Green tomatoes - how accelerate the ripening?

clara · October 2, 2016

The season here in Germany is/may be near to the end although till now no frost is predicted, at least not here in the west. My problem: Among many others, I'm growing Marianna's Hawaiian Pineapple and already had ONE ripe fruit - heaven, was it delicious!!! There are still 5 tomatoes on the vine, but totally green, there is not the slightest sign of any blushing. They are monsters of (estimated) about a pound and more and all looking perfect, well formed, no cracking, nothing.

Green tomatoes on the counter CAN ripen, but also rot - and I DO, DO, DO want those tomatoes because they are so good! (And saving more seeds wouldn't be bad at all, wouldn't it?) Do you have any ideas/tricks to accelerate the ripening? Any help is welcome!

I should add that the plant is in the open garden, not in a greenhouse.

NarnianGarden · October 2, 2016

If you think it's way too early to pick them and keep them indoors, you can try a cover cloth - wrap it around the plant carefully and use clips/cloth pegs as needed. It can be very useful.

When brought indoors, the best place may not be on a counter. Wrapped with paper in a box has worked well for us. In 2014, my parents had fresh toms until November (picked in the end of Sept and ripened indoors..) And the taste did not suffer badly at all. Of course, there is no way of predicting how your variety (and any individual tomato fruit) will react.

slugworth · October 2, 2016

you could put a clear plastic bag over the plant to act like a mini greenhouse.
I once let weeds take over the garden and some weeds were as tall as the plants.
The weeds actually protected the tomato plants when the 1st frost hit.

bower · October 3, 2016

Paper bags or cardboard boxes work well, the trick is that the ripening fruits are releasing ethylene and in a closed space it's enough to encourage them to ripen faster. You just have to check regularly and make sure nothing is rotting.

For the same reason I think the cover outdoors not only raises the temperature a bit but also creates a 'tent' for the ethylene being released instead of just blowing away. (Well this is an issue here for sure since we have so much wind!).
My outdoor fruit were just hanging and hanging this year not blushing, but one night I covered the row and the next morning there were blushes everywhere. This is not entirely temperature because for sure we had warmer nights, but the constant breeze doesn't allow any ethylene to build up around the fruit. At least, that's my theory for now.

I put a lot of small fruit and clusters into one bag, and if even one is slightly blushing it helps to push the others. Just checked bags this morning, and suddenly I'm swamped with ripe fruit again!

**carolyn137** · October 3, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by bower

Paper bags or cardboard boxes work well, the trick is that the ripening fruits are releasing ethylene and in a closed space it's enough to encourage them to ripen faster. You just have to check regularly and make sure nothing is rotting.

For the same reason I think the cover outdoors not only raises the temperature a bit but also creates a 'tent' for the ethylene being released instead of just blowing away. (Well this is an issue here for sure since we have so much wind!).
My outdoor fruit were just hanging and hanging this year not blushing, but one night I covered the row and the next morning there were blushes everywhere. This is not entirely temperature because for sure we had warmer nights, but the constant breeze doesn't allow any ethylene to build up around the fruit. At least, that's my theory for now.

I put a lot of small fruit and clusters into one bag, and if even one is slightly blushing it helps to push the others. Just checked bags this morning, and suddenly I'm swamped with ripe fruit again!

I agree with most of the above.

I used to go out and pick the full size greenies and wrap them in newspaper,etc,but by the time cool weather appears most of them would already have anthracnose and rot in storage.

Or would throw covers over the varieties I had to have seeds from, but then had to get those covers off before the sun got hot.And all of this while I was teaching and living elsewhere, not at the old farm.

I don't remember the quote but, well,I fetched it

https://www.google.com/search?q=for+..._AUIBygA&dpr=1

Yes, for everything there is a season, even for all of us gardeners.

Carolyn

clara · October 3, 2016

Thanks for all your tips! The days here are still pretty warm (not hot), but the coming nights will be rather cold, near to frost. Therefore I picked today almost everything with a bit of color and wrapped my precious Marianna's Hawaiian Pineapple into bubble foliage, i.e. 3 of them. I had also thought about adding an apple into the foliage because of the ethylene, but did not do it because of the weight. The 2 other Marianna's HP are picked and put into a bag with an apple - hopefully at least ONE of these methods will work! Better would of course be having 5 gorgeous tomatoes...

Next year, this variety will be sown VERY early and have the best/warmest spot in my garden!

JLJ_ · October 4, 2016

FWIW, I try to avoid concentrating ethylene gas as a means to promote ripening -- that's the technique that creates grocery store tomatoes. Of course, when you use the technique with better quality tomatoes, you get better results than the groceries get, but still . . .

For present or future reference, there's some good discussion on the ripening topic in this thread

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=30713

and in post #13 of that thread I posted links to a bunch of earlier threads on the same topic

Here, we have lows right around freezing forecast the next three or four nights, and highs not too great in the daytime, so, even though I have protective tents around the tomatoes, I've picked everything I think has any realistic chance of ripening indoors. Over the years I've had pretty good luck at picking those out. The white radiating "star" lines on the blossom end are a helpful indicator of "mature green", but it does vary with variety.

Now I have to find places to spread them all to ripen. I'm debating whether I could convince the dog to wear a flat topped helmet strapped to his head, and let me ripen a few tomatoes there, but there are drawbacks to that idea.

**carolyn137** · October 4, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLJ_

FWIW, I try to avoid concentrating ethylene gas as a means to promote ripening -- that's the technique that creates grocery store tomatoes. Of course, when you use the technique with better quality tomatoes, you get better results than the groceries get, but still . . .

For present or future reference, there's some good discussion on the ripening topic in this thread

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=30713

and in post #13 of that thread I posted links to a bunch of earlier threads on the same topic

Here, we have lows right around freezing forecast the next three or four nights, and highs not too great in the daytime, so, even though I have protective tents around the tomatoes, I've picked everything I think has any realistic chance of ripening indoors. Over the years I've had pretty good luck at picking those out. The white radiating "star" lines on the blossom end are a helpful indicator of "mature green", but it does vary with variety.

Now I have to find places to spread them all to ripen. I'm debating whether I could convince the dog to wear a flat topped helmet strapped to his head, and let me ripen a few tomatoes there, but there are drawbacks to that idea.

I lost a post and will try again,just briefly.

If you click on JLJ's link above it takes you to a list of threads dealing with the issue of ripening near the end of the season.

One of them is

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=30713

Where I posted about why you shouldn't use methods that increase ethylene concentrations.

Those would include bagging,adding apple slices and wrapping fruits in whatever.

Two ways to hasten ripening with inground plants have been mentioned in this thread and I've tried both several times.

One is to take a flat bladed spade and cut a circle down about 6 inches out from the main stem and 6 inches into the soil and that severs the feeder roots which is supposed to stop nutrient uptake so energy is directed to fruit ripening and not plant growth.

The other method is to pull up on the plant while twisting it which is supposed to do the samething.

Speaking just for myself,neither method left me impressed with results.

Carolyn

bower · October 4, 2016

Ethylene... fascinating stuff.

In climacteric fruit it's "autocatalytic" meaning the first bit of ethylene triggers more ethylene production by the ripening fruit. And ethylene is not just part of the ripening process, it's produced in response to tissue injuries too. On the ripening continuum, the highest amount of ethylene comes from senescent and rotting fruit.

Ripe apples, pears and bananas produce a lot more ethylene than tomatoes afaict. I was always afraid to put an apple or banana with my tomatoes because of the risk of rotting. I mean, apples we keep cold to keep them fresh, so not usually sitting around at room temperature. As for bananas, a ripe banana is a banana about to rot, in my experience. Eat it or rot it, you have a day to decide which more or less.

Here is an interesting link, which suggests there are two reasons why ethylene 'gassed' supermarket fruit would be inferior to naturally self-gassing fruit (of the same variety and maturity!)
One reason: the fruit were immature and were gassed prematurely, triggering them to ripen with poor quality. Another reason: the fruit were chilled too cold and too long before they were gassed to ripen.

http://www.frontlineservices.com.au/..._ethylene.html

If this is true, there are a couple of lessons for me: (1) Don't leave the fruit hanging in the cold until they've been injured (2) Don't use an ethylene trigger on green fruit that may be immature, let them ripen instead until they produce their own ethylene (3) If you do want to ripen a fruit asap, using an apple in the bag for one day, then take it out, should be more than enough.

NarnianGarden · October 4, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by bower

Ethylene... fascinating stuff.

As for bananas, a ripe banana is a banana about to rot, in my experience. Eat it or rot it, you have a day to decide which more or less.

One more option for bananas: Put them in a banana bread

The blacker the fruit, the better the cake!

Moshou · October 4, 2016

Well, grab the plant and slightly and carefully pull it up maximum 1-2 millimeters
This move will send to the plant a signal that will hasten the ripening

dmforcier · October 4, 2016

The classic method for hurrying ripening is to put the fruit in a paper bag with a banana. Apparently bananas naturally give off ethylene (or whatever).

At this time, though, I think I'd try leaving them on the plant as long as you can. I have had considerable success covering my pepper plants on frostbitten nights with a light sheet.

slugworth · October 4, 2016

I have also trimmed a few non bearing branches with a blowtorch instead of just cutting to put the plants under forest fire stress.

clara · October 4, 2016

Thanks for all your interesting tips! I had to read a lot...

MendozaMark · October 4, 2016

Just bookmarked this thread, great info everyone. I hope to have this problem in a years time.

October 4, 2016	#11
Moshou Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 470	Well, grab the plant and slightly and carefully pull it up maximum 1-2 millimeters This move will send to the plant a signal that will hasten the ripening __________________ Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting in your fruit salad

October 4, 2016	#12
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	The classic method for hurrying ripening is to put the fruit in a paper bag with a banana. Apparently bananas naturally give off ethylene (or whatever). At this time, though, I think I'd try leaving them on the plant as long as you can. I have had considerable success covering my pepper plants on frostbitten nights with a light sheet. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

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October 2, 2016	#1
clara Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Posts: 1,351	Green tomatoes - how accelerate the ripening? The season here in Germany is/may be near to the end although till now no frost is predicted, at least not here in the west. My problem: Among many others, I'm growing Marianna's Hawaiian Pineapple and already had ONE ripe fruit - heaven, was it delicious!!! There are still 5 tomatoes on the vine, but totally green, there is not the slightest sign of any blushing. They are monsters of (estimated) about a pound and more and all looking perfect, well formed, no cracking, nothing. Green tomatoes on the counter CAN ripen, but also rot - and I DO, DO, DO want those tomatoes because they are so good! (And saving more seeds wouldn't be bad at all, wouldn't it?) Do you have any ideas/tricks to accelerate the ripening? Any help is welcome! I should add that the plant is in the open garden, not in a greenhouse.

October 2, 2016	#2
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	If you think it's way too early to pick them and keep them indoors, you can try a cover cloth - wrap it around the plant carefully and use clips/cloth pegs as needed. It can be very useful. When brought indoors, the best place may not be on a counter. Wrapped with paper in a box has worked well for us. In 2014, my parents had fresh toms until November (picked in the end of Sept and ripened indoors..) And the taste did not suffer badly at all. Of course, there is no way of predicting how your variety (and any individual tomato fruit) will react.

October 2, 2016	#3
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,152	you could put a clear plastic bag over the plant to act like a mini greenhouse. I once let weeds take over the garden and some weeds were as tall as the plants. The weeds actually protected the tomato plants when the 1st frost hit.

October 3, 2016	#4
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Paper bags or cardboard boxes work well, the trick is that the ripening fruits are releasing ethylene and in a closed space it's enough to encourage them to ripen faster. You just have to check regularly and make sure nothing is rotting. For the same reason I think the cover outdoors not only raises the temperature a bit but also creates a 'tent' for the ethylene being released instead of just blowing away. (Well this is an issue here for sure since we have so much wind!). My outdoor fruit were just hanging and hanging this year not blushing, but one night I covered the row and the next morning there were blushes everywhere. This is not entirely temperature because for sure we had warmer nights, but the constant breeze doesn't allow any ethylene to build up around the fruit. At least, that's my theory for now. I put a lot of small fruit and clusters into one bag, and if even one is slightly blushing it helps to push the others. Just checked bags this morning, and suddenly I'm swamped with ripe fruit again!

October 4, 2016	#7
JLJ_ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Wyoming Posts: 759	FWIW, I try to avoid concentrating ethylene gas as a means to promote ripening -- that's the technique that creates grocery store tomatoes. Of course, when you use the technique with better quality tomatoes, you get better results than the groceries get, but still . . . For present or future reference, there's some good discussion on the ripening topic in this thread http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=30713 and in post #13 of that thread I posted links to a bunch of earlier threads on the same topic Here, we have lows right around freezing forecast the next three or four nights, and highs not too great in the daytime, so, even though I have protective tents around the tomatoes, I've picked everything I think has any realistic chance of ripening indoors. Over the years I've had pretty good luck at picking those out. The white radiating "star" lines on the blossom end are a helpful indicator of "mature green", but it does vary with variety. Now I have to find places to spread them all to ripen. I'm debating whether I could convince the dog to wear a flat topped helmet strapped to his head, and let me ripen a few tomatoes there, but there are drawbacks to that idea.

October 4, 2016	#9
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Ethylene... fascinating stuff. In climacteric fruit it's "autocatalytic" meaning the first bit of ethylene triggers more ethylene production by the ripening fruit. And ethylene is not just part of the ripening process, it's produced in response to tissue injuries too. On the ripening continuum, the highest amount of ethylene comes from senescent and rotting fruit. Ripe apples, pears and bananas produce a lot more ethylene than tomatoes afaict. I was always afraid to put an apple or banana with my tomatoes because of the risk of rotting. I mean, apples we keep cold to keep them fresh, so not usually sitting around at room temperature. As for bananas, a ripe banana is a banana about to rot, in my experience. Eat it or rot it, you have a day to decide which more or less. Here is an interesting link, which suggests there are two reasons why ethylene 'gassed' supermarket fruit would be inferior to naturally self-gassing fruit (of the same variety and maturity!) One reason: the fruit were immature and were gassed prematurely, triggering them to ripen with poor quality. Another reason: the fruit were chilled too cold and too long before they were gassed to ripen. http://www.frontlineservices.com.au/..._ethylene.html If this is true, there are a couple of lessons for me: (1) Don't leave the fruit hanging in the cold until they've been injured (2) Don't use an ethylene trigger on green fruit that may be immature, let them ripen instead until they produce their own ethylene (3) If you do want to ripen a fruit asap, using an apple in the bag for one day, then take it out, should be more than enough.

October 4, 2016	#15
MendozaMark Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Yarmouth,NS Canada Posts: 296	Just bookmarked this thread, great info everyone. I hope to have this problem in a years time.