Learn How to Ripen Tomatoes

Ripen Tomatoes

If you learn how to ripen tomatoes indoors you can extend your tomato supply well into the winter. It always gets cold before all of the tomatoes have ripened on the vine. Picking the unripe tomatoes and bringing them inside can make the season last a little bit longer. And, any way you look at it, one of your homegrown tomatoes is always going to taste better than a store-bought one.

First, make sure that you only pick firm, mature fruit with no spots or scars and a good green coloring. Do not select any from diseased vines, even though the tomatoes might look OK. Also, be careful not to drop or bump any of the fruit while transporting them inside.

There are many recipes for using up green tomatoes, including fried green tomatoes. You may want to try a few of these recipes as well as ripen tomatoes inside. Green tomatoes can be placed in cardboard boxes one or two rows deep. If you put two layers in the box, separate the tomatoes with newspaper in-between the layers. Then place the boxes in a dark place, completely out of any sunlight. You can also ripen tomatoes by storing them in a plastic bag which has holes punched in it. You can choose to wash or not wash the tomatoes.

Go through the boxes and/or bags at least once a week and take out ripe and almost ripe fruit. When tomatoes ripen, they give off ethylene gas and that stimulates the ripening of other tomatoes in the box or bag with them. This is good if you want your tomatoes to ripen quickly. If you want the tomatoes to last as long as possible, it is necessary to remove the ripe tomatoes from the storage boxes. Ripe tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for approximately one week before spoiling.

It is important not to ripen tomatoes in a humid room as the dampness can cause the tomatoes to rot. There is another method, however, that also works to ripen tomatoes. You can dig up the entire vine on which the tomatoes are growing and bring it inside. This method works best in a semi-heated room or garage. Pick all of the leaves off of the vines but leave the green tomatoes on them. Then hang the entire vine with the tomatoes attached from some place high above, such as the ceiling or shelf. You could also run a heavy wire across the top of the room and hang the vines from there. The green tomatoes will ripen naturally on the vine. Make sure to take off the ripening tomatoes before they fall off the vine.

If you want to ripen tomatoes at a staggered level, you can place them in different rooms at different temperatures. The warmer the temperature, the sooner the green tomatoes will ripen. Whichever method you choose to use, you will want to extend your growing season indoors as long as possible before buying store-bought tomatoes.