Sometimes it depends on you and your likes...
I like a ripe tomato...
I leave mine on...
But I do grow ALOT of cherry tomatoes...
*I eat them as a snack as I'm gardening,
and my husband takes a salad a day *6 days a week* for his lunch... and gets about 10~13 a day.
So, I pick as I need them...
but I also watch the weather reports,
when it's going to rain..
and if I have some tomatoes that are red..
I will go pick them before it rains..
If it rains, *and I don't relize it*
I pick them as fast as I can..
It seems just over night or a few hours sometimes they can crack...
but if they are reddish, and orange.. and you
like a firmer tomato, pick them...
And the more you pick, the more the tomato will
make more tomatoes and ripen more...
*Cause it thinks all of it's
seeds are being taken or gone, and still must complete it's task of MAKING
seeds*