ripening green tomatoes

October 6, 2018

A few days ago I read a post about ripening green tomatoes by placing them in hot water--- I can't find the post now--- I have just pulled up my Earl's Faux plants and there are about a dozen nice tomatoes that are still very green. It would be great if I could ripen some. It is a fantastic tomato !Can someone direct me to the post? Thanks---

crankyoldfart · October 7, 2018

General Discussion>grocery store tomatoes (post #13) by Saltmarsh

saltmarsh · October 7, 2018

125 degrees F. for 5 minutes allow them to ripen on the counter for a week.

Wait until the tomatoes are showing pink on the bottom before giving them a bath.

Let me tell you a story. Back in Feb. 1963 my father bought a 2 ton chevy truck with an insulated panel bed and drove it from North Mississippi to central Florida, loaded it with 20 pound lugs of green tomatoes and drove it back to Mississippi.

Then he started waiting for them to ripen. The tomatoes which were showing any color (pinking) continued to ripen, but about a third were too green and rotted instead of ripening. The tomatoes were mixed in the lugs and where a rotting tomato touched a good tomato it caused the good tomato to rot also.

My father must have repacked those lugs 5 times before he was finished with them. It only took him about 6 months to sell the 2 ton truck.

If after a week any tomatoes which aren't pinking, I suggest using them for "Fried Green Tomatoes" and bathing the ones showing color. Claud

Father'sDaughter · October 7, 2018

If they are developed enough they will start blushing and ripen up in about a week with no intervention.

I have two cardboard boxes that I spread all my green tomatoes out in when I pulled my plants last weekend. Almost all of the eating tomatoes and about half of the pastes (there were a lot more of them) have since begun to blush and ripen. Those that were not developed enough never will.

saltmarsh · October 8, 2018

If you grow Indeterminate tomatoes pruned to two stems here's a tip that will help your tomatoes ripen 2 weeks earlier and have fewer immature tomatoes when frost arrives.

In the Spring plant your tomatoes, stake, tie and prune to 2 stems as normal.

When each stem has 4 clusters of tomatoes (That's 8 clusters per vine.) leave a leaf above the 4th cluster of tomatoes and cut the stem about a 1/2 inch above the leaf. Continue to remove any suckers which form later. You only need to do this on a couple of plants unless you are growing for market. Enough to supply you with 2 weeks of ripe tomatoes early.

(Just to be clear. If you top 2 plants you will have the bottom 4 clusters of tomatoes ripe 2 weeks early, the next 4 clusters will be ripe 1 week early, the 3rd 4 clusters will have ripe tomatoes at the same time the first clusters are ripe on untopped tomatoes.)

This is called topping and causes the tomato plants to direct its energy into ripening the existing fruit.

Here's a Spring and Fall Frost Date chart to help. Just enter your Zip Code or Location.

https://garden.org/apps/frost-dates/

In the Fall, Top your tomatoes about 5 weeks before your first killing frost. Locate the last cluster of small tomatoes on each stem and leaving 1 leaf above that cluster cut the rest of the stem off. Most of the tomatoes remaining should be mature enough to ripen before frost. As in the Spring, continue to remove any suckers which form. Claud

October 6, 2018	#1
JoParrott Guest Posts: n/a	ripening green tomatoes A few days ago I read a post about ripening green tomatoes by placing them in hot water--- I can't find the post now--- I have just pulled up my Earl's Faux plants and there are about a dozen nice tomatoes that are still very green. It would be great if I could ripen some. It is a fantastic tomato !Can someone direct me to the post? Thanks---

October 7, 2018	#2
crankyoldfart Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Hopkinton, MA Posts: 26	General Discussion>grocery store tomatoes (post #13) by Saltmarsh

October 7, 2018	#3
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	125 degrees F. for 5 minutes allow them to ripen on the counter for a week. Wait until the tomatoes are showing pink on the bottom before giving them a bath. Let me tell you a story. Back in Feb. 1963 my father bought a 2 ton chevy truck with an insulated panel bed and drove it from North Mississippi to central Florida, loaded it with 20 pound lugs of green tomatoes and drove it back to Mississippi. Then he started waiting for them to ripen. The tomatoes which were showing any color (pinking) continued to ripen, but about a third were too green and rotted instead of ripening. The tomatoes were mixed in the lugs and where a rotting tomato touched a good tomato it caused the good tomato to rot also. My father must have repacked those lugs 5 times before he was finished with them. It only took him about 6 months to sell the 2 ton truck. If after a week any tomatoes which aren't pinking, I suggest using them for "Fried Green Tomatoes" and bathing the ones showing color. Claud

October 7, 2018	#4
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	If they are developed enough they will start blushing and ripen up in about a week with no intervention. I have two cardboard boxes that I spread all my green tomatoes out in when I pulled my plants last weekend. Almost all of the eating tomatoes and about half of the pastes (there were a lot more of them) have since begun to blush and ripen. Those that were not developed enough never will.

October 8, 2018	#5
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	If you grow Indeterminate tomatoes pruned to two stems here's a tip that will help your tomatoes ripen 2 weeks earlier and have fewer immature tomatoes when frost arrives. In the Spring plant your tomatoes, stake, tie and prune to 2 stems as normal. When each stem has 4 clusters of tomatoes (That's 8 clusters per vine.) leave a leaf above the 4th cluster of tomatoes and cut the stem about a 1/2 inch above the leaf. Continue to remove any suckers which form later. You only need to do this on a couple of plants unless you are growing for market. Enough to supply you with 2 weeks of ripe tomatoes early. (Just to be clear. If you top 2 plants you will have the bottom 4 clusters of tomatoes ripe 2 weeks early, the next 4 clusters will be ripe 1 week early, the 3rd 4 clusters will have ripe tomatoes at the same time the first clusters are ripe on untopped tomatoes.) This is called topping and causes the tomato plants to direct its energy into ripening the existing fruit. Here's a Spring and Fall Frost Date chart to help. Just enter your Zip Code or Location. https://garden.org/apps/frost-dates/ In the Fall, Top your tomatoes about 5 weeks before your first killing frost. Locate the last cluster of small tomatoes on each stem and leaving 1 leaf above that cluster cut the rest of the stem off. Most of the tomatoes remaining should be mature enough to ripen before frost. As in the Spring, continue to remove any suckers which form. Claud