GREEN fingered gardeners are growing their own veg and we're here for it.

But if you've gone to all the effort of planting and nurturing a plant in your garden, you don't want to fall at the last hurdle and harvest them at the wrong time.

This is particularly key when it comes to tomatoes – not a vegetable, we know – but still important that you pick the right moment to pick the right tomato.

If you've sown your seeds in March, you're looking at being the proud owner of a gorgeous tomato harvest in August, but timing is key.

Plenty of people think that what they're looking for is a bright red colour – because that's what you look for in the supermarket.

But experts have warned that's not the best way to tell if it's time to de-vine your fruit.

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Amy Grant, an expert at Gardening Know How, said: "Tomatoes are sneaky. We’re used to purchasing vibrant red tomatoes from the grocers, but the fact is that colour is not a good indicator of when to pick tomatoes."

The fact is, if you hang back until you've got a deep red across the board, you've probably waited too late.

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Instead, you want to be picking them when they're a mature shade of green.

This means that they'll have time to ripen up off the vine, this can boost the flavour and also help the plant itself.

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Old World Garden Farms said: "Although the tomato stops absorbing nutrients from the plant when it begins to turn when it is allowed to remain, it does slow the production and ripening process for the other tomatoes."

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If you leave the tomato to get too ripe on the vine it can weigh too much for the stalks to hold and also it can attract pests to the plant.

Old World Garden Farms said: "For maximum results, the best time to pluck the tomatoes from your plant is when they have turned to about one-third to one-half of their full ripening colour."

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