Most of the time, the end of the gardening season brings with it the joy of the harvest. Our refrigerators and tables flow with the bounty of the produce that we’ve been diligently tending all summer long. But there are occasions when the garden and weather just doesn’t cooperate. Unseasonably warm or cool weather, early frosts, or just poor planning, can cause problems when it comes to the harvest. One thing gardeners face in the late summer and early autumn is green tomatoes.

Green tomatoes aren’t necessarily a tomato problem you need to overcome. In fact, you may have been harvesting tomatoes at a steady rate all season. But there will always be those late blossoms that the bees pollinated that are just coming into their own at summer’s end, but haven’t ripened yet. As the growing season grows to a close, the question arises: what to do with all those green tomatoes?

Stages of Tomato Ripening

Like all things in nature, tomatoes have stages of maturity. They ripen a little bit at a time. For beginner or even intermediate gardeners, it can be tricky to know when exactly they’re ready for harvest. Of course, for tomatoes, color is the easiest indicator of ripeness, but there are other factors to consider as well, such as firmness of the fruit and the shine of the skin.

Unripe

Unripe tomatoes are hard and their skin is a dusty green. These tomatoes are not mature at all. If separated from the plant, they will not turn red no matter how you try to encourage them. While high in fiber, they lack any distinct flavor and have no real use in the kitchen.

Blush

Tomatoes that are just coming into maturity will show a shine on their skin. They may bear a hint of yellow to them. They are also generally still hard if you squeeze them. These tomatoes are full of a chemical called Solanine which makes them bitter to the taste and discourages animals from eating them until the seeds are ripe. The tomatine in the leaves and stem hasn’t yet released into the fruit for that classic tomato flavor. These tomatoes are edible, but acidic in taste and crunchy, best softened by cooking or frying. If left on the counter, they may eventually ripen and turn red.

Orange or Part-Orange

Orange or partly-orange tomatoes have a shiny skin and the flesh gives way slightly to the touch when gently squeezed. These tomatoes aren’t fully ripe yet, but they will absolutely ripen in a few days indoors. This is the point when you should remove the tomatoes from the plant if you want to enjoy your garden produce before the animals or bugs get to them. These tomatoes are ripe enough to emit ethene gas, which means they’ll also turn other nearby tomatoes red.

Ripe

This is the ideal time to eat your tomatoes. They’re by far the most tasty and ready for the eating. The skin is shiny and will give way at the slightest pressure for a tasty pop of flavor. Enjoy!

This is true of many tomato varieties, but not all! Many fun tomato varieties differ in color and texture. They may be bright yellow or deep purple. But all tomatoes will follow these same general stages as they ripen to maturity.

Factors That Prevent Tomato Ripening

It’s frustrating to get deep into September and October and still have green tomatoes on the vine. But don’t blame yourself! The fault is not necessarily on your shoulders. Weather plays a critical part on fruit and vegetables. The most common cause of tomato unripening is temperature. Tomatoes mature best when the temperature remains between 68-77 degrees Fahrenheit (20-25 degrees Celsius).

Too Hot

If you’ve had a warm late summer heat wave exceeding 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit (30-32 degrees Celsius), your tomatoes will tell you about it. Your tomatoes may have cracked skins from drying out during the day and cooling off at night. Tomatoes will slow and even stop ripening fruit if the weather is too hot, holding off for more friendly weather to spread seeds.

In hot weather, water your tomatoes well both morning and evening. This will help to cool them down, reduce the strain of the heat wave, and even avoid cracked skins.

Too Cold

On the other side of the spectrum, unseasonably cold weather, lower than 68 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) will put your tomatoes into an early dormancy. They may start to shut down for the year and stop ripening tomatoes on the vine. If the cold snap passes, they can return to normal production (providing frost hasn’t fallen).

In unseasonably cold weather, you may wish to cover your tomatoes with a light plastic to give them a little greenhouse effect and keep them warm.

Variable Nutrients & Light

Fertilizer and light plays a role in tomato ripening as well, but this reason is more common in greenhouses. Tomatoes outdoors generally have the right environment in the open air. However, if you’re growing your tomatoes in containers, then you may wish to given them a little extra fertilizer in the late summer to early autumn season. This will ensure they have the right nutrients to speed their tomatoes to harvest-ready. [Learn how to read fertilizer labels to make sure your tomatoes are getting what they need.]

How To Speed Up Tomato Ripening

There are things a gardener can do to speed the tomato ripening process. These steps are good to take in late summer and early autumn when the daylight hours are starting to shorten and the cold weather closes in.

Speed Tomato Ripening on the Vine

Start cutting back any suckers on your tomato plants in late summer to encourage ripening in the tomatoes that have already formed. Suckers are the part of the tomato plant that branches between two other tomato branches. In time, this sucker will become a branch of its own and produce blossoms and tomatoes. But as the growing season draws to a close, gardener, ain’t nobody got time for that. Pruning suckers will keep the nutrients in the already existing branches, and ripen your on-vine tomatoes faster.

If your tomato plants are indeterminant, rather than determinant, tomato topping is another good option to ripen existing tomatoes on the vine. Indeterminant tomato plants (also called vining tomatoes) grow tall and spindly, rather than short and squat. Tomato topping involves cutting the tops of your indeterminant tomato plants, the youngest branches. This encourages growth lower to the ground and nutrients to flow to already formed tomatoes. If you have determinant tomatoes (also called bush tomatoes), however, this method is detrimental to your harvest as it will remove leaves needed for nutrient production.

Speed Tomato Ripening After Harvest

For most of us, there comes a point when the winter weather draws in and the gardening season outdoors comes to a close. When the frost is threatening at your door, that’s the time to close up the garden and bring every tomato inside regardless of ripeness.

That doesn’t mean all is lost! Tomatoes that have ripened or are on their way to ripening can help ripen other tomatoes. Set your green harvest on the counter and many will ripen on their own. You can speed this process by placing bananas or ripe apples nearby the green tomatoes. Like ripe tomatoes, apples and especially bananas emit ethene gas which helps to ripen tomatoes quickly. Beware the tomatoes will hasten the ripening of the bananas and apples as well, so be prepared with a banana cake or apple pie recipe once your fruit has served their intended purpose.

Are Green Tomatoes Safe To Eat?

Green tomatoes are safe for human consumption. While green tomatoes lack the characteristic tomato flavor, they have their own charm. Green tomatoes are more sour than ripe tomatoes and crunchier too. This crunchiness subsides some when cooked or fried, which makes them ideal in cooking. Where red tomatoes reduce to a pulp when cooked, green tomatoes hold some of their form in heat.

What Can You Do With Unripe Tomatoes?

Our favorite thing to do with green tomatoes is to make salsa verde, or green salsa. But there are lots of ways to use green tomatoes in the kitchen. Below are a few suggestions:

• Salsa Verde
• Fried Green Tomatoes (no, I don’t mean the 1991 feature film)
• Grilled Tomatoes
• Pickled Tomatoes
• Fresh Green Tomatoes in salads

Your Green Garden Tomatoes Are Not A Lost Cause!

As the gardening season winds to a close, I know I’m looking forward to ripening my green tomatoes for a taste of summer even in the early winter. And I’m excited for fresh salsa verde for those stubborn tomatoes that refuse to ripen. Maybe you’re excited too about this unexpected bounty that your garden has given you. In any case, I hope I’ve assuaged some of your fears about your green tomatoes.