Looking for a few simple ways to harvest and ripen all of those late-season tomatoes off of the vine?
All summer long, your tomato plants have worked hard to push out loads of juicy tomatoes. But once fall arrives, tomato plants have a more difficult time of getting their tomatoes to turn ripe and red.
Not only do the cooler temperatures make it harder, so does the diminishing daily sunlight. And if a frost is in the forecast – your plants can be at risk of dying off completely. And that, of course, can ruin all of the tomatoes left on your plant if you don’t take action.
The good news is that you can save and still ripen all of the tomatoes still on the vine. And all by simply harvesting them unripened in the fall before the cold takes its toll. In fact, as you will see below, early picking is actually the best way to still enjoy tomatoes late in the season – and is it ever easy to do!
How To Ripen Late Tomatoes Off The Vine – The Simple Secrets To Success!
#1 Plan Ahead
On average, it takes around 45 to 60 days for a tomato to grow to maturity once it has been pollinated. During the cooler fall months, this can be prolonged even further thanks to the shorter daylight hours.
With this in mind, it’s important to first figure out when your location typically experiences its first frost and count backwards to know how much time your plants have left.
As fall arrives, the first thing to do to help your plants out is to remove any smaller fruits from the plants. This allows the plants to focus their energy on maturing the biggest and best fruit. You also want to remove any blooms at this point as they won’t have time to mature.
Another very important reason to remove new blooms that the plant pushes out this late in the growing season is that they will only waste energy and resources from the plant. By removing them, you allow the plant to focus its energy instead on maturing the existing fruit.
Look For Blushing
The next step in ripening late season tomatoes off the vine is to look for any that are blushing. Blushing is the appearance of any little bit of color change on the fruit.
All tomatoes start off green when they are growing. Once the fruit starts to show a hint of its mature color, this indicates that the fruit has started the ripening process.
Once blushing is noticed, that fruit can now be harvested and allowed to ripen off the vine. The fruit no longer needs the plant to finish the process. It will continue to ripen whether it is off the vine or not. See, How To Know When To Pick Tomatoes – The Best Time To Harvest A Tomato!
Advantages Of Ripening Off The Vine
There are many advantages to ripening tomatoes off the vine. First, the longer the tomatoes are on the vine, the higher the chances are that pests, insects, or diseases will damage the fruit.
In addition, there is a much higher chance of the fruit developing cracking, splitting, or blemishes as it fully ripens. Blossom end rot also becomes a big issue during the fall months. This is because watering and rain become less frequent and more inconsistent.
Harvesting the fruit at the first sign of blushing also allows the plants to focus on maturing the other green fruit on the vine. This is vital if you want the plant to “blush” as much fruit as possible before the first frost so you can pick and ripen more.
What To Do With Tomatoes Off The Vine – How To Ripen Late Tomatoes Off The Vine
Once harvested, you can simply place the blushing tomatoes on a wire rack on your kitchen counter. They do not need sunlight from a window to mature, only good air circulation.
In fact, sunlight from a window can cause the fruit to ripen unevenly. Also, avoid placing blushing fruit in your refrigerator since this will stop the ripening process. Within a few days to a week, the blushing tomatoes will be fully ripe. They will be at their peak flavor, texture, and color – all from ripening them off the vine.
Harvesting Fully Green Tomatoes – How To Ripen Late Tomatoes Off The Vine
So what if a frost or freeze in the forecast and you know it’s the end of the line for your plants? Even if your fruit isn’t blushing, you can harvest fully green tomatoes. For these tomatoes, the ripening process is a bit trickier – but not impossible.
One of the best ways to ripen these tomatoes is to pack them in some sort of paper product. Some experts recommend wrapping each tomato in a newspaper or paper bag. However, this can be time-consuming, let alone a pain when you need to check the fruit frequently for any that has fully ripened or become spoiled.
Instead, place the hard green tomatoes in a single layer in a large paper bag or cardboard box for ripening. Keep the box in a cool, dark space like a garage that won’t drop below 40º Fahrenheit.
Check the tomatoes frequently for any that have started to blush. Move those fruit to your kitchen counter. Also, remove any that are spoiling as soon as possible. You might be surprised at how many green tomatoes you will be able to turn colors!
Pull The Entire Plant
One final method you can try if you are burdened with tons of hard, green tomatoes is to pull up the entire plant. The plant is going to die anyway, so there is no harm in removing it completely from your garden.
Carefully dig up the tomato plant as a whole and remove as much of the soil as possible from the roots. Then, hang the entire plant – fruit and all – in a cool, dry location such as a basement or attached garage.
The tomatoes should start to slowly turn color. You can then harvest them from the plant and ripen them off the vine on your counter like you would any other blushing tomato.
When all else fails and the tomatoes are still green despite all your best efforts, use them to make fried green tomatoes or salsa verde with tomatoes instead of tomatillos – and start dreaming about next year’s tomato harvest! See, Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe
Here’s to ripening your late season tomatoes off the vine and making the most of your gardening season!
I Grow Tomatoes
Follow Our Facebook Page For Even More Great Tomato Growing Tips! I Grow Tomatoes Facebook Page
I Grow Tomatoes is a website created for those who love all things about tomatoes – from planting and growing – to cooking and canning! We publish two articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email! This article may contain affiliate links.