CHASKA, Minn. — Lot's of green tomatoes on the vine are being reported from our Grow with KARE Facebook group this summer.
Remember two things: you probably planted a little later than normal and we have not had a lot of heat this summer. That has caused us to have less growing degree days, so at present we are about 200 growing degree days behind the average. That really affects many crops including tomatoes.
This week helped with the warm days, but keep your fruit on your vine as long as you can, if we are not below 50 at night there is no reason to pick your tomatoes early.
If you have picked the green ones - and some did because they did not want the rodents to eat them - Bobby has two methods he likes. Take them and wrap them in newspaper or in a paper bag and put them in a cool part of your basement or garage. If you put a ripe apple of banana in the bag the ethylene that those ripe fruit give off will ripen the tomatoes even quicker. Keep checking them because they might ripen at different speeds.
The last ditch method that we saw if we get to a point that we will get a freeze is just dig up the whole plant and hang them in your garage, or basement.
This can be a messy process, so most folks hang the vines in an unheated garage. Be aware however, that the warmer the spot where you hang the vines, the quicker the fruit will ripen.
Don’t forget to check the vines every day for ripe tomatoes, especially if you hang them in the house. The tomatoes fall from the vines quickly if they become overripe, and if you aren’t keeping an eye on them, you may end up with a pasta-sauced floor and a difficult cleaning job.
Good Luck with your tomatoes!
RELATED: Grow with KARE: The Arboretum Farm