#1 Reason Your Tomatoes Are Not Ripening - How to Speed It Up

[DeepSouthBama]

Hey Luke, I totally agree to trimming some of the lower leaves from a tomato plant to prevent disease. However your tip on trimming tomato leaves to expose the fruit to more sunlight so they will ripen is not going to help and I will tell you why. Tomatoes ripen the fastest in temperature of 70 to 75 degrees. When temps rise into the mid 80's to 90's the ripening process slows down and can stop. Sunlight has no effect on tomato ripening, IN fact it can heat the tomatoes up to a level that stops color pigment synthesis, per Cornell University. I am copying an excerpt from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cornell University. Here it is, but there are more online if you want to look it up yourself.

With all of the hot weather we have experienced this summer, growers were expecting their tomatoes to ripen very quickly. Unfortunately, just the opposite is happening. Ripening seems very slow, almost like what we see in the autumn when temperatures are much cooler.

So what's happening? It takes six to eight weeks from the time of pollination until tomato fruit reach full maturity. The length of time depends on the variety grown and of course, the weather conditions. The optimum temperature for ripening tomatoes is 70 to 75F. When temperatures exceed 85 to 90 F, the ripening process slows significantly or even stops. At these temperatures, lycopene and carotene, pigments responsible for giving the fruit their typical orange to red appearance cannot be produced. As a result, the fruit can stay in a mature green phase for quite some time.

Light conditions have very little to do with ripening. Tomatoes do not require light to ripen and in fact, fruit exposed to direct sunlight will heat to levels that inhibit pigment synthesis. Direct sun can also lead to sunscald of fruit. Do not remove leaves in an effort to ripen fruit. Also, soil fertility doesn't play much of a role. We do know that high levels of magnesium and low levels of potassium can lead to conditions like blotchy or uneven ripening or yellow shoulder disorder. But the slowness to ripen is not likely due to soil conditions and adding additional fertilizer will do nothing to quicken ripening.

If you absolutely cannot wait, some growers will remove fruit that are showing the first color changes. These fruit, in the a mature green or later phase, could be stored at room temperature (70-75F) in the dark. A more enclosed environment would be best as ethylene gas, released from fruit as they ripen, will stimulate other fruit to ripen. If temperatures remain high outdoors, these picked fruit will ripen more quickly, perhaps by as much as five days. As far as flavor, the greener fruit should develop flavor and color similar to what you would get if field ripened. The key is picking them when they are showing the first signs of ripening (no earlier) and keeping them at room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as this will absolutely destroy their flavor.

The above pasted information is used from Cornell Cooperative Extension a part of Cornell University New York all rights reserved.

Check it out Luke.

Love your videos, Take Care, Stay Safe and God Bless You and Yours.

Mr. Tom

[mikemorse]

My favorite way to speed them up is to try not to look at them so much. Totally a "watched pot doesn't boil effect."

[kellybrown]

I have effective all organic approach to SCARING the tomatoes into ripening. I set a full bottle of KETCHUP next to the plant....

[josephku]

I just want to remind everyone to not go over the top when defoliating since tomatoes that are exposed to too much direct sunlight can get sun-scalded. As said in the video, defoliating no more than 30% is a good rule to follow. Thanks for the great info, Luke!

[RevKev]

As a first time gardener your videos have been a HUGE help. Keep up the great work!

[rnupnorthbrrrsm]

I live in zone 3 of northern Minnesota so I have a short season. I prune suckers from early on, trim bottom branches that may touch the ground and thin foliage for better airflow to help prevent disease. As tomatoes set I start pruning new growth and limit new blooms so the plants energy can go to the existing tomatoes and they can ripen, otherwise I have huge plants and a ton of small green tomatoes in the fall 😏

[leefollett]

Oh my gosh, I actually started doing this by accident on one plant! Because, again, the bottom leaves looked rough.. but nah, I trust you with my gardens life. Your my favorite source of information. So I'm definitely going to go give it a wing, i am grateful I didn't mess up my plant. But I thought, hey, its all about experimenting and learning right?

[cherylnorise]

I think I'm beginning to be a real backyard gardener. I just did this before I saw the video. Starting to grasp the processes. Yes being proud right now. Thanks for the confidence. You and your family have an awesome day

[swanysoup]

Talk about perfect timing! My tomato plants have lots of tomatoes, they just seem to be slow at ripening
I will be trying this, thank you

[Quantum_GirlE]

wow. I was JUST googling this for the past 2 hours and now you make this video?! Awesome timing, awesome youtuber!

[NiaLin]

I just did this over the weekend on my Early Girl. It’s something I’ve always done & it really works. I make sure all my fruit can catch some rays & that air is free flowing throughout the bush. Every time I prune like this, I get a flush of new fruits too! You are spot on as usual. Thanks for always sharing tried & true tips!

[brennisbooth]

I work at a garden center in Northern Ohio and I want to commend you on a wonderful, entertaining and informative video! Great job!

[karinichols]

I've had some pretty big tomatoes on the vine for almost three weeks that haven't ripened. I'm getting my pruning shears out right now! Thanks Luke

[SH-knut]

In my experience, tomatoes ripen when they're warmer - as opposed to simply being exposed to sun light. All of the first tomatoes to ripen on my plants are well inside the plants (in deep shade). I calculated that this was so because at night, the temperature inside and under the foliage of the plants is warmer than the temperature on the perimeter of the plants...

[randysimpson]

I trim early as possible but in a limited fashion. Agreed, sunlight and airflow are crucial, however as a lifelong gardener I only trim as needed because over trimming takes away from the beauty of the plant. Which ( along with the fruit) is why I grow in the first place.

[valtosheva]

It's great when people get straight to the point! Thanks!

[mrsjuliasmith]

Thanks for putting this out there again Luke! I keep seeingnfolks posting in gardening groups about why their tomatoes aren't ripening and I explain these same things about making sure to prune back the excess foliage to expose the fruit to sunlight. Many of them take too much pride in how lush and full their tomato plants look and refuse to prune at all then wonder why they have loads of growth little to no fruit and/or delayed ripening. Lack of light and airflow. Hopefully more people will see your video and won't be afraid to start snipping.

[thCP]

I’ve kept my plants pruned since the plant picked up early blight. All of my 10 plants finally got flowers about a week ago and ever since I pruned the bottom 6” on my plants that are a foot and a half tall they’ve exploded! I took your advice from an older video about this and it’s done wonders! Plus, my high intensity lettuce container I did based off your video the whole pot exploded with seedlings this morning after just three days! Thanks for everything and can’t wait to have an amazing garden like yours some day!

[SColan]

This is the video is the one I've been looking for! I've seen a lot of videos on tomato plant pruning but none of them addressed the ripening part. I've seen your tomato plants and I knew you've pruned them like that but was waiting for you/someone to say "yes, do this".

[HardcoreSustainable]

One other tip for avoiding blight is to mulch under the plant so that rain doesn't splash soil up onto the lower leaves. The blight lives in the soil.