Tomato Ripening

As the summer draws to a close and we start losing those hot days needed to ripen vegetables, we need to start thinking about how to maximize the harvest from all of your tomato plants. Ripening in a tomato is the process in which it's green chlorophyll begins to break down and other pigments in the tomato begin to surface. This change, along with increasing softness and sugar content are what leads to really good tomatoes.

Ready to eat!

In general, the best time to harvest your tomato is when they are turning from orange to red. At this point I set my tomatoes on the counter to receive indirect sunlight and finish the ripening process. Real professionals don't recommend counter ripening. Lots of the ideas center around covering the tomatoes with newspaper or putting them in a brown paper bag so sunlight doesn't hit them and having temperatures in the 65 to 70 degree range. Seems like a lot to go through when the tomatoes ripen just fine on the counter and look really nice.

Need a little more ripening

The weather report for later this week and into next week is for night time temperatures in the low 50's and daytime temperatures in the 60's.  Great conditions for my Brussels sprouts but terrible conditions for getting those green tomatoes to ripen. Here are some ideas on what to do as colder weather starts taking over.

First, make sure you cover your plants with fabric or plastic to keep the frost off the vines. Using an old sheet is a great way to protect the plants.  The good thing about this is that early cold snaps are often followed by some nice weather that can ripen tomatoes.

Second is a method called root pruning.  I have never tried this but have read about it a couple of times. The idea is to insert your spade six inches into the ground in a circular pattern around the tomato plant. The circle should be about one foot away from the main stem. This technique forces all the remaining plant energy into ripening the tomatoes.

Finally, don't worry about it and harvest the green tomatoes. There are a ton of recipes for green tomatoes on the internet.