If you’re looking for a way to ripen those lingering green tomatoes from your late-season plants without keeping the plants in the ground – believe it or not, there is an easy and fast solution!
As summer winds down, tomato plants tend to lose their vitality. The once lush, productive plants that were brimming with blossoms and ripening fruit just a few weeks ago start to weaken and fade. But even in their final stages, many plants usually contain a fair amount of green or slightly blushing tomatoes.
This creates a common challenge for gardeners: should you leave the plants in place, hoping the last few fruits will ripen? Or is it time to pull them up and clean up the garden – even if it means giving up on those tomatoes?
If you leave the plants too long, you risk having the remaining fruit rot and fall, leaving behind seeds that will sprout into unwanted volunteer plants next season. In addition, you also increase the chance of your plants and soil becoming infected with blight spores.
With that said, late in the year, the best course of action is to pull the plants once they’ve lost their vigor. But before you toss them out, it’s time to collect those green and slightly pink tomatoes and ripen them off the vine!
How To Ripen The Last Green Tomatoes On Your Plants!
Ripening tomatoes after picking them is surprisingly simple. Even better, in many ways, it’s better for the fruit as well. Even in peak season, picking tomatoes before they fully ripen can help protect them from pests, sun damage, and other issues.
The truth is, tomatoes often ripen more effectively off the vine when given the right conditions. See our article: The Best Way To Ripen Tomatoes – How To Get Tomatoes To Ripen Better & Faster!
Contrary to what many believe, tomatoes don’t need direct sunlight to ripen. In fact, they prefer to be in a shaded area, where they thrive at around 70°F and with about 80 to 90 percent humidity. Good air circulation is also a big key to help ripening.
The good news? These conditions are easy to replicate indoors or in a shaded outdoor area. And by doing so, it allows you to finish ripening not only slightly turned tomatoes – but even those that are fully green.
Two Easy Tricks to Ripen Late-Season Tomatoes – How To Ripen The Last Of The Green Tomatoes On Your Plants!
As you clear out your plants, there are a couple of methods that can help your final harvest reach maturity. First, handle the tomatoes with care. Avoid washing them immediately as excess moisture can lead to premature rotting.
When harvesting, try to keep the tops of the tomatoes intact and minimize handling to avoid bruising. Sort your harvest into two categories: tomatoes that are starting to turn, and those that are still entirely green.
Ripening Tomatoes That Have Begun to Turn – How To Ripen The Last Of The Green Tomatoes
For tomatoes that are already showing a bit of color, the ripening process is easy. Since they’ve already begun to mature, it takes little effort to finish the job.
Find a spot out of direct sunlight. Somewhere cool with airflow like a covered porch is ideal. Indoors, a cool room without direct sunlight works well, though basements should be avoided because of high humidity.
A wire rack is best for placing the tomatoes on as it allows air to circulate around them. Avoid putting them on solid surfaces like wood or metal pans, as the bottoms may start to rot. If there isn’t much natural air movement, you can speed things up by using a fan for four to six hours a day.
Gently turning the tomatoes every day will also help them ripen evenly. In 5 to 10 days, depending on how much they had already turned, your tomatoes should be fully ripe and ready to enjoy. Affiliate Product Link: Checkered Chef Cooling Rack – 8” x 11 ¾” Set of 2 Stainless Steel
Ripening Fully Green Tomatoes – How To Ripen The Last Of The Green Tomatoes
If your tomatoes are still completely green, you’ll need to give them a little extra help to get the ripening process started. The easiest way? Grab a brown paper bag and a banana!
Place the green tomatoes in the bag along with a ripe banana, fold the top of the bag closed, and let it sit for a few days. The ethylene gas released by the banana will stimulate the tomatoes to start turning.
Once they’ve started to blush, move them to a wire rack or similar setup to finish ripening. Tomatoes will still store far better out of the refrigerator. However, as a last resort, putting fully ripe tomatoes in one will allow you to keep them a few weeks longer.
Yes – it really is that easy to ripen the last of your green tomatoes. And – even better, get to enjoy fresh tomatoes for at least another month
What To Do With Your Old Tomato Plants – How To Ripen The Last Of The Green Tomatoes
Last but not least, when you pull your plants – it’s important to keep them out of your compost pile. Tomato plants can carry a lot of disease. In addition, if any tomatoes are still on the plants, the seeds can get in the compost and be an issue next year wherever you use the compost.
Home compost piles just don’t get hot enough to kill the seeds or pathogens on the plants. For this reason, it is best to discard the plants and not try to compost them. Many local communities have large composting facilities as an option. There, the composting gets hot enough to kill any seeds or bacteria.
Here is to enjoying late season tomatoes, and keeping your garden safe too!
Simple Garden Life
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Simple Garden Life is a website dedicated to keeping gardening fun, simple and enjoyable! We publish two new articles each week along with a new garden podcast episode every two weeks. This article may contain affiliate links.