Ripe timings

[Holly]

Hello,

When it comes to ripening off the last of the summer harvest, I've heard many a success story involving banana skins at the base of tomato plants.

However, does anyone else have any tips to bring the slower-developing fruit and veg up to speed over the next few months? Which crops ripen best in storage? Do you bring out cloches at the end of the summer to keep everything going? How about stressing roots by not watering them, or half unearthing crops such as onions?

These all sound like a pretty good idea, but has anyone had succes with them?

All advice welcomed! Holly



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[Aberdeenplotter]

Bananas give off ethylene gas which is what speeds up the ripening process of tomatoes. Increasing the application of tomato food with a high potash content also helps with tomatoes and unsurprisingly a foliar feed applied to potatoes which are of the same family helps bulk up the tubers. Scraping the earth away from onions allows the bulbs to colour up but does little else although levering the plants with a fork to break the roots will help them dry out ready to lift and take into storage. Carrots and beetroot store very well if kept inside in containers of damp sand and potatoes can be stored in a clamp covered in straw and soil to protect them against frost. The likes of brussel sprouts, leeks and parsnips which are very hardy can be kept growing over winter and weather permitting can be harvested when needed. Hard working allotment holders store very well over winter if kept inside in a warm place with a supply of food, entertainment, the odd beer and of course access to the Vine.

[Newton]

Take your unripe tomatoes in a container to the south of France. They will soon ripen and you can enjoy them on your holidays without having to pay through the nose in euros for local varieties.......

[endymion]

Hard working allotment holders store very well over winter if kept inside in a warm place with a supply of food, entertainment, the odd beer and of course access to the Vine.

.... and a good supply of seed catalogues.

We always used to get good sized late tomatoes to ripen slowly by wrapping each one in newspaper and keeping them in the dark.

Not quite the same thing, rather the reverse, but you can slow down brussels sprouts and prevent them blowing by cutting the whole stem and hanging it in the shed.

[VirginVegGrower]

You can lay your cordon tomatoes down on straw in order to continue ripening. This is something I did last year as I was late sowing. This year they are all ripening at once so no green tomato chutney for me this year :-)

[Thelma Sanders]

I always try to leave a red tomato, rather than take them all, on each plant ..to encourage the green ones to ripen. (Next time I pick that ripe one is taken and a different one left, so none ever get over-ripe)