How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
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At this time of year many gardeners wonder if their green tomatoes will ever ripen. Fortunately there are some simple techniques that can help.
When temperatures begin to drop, tomatoes stop ripening so it's time to take action! Fruits can be brought inside or whole plants can be hung up to encourage the fruits to continue to ripen.
In this short video we show you how to ripen your green tomatoes both on and off the vine to ensure you don't waste any of your harvest at the end of the season.
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I live in a place with a short growing season and early freezing temps. I had a huge harvest of green tomatoes last year so tried the method of hanging upside down with roots still attached. I put them in a dark garden shed and turned on a heat lamp so they wouldn't freeze at night. I had ripe tomatoes well into winter!
Had a huge tomato loss early this year. Only three got ripe.
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I guess you stretched the ripening out over a long time because the ones closest to the lamp ripened first? As you picked them, new plants or trusses became the ones closest to the lamp?
@@andrewwalters3535enjoy eating those three tomatoes because you grew them with your own hands which makes them more delicious than store-bought!
I've always taken green tomatoes wrap them in newspaper and put them in a box and they ripen all the way up to a month and a half after the cold season starts. I believe that is the way to do it while someone else on another TH-cam channel said they won't ripen in the dark. I'll stick with the trusted way that's always worked for me!
That method definitely works too. :-)
The community garden for my apartment is shutting it down and my plants didn’t finish, I’m so glad I saw this. I have POUNDS of fruit still growing and it was killing me to think of tossing it!
This video might also be useful: th-cam.com/video/JNgnHcys2ZI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tZ94FWRvcstJ6EBo
My husband cut off twenty tomato plants and hung them upside down in the basement (he left the foliage on) they have been ripening beautifully and they taste great! I have canned 21 extra quarts of tomatoes and will process another 14 quarts of of them by the time that they are all ripened, plus some pints of salsa. This is great to know if you live in a northern climate. I have pictures on Facebook.
Brilliant to hear Cindy. It's so satisfying that none of the crop has to be wasted.
Do you still ripen your tomatoes this way? I’d love to see pictures of your process.
@@DianneLegault15 I have pictures on Facebook. This year we’re making green tomatoe salsa, so we’re not hanging them upside down, but it works great and it’s fun to see how many more jars of tomatoes you get.
Hi, I just read this and realized how old the post was but I would like to see how you do your tomatoes. Thanks
@@cindybonem494 If you don't mind explaining, when you hung the tomato plants upside down did you just cut at the base of the stem and leave the roots in the ground? That's what I'd like to do but I don't know if the roots are key to the process.
My father always collected the green ones and wrapped them in newspaper. Then placed them in banana box or similar. This way we were eating ripe tomatoes all the way until Christmas!!
Thank you for your help, your a great inspiration I'm so glad that someone cares enough to help the little people with no income.
Great advice. usually tend to try to ripen on kitchen windowsill, but have just pulled up our 5 remaining tomato plants today, stripped the leaves off & hung them in the shed as you suggested. Will post an update in a few weeks - hopefully successful!
How did it go? I hope it was successful!
Thank you. I have discarded my green tomatoes for the last 2 years as I thought it was just to late. Will try out your methods and hopefully enjoy some more of my hard work.
Also, Michelle, consider green fried tomatoes. I'll be trying this recipe (search online) this evening for the first time. It's an American classic and very tasty apparently.
I grew up in the 60’s-70’s and this is what we did out home.
I’ve done the pulling whole plant up by roots, hanging n basement by roots. I live in Idaho mountains (short season), but the hanging method gives me tomatoes until March (as long as NO blight on stems). There is another method of getting them to ripen on plant, in ground. Take your shovel, then about 8 inches away from trunk shove shovel at slight angle to cut roots on all sides. Pull plant up, turn quarter turn (to make sure roots are cut) set back in hole. This will get your tomatoes to ripen before neighbors, and you can get them to market (local veggie market) to sell before others.
What a great tip - thanks so much for sharing this!
@@GrowVeg it works too! Cheers
Thanks for the info, good ideas. I put mine in a kitchen drawer with a red apple and they don't take long.
Quite amazing that this vid popped up just when I was on the point of throwing my toys out of the pram and chucking the lot into the compost.
Thanks.
Glad it's useful. We're also putting out an article later this week on frying green tomatoes - a Southern soul food classic. It will be on www.growveg.com from Friday.
me too
Ha, same here ‘
Me too.
Thank you Ben for these tips I have a load of tomatoes not ripening and it is nearly the end of summer. x
bring potted plants inside, either just at night, put by sunny window,or under grow lights. your advice is good for plants in ground
Love this guy's accent! I mean, we all have accents, but his is culming and dignified.
Most of us Brits don't think we have an accent! 🙂 This is what's called 'The Queen's English"!
We put them loosely into boxes and store in the basement. They usually all ripen, with very little waste.
Wow fantastic! I'll use the paper method we have been very lucky this year as my husband brought tomatoes and other veg on so that we were eating ripe tomatoes when usually they would only just be green, we have had a bumper crop this year...and still plenty on the vine so it's now time to pick them and ripen according to your video.
Greenhouse is now getting emptied the only things remaining there are the aubergines.
Many thanks for this advice 🙂
Give fried green tomatoes a go too Barbara: www.growveg.co.uk/guides/fresh-and-tasty-fried-green-tomatoes/
My first year growing tomatoes and it was kind of a success! Considering I didn’t get them to grow tomatoes in the first place but needed the leaves for something important. Really happy with this experience and can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned for next year’s crop!
Hi there Jessie, please tell me what were the leaves needed for?
I read somewhere online that the leaves can be eaten after cooking, was this what you did and if so did you like what you eat?
I am interested to learn of what cooking method is used if at all true, as I was concerned that it maybe a joke as the thread online looked somewhat unreliable and I just need some assurance of such.
Thanking you in anticipation of hearing from you and GrowVeg.
Mike Edward, hello, I didn’t actually use the leaves for cooking so I’m not able to give you information on that, sorry. I was instead looking for ways to kill some aphids that were attacking my kale at the time. It was suggested to do a spray from the leaves.
I’m not sure if I just didn’t do the process correctly but it didn’t really kill them off btw. Or at least it wasn’t effective in the way another spray I used was. Hope that helps!
Hi Mike. I can't shed any light on this, sorry. Though funnily enough I was asked just this weekend if the leaves were edible. If they are edible, I can't imagine they would be that palatable, otherwise we would have heard more about eating leaves.
I put the cherry tomatoes in egg cartons to ripen and it works great. I have so many fruits I need to get in and the weather has already frosted twice. I hope I can salvage some of them!
+Natasha M That's a great idea - egg cartons would be just the right size.
We had a rapid temperature change( thanks geoengineering)that froze 99% of the tomatoes, all cucumbers,all flowers. This is still hard to get over.
We changed from high 80s to freeze.
Short and very informative content. Thank you 😊
Wow thanking you from Germany for this valuable information such time like this .
Thanks for alternative methods, I will usely rinse off the tomatoes, let dry, and put them in a brown paper bag with an apple to ripen. Bud
Like everyone else I have lots of green tomatoes and we have a cold front coming next week. Thanks for this info.
I pickle green tomatoes at end of season. Taste great !
That was very very helpful..thank you, especially lazy method of hanging the whole plant
My thoughts exactly. The methods are really going to help my tomato plants
I ripen mine by first sorting the harvest, setting aside the ripest ones, and sorting by size (this makes for easier layering). Then, place the rest, one layer deep, in a cardboard box, with the ripest ones on the top layer. Separate layers with newspaper. (I usually use about 3-4 sheets per layer. This makes it stronger, for when you check ripeness - you can often just pull up a corner of the paper to look below). You can usually go 3-4 layers deep (much more & they tend to crush). Check daily, going all the way down in the box, removing the ripe ones and any bad ones. Then it’s time for salsa, pasta sauce, and tomato paste
Thanks for that - that sounds like a very effective method.
I just put green tomatoes in a windowsill with full morning sun. I will turn them daily and usually ripen in about 5 days. I always grow large beefsteaks.
I’ve been using the paper bag method for years, but didn’t know about adding an apple. I’m going to try that this year. Thanks!
I like pulling the plants and hanging them in a shed, upside down, like you showed. Then I can bring the tomatoes into the house as I want to ripen them. It's a good way to handle a large quantity of tomato plants over a long period. I make Green Tomato Mincemeat with the ones that don't ripen up. It's tasty on oatmeal on a winter morning!
+HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead Love the tomato mincemeat idea - very ingenious!
Good advice at 2:28. Pull the vines up (roots and all) before the first frost, and hang 'em upside down from the rafters in a pole barn, or a shed. They'll gradually ripen. Check on 'em every couple of days to see how they're going. You can have fresh tomatoes for weeks.
This same method works for pepper plants as well. 😀👍
I just put them in a drawer with bananas or even just banana skins.The apple idea sounds good. Never needed the bag though.
Your seed saving vid is excellent. Thanks. Will use on some small yellow plum variety that just appeared in the garden!
I can't thank you enough for this advice (20190 - as it is Oct.1 and I have lots of green tomatoes left on my vines because here in Ontario, Canada we had a very late start to warmer weather!
Same here. Definitely harvest those guys and bring them inside. Once they experience real cold, it'll change the taste and texture unfortunately!
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms I noticed he wrapped them in newspaper, do you think I could use parchment paper instead?
@@livingunderarock56 Oh yeah, don't see why not. I just use newspaper because its free and easy and dry and clean!
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Thank you so much for all your help! You don't have a vlog channel do you by chance on tomatoes?
@@livingunderarock56 Thanks! I just have my regular TH-cam channel. I cover a lot on tomatoes, but not exclusively....I like all vegetables!
Here in Australia, I put stuff I want to ripen in a container, up on top of the fridge in cooler months. Always a consistent warmness there.😉🥝🍅🍌🍐
Good move Fiona!
I love it when you say let us (lettuce) know 😂😂
Unintentional pun!
This is great thanks. I have 10 plants still going strong and the temp appears to be stable above 10 for at least another week here in Surrey. Can't believe how much they've cropped, had a punnet every day for months
They're incredibly productive once they finally get going.
So happy to have seen this!
it is a must to Nick the main root at the end of the season this will force the plant to ripen the fruit
Didn't realise this, thanks for sharing.
Could you explain " nick the main root" a bit more?
Can u explain what u mean by “nick the main root”?
My first year growing toms for a long while. I have been advised to remove all the leaves to encourage ripening; do folk agree with that? I'm pleased to hear I should stop watering!
Beaches Cornwall I don’t suggest cutting the leaves if leaving the tomato plant in the soil. Leaves are the primary source of the plants energy source. I believe it’s around 70% of the photosynthesis occurs comes from the leaves, then stems, then fruit. This process is what ripens and gives your tomatoes that sweet flavor...im in GA so I’ve reduced watering to every 7/10 days but that’s not something I’m sure of...Ive got about 50 on 2 plants so I’m going to remove 1/2 the fruit this weekend and try a few indoor methods but I’m counting on by removing half of them the plants can concentrate on the remaining fruit. I dread grocery store tomatoes this !!! My half ripe tomatoes have been like candy compared to the store bought... good luck
Depends on the leaves. Suckers and spent flower stems? For sure. Flowers should be removed in August in most northern climates as well.
That's so useful, as I had just noticed blight on the stems, so now I also know what to do with the green tomatoes. Thank you
Always very inspiring your vids . Love them .don't think I've seen any that I don't like. Made a garden out of me🍅🍅🍅
Thanks so much Geoff, that's very kind of you to say.
Dyou can ripe any fruits in a pot with rice, basically you have a half full pot of rice, add your fruits in and cover them with rice and let them bury in the rice and cover the lid for a few days, your fruits will ripe. We use to do this with banana.
I make green tomato chutney each year , yummy
Thank you for the video! I was going to throw a bunch of my green tomatoes into the compost until I saw your video. Thank you! Subscribed!
How on Earth did 11 people dislike this video?
Thanks so much! I have bunches of green cherry tomatoes. This is great!
Put them in your wool socks and store them in the closet for a short while. My grandmother taught me that as a young boy on the farm.
Awesome advice!
Good ideas. I have some green ones for ripening.
I allways ferment all my green tomatoes they last for 6 months and are great in salads , or cooking
I have simply been picking them, placing them on the window sill inside the conservatory and they have ripened within 2 days. I only pick the ones that have begun to ripen, i.e. are not entirely green.
Really good advice
Excellent advice!
Thank you for all these tips. At the mo I'm looking at some large green tomatoes and thinking they're never going to ripen so these are perfect solutions for me to try! Off to take down my triffids with green fruits!!
I hope they ripen soon!
Thanks. Learned alot
Hello Ben and followers ☺️. I put green tomatoes 🍈 on my window sill. Yummy 😋.
Just the job Carol. Do check out our more recent video on ripening green tomatoes, with recipes, also: th-cam.com/video/gGV_CiYLmV0/w-d-xo.html
I had my Gardner friend tell me
To line them up single style in a box and separate the levels by newspaper. Leaving them in a cool place. Once they start to ripen put them on the counter.
Brilliant. Thank you!
Thank you! I was looking at all the tomatoes left on my Early Girl and wondering if I could ripen them. They are in a container so , for now I have moved them into my little plastic greenhouse, mostly to keep them out of the rain we've FINALLY been getting! I'm going to see how they do in there for a bit as it is still fairly warm. I will try some of these tips after a bit, though, because I REALLY want to ripen them!
+kathys3kids They should ripen much faster in the greenhouse. Good luck with them.
GrowVeg I can already see their color changing. I'm glad as the plants still have a LOT of tomatoes on them!
*GOOD, GOD BLESS YOU SIR AND YOUR FAMILY'S😷*
And you.
Great information ! Thanks!
Thanks .I was trying to decorate my wall with a branch of un ripened tomatoes upside down .
Found out today that it's a drying procedure as well...Also kitchen worktop are also a good place to speed up the ripening. Or in a fruit box covered with table cover or any sheet ....
Hi Ben, thank you so much for your work, just discovered the channel and absolutely loving it! My grandma used to put green tomatoes in woollen socks/mittens and leave them on a windowsill to ripen! ☺️🌿
What a great idea - that's one way to ripen them!
Can you hang them by cut stems or do they have to hang from the roots?
You can hang them by the cut stems, that's no problem.
Ty for the great info
Great video, thank you! A question: do supermarket apples that have been treated to extend their life still give off ethylene?
I'm not certain on that one, so would stick to using bananas to help ripen your tomatoes.
@@GrowVeg That is helpful - many thanks.
Good information
Very good, I will try this.
Hi there, please do you know if I can possibly use green tomatoes for their seeds to grow next year, as all I have is green tomatoes,
can I ripen them and then use the seeds next year or should I just go straight ahead and do the as seeds whilst still green?
Reason being is that I used the seeds this year and lost the packet they came, so have no knowing which they are from but because they produced so well would to give them another go.
Because of the virus in the earlier part of the year, I was delayed in my growing.
I see you produced this video way back in 2015, thank you for doing such a good job of collecting 496,402 views
and hope to hear from you.
Hi Mike. The seeds won't be properly developed and viable until the tomatoes have turned red. They turn red once mature to encourage animals/us to eat them and spread the seeds. You could try ripening the tomatoes in a bowl so they turn colour to red, but I would be concerned that the seeds themselves wouldn't have matured enough, the fruit being off the vine. If you have time, leave them on the plant for another week or two (assuming no frosts) then bring the last of the fruits in to continue ripening. If they turn red on the plant you can go ahead and harvest the seeds, safe in the knowledge they should be good to go. Otherwise harvest them from fruits that turn colour eventually - they may still be viable. The seeds from green tomatoes I reckon would not give a good result, though you never know. Save what you can and give them a go.
Thank you for this. We have a lot of tomatoes growing but if I leave them long enough to ripen on the vine, animals get to them or they become diseased. I was hoping there was a method to pick them while green so they can finish ripening in the house
Absolutely. You might also find our other video on ripening green tomatoes (with recipes!) handy: th-cam.com/video/gGV_CiYLmV0/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video
Hi..can you plz tell me the purpose of using newspaper to wrap around the tomatoes?Thank you
Yes, the purpose is, like apples, to keep the fruits from touching, just in case one of them goes bad and then spoils the rest.
@@GrowVeg oh ok ..thank you very much..i appreciate your feedback
you can pull you green tomatoes if you have a cold wave coming take the wrap each in newspapers pack in boxes that are handy like shoe boxes once aweek check for ripe ones ih had tomatos till dec they seem to rippen slower this way one fall i lost a bushel off green tomatoes to a freeze before i tried this stack in pantry if you have space
I just had strong winds dump over my _heavy_ Roma plant. It broke one branch and there's a crack in the main stem. I think it's not gonna take much more, so I'm gonna harvest today and hang the plant upside down for a bit... then transfer to paper bags and see what happens. Thanks for the tips!😃
I've also just harvested lots of green tomatoes off blight-affected plants. Hoping they'll ripen up okay indoors. Good luck with your tomatoes also.
Its 5 Oct and most of my tomatoes just never turned red. Not sure why. I'll be pulling them up today and hanging them in the garage from the rafters. A few will go in paper bags on top of the fridge. I hope this works!
Hi Lynnea. Do you also check out our more recent video on ripening green tomatoes, which has a few tasty recipes for using them up.
I will try this method to ripen tomatos at the end of this season.
Great tips!!
Yes very useful... Thanks for sharing !!
Been advised to leave on plants in greenhouse but remove all foliage.
Any views on this method
I would leave the foliage on the plants while they are still growing, as these will be providing the energy the plants need to continue ripening the fruits.
I'm going to wrap them in newspaper and put each individual one in 18 dozen cardboard egg cartons and store them that way .will that work also?
That could well work, yes. Or just save time by putting them all into one paper bag, closing it, and checking from time to time to remove the most ripe tomatoes. More here: th-cam.com/video/gGV_CiYLmV0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=RczH24qMdtx7v5Ek
Is it better to ripen the tomatoes with the green stem end still on, or should we remove it? I see you keep the green part on; does it matter? Thanks.
I don’t think it matters too much. But I would leave the green stem end on if you can.
thanks for your tips
Green tomatoes won't go to waste! Just make the Southern ( USA ) classic, Fried Green Tomatoes! SO good!
I'm going to have to give this a go.
@@GrowVeg Absolutely! Chef John has a good recipe... th-cam.com/video/xPR0xFgCAZY/w-d-xo.html
Oh YES!!
Do you think they taste as good?
No, tomatoes ripened naturally, on the vine, will always taste the best.
Great vid as usual
THANK YOU!!
you know your stuff
great tip
I just collect green tomatoes and keep them in dark place (in a cupboard at home, not wrapped in a paper) for 3-4 weeks :)
will they still ripen even if they are still small and have not matured to their normal size?
If they haven't reached full size then they are very unlikely to mature and colour up off the plant.
Fab thanks!! 🍅🍅🍅
Just cut the vine and hang in unseated garage for fresh salad tomatoes thru the holidays... link to pic here instagram.com/p/B6-I_XFg2yV/?igshid=1gkco43d1y3x6
I have read if you have any individual tomatoes you need ripened, you can place them stem side down in a cardboard box.
I use empty banana boxes from Costco. Fill them with my green tomatoes just before the first frost. Then I put them in the cellar and take them out as they ripen, which Happens nice and slow giving me plenty of time to eat them. I don’t bother to wrap them in paper.
Cool thanks
Over here in sunny South Africa they ripen ok.
Thanks, I was ready to give up. I have 10 X more green tomatoes than ripe ones.
Nice video. Thank you for all the good ideas!
Just one thing; Salsa verde isn't normally prepared with unripened tamatoes but with "tomate verde" (Physalis Philadelphia).
Anyway, maybe is it a good substitute.
Thanks for the heads up on that, appreciated.
Fantastic
Can you use the seeds of green tomatoes for the following year instead of using the ones from the riped tomatoes?
You could try, but I strongly suspect they won't be mature, so will be unlikely to germinate. You really need to be saving seed from fully mature, ripened fruits.
thanks for the advice,I'll keep the on the vine for as long as I can. Autumn now in NZ, haven't had a ripe tomatoe yet all summer as it has been so cold here! Mine are in a glasshouse but that hasn't helped them, not enough sun over summer unfortunately.
I hope you get a few weeks of warmer, sunnier weather to speed the ripening of your tomatoes. Would be a shame not to get any - good luck.
Time Sensitive::: Will this method work for green heirloom tomatoes if they are already off of the vine like mine? I have a huge bowl full that I had to bring in before our first freeze.
These techniques should work for all types of tomato.