ChatterBank0 min ago
Green tomatoes.
24 Answers
I have 4 tomato plants which I have fed and watered to their hearts content, I have at least 60 tomatoes now of varying sizes but they are still green and hard, they are outside in tubs. Will they ripen on their own or do I pick the big ones and bring them inside.
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The important point is not the sunshine but the need for warmth.
Sunshine is required by leaves to make food but the tomatoes themselves require warmth for ripening .
The comments about bananas is true but it is short lived whereas apples give off Ethylene for months.
Tomatoes in common with other fruits give off the gas and the more you can concentrate the gas the faster the ripening therefore when you bring them indoors wrap them up and put them in a drawer. An apple in the drawer also speeds things up.
You mention tubs outside that is also a problem the gas is blown away .
You also need to stop the plants growth. ( pick the top off ) once you have three trusses so that all the energy goes into the tomatoes and not making surplus foliage which is not going to produce ripe tomatoes by Sept. anyway.
You should now be picking off many of the lower leaves they are not needed.
Sunshine is required by leaves to make food but the tomatoes themselves require warmth for ripening .
The comments about bananas is true but it is short lived whereas apples give off Ethylene for months.
Tomatoes in common with other fruits give off the gas and the more you can concentrate the gas the faster the ripening therefore when you bring them indoors wrap them up and put them in a drawer. An apple in the drawer also speeds things up.
You mention tubs outside that is also a problem the gas is blown away .
You also need to stop the plants growth. ( pick the top off ) once you have three trusses so that all the energy goes into the tomatoes and not making surplus foliage which is not going to produce ripe tomatoes by Sept. anyway.
You should now be picking off many of the lower leaves they are not needed.
house mouse // wrap them in newspaper ,with a Banana,and stash in a cool
dark place ,for a day or two. //
I don't know why you say cool dark place . Darkness doesn't matter and coolness slows down the Ethylene production.
You keep other fruits like that when you want to extend their life, that is not to ripen.
dark place ,for a day or two. //
I don't know why you say cool dark place . Darkness doesn't matter and coolness slows down the Ethylene production.
You keep other fruits like that when you want to extend their life, that is not to ripen.