Saturday, 14 November 2015

Discover How To Ripen Tomatoes The Right Way

By Mattie Knight


The garden tomato is extensively grown in containers and backyard gardens. It is a member of the Solanaceae family and its fruits usually ripen on the plants in mid to late summer, depending on the variety. If the fruits fall from the plant before they ripen or if a hard frost threatens, you can place them in the right conditions so that they will turn red. The following is a guide on how to ripen tomatoes.

In order for fruits to get ripe, one of the factors that play an essential role is temperature. These fruits do not ripen well if the temperature is outside the range of fifty to eighty five degrees Fahrenheit. Harvesting them at the right time is therefore important. They can decay if the prevailing temperature is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to prevent decay, you may leave a small piece of stem on them.

The other factor that affects the ripening process of fruits is light. When fruits are placed in a lot of light, their skin usually toughens. These fruits only ripen well when placed in a warm, shaded area. Just like apples and bananas, tomatoes usually release a gas referred to as ethylene. By using the natural ethylene gas produced by these fruits, the ripening process will be stimulated.

There are several ways through which you may capture the ethylene gas produced by tomatoes. One of these ways is to pull up the entire tomato plants and hang them in a warm place facing upside down. This strategy allows the fruits to ripen while remaining on the plant.

The other method of ripening the fruits is placing them in warm areas in cardboard boxes lined with newspapers to trap the ethylene gas. You can also place them along with a banana or apple in brown paper bags. The ethylene that bananas and apples produce will contribute to the ripening process. Check them regularly and replace the bananas or apples as needed.

Some of the things that determine if the tomatoes you ripen indoors will be flavorsome include the method you use to pick them and the way you handle them during the final stages of maturing. Picking these fruits before temperatures become low is vital. You should also pick only the fruits with appear shiny green or pink and molted green. Leave the smaller, fluted and white tomatoes on the vine because they do not fair well indoors.

It is also important to sort the fruits. Set the riper ones aside so that the harder green fruits will not bruise them. You should also avoid overcrowding them since this can cause decay and bruising. The fruits should ripen within seven to fourteen days.

After two weeks, check them to see which ones are unripe. If many of the fruits are still green, separate them from the ripe ones and store them in a place where the temperature is fifty five to sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Placing these fruits in the right conditions for ripening is the key to having flavorsome and juicy tomatoes.




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