September 8, 2025, 3:43 am | Read time: 4 minutes
With red tomatoes, it’s easy. Their color unmistakably shows when they’re ripe. With green varieties, it’s a bit trickier: They stay green even when fully ripe. How can you tell if green tomatoes are ripe?
Not every tomato turns red when it ripens. Some varieties retain their green color, making them unique among tomatoes. Red and yellow varieties break down their chlorophyll as they ripen and store carotenoids like the red lycopene. Green-ripening varieties, on the other hand, keep their green plant pigment.
How to Tell if Green Tomatoes Are Ripe
The signs of ripeness are subtler than with red varieties. Many green tomatoes show a golden-yellow sheen or fine stripes at full ripeness, and some even have reddish patterns. Another reliable sign is the texture: If the fruit yields slightly to gentle pressure, it’s ready to be picked. This method helps determine the optimal harvest time even for varieties that remain green throughout.
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Planting and Care
In cultivation, green-ripening tomatoes do not differ from red or yellow varieties. They love a sunny, warm, and sheltered location and thrive best in loose, humus-rich, and nutrient-rich soils. As heavy feeders, they also require regular fertilization to develop plenty of fruit.
Five Green Tomatoes in Brief
Green-ripening tomatoes are not only visually intriguing but also surprise with a variety of flavors—from sweet to spicy-fruity. Here are five varieties that are particularly recommended:
1. Salad Tomato ‘Green Zebra’
The most well-known green tomato is the pole tomato ‘Green Zebra.’ It can be grown with two stems and thrives both in greenhouses and covered outdoor areas. Its name comes from its distinctive stripe pattern. The medium-sized, round fruits weigh about 120 grams, have light green, juicy flesh, and taste fruity-aromatic. Ripe fruits are green with golden-yellow stripes.
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2. Salad Tomato ‘Kalypso’
The pole tomato ‘Kalypso’ is suitable for cultivation in greenhouses as well as protected outdoor areas. Its flat-round fruits weigh around 100 grams, are juicy, low in acid, and fresh-aromatic. The relatively crack-resistant skin is green-flamed when unripe, and green-reddish marbled when ripe. The flesh appears light green to reddish streaked.
3. Beef Tomato ‘Charlie Green’
The pole tomato ‘Charlie Green’ can be cultivated in greenhouses as well as covered outdoor areas. Its large, slightly ribbed fruits weigh between 150 and 250 grams. They are broad, round, juicy, and fresh-fruity in taste. When ripe, they present a yellowish-green skin and light flesh.
4. Cherry Tomato ‘Dwarf Grinch Cherry’
The pole tomato ‘Dwarf Grinch Cherry’ is suitable for cultivation in greenhouses, covered outdoor areas, and even containers. It produces numerous small, round fruits weighing 20 to 40 grams, which taste very sweet. They are ripe when the light green fruits show a yellow veil.
5. Cherry Tomato ‘Green Grape’
The pole tomato ‘Green Grape’ thrives in greenhouses, protected outdoor areas, and equally well in containers. It also grows well with multiple stems and bears its 20 to 30-gram fruits on long clusters. The harvest often extends until the first frost. ‘Green Grape’ is considered one of the sweetest green tomatoes and is ripe when the fruits are ocher-yellow-green.