How To Ripen Green Tomatoes On The Vine

How To Ripen Green Tomatoes On The Vine

Tomatoes need more than 60˚F of temperatures to ripen properly, and some days can definitely work better than the others. But if you are still left with green tomatoes on your vines, and fall season is soon to come, then here at OneHowTo.com, we are giving you a few tips on how to ripen green tomatoes on the vine.

Steps to follow:
1

First of all, reduce the frequency in which you water your vines. If your tomatoes have reached their full size, ripening may be encouraged if they receive less water. In addition, whenever you water, water the soil and not the plants. Long branches should be tied to a cane, and extra stake should be added to keep the vines from trailing to the ground. This may expose them to late season blight, and destroy the tomatoes altogether.

2

Give your vines a trim, especially by removing their lower leaves. By doing this, more energy will be sent to the tomatoes, thus ripening them with accelerated speed.

3

If you see any new flowers coming on the vines, it is better to pinch them off. New flowers will not blossom before frost, and they will also not allow the tomatoes to ripe properly. So, pluck them off, so that the plant can focus more on the tomatoes, rather than blossoming the flowers.

Image: pixabay.com
4

Regularly check the vines for moldy, spotted and yellow leaves. These are diseased leaves, which should be removed as soon as noticed. If you do this, the plant will be saved from fighting against the disease, and it will be allowed to invest all of its energy into ripening the tomatoes.

Image: pixabay.com
5

Pick off any small tomatoes that have just appeared. These tomatoes are not going to ripen anyway before the end of the season, and the plant will unnecessarily waste its energy into growing them. So, pinch them off, and the plant will be allowed to invest more of its energy into ripening larger tomatoes.

6

If you have too heavy a crop on your vines, and the frost is expected to come any time, then it is better to pick off pink and almost mature tomatoes. This will allow rest of the tomatoes on the vine to ripen. You can bring the picked tomatoes indoors, and let them ripe there.

Image: pixabay.com
7

Keep the vines covered at nights. As temperatures are dipping, you should cover your tomato vines with clear plastic in the nights, so that they can remain warm and the tomatoes can continue with their ripening procedure.

To make sure you get it right next year, check out our article on when to plant tomatoes.

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