How to ripen green tomatoes. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Not all green tomatoes will ripen off the vine, but there are some steps you can take, to increase the chances that they will. Most tomatoes need temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit to finish ripening. But once the days begin to shorten and remain cool, you are going to need to take some precautions to prevent losing your final tomato harvest. Here are some ideas for what you can do with stubborn tomatoes you have to pick while still green.
- Bring the whole plant indoors. Lift the entire plant and hang it in a dry, sheltered location, like the garage. The fruits will continue to ripen and will still have some of the benefits of ripening on the vine.
- Or, pick the more mature green fruits and ripen in the house. Place tomatoes on a sunny window sill blossom side down.
- Another idea is to wrap individual green tomatoes in newspaper and place them in a box in a dark, dry spot and let them ripen for a week or two.
- Placing green tomatoes in a paper bag with a ripe apple could work, too. The apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds up ripening. Be sure to check the bag daily.
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