Wednesday, November 11, 2015

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.

Temperature is one of the most important things when it comes to ripening fruits. Cold temperatures inhibit the ripening process. If the temperature falls below fifty degrees Fahrenheit to eight five degrees Fahrenheit, their natural pigments are not produced. Timing is crucial for harvesting these fruits for indoor ripening. If they remain in temperatures of about forty degrees Fahrenheit, there is a great possibility of decay. You can improve resistance to decay by leaving a short piece of stem on the fruits.

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.

It is possible to capture the ethylene that fruits produce in a number of ways. You may pull f the tomato plant and hang them upside down in a warm area. This tomato ripening method allows the fruits to remain on the pants during the ripening process.

You can also put the tomatoes in warm areas in cardboard boxes that are lined with newspapers in order to trap the ethylene gas. The other strategy you can use is to place the fruits along with an apple or banana in a brown paper bag. The ethylene produced by the apples and bananas will stimulate the ripening process. It is advisable to check them on a regular basis and replace the banana or apples if need be.

The factors that will determine the flavor of your indoor ripened fruits are the treatment they receive in their final stage of maturing and the methods used to pick and store them. Ideally, you should pick green tomatoes before the first frost. For the best outcome, you should only harvest the fruits that are mottled green and pink or shiny green. The fluted, smaller and white fruits do poorly indoors, so it is advisable to just leave them on the vine.

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 fourteen days, you should take an inventory of the unripe tomatoes. If there are many green tomatoes, you can set them aside and store them at 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The slight effort involved in proper curing will be rewarded when you bite into a succulent and flavorsome tomato.




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