Well, as the title says really. :confused: They're in a sunny spot, watered and fed regularly and they look very healthy... except the fruit just won't ripen. What am I doing wrong, O forum gardeners?

They'll get there eventually - my tomatoes were full size (but green) for about a month before one of them even showed a hint of red! (In fact, I posted this question on another (allotment) forum, because I couldn't work out what I had done wrong! :)) Once one goes though, you'll be inundated with tomatoes. I don't think the weather has helped this year - we had such gorgeous weather in July but there's been a distinct lack of sunny, warm weather this August to help the fruit to ripen :(

If the tomatoes are a good size Feargal, try picking some and putting them in a brown bag with a ripe one (I guess a shop-bought one would do if yours are all still green! :mrgreen: ). I seem to recall they ripen when one of them gives off some kind of gas that triggers a reaction.

Let us know! :)

K x

Ooo, that's a good idea too (and an awful lot faster than my suggestion :P)! :mrgreen: A ripe banana will do the job too - iirc, ripe 'nanas emit ethene, and it's that which speeds up the ripening of other fruits. It's worth a shot, at least with the full size fruit!

I knew I could get some sense out of the Forum.:D I might resort to Kristian's suggestion if the fruit start dropping off, but I shall give it a few more days before I pick & bag 'em I think!

Thanks:thumbsup:

We tried the wrapping in newspaper thing last year, and it worked a treat, even without another piece of ripe fruit/veg. Took a few weeks mind, but they were delicious nonetheless!

Good suggestion Kristian, it does work folks!

Also, put the brown bag near a radiator.

My Dad's are all green atm too - like Tracie says, must be the weather...:(

Just give up and make green chutney instead. :rolleyes:

Another useful trick BTW- if you have a glut of tomatoes and you want more green ones to stop ripening and making your oversupply problems worse, if you can get hold of one of the little boxes that are put in the pack with flowers sent by post to stop them going over too quickly, they work on the ethene principle too, and can stop your tomatoes ripening too quickly, until you've dealt with your glut and are ready for more (by which point you just need to put them in a paper bag with a ripe one etc etc).

Take off most if not all of the leaves on your plants.

Starting from the bottom & working up. This will stress the plants & force them into ripening the fruits faster.
Also it allows more sunshine onto the fruits.

To sweeten the tomatoes add extra potash to the feed
(the K part of a N: P:K fertiliser).
This can also be achieved by liberally sprinkling wood ash around the base of the plants & watering it in with the feed. :thumbsup:

[.....................

Woohoo was starting to worry about mine not ripening but noticed today three starting to pink up! Phew... I guess we just have to give them chance.

strange? We've had loads off so far this year, might be a bumper crop. Did people wigwam them with strong canes or just let them bush?

Mine are in a hanging basket so I guess they bushed. My parents though have a vine house and have trained them up and have a fantastic harvest so I've been using theirs :)

daft i no, but banana's turn your tomatoes red

Ours were all on the plants but green and the ones that had turned red were starting to split. So I took them all off the plants, wrapped them in tissue paper, put then in a box and put the box in a cool dark place (cupboard in kitchen), I also stuck a banana in there with them, but remeber to check it's not going off! I looked at them last night and about 2/3 of them are now lovely and red and taste delicious! I'm really pleased as I've put in a lot of time and effort with them over the summer. Good luck!

I've had a few bird attacks on the red fruit too....not happened in previous years but the maggies seem really to like them...so its a battle in the morning to get them off before the birds arrive :(

UPDATE!!! The tomatoes are starting to ripen, and I've noticed this morning that there are 3 or 4 which might be ready for teatime! :thumbsup:

:clap: What did you do with them in the end Feargal - did you remove them and bring them indoors then? They'll ripen really quickly now - seems it only takes one to two to ripen and the rest follow soon after!

Wait for this top tip Tracie: I topped the plants so there was less foliage... then I forgot all about them. :blush:

I didn't even water them I'm afraid. When I looked at them yesterday, they were ripening up! :clap:

Well, as the title says really. :confused: They're in a sunny spot, watered and fed regularly and they look very healthy... except the fruit just won't ripen. What am I doing wrong, O forum gardeners? Why not try green fried tomatoes ? that good they made a film about em. (Hey do you fancy seeing Alan Carr Oct 11th) pm me :)

Had my tea... and the tommos were lovely!

Also, re JavisCocker's problem with tomatoes splitting - apparently, this happens when you over-water. Oooh, hark at me - expert!! ;)

Yes the splitting is due to over watering apparently, due to them being outside and because we had a lot of rain in August. Fortunately I noticed in time and only lost a few. Worth the effort with them cos they are delious! And totally organic of course!

So does anyone have an idea why my tomatoes taste like bananas (and no they are not bananas or have been anywhere any and I don't think I am either, I'm just going slowly nuts...).
Tips for improving the flavour short of dosing them in tomato sauce?

Pregnant??!!

What variety are they torin? We grew some Alisa Craig this year and they didn't taste like bananas ( :suspect: ) they just didn't taste like... anything!

Apparently the fruit split when you water irregularly - i.e when the plants are allowed to dry out and then get a load of water at once. It happened to mine because the plants dried out whilst I was at work and then I watered them heavily in the evenings.

Pregnant??!!
LOL He'd better not be or he has me to answer to :o ;)

What variety are they torin? We grew some Alisa Craig this year and they didn't taste like bananas ( :suspect: ) they just didn't taste like... anything!



No idea what variety they are Tracie, mum gave them to us when we moved house and they just grew :)

they really do taste of banana though.. its quite offputting half way through a salad when you aren't expecting it. Its only some of them too, the rest are fine.. :confused:

my toms are a bit slow to ripen this year anybody else having the same

Yep mine are all still green but theres loads

If the tomatoes are a good size Feargal, try picking some and putting them in a brown bag with a ripe one (I guess a shop-bought one would do if yours are all still green! :mrgreen: ). I seem to recall they ripen when one of them gives off some kind of gas that triggers a reaction.

Let us know! :)

K x

Ripe tomatoes give off ethylene, which is a plant ripening hormone. Bananas are noted for giving off lots of ethylene, so you could put one of them in the bag with the tomatoes.

If anyone has green tomatoes left at the end of the season, I'd love to take them off your hands to make green tomato chutney.

I am glad i am not the only one, my cherry tomato plants are collapsing under the weight of fruit but all are green! Will give it a bit longer and then try the tips on this thread.

I am glad i am not the only one, my cherry tomato plants are collapsing under the weight of fruit but all are green! Will give it a bit longer and then try the tips on this thread.

I am still waiting for mine to ripen and get bigger.Not much chance now!

England is terrible for ripening tomotoes naturally. I'd go for the bannana