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green tomatoes

How do i ripen green tomatoes in doors. Have already made some chutney but these are the last of my tomatoes and there are quite a lot. Tips or recipes I dont mind.

 

 

Thanks

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  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Patricia, they just need warmth to ripen inside. They don't need sunlight. Put them somewhere safely out of the way in the warmest room. They will eventually ripen. Sit them upside down on their shoulders rather than on their bottoms. This minimises the chances of the flesh brusing in contact with a hard surface.

  • bigolobbigolob Posts: 127

    Didn`t know Toms have a bottom!! The old fashion way of ripening them this time of the year was to place them in individual paper bags and place in a dark warm cupboard. They ripen very well.

    What happens in central Italy Italophile, do you have the same problems? Surely the longer warm season allows ripening for much longer into the autumn. The temperature here in Cheshire is 50 degrees and constant rain - lovely if you are a masochist!

  • I find placing them near ripe bananas helps the ripening process indoors. The bananas release a gas which encourages other fruit around them to ripen- hence why you should use a banana hanger for bananas and not place them in a fruit bowl with other fruit image

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    bigolob, daytime temps usually stay in the 20s well into October, but the nighttime temps start to get down to the low teens by mid-October. Still viable for ripening toms while it's in the 20s during the day, though.

    Bananas produce ethylene gas which is a ripening agent. A lot of fruit and veg produce it, too, including toms, though in a lesser quantity. Commercially-grown toms are harvested green and gassed with ethylene to "ripen" them. It turns them red, giving them the outer sign of maturity, though they're not actually mature inside. That's why supermarket toms can be so pale and hard inside. Only the skin has been ripened.

  • Does the banana trick work with chillies italophile as I fear my large impressive crop is not going to ripen in time although I do leave them out pretty much till frosts kill them off!?

  • @ Stacey - It should do - if you are growing the chillis in pots you can bring them in and keep them inside once the frosts have come

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    Stacey, I've tried the banana trick on toms, out of interest, and found no appreciable difference in ripening times inside. Either way, bananas or not, they will ripen inside if you put them somewhere warm enough.

  • bigolobbigolob Posts: 127

    Italophile, thanks for the reply. I too on a few occasions in the past used the Banana skin trick as they are supposed to give off Ethylene gas but to no advance in ripening whatsoever.

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    I think the ethylene gas needs to be pretty concentrated, bigolob. And it only really changes the skin colour, it doesn't actually bring the tomato itself to maturity.

  • Hi Patricia.  Just put your green tomatoes into a brown paper bag and keep them indoors.  They will ripen very well.  I have done this for years, and sometimes I am still eating from the bag well into December.   All the best.   Byegeorge

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