Tom questions

[BeBe48]

Hello All

Just wondering how long to leave toms on the plant as the weather is now turning chilly in the evening. I have masses in the garden that are still green but dont want to loose them to the cold. Should I just pick them and ripen on a windowsil or risk leaving a bit longer?

Also - does anyone have a problem with woodlice eating their toms? I have lost a few to the little devils!

thanks for advice

BB

[Tomato Head]

I don't have any answers for you but I am wondering the same. I haven't actually had any tomatoes yet but I have a few that are now ripening and lots of green ones. I'm very conscious that it's getting cooler at night now but I'm not sure how cold is too cold. We haven't had any frosts here. I am hoping I can get a few ripe before I need to just pick what is left and try to ripen indoors. I have already picked a few and put them in a shoe box to ripen indoors, but I would like some to ripen on the plant.

[Lisamcflisa]

I'm sure the more experienced people will have better advice but last year I picked what was left of my green tons, put them in a shoe box in my pantry cos its cool and put a ripe banana in with them, they ripened nicely, I checked them daily and took them out as they were ripe.. Ive also heard you can leave them on the plant and hang them upside down to ripen them... There is loads of green Tom recipes if you fancy that instead... Personally I'm still picking them daily at the mo, but I suppose a big part of that is whether they are in a greenhouse or not. Mine are and I'm leaving the windows shut even in the day cos they appear to like the heat. Hope this helps

[flopsy]

i have picked a lot of my green tomatoes and have them in a box in a drawer under the bed and they are slowly ripening

[redser]

I'm going to leave mine as long as possible, hopefully into October/November or until they die. Then anything green left over can come in.

[taff]

you can pul the whole plant up and hang it upside down to let them ripen, or do the trick with the banana, or in a drawer.
The only worry is that the cold will affect the taste, but it's your own choice really. Anything that's not ripe yet won't be as tasty as if it had seen a lot of sun [ha!] so it doesn't really matter how you do it

[Poolcue]

Leave them on and pray for an Indian summer.

[GreenTricky]

They will still go ripe outside, albeit more slowly but sadly its the sun that makes them sweet

[Thelma Sanders]

Find a localish weather station
UK Independent Weather Stations

to see just how cold it is getting - it was down to 4.5C here last night, so most of mine are picked and ripening indoors now.
I've left a few that are just too small/green to ripen off the plants, they may make it, but if I lose them it's no big deal.

[Shadylane]

Mine kept going quite late last year and probably would have gone on longer had I kept watering and feeding. They're hardier than you think, but it depends how sheltered they are. I plan to leave mine n the greenhouse until they die, then use green uns either for chutney or ripen indoors depending on how many we have.

[Tomato Head]

How cold is too cold? Most of mine are in a plastic greenhouse but one is outside. Temps haven't got lower than about 9 degrees here but I think night time temps at the weekend are forecast to get as low as 7. At one point is it going to be a problem? I want to leave them on the plants as long as I can (although I have picked a few and they are in a cardboard box indoors with a ripe banana) but there's obviously going to come a point where it's just too cold. Is it just when there is a frost?

[BeBe48]

Thanks peeps. There is an article in this months magazine that says to bring them in when a frost threatens. Apparently its heat they need so cover with newspaper and leave in a warm room. So its watching the weather and playing a do I or dont I game!

Has anyone had trouble with woodlice eating toms?

[rpt]

Has anyone had trouble with woodlice eating toms?

Don't have any tomatoes but they eat my strawberries.

[binley100]

euurgh ....lifted the lid on my home dalek and its crawling with them ....
I've still got toms ripening outdoors , I'll probably leave them out a while longer....