I get the yellow splotches as well, wheather they ripen on the vine or indoors. I think I read that it was from stink bugs sucking nutrients from under the skin, which were all over my garden at one point.

Until recently (whitin the last year) I had Never heard anyone saying this on or off the net. And I have never harvested any of my tomatoes before being ripr.
I have also noticed here and at a few other sites that when one of the many self-appointed guru's posts a statement like this then all of the little followers do likewise. Even if they have had no experience with it.
It has also been my experience that if you have some "critter" taking bites out of your produce before it is ripe, You should deal with (eliminate) the critter.
I am sure you will get dozen's of answers and maybe a couple will actually be accurate.
I do have some tomatoes that I found last week , growing on an open lot (no house) in Venice. Medium sized Red Beefsteak w/ nipple at blossom end. One was almost ripe
, 3 had color, and I just checked and the almost ripe one has yellow blotches as well. I am just doing this to taste and maybe save seeds if I like it. The Plant was a lrge Indet but growing on the ground without support. Also the lot has been vacant since I moved to Venice (16 years).

I've fought the good fight with Stinkbug bites but what you show doesn't look like the result of Stinkbugs to me and the condition is also called Cloudy Spot if you wanted to Google some pictures.

It's possible that the fruits have what's called Gold Fleck.

I've linked to a Google Search below and there are pictures at several of the links such as the ncsu one, but there really is no agreement as to what causes it although there seems to be a genetic compnent.

You can also check Google IMAGES by typing in tomato gold fleck and on the top row the two pictures at the left are the best.

This year I've seen quite a few folks who have posted pictures of fruits with Gold Flecking so it can't be all that rare and some of the links in the Google Search below also comment on that.

Hope that helps.

So see what you think?

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Gold Fleck of tomatoes

I doubt the spots are showing up because of incorrect indoor ripening technique. Whatever it is (and carolyn gives some good thoughts), I think it would show up as much or more if the tomatoes ripened on the vine. At least that has been my experience when taking some inside and leaving others outdoors.

I thought this may have had something to do with sunburn or sunscald but it happened on a fruit that was well hidden between foliage & plants. I have found no bugs so rule that idea out. It has only happened to a few fruits, never more than one on a plant, so can't attribute cause to a specific variety.

{{gwi:1388971}}

What RT peasant and I are talking about isn't even close to "Gold-Flecking". It is about yellow/gold spots that are on the skin of tomatoes that are picked at first blush and rippened on the counter. I have never picked any of my tomatoes at first blush and only did so w/ a variety that I found growing in an abandoned lot and decided to test the theories I have seen bantered around the Net.

rt peasant, below I've linked to a nice description of quite a few tomato disorders from the U of FL and if you look at the one for Pox and Fleck, you'll see that the spots don't show up until the tomato starts ripening as would be happening with the fruits you were ripening on the counter.

There are some other disorders there that might bear reading as well, as in uneven ripening, etc. And there are pictures at the end of the article.

Perhaps you'll see something in the descriptions as well as in the pictures that might help.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit disorders

The "expert" has spoken. LOL

oops, looks like we were posting at the same time, that was not meant for you Carolyn.

I just drove over to the empty lot and picked 3 more tomatoes off this plant that were ripe and no blotchy colour. If the problem were genetic it would show up on the vine ripened ones.
This seems to be an issue with picking tomatoes under ripe and claiming it's no different than ripening on the plant.This is obviously not true.
Oh and for the record, FL. country boy; Your'e expert claimed that FeeJee Improved was a Pink Tomato when it was clearly a black. I never listen to "Experts" that post false information when they are trying to dicredit someone.

For the first time, several varieties I have ripen with blotchy outsides.

I would think weather may have something to do with this. We have had unusual weather this year.

dcarch

the one I posted a pic of was the same day it was removed from the plant, so I don't think it can be attributed to indoor ripening; matter of fact it never made it indoors. A couple days later, it was actually darker and the spots blended in more, but still wouldn't say it happened (spots or spots blending in) beacuse of indoor ripening. This has only occurred on about 3 fruits of 60+ plants here... don't recall if any at location #2...

I would wonder if varieties without even ripening genes may be more susceptible, and it may just be uneven ripening too.

Thanks, Carolyn. I read your "Fruit Disorders" link, and it inspired me to go out into the garden and take a look at some of the tomatoes that have been ripening this past week (and to stop and eat some Sungold cherries - yum!) It turns out that the spots have nothing to do with ripening indoors. The first few vine-ripened toms that I picked this summer were uniformly colored. The next few that I picked early and ripened indoors had spots, so I concluded that the spots were related to indoor ripening. But now I see that the tomatoes ripening on the vine have the same spots, so there's something else going on.

My spots look a lot like figure 31, for "Tomato Spotted Wilt." (ref: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS200) The description for TSW says "The discoloration is only on the surface and center of fruit will ripen normally", which is consistent with these tomatoes.

In the second picture below, you can see damage to the tomato leaves, which I assumed were tiny bugs, even though I can't see any bugs when I look closely. I wonder if the leaf damage and tomato spots are related?

Big Beef on the vine with spots

More Big Beef with spots and damaged leaves

With regards to my last question - "I wonder if the leaf damage and tomato spots are related?" - I found these pictures:

TSW leaves
TSW spotted tomato

I'm trying to avoid jumping to conclusions, but it looks like TSW could be my problem.

I must consider myself lucky. I pick only every few days and I'll pick anything that's past breaker and indoor ripen out of sun. I've never had the yellow splotches as shown and I've grown Big Beef 19 straight years. Sorry I can't help you figure out what it is. I can only share my experience. I like others don't think the splotch condition is a result of indoor ripening.

rt, I didn't know that Spotted Wilt disease was even found in Colorado which is not, at least when I was there, a place where the vectors, two species of thrips, could survive.

While TSWD is spreading, to date it's been found mainly in the warmer areas of the US, along the mid-Eastern seaboard down to FL, along the Gulf Coast and up into CA, in general.

But best to check with your local Coop Ext to confirm that it is a possibility in CO.

What does the inside of the fruits look like when you slice them open?

Looking at the pictures of your fruits I tend to think it's one of the other fruit conditions written about at the same site but some of the diagnosis rests with what the inside of the fruits looks like.

The leaves shown don't look like TSW leaves and the fruits don't have the same appearance as fruits damaged by TSW, so I doubt what you're seeing is TSWD. You can check that out by going to the link I'll put below as well as going to Google IMAGES and looking at some of the pictures.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: TAMU diagnosis site

Well, they definitely don't resemble the TSW pictures on the TAMU site. The skin of the tomato is not raised, and the insides are perfect, as best as I can tell. The only thing I notice are a bunch of pinhole-sized holes in the leaves, and a mottled skin color. I'll check and see if our local Coop Ext can ID the disease.

Well, they definitely don't resemble the TSW pictures on the TAMU site. The skin of the tomato is not raised, and the insides are perfect, as best as I can tell. The only thing I notice are a bunch of pinhole-sized holes in the leaves, and a mottled skin color. I'll check and see if our local Coop Ext can ID the disease.

*****

I don't think it's a disease per se I think it might be Gray Wall, also called Blotchy Ripening, which was described in the initial link I gave and no doubt in the TAMU one I also linked to.

So take a look again at Blotchy Ripening, aka Gray Wall, and it helps to look at different pictures at both of the above sites as well as Google IMAGES. The pinholes I don't think are associated with the blotchy ripening, just worm holes.

But by all means do check with your local Coop Ext.

Carolyn

Got a reply from my local Coop Ext. That was fast!

*****

Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus is responsible for the discolored tomato fruit. Your description alone points to this disease. Your photos show a very slight case of TSWV. The leaves were damaged earlier in the season by Flea beetles, a common insect in the vegetable garden. The Potato flea beetle feeds on the foliage of plants in the Nightshade family.

TSWV is vectored by insects called thrips. Thrips is both singular and plural. There is no such thing as a "thrip". Thrips are very difficult to control. It isnÂt possible to isolate the plant and allowing it to continue growing may expose other susceptible plants (several other garden vegetables and many ornamentals) to the virus. The only way to manage the disease is to remove and
destroy affected plants. Do not compost. This late in the season TSWV is not of great concern as long as you take steps to avoid it next year.

According to Mike Davis, Plant Pathologist, University of California at Davis (1990), there have been no problems with eating tomatoes or any other vegetables infected with Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus and there are no changes in the acidity level of tomato due to this viral infection. The flavor may be affected. To eat or not to eat a diseased tomato is a personal choice.

For more information on TSWV, Flea beetles and other tomato problems see http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/02949.pdf.

*****

I think I may have multiple problems. On this latest tomato to come from the garden, I counted 13 dark pin pricks surrounded by light colored skin, which sounds like stink bugs!

She said the TSWV may spread to other vegetables. I think it may have spread to my pepper plants! Oh well, the season will be over in a few more days...

Very interesting b'c I hadn't heard of TSWV present or being a problem in Colorado.

Almost ever site for every state lists ALL the major diseases so one can't just assume a disease is present in an area b'c it's on a diagnostic list.

So thanks for the information.

Carolyn

Interesting - I'm in Denver and the last couple of Beefmaster tomatoes I've picked have had some uneven ripening. Not quite as noticeable as the ones in your pics, but definitely different from the ones I've been picking all summer. They do seem to eventually ripen fully though, so maybe its unrelated to what you have.

Wanted to follow up on this - seems this is what I have again this year in Denver, as I'm again getting blotchy ripening tomatoes. Anyone else? Anything I can do to avoid it next year or minimize the effects this year?