Maters won't ripen....too hot

[gunrunner]

Our heat and humidity here is terrible. Once it gets this hot the tomatoes refuse to ripen.
Do you have this problem, if so, how do you handle it?

Thanks
Mike

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by gunrunner

Our heat and humidity here is terrible. Once it gets this hot the tomatoes refuse to ripen.
Do you have this problem, if so, how do you handle it?

Thanks
Mike

If you really think they are ready and it is too hot then pull them and bring them inside in the shade of the counter they will then get ripe with little or no loss of flavor.
They could be on the verge of sun scald it they aren't protected from the sun.

I have never had it be too hot for a tomato to get ripe.
worth

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I have never had it be too hot for a tomato to get ripe.
worth

Me either. If it gets too hot the flowers won't set fruit, but what's already growing shouldn't be affected (except for sunburn on exposed 'maters).

[zipcode]

I noticed they don't quite ripen if they have insufficient water, but usually when it's hot they ripen faster (hot here might not be quite as hot as there, about 90F). Also lack of fertilizer, especially K, will delay ripening.

[b54red]

Gunrunner are you growing hybrids? Over the years and having tried just about every variety of disease resistant tomato trying to beat the nematodes and fusarium I found that certain hybrids were very slow to ripen when it got really hot. They would ripen much faster in the cooler spring and fall weather. They tended to be tomatoes that were called early by the vendors. I have not seen any heirlooms where that is the case and as a matter of fact just the opposite is true. When the real heat like we are having now get here it ends the chances of some of the larger varieties reaching their potential size because they start ripening too soon. I now only grow herlooms grafted onto very disease resistant rootstock and so I don't have to use those hybrids anymore.

Bill

[gunrunner]

Bill. Thank-you for info. Most of mine are betterboy. The are all large but no signs of turning yet. In doing a Google search everyone says they won't ripen well if air temp is above 85. It's well above that now. Do you think it would be good to continue to add fertilizer at this time? Also, should I cut back on water now?

Thanks again

Mike

[Dewayne mater]

If tomatoes wouldn't ripen with greater than 85 degree temps, I'd never have one. I find they get smaller and the skin gets thicker the hotter it gets. Ripening time is about the same in my opinion. The good news is, in my opinion, the heat makes for a much more concentrated and delicious flavor that those grown in cooler climates.

Dewayne Mater

[Worth1]

The seeds may be developing at this stage.
I have tomatoes that hang on the vine for days without growth and then they start to ripen.

Worth

Interesting subject- I too would never have ripe tomatoes if 85 was the limit ! Who is the "everyone" who say they won't ripen above 85? I would like to see a quote with sources.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by gunrunner

Bill. Thank-you for info. Most of mine are betterboy. The are all large but no signs of turning yet. In doing a Google search everyone says they won't ripen well if air temp is above 85. It's well above that now. Do you think it would be good to continue to add fertilizer at this time? Also, should I cut back on water now?

Thanks again

Mike

If you are growing a hybrid in a hot climate I can't think of a more reliable one than Big Beef and it is available everywhere. Try switching to it or even set a few out now for fall production. It is one of the better tomatoes setting fruit in unfavorably hot conditions and the taste is very good for a disease resistant hybrid.

Bill

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by gunrunner

Bill. Thank-you for info. Most of mine are betterboy. The are all large but no signs of turning yet. In doing a Google search everyone says they won't ripen well if air temp is above 85. It's well above that now. Do you think it would be good to continue to add fertilizer at this time? Also, should I cut back on water now?

Thanks again

Mike

I don't know about the not ripening part, just that once temps start hitting the mid 80's and up above especially the 90's and 100's we have now that they won't set fruit easily.

I have a few Betterboy's growing and mine are not turning yet. Plenty of fruits. Usually mine don't start to turn for another month or so. For me they take a long time to ripen which is why I only kept a few for myself this year. I just do the best I can to keep the plants healthy til they decide to ripen.

Because they take so long, that is probably why most of all the fried green tomatoes are from Better Boy. Folks get hungry and tired of waiting on them.

[Cole_Robbie]

Yeah, I have to agree that high temps don't affect ripening, at least that I have ever seen. Fruitset is the first thing hurt by high heat, and that varies a lot by variety. For example, a lot of Brandywines are notorious for not setting fruit in high heat.

[zipcode]

You can still fertilize with a low N high K fertilizer, it won't affect anything negatively. In fact I've found that such practices before ripening (like 2-3 weeks) will increase the taste of the tomato.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by gunrunner

Our heat and humidity here is terrible. Once it gets this hot the tomatoes refuse to ripen.
Do you have this problem, if so, how do you handle it?

Thanks
Mike

When did you set out your tomato plants? That might help us with a timeline to see if they are really "late" or just business as usual.

Ripening of the first tomatoes does seem to take forever and I don't think it has much to do with heat.