green toms

[esbo]

My problem will soon be to many ripening toms, two varieties have started ripen so far and when the other two start ripening, I will need to open a canning factory! But the plumb toms and the Alicante seem to be evergreen types at the moment.

[Bill HH]

..........don't forget the Factor 30 if you do, Bill
I read somewhere recently that if you have to ripen tomatoes off the plant, to do it in the dark - then they ripen from the inside out. If you ripen them on the windowsill, the skins ripen and toughen before the inside ripens.
My grandad ripened his in a suitcase under the bed -one of my favourite memories of him

If they are container grown how about taking them on a trip to Egypt in an open pick up truck, that should do it.

[esbo]

Found a fully ripe plumb tomato today hidden amongst the leaves which was a surprise, although I had noticed a plant I had in a pot had one turning yellow.
So it is just my Alicante which have yet to turn the ripening tomato.

I am seeing signs of what might be disease on a few plants, bits of yellow on leaves, but nothing to serious looking as yet

[Mysterious Gardener]

Tomatoes have definitely been slow this year. Some of my Balkonstar are still green, other varieties did better.

[Bill HH]

It seems to me this subject of ripening tomatoes has many conflicting solutions, some say place them on a sunny window cill, wheras others say place them in the dark. I would appear then that light is not the major factor but temperature, GH tomatoes ripen quicker than out doors, all the light solutions ie? in sun or in dark, involve bringing them into the house (Where it is usualy warmer). So maybe we are all chasing down the wrong path. Then again maybe none of these methods work and it is just time? I have some Shirley tomatoes that i was forced to grow outside,they have produced a huge crop of large tomatoes but show no sign of ripening so i need to get to the bottom of this.

[Two_Sheds]

"Fruit ripening in tomato ...requires the coordination of both developmental cues as well as the plant hormone ethylene"

No, me neither

Transcriptome and Metabolite Profiling Show That APETALA2a Is a Major Regulator of Tomato Fruit Ripening

"ethylene is the dominant trigger for ripening in climacteric fruit" (such as the tomato) ... fruit colour changes from green to red as chloroplasts are transformed into chromoplasts, chlorophyll is degraded and carotenoids accumulate.

Although ethylene cannot induce immature tomato fruit to ripen rapidly, exposure will hasten its onset by shortening the ‘green life’, as in banana.

...additional studies on the biochemistry of ripening are essential for complete understanding of the ripening process"

so they don't know, is the answer

source

[veggiechicken]

"Fruit ripening in tomato ...requires the coordination of both developmental cues as well as the plant hormone ethylene"

No, me neither

Transcriptome and Metabolite Profiling Show That APETALA2a Is a Major Regulator of Tomato Fruit Ripening

What if you only have one developmental cucumber

[esbo]

It seems to me this subject of ripening tomatoes has many conflicting solutions, some say place them on a sunny window cill, wheras others say place them in the dark. I would appear then that light is not the major factor but temperature, GH tomatoes ripen quicker than out doors, all the light solutions ie? in sun or in dark, involve bringing them into the house (Where it is usualy warmer). So maybe we are all chasing down the wrong path. Then again maybe none of these methods work and it is just time? I have some Shirley tomatoes that i was forced to grow outside,they have produced a huge crop of large tomatoes but show no sign of ripening so i need to get to the bottom of this.

I had a google of the time to maturity of Shirley Tomatoes and it does not look good.
it says 16-18 weeks which is over 100 days.

Tomato F1 Shirley Seeds - Suttons Seeds and Plants


Incipiently that is the same time as my Alicante tomatoes, which are the only tomato I have that remain stubbornly green.

Tomato Alicante Seeds - Suttons Seeds and Plants

However my cherry tomatoes started ripening a while back as did my Tigerella and I picked my first fully ripe plumb tomato today.

So the lesson is it not the light or the dark, the hot or the cold, or the ethylene gas it is the bit on the seed packet or website which says "Time to maturity", if you are picking tomatoes with a long time to maturity then that is what you will get big green tomatoes!!!!

It seems that all the tomatoes on that site take 16-18 weeks though.

Another 'top seed company dies not even give a time to maturity at all!!

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...en-toms-2.html

Finding seeds which produce ripe tomatoes early seems to be the easiest solution.

One variety here says 55 days which is half the time for yours!!!!

New Tomatoes- seeds and plants at Burpee.com

They are all out of stock though


Another site here

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1166982

It gives the days to maturity by it may be using a definite yardstick to other site as it has none which say over 100 days, however I guess it assumes a warmer USA climate.


What they should really give is "sunshine hours to maturity" but I guess they try to keep things simple.

[veggiechicken]

As a general rule, the smaller the tomato the quicker it ripens. So cherry toms ripen before the slicing and stuffing toms. I grow mostly cherry toms for that reason.

[esbo]

As a general rule, the smaller the tomato the quicker it ripens. So cherry toms ripen before the slicing and stuffing toms. I grow mostly cherry toms for that reason.

Yes that seems to be my experience, ripening seems to be pretty closely related to tomato size, hence I sowed more cherry tomatoes this year, seems to have worked out quite nicely, although they now seem to be ripening faster than they can be consumed! Once the big tomatoes start ripening I will have to figure out what to do with the excess. I will have to either give them away or try and find a way of preserving them.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Puree for freezing is a good way to store the tomato flavour for over winter use in stews, spagbol etc.

Potty