Thank you Daniel. I don't think my tomatoes will ripen in 2-3 days. They just seem to be stuck, hanging there green for a while, I don't know why. Well 10 days maybe.

I am being invited to the Growing Tomatoes forum?! I am so honored. Of course I will come. Next time I have a tomato question I will post, and meanwhile I will browse.

Thank you!

K.

could be the weather. Warmth seems to trigger ripening. My tomatoes sat on the vine for over a month fully grown and green, never ripened because it never warmed up past the low to mid 70's for the second half of the summer.

Also, and not to start an argument, but I'm not sure just who prefers to pick barely ripened tomatoes, or what good it does. You lose flavour and quality. Perhaps it saves them from bugs and birds, but I'll take the chance to get a naturally ripened tomato.

This depends on too many factors, including weather, sun exposure, plant variety, and stage of growth of the plant. My experience is 2-3 weeks not days. But it depends.

I pick my tomatoes at first blush and let them finish ripening indoors. I made sauce the other night and the sweetness was overwhelming, I have no complaints with this method. The tomatoes pretty much reach physiological maturity at first blush - they do not need further support from the plant. This is a common practice.

First season tomato grower north of you in Westchester County but for what it is worth both my grape and beefsteak tomatoes sat full size and green for about 3 weeks as well. Then just a few days ago all started turning orange together so will be done any day. When I was stressing about my green tomatoes a couple weeks ago I read somewhere here that it can be 2-4 weeks before ripe on the vine from full size green. Helped me be a bit more patient! Good luck.

Thank you everyone. Its good to know progress of the tomato fruit is not linear. I guess a lot is happening inside them.

K.

I always picked up tomatoes ripped ON THE VINE - except when I pick them up before freezing time.

I also had a tomato that stayed green for almost one month, and I had many that get red in 3 days.