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Author Topic: My tomatoes won't ripen  (Read 3935 times)

lottie lou

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My tomatoes won't ripen
« on: October 13, 2019, 10:30:37 »
Its niow mid October and my tomatoes are still green. What shall I do please. Thank you in advance.
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ACE

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2019, 11:47:58 »
Make green tomato chutney and this time next year as you are about to make another batch throw it in the compost bin. Or just save yourself the trouble and throw them in now. Some people wrap them in newspaper and let them ripen this way. Great if you like the supermarket leather jacket varieties. There are others who put a few bananas in the green house if they are under glass, waste of a good banana but you can live in hope. So can you get the gist of what I am saying, unless you live down this way it is too late.
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InfraDig

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2019, 12:21:31 »
Keith Floyd's Green Tomato Chutney is good. It doesn't get thrown away in this house!
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Tee Gee

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2019, 12:31:35 »
Contrary to the old idea of placing them on a sunny window sill I find the best method to ripen them is put them in a dark place e.g. a drawer or cupboard (subject to the quantity) and look at them regularly, removing the ripened ones as they become ready!

Note:  It won't be the first time I have eaten my own tomatoes on Christmas day using this method!

Best of luck!
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Obelixx

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2019, 13:00:57 »
Monty Don also suggested the dark drawer idea but first you have to find an empty drawer.

Agree with Ace about green tomato chutney.   The recipe I used a couple of years ago is not delicious at all.   What's so special about Keith Floyd's version? 
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Paulh

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2019, 14:23:10 »
You can use a shoe box or similar. I must dodge the rain to bring in my remaining ones.
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ancellsfarmer

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2019, 16:47:46 »
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Tulipa

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2019, 18:10:50 »
Delia Smith's Green tomato chutney is good as I remember, I was planning to make some but they are beginning to ripen now.

Delia has another recipe which uses some green or red tomatoes - Old Dover or Dower House recipe depending where you look.

Hope your tomatoes ripen Lottie Lou
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InfraDig

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2019, 22:55:13 »
Keith Floyd's recipe has loads of chillies in it, so you can't taste the other ingredients!!
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InfraDig

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2019, 22:55:29 »
Keith Floyd's recipe has loads of chillies in it, so you can't taste the other ingredients!!
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saddad

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2019, 09:29:57 »
Any really confined space... a drawer, shoebox, large plastic box... like you might put a Christmas cake in to mature... and if relatively airtight the banana does help... just remember to check regularly... at least once a week. If one ripens and then splits, without you noticing, you open a box of grey mould and mush. Like TeeGee fresh tomatoes at Christmas are quite possible and if you grew the right varieties palatable. I had one (Garden Peach I think, it was the 90's) from HSL that had been developed for "over-winter" use. They continued to ripen and were better than anything from the supermarkets, after March you had to throw them away, as the seeds germinated inside the tomato which was quite off-putting!
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Vinlander

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2019, 15:27:00 »
Quote from: saddad on October 14, 2019, 09:29:57
I had one (Garden Peach I think, it was the 90's) from HSL that had been developed for "over-winter" use. They continued to ripen and were better than anything from the supermarkets, after March you had to throw them away, as the seeds germinated inside the tomato which was quite off-putting!

Green Tiger has thick skins but the flavour is well worth putting your dentures in (this is me being sarky about people who think texture is more important than FLAVOUR).

They seem to last longer if they shrivel slightly while on the plant - and it concentrates the flavour wonderfully - sun dried tomatoes can't compete - but the same internal germination problem can appear.

They used to be sold as seed under the name Highlander but now the only source of seed is to buy those mixed heritage tomato packs from the supermarket and try the ones with red and green stripes - the spherical or heart shaped ones are slightly better than the plums (but not yellow/orange and red stripes - that's Tigrella - it's good but a much more everyday taste - not the rich meaty taste I want).

Cheers.
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With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Tee Gee

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2019, 15:44:36 »
Do you mean like this Vin?
 


Now we know why it is sometimes referred  to as "The Love Apple"
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Vinlander

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #13 on: October 14, 2019, 16:56:53 »
Quote from: Tee Gee on October 14, 2019, 15:44:36
Do you mean like this Vin?


Now we know why it is sometimes referred  to as "The Love Apple"

Yes, nice photo but it would look even nicer with green stripes...   

There seems to be a lot of variability in the shape of Green Tiger/Highlander - sometimes they are almost as pronounced as this, sometimes just a little "horn" on the bottom of a sphere shape, sometimes stretched slightly rugby ball, sometimes slightly flattened.

That may be why it's been removed from sale - which is really annoying since they all taste much the same and that's my ONLY criterion for whether I buy the seed or not.

If I want identical red snooker balls whose taste is about as exciting as snooker balls I could grow Moneymaker!

Cheers.
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With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Tee Gee

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #14 on: October 14, 2019, 17:19:02 »
Not unlike this  then? although this one is Tigerella which has different coloured striping to 'Green Tiger'

I guess one is a "sport" of the other but which came first I haven't a clue!

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saddad

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #15 on: October 14, 2019, 19:16:17 »
Fairly certain Tigrella... seen above was a sport of tangella.. a yellow/orange (tangerine) tomato with good flavour. Green tiger is quite variable but Green Zebra is more predictable, but sadly not quite as tasty... my favourite green is Charlie Green.. but it has performed poorly this year.. perhaps my saved seed have been a bit promiscuous. Does anybody still have green sausage... which I grew in the late 90's, small plants bushy, did well in hanging baskets.. (as very popular with the slugs if grown on the ground) the problem with holding 50+ varieties and only having space for about 20 a year is some have to be jettisoned...
Sorry Lou for turning your thread into "tomato Porn".
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lottie lou

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #16 on: October 14, 2019, 19:41:03 »
No sweat Saddad. I was enjoying studying the porn. Tommies this season performed badly usually busy drying or pasting but this year!!! Humph..... 
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Vinlander

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #17 on: October 15, 2019, 12:56:41 »
Also Sorry about "tomato Porn" - but losing new varieties that are better than their predecessors in any category is (to my mind) at least as bad as neglecting older heritage varieties...  If you want a better working horse or dog the first thing you'd try is crossing existing breeds that are outstanding in your areas of interest. I'd assume you only go back to ponies, Przewalski's,  wolves or jackals (whatever) when that fails.

Anyway I suspect that Green Zebra may be somewhere in the Green Tiger genome, maybe Tigrella too - it would certainly be worth crossing those two.

On the other hand I'm most interested in the few varieties that have excellent flavour but don't have the same flavour - so I'd probably cross Green Tiger (or Zebra) with Piccolo - a project that will have to wait for when I can neither dig nor sail.

Cheers.
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With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Tee Gee

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #18 on: October 15, 2019, 13:58:00 »
Quote
Green Tiger (or Zebra) with Piccolo

That's an interesting thought, do you think it would work?

The reason I say this is; as I recall the Tigers are a medium sized or salad tomato whereas Piccolo is a 'Cherry' or miniature variety.

But hey; go for it!

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gray1720

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Re: My tomatoes won't ripen
« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2019, 18:20:10 »
To my considerable amusement I've discovedred the existence of a variety called Captain Beefheart - I intend to get some seed, and serve them with big-eyed beans from Venus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfNb1w7pVcA

Adrian
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My garden is smaller than your Rome, but my pilum is harder than your sternum!
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