How can I get green tomatoes to ripen?

Question

The summer is not hot enough here to cause my tomatoes to ripen on the vine. Will they ripen after I pick them or is there something else I must do?

Answer 1

Place them in a paper sack for a couple of days. The ethylene gas given off by them will speed up ripening.

Answer 2

Tomatoes need warmth, not light to ripen do not place on a window sill.

If dirty, gently wash and allow the fruit to air dry.

Store tomatoes in boxes, 1 to 2 layers deep, or in plastic bags with a few holes for air circulation.

If you have a cool, moderately humid room, simply place them on a shelf.

Keep fruit out of direct sunlight. They may be stored in the dark.

As tomatoes ripen, they naturally release ethylene gas, which stimulates ripening. To slow ripening, sort out ripened fruits from green tomatoes each week. To speed up ripening, place green or partially ripe fruits in a bag or box with a ripe tomato.

Some people like to pull up the whole tomato plant and hang it upside down in a dark basement room and let the tomatoes ripen gradually. If you try this system, check them regularly to prevent very ripe fruits from falling onto the floor -- splaat!

Tomatoes should never be refrigerated uncooked, they lose their flavor.

If you have too many to use immediately they can easily be frozen.

Answer 3

Lay them in a window sill.

Answer 4

"....If you still have green tomatoes well into the cool days of fall, you can lift the entire plant and hand it in a dry, sheltered location, like the garage. The fruits will continue to ripen and will still have some of the benefits of ripening on the vine. Try and take some roots with the plant, but you can shake off any soil. Also, you don’t want to hang the plants in direct sunlight or total darkness.

You can also go the old tried and true route of picking the more mature green fruits and ripening them in the house. Mature green tomatoes will have a tine of color at the blossom end and feel a little soften than the solid young fruits. Options for ripening green tomatoes indoors include:

Placing them on a sunny window sill. This is a hit or miss solution. You’ll have much better luck ripening mature green tomatoes. Although the tomatoes are more stable sitting on their stem side, they will rot less readily if you can place them blossom side down.

Wrapping individual green tomatoes in newspaper and layering in a box, no more than 2 layers deep. Place the box in a dark, dry spot and check weekly for progress. It usually takes 3-4 weeks for the green tomatoes to ripen, but check frequently and remove any fruits that show signs of rotting.

Placing the green tomatoes in a paper bag with a ripe apple. ...."

http://gardening.about.com/od/growingtip... - Cached