When Are Plants Ready for Harvest?

Knowing when something is ready for harvest is determined on a plant-by-plant basis. Like everything else gardening, there is no real universal guide for when your food is mature enough to be consumed. Aside from plucking fruit or vegetable and giving it a taste test, you're going to need to research each of your plants individually.

Here are a few commonly considered factors that go into determining when something is ready for harvest.

Size of Plants

Some plants have a size window in which they are tender and optimal for consumption. A classic example is that of beets. The beetroot tastes best when between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball. As the beet matures that sweetness changes into a tough to chew, woody root.

Various brassicas, like Brussel sprouts and kohlrabi, also can be harvested when they reach a specific size. Brussel sprouts are typically ready for harvest when they are an inch in diameter. Kohlrabi is best harvested when the swollen stem reached three inches in diameter. Anything beyond that and the vegetables begin to taste unpleasant.

Color of Fruits and Vegetables

Numerous fruits and vegetables inform us of ripeness through a noticeable change in color. We've all walked around the produce aisle and stared at the reds, oranges, and yellows of our food. There are many color differences in our natural crops, which is useful to humans whose primary method of navigating this world is sight.

For example, consider the tomato. As the fruit begins to form, it is usually a shade or two of green. Maturing, it reaches full color, changing into red, yellow, or even purple. At that point, a gentle tug on the fruit would detach it from the vine.

Peppers also change colors, often from green to red, but they also have another tell. As you watch your peppers mature, you'll notice the older ones begin to put on a glossy sheen. This new "coat" will make your peppers seem waxy, signifying that they are near ready for harvest. So if you want a green pepper and aren't sure if it's mature, check to see if that gloss is present.

Plant Cues for Ripeness

As we saw with color, ultimately, your plant will give you cues about its maturity. Corn, for example, will begin to let you know weeks before it is ready. Long, fibrous tassels erupt from the husks roughly three weeks before maturity and are usually a white-green hue. When the silks begin to change to a brown color, you know it's almost time to harvest.

But the process doesn't stop there for corn. The plant will also display changes in the cob itself. As you're ready to harvest, you can puncture a kernel on the corn in question, and see if liquid emerges. Milky fluid means the cob is ready to collect, while clear means you're too early, and if the kernel is dry, it means you're too late.