Monday, June 29, 2015

By Edna Booker


Most are the times when individuals find themselves held up in a situation where it is the end of the harvest season and yet their tomatoes are not yet ripe. This can be a huge setback to most people but with the right set of knowledge and skills, a solution to this can be sought. In relation to this, below are some tips on how to ripen tomatoes.

One of the easiest ways to do this is plucking them from the garden and setting aside a specific place to place them in order for them to ripen on their own. It is never that complicated and just by following the required steps, great results can be achieved at the end of this endeavor.

Once they are picked from the garden, it is important to first wash the dirt off them and wipe them using a clean towel and leave them to dry. It is advisable to use running water so as to make sure that all the dirt and other types of bacteria have been successfully gotten rid of. Failure to use running water may lead to their further contamination.

The next step is sorting them out and this mainly involves inspecting the fruits and making sure to do away with those which are damaged, soft or have spots. Instead of throwing them away, the owner may decide to store them separately and attempt to ripen them on their own. They should however not be mixed with the rest due to the fact that they are quick to rot.

The length of time take greatly varies from one variety to the next. For some, a period of just some several days is taken while others take as long as several weeks for them to ripen. Other contributing factors include the room temperature where they are kept and the amount of water vapor present in that room. The temperatures are not supposed to be very high since this is a conducive environment for the growth of bacteria which can lead to rotting.

There are several measures which are supposed to be taken to ensure a smooth process. It is important to conduct a regular check, most preferable a daily one, to see the progress made. During these visits, those which are observed to attain the red color can be separated from the rest of the bunch and made to continue the ripening process on their own. In case there are rotting ones, these should also be removed with immediate effect.

It should be seen to it that these green tomatoes are kept in an area with free flow of air. In order to hasten this process, bananas can be put together with them and through the process of releasing ethylene gas, this helps them ripen faster. This has even been proved scientifically.

In conclusion of the above, it has been observed that it is not necessarily a recommendation that the tomatoes be left to ripen on their own in the field. Ripening them indoors is also as effective though critics have been raised that the taste is not the same but despite this fact, great success rates have been achieved.




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