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I still have a lot of green tomatoes on my plants. The evenings have been quite chilly and the plants have gone yellow and the leaves are curling up. How much longer can I leave the tomatoes on to ripen before the cold damages them? Up until the first actual frost? Or should I bring them in now (to ripen on the windowsill, make chutney, etc)?
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Hill of Beans updated April 18th -
the cold won't harm the fruits (you can keep them in the fridge can't you?) but they won't ripen much more: use them up (I've not had any green toms this year so no chutney for me boo)All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb. -
I did read on an American forum yesterday, that on old guy who has been growing tomatoes for years, cuts some of the top tap roots of his plants with a spade to help mature and ripen his last tomatoes. Apparently this works for him, although I have never tried it. it might be too late on your plants to try this as it sounds as if they are dying. You can take the fruit off and put them in a bag with a banana, the gases given off from the banana help to ripen the fruit.
Mr TKMr TK's blog:
http://mr-tomato-king.blogspot.com/
2nd Jan early tomato sowing.
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I've been putting mine on the windowsill or in a cardboard box with another almost ripe tomato to encourage them. It's working so far, but slowly
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All mine go into 3 trays - very ripe [USE ME NOW] - just going over - and green....they should mostly ripen eventually - after all, it is common practice to take some off the plant early and put them in drawers to ripen so why would they not ripen later?
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Using a banana is an old trick to ripen virtually any fruit.
It doesn't even need to be in a bag, just nearby them seems to work.
My nan always put things on a sunny window ledge so maybe you could try putting the toms on a sunny window ledge with a banana alongside.
“If your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.”
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Charles Churchill : A dog will look up on you; a cat will look down on you; however, a pig will see you eye to eye and know it has found an equal
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I ended up picking mine and have made a lovely green tomato pasta sauce...well loads of it actually!Comment
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got a recipe for that?Comment
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Thirded - I'd love to hear what it is like!Whooops - now what are the dogs getting up to?Comment
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