As summer starts to wane and cooler days approach many of us are left with the anxious thought: Will my tomatoes ripen in time?!
I’m going to share how to ripen tomatoes at the end of the season – both on and off the vine – and a couple of my favorite ways to use up green tomatoes that will make you look at them in a whole new light!
Ripening Tomatoes On the Vine
Temptingly tasty tomatoes ripen from early summer – if you’re lucky – right through to the first frosts, yielding their outrageously tasty fruits over many weeks. So with a few weeks of summer still to come, it pays to do everything in our grasp to give our tomato plants all the resources they need to color up their remaining fruits before it’s too late. We need every last fruit for those sumptuous tomato sauces!
Regular feeding with an organic liquid feed will really help to encourage sluggish plants. A good balance of nutrients gives stronger plants, and a feed that’s rich in potassium will promote fruit formation and ripening. In the summer months I feed at least once every two weeks. Don’t be tempted to skip this vital step – it really helps with both the quantity and quality of fruits!
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The ripening process can be maddeningly slow, but there are ways to help fruits along
The best taste comes from fruits ripened on the vine. And warmth really helps with this, so as the days start to cool off, consider shutting greenhouse or tunnel doors, windows and vents to trap more of that precious heat.
If you added shading earlier in the summer, now may be a good time to remove it, but check the forecast first in case a late-season heatwave is looming. My greenhouse glass is naturally a little grubby I must confess, though this helped to reduce the strength of the sun over the warmer weeks of summer. Also cut back any overhanging branches that are casting shade to maximize sunshine.
As we begin to tip into autumn, around six to eight weeks before your first expected frost, it’s worth removing any flowers that grow from that point onwards. Shorter days mean much slower growth, so there’s unlikely to be enough time for these flowers to set fruit, swell and ripen in time, though in warmer climates removing flowers probably isn’t necessary.
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Clean greenhouse panes to let in more light to encourage plants to ripen the remaining fruits
If you’re growing an indeterminate variety of tomato – a cordon or vining type – pinch out the top of the plant and any sideshoots to stop vegetative growth in its tracks. With additional flowers and excess growth kept in check, plants have no choice but to concentrate on ripening their remaining fruits.
Leave ripening tomatoes on plants for as long as you can. Tomatoes take time – as much as two months to go from flower to ripe fruit – so it’s no wonder that those long-awaited toms can sometimes come all at once towards the back-end of summer.
Once days become significantly shorter and temperatures are consistently below about 55ºF (13ºC), it’s time to cut your losses. Tomatoes are warm season crops and just won’t thrive in autumnal conditions, so gather up any remaining fruits and bring them inside to finish off.
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Tomatoes that show a hint of color are more likely to ripen fully off the vine
Ripening Tomatoes Off the Vine
How long tomatoes take to ripen off the vine depends on how much color they’re showing, and their size. If they are light green and have reached their final size they may fully ripen up, but if they’re a dark, solid green, I find they’re unlikely to ripen.
Blushing fruits that have a clear hint of color to them will develop over the next few days. They are already releasing ethylene gas, which ripening fruits emit to encourage further ripening. These tomatoes can simply be left in a bowl on the countertop to finish off. They don’t need to be in direct sunshine because it’s warmth that will be doing the heavy lifting, not light – though a warm windowsill, bathed in sunshine, may prove the best spot of all.
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Bananas emit ethylene gas which helps tomatoes to ripen
Ripening Tomatoes With a Banana
If you want to make absolutely sure that fruits will ripen in good time, add a ripe banana or apple to the bowl. Bananas and apples are ethylene gas emitting kings! Alternatively, place your tomatoes into an enclosed space with the banana, for example in a drawer or inside a paper bag, to trap the ethylene gas and concentrate its ripening power. Make sure there’s enough air exchange so they don’t sweat – that’s why a paper bag is better than a plastic one. Check daily for ripe fruits, and use them up as they’re ready so they don’t get overripe.
Whatever you do, keep ripening tomatoes at room temperature and definitely not in the fridge, which would bring down the shutters on your hopes of lovely ripe fruits.
Green Tomato Recipes
And what about those toms that stubbornly refuse to color up? Fortunately, there are loads of ways to use up green tomatoes. Here are two of my favorites.
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Fry up some green tomatoes and you'll wonder why you ever wanted those toms to ripen!
Fried Green Tomatoes
The first time I cooked up fried green tomatoes my mind was officially blown. Just wow! Crunchy on the outside, soft and unctuous on the inside. This classic Southern soul food dish is a culinary dream!
To start, cut firm, green tomatoes into rounds a quarter inch (0.5 cm) thick. Next, dip each slice in flour seasoned with a little salt and pepper, then into beaten egg, and then to finish, dip them into some breadcrumbs, cornmeal or polenta to give an irresistible crunch.
Once they’re coated, carefully lower the slices into a pan of hot, neutral oil such as sunflower, canola or rapeseed oil, then fry them on both sides til they’re golden.
I love them with a spicy dipping sauce of mayo cut with a good squirt of sriracha, or perhaps some sweet chili sauce.
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Roasted green tomatoes are the base for a simple yet irresistibe salsa
Green Tomato Salsa
And now for something fresh and zesty: green tomato salsa! It’s simple, quick and goes perfectly with so many dishes, such as grilled chicken, fish, or perhaps as a cheeky wakeup call for taco Tuesdays.
Combine diced green tomatoes, chopped red onions, jalapenos, some cilantro, a good squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a little salt to finish. Mix it all together, and enjoy!
