How to ripen a large number of green tomatoes

If you have loads of un-ripened tomatoes then here is an easy way to ripen your tomoatoes. 

All you need is:

• Tomato plant
• Scissors
• Cord or string

1. Dig up your tomato plant taking care not to shake too many tomatoes from the plant
2. Using your scissors, cut the tomato stems as close to the soil as possible
3. Wind the cord through the tomato plant stems making sure not to miss any.  Tie a knot in the cord. 
4. Lift the tomato stems using the cord and hang them somewhere frost free.
5. The un-ripened tomatos will continue to ripen on the plant.  Check every 2-3 days.  Pick any red tomatoes and enjoy.  Remove any tomatoes that start to shrivel or turn brown

How to ripen a small number of green tomatoes

OK so Winter is fast approaching and your tomato plant still has some un-ripened tomatoes on it.  If you leave it to nature the frost will destroy your remaining tomatoes before they have the chance to ripen.  But it’s actually really easy to ripen these tomatoes yourself. 

All you need is

• Your un-ripened tomatoes
• A paper bag
• A banana (slightly green works best)

1. Pick all of the un-ripened tomatoes from the tomato plant
2. Wash and dry your tomatoes.  Discard any damaged tomatoes.
3. Sort the tomatoes into two groups; tomatoes that are hard and fully green all over with no tinge of yellow at all, tomatoes with even a faint tinge of yellow, fully yellow or orange.
4. Place the yellow & orange tomatoes into a paper bag
5. Place a ripening banana into the bag
6. Close the bag by folding it over and leave in a warm place.  Kitchen is usually ideal
7. Check the bag every 2-3 days.  Remove red tomatoes and enjoy.  Discard any tomatoes that start to shrivel or turn brown
8. Don’t forget to replace the banana with a fresh banana before it starts to over ripen

So here’s the sciency bit and why it works.  Ripening fruits give off a gas called ethylene.  The more ethylene around the quicker the ripening process happens.  Bananas are one of the top dogs when it comes to ethylene production, hence why you should not store bananas in a fruit bowl with other fruit because they will cause the other fruit to over ripen quicker.  Bad news.  However good news is that placing a banana in the bag with your tomatoes will make your tomatoes ripen quickly.  Result

Planting Cherry Tomato Plant

When you receive your cherry tomato plant you will need to plant it in the appropriate square (check in the instruction booklet). Unwrap the plant carefully, holding it by the leaves to avoid damaging the stem. Dig a hole in the middle of the square, deep enough so that the soil will come up to the first leaf. It is important to do this because this will stimulate the tomato plant to produce new roots along its stem, producing a better, healthier plant.