Ripening tomatoes

Alun

Well, my tomatoes (grown in my conservatory in a grow bag) are beginning to ripen now, and there are one or two that are ripe enough to pick, but I'm wondering whether it's best to leave them there for a while to 'encourage' the others to ripen or does it make no difference? I know that ripening fruit emits some kind of gas when ripening which encourages other fruit around it to ripen too, but don't know whether tomatoes do the same.

Also, once I've picked the lower hanging, larger, ripe fruits, does that mean that some of the smaller green fruits higher up will start to grow and ripen now that the plant doesn't have to supply the picked fruits with nourishment, assuming I continue to feed them that is?

Alun

BUMP .. nobody here who's a tomato expert?

igorbiscan

Hey alun,i'm no expert,grew cherry tomatoes on my window sill first time this year,,grew well..I've found I've picked off the ripe ones because I noticed them going over-ripe(softish) while the others were still green so Ive been taking a couple at a time while the others ripen.lovely jubbly:D:D

mags16

Ho Alun, I grow toms every year but am no expert and still make plenty of mistakes. I would pick the tomatoes when they are ripe and not worry to much about the ripening gas. You don't want your precious harvest wasted.

Alun

OK, I've just picked a couple of the ripest ones, and it looks like there are plenty of others just starting to 'turn'.

I've also noticed that one or two of the trusses are so heavy with fruit that the stalk has bent and nearly snapped where it meets the main stem. I hope that doesn't mean they won't now ripen.

igorbiscan

Ive used some small bits of twine to support the branches of the plants gently tied to the bamboo cane or whatever you are using..you should be ok I had one plant on a window sill fall over from lack of support/wind from open window, was badly damaged so I was half giving up on it,replanted in the back garden to see what would happen,loads of tomatoes on it now,just need some sunshine to ripen them!

Dizzyblonde

Alun, I'm no expert either but I've been growing tumbler tomatoes in pots in the garden successfully for years.
I just take the fruit as they ripen, and any that fall or get knocked off will ripen in a bowl on the windowsill. I usually take what's left unripe off in September to ripen indoors.
I tie the drooping branches up with twine, it doesn't harm the plant.

nerophis

The ripening gas you're talking about is ethyne which is given off by bananas. If wanted to encourage tomatoes to ripen you could put a bunch of blackening bananas in there with the door closed. (Everything else will ripen too though- that's why you shouldn't keep bananas in the fridge as everything will go off faster).

I pick ripe fruit as its ready because in the couple of years I've been growing them they seem to come in stages (over a month or more) and its better to get them peak rather than after. I heard someone say before that the ripe ones slow the development of other ones because they keep taking sugar. Not sure if that's true but it's all the excuse I need to eat them. They never even make it as far as the kitchen in my house!

Alun

Thanks nerophis, that's an interesting point about the ripe ones slowing down the development of the other ones.

owensomers

I had seame issue lots of green tomatoes. but started to pick the vines off gradually and placed in a bowl in kitches with bannanas. Working so far!

Corsendonk

The chemical used in the ripening process is actually ethylene. Fyffes would use a gas form to ripen there bananas in ripening rooms. Also never store your bananas in a fridge, there a fruit of the tropics so get chilled damaged(greyish looking colour to peel)

Back to the subject of when to harvest your ripe fruit I always pick off all the ripe fruit. The plant has already started to produce its own ethylene in a limited amount so as you pick other fruit will ripen on the plant. It also makes it less likely that birds will peck at the ripened fruit. As said by an other poster this also allows the plant to provide more nutrients to the immature fruit. Remember the plant wants to reproduce seed before it dies so if you allow fruit to over ripen on its trusses and fall off its most likely to have a shorter harvest period as the plant has done its job.

Ethylene is used in a liquid form by commercial tomato growers at the end of season by applying to a cut wound on the stem, within 3-4 days every tomato on the plant will have some colour but the plant will be near death.