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unripe tomatoes

SiobhancantgardenSiobhancantgarden Posts: 70
in Fruit & veg
Morning all
As usual, I have a few green toms still on the vine. The temp has dropped massively since last week, so I was wondering if there is a way of them ripening? I did read on here to take them indoors and stick them in a drawer. Has anyone tried this with success? Do I take them in on the vine or individually? Any advice much appreciated :)
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If they've already started changing colour, you can just bring them indoors and they'll continue to ripen. Individual or as a vine - doesn't matter. 
    I never do anything other than put them on the windowsills that are in the warmest rooms.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I put mine on a tray on a windowsill that gets the sun (when there is any), and most of them ripen gradually over a few weeks. Every few days I pick put the ones that are ripe enough to eat. I do chuck out any that are really tiny, pea-sized - those won't come to anything now so they get composted along with what's left of the plants.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's what I do @JennyJ. I mainly grow under cover, but I left a few supermarket ones outside this year and they did well. Had to bring them in a few weeks ago though, to ensure a decent amount would ripen. 
    The Sungolds are still in the growhouse, and are ok - for now! Won't be able to leave them much longer though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited October 2023
    Our local farmshop is actually selling them for chutney making. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Last pickings of the tomatoes and chillis was done yesterday
    Here they are with the unripe tomatoes on a tray ready to go upstairs on the back bedroom windowsill. They don't need to be spread out in a single layer if you don't have room, but I don't pile them much deeper than this (a lot of them are Rosella which ripen to the kind of dusky shade with green shoulders that you can see in the punnet, and the purple ones are Blue Bayou - they're supposed to be that colour but the inside turns red when they're ripe).


    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • SiobhancantgardenSiobhancantgarden Posts: 70
    Lovely, thank you all :) xx

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I've put my green cherry tomatoes in a thick brown paper bag with a ripe banana and left it on the kitchen countertop. More of an experiment really.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Onions work as well as bananas.  I put unripe avocadoes with my onions to ripen them and have a bag of green tomatoes in there too.   Need to check daily tho.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    @Obelixx, thanks for the reminder to check daily - I'd have probably forgotten!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I am still picking my tomatoes from their vines. The greenhouse is still getting surprisingly warm when the sun does shine. I am picking them when they just begin to turn colour. I also bin the tiny ones. There are still a few large Big Mamas which I hope will ripen.
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