pigments are important components in the maturing of a tomato according to Joe Lamp’l in Gardener News. He reports that soil temperatures need to be less than 80 degrees to prevent the plant from putting energy into developing a deeper root system rather than ripening its fruit.  
 
Laying mulch around the plant can maintain a cooler soil temperature.  Removing some of the smaller fruits, so there is less demand on the plant’s resources, can speed up the process for those that remain on the vine.  Temperatures below 60 degrees can also hinder fruit maturing.
 
On the back side of the growing season it makes sense to remove green tomatoes that have no chance of maturing.   The average first frost date for Zone 3 in northern Wisconsin is September 26.  Any tomatoes forming in mid-to-late August have little odds of making it to the dinner table.  These can be pruned to allow the others a better chance of reaching maturity.  It seems cruel that just about the time we pick our first red tomatoes it is time to prune those that will be killed by a freeze before being ready to eat.
 
Green Beans For green beans I use 10 days as my general guide from flower to harvest.  This is useful when shopping because I know exactly when my green beans will be ready and avoid buying ones that are not as fresh as those in the garden.
 
Cucurbits (including cucumbers, squash, pumpkins) Cucurbits are tricky because the first flowers on these vining plants are male.  Male flowers are there to pollinate the later females and do not produce fruit.  Female flowers can be identified by the tiny fruit at the base of the flower. Once the female flowers appear it can take only 1-2 days after pollination for a small cucumber to be ready to eat.  That’s why it seems fruits magically appear overnight for many vining plants such as pumpkins, squash, and zucchini.   Zucchini are especially notorious; they can go from flower to harvest in 4-8 days.
 
Peppers Green bell peppers are much like tomatoes and take about 55 days from flower to harvest of a mature pepper.  They are different than tomatoes in that they can be harvested at any stage of growth.  A mature bell pepper is red or yellow and only turns color when full size.  Some varieties of hot peppers can take up to 150 days from flower to harvest.  That is about 100 days too many for northern gardeners. 
 
I am rather proud of my bit of folk wisdom regarding green beans and am anxious to add to my repertoire. In my notebook I now track bloom and harvest times for all the vegetables in my garden.  The next time someone asks when the tomatoes, beans, or cucumbers will be ready I will have an answer.