Tip of the Week: Green Tomatoes
Cooler weather is here to stay, but what about the green tomatoes still on the vine. Not to worry, you can ripen them and maybe even try your hand at fried green tomatoes! Fruits stop ripening when temps drop below 50°F, so if you are still warmer than that during the day, leave the fruit on the vine as long as possible. Remove any flowers & small fruit, and decrease the watering. Once daytime temps are consistently below 50°F and before the first frost, harvest all of the fruit. Place it in a single layer in a box lined with newspaper, and store between 55-70°F. To speed up the ripening process, add a couple of apples to the box. Check weekly for ripened tomatoes and remove any rotted fruit. If some just don’t seem to be changing color at all, try some fried green tomatoes.
Check out the recipe we have posted (under Entrées) for all the details.
For more information on growing tomatoes, see our Growing Guide in the Resource Center. We have many types of tomato seeds for sale!
Grow tomatoes for your next harvest
Use our tomato growing guide to plan seed starting, transplanting, support, feeding, watering, and harvest. Browse tomato seeds to compare slicing, paste, cherry, determinate, and indeterminate varieties.
Sort green tomatoes before deciding what to make
Separate full-size, unblemished fruit from cracked, bruised, insect-damaged, or diseased fruit. Mature green tomatoes are more likely to ripen indoors than small, hard, dark-green fruit. Wipe off surface soil gently and keep wet fruit from sitting in a closed container.
Ripen sound tomatoes indoors
Arrange tomatoes in a single layer in a shallow box or on a tray, out of direct sun. Check them every few days and remove any that soften or develop decay. A ripe banana or apple nearby releases ethylene and may speed color development, but the fruit still needs regular inspection. Warmer conditions accelerate ripening; cooler, frost-free conditions slow it.
Cook with green tomatoes
Firm fruit can be fried, roasted, grilled, or added to relishes and chutneys. Their acidity works well with onions, peppers, warm spices, and a small amount of sweetness. Green tomato salsa and pickles are other common uses, but shelf-stable canning requires a tested recipe from a reliable food-preservation authority. Do not improvise processing times or acid levels.
Preserve only sound produce
Use damaged tomatoes promptly after trimming only when the remaining tissue is sound. Discard fruit with mold, extensive rot, or off odors. For freezing, cook the tomatoes first or freeze prepared sauce or chutney in labeled portions. Fermentation and canning have specific salt, acidity, and temperature requirements, so follow tested instructions.
Plan for next season
If frost routinely arrives with many green fruits still on the plants, choose some earlier-maturing varieties, avoid excessive late nitrogen, and prune only when appropriate for the tomato type. Record transplant and first-harvest dates so next year's variety choices fit the length of your growing season.
Whole-plant options before frost
When a hard frost is imminent, some gardeners lift or cut healthy vines with attached fruit and hang them in a protected, frost-free place. This takes space and still requires frequent inspection, so trays or shallow boxes are often simpler. Never store wet, damaged fruit in a pile. Keep varieties separate if you want to compare how well they ripen indoors.
Use records to reduce waste
At season's end, tally how many fruits ripened on the vine, indoors, or not at all. This makes maturity claims on future seed packets more meaningful for your microclimate and helps determine whether to transplant earlier, select smaller-fruited types, or change the planting location.