Planting Fall Tomatoes That Become Ripe For The Picking - Tulsa People

Most of us love our tomatoes. It’s fun and rewarding to grow them from seedlings into fruit-bearing machines. Growing tomatoes is a great way to get the kids involved in nature. Homegrown tomatoes are less expensive and taste better than store-bought. 

But growing tomatoes in our climate can be a challenge. Why is that?

Tomatoes were first found in the South American Andes mountains around 700 A.D. by the Aztecs, then brought to North America by Europeans many centuries later. This mountain environment provided cool nights and warm (not hot) days with plenty of moisture. Here at home, we strive to get them planted in early spring after the last frost to have delicious fruit before it gets too hot. 

Tomatoes will not grow below 50 degrees and will not set fruit until the nighttime air temperature reaches 55 degrees. The ideal soil temperature for planting is 60 degrees. Hotter than that, tomato fruit production drops off dramatically, commonly known as “blossom drop.” 

Although horticulturalists have developed cultivars that are pest and disease resistant, not much can be done about the Oklahoma heat. 

But there’s hope. What if the fruit could ripen and be picked in environmental conditions similar to the South America mountains? They can, and it is called fall tomatoes. 

The trick is to either get new tomato plants going during hot summer days or “baby” the spring vines through the torturous heat. 

Larger tomato varieties (16-ounce Beefsteak) can take as much as 100 days to produce and ripen. So, given our average first fall frost is late October, this means the plants must be started by late July to have a chance to ripen before the first killing frost occurs. 

Other varieties (8-ounce Better Boy) only take 75 days to mature, yet others (4-ounce Early Girl) can take as little as 50-60 days to ripen. So, if you get a late start, consider these.

Instead of spring-planted tomatoes trying to ripen when it is getting hot, fall tomatoes are ripening when the air temperature is cool, yet the soil temperature is still warm enough for roots to prosper. 

If you encounter an early frost, simply drape some form of shade cloth over the plants to get through the night. Remember to remove it the next morning. If you plant late or get hit with an early hard freeze, go ahead and pick the tomatoes (even the green ones) and bring them inside. They will continue to ripen indoors off the vine.  

So, impress your friends with homegrown tomatoes around Halloween or even Thanksgiving. You will be impressed with the delicious flavor they deliver during that time of year.

Thank you to Tulsa County Master Gardeners for their expertise in this subject matter. Allen Robinson has been a Master Gardener since 2010.