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unripe peppers, tomatoes, and frost

12 years ago

Frost is predicted tonight and tomorrow night. I still have quite a few green tomatoes' we usually bring these inside individually (we've tried laying them out on trays or wrapping them in newspaper), and some ripen while others rot. Any better practices for bringing green tomatoes in? Does pulling the whole plant help?

Also I have some peppers which are supposed to turn red; some are greenish-yellow now, others orangey-yellow. Is there anything i can do to make them more likely to turn color inside?

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Comments (8)

2ajsmama
12 years ago
I've read on the forums that you can pull the whole tomato plant and hang it upside down, they'll ripen. Not sure that will work with peppers though.

The orange-yellow peppers will ripen inside if you pick them, not sure about the greenish-yellow. Is there a way you can cover the plants? Weight the edges of the tarp/drop cloth down, put jugs of water in between the rows, it will help keep them warmer.

I just finished pulling out my tomatoes, plan on covering my peppers tonight - next 2 nights frost advisory but then next week will be in the 70's with lows around 50 so if they survive til the weekend, we should be able to get some more ripe ones.
pixie_lou
12 years ago
Peppers will happily live inside. I grow mine in pots on my patio. Next week they will be moved onto my 3 season porch. And then in early December they will be moved into my living room. I don't get a whole lot of peppers thru the winter months, but I do get a few, and the plants produce better the following summer.
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Thanks - they were predicting freezing rain today, snow tomorrow so I harvested green ones, pulled whole plants (I read you can hang them like tomatoes) and hung them in the basement, and dug some others up yesterday, put the pots in the garage. My biggest one (18" tall x 36" wide) didn't look so good this AM - and lots of green pods, so I may have to hang that one. Made 2 batches (8 pints) of pickled peppers (rings and whole) today, house smells like boiling vinegar! Tomorrow I start the jelly. Froze some big Numex chiles for chile relleno casserole, but I've got to get some ground meat and make stuffed bell peppers, I've got some nice ones that I don't want to cut up for jelly or salad. Too bad my kids don't like stuffed peppers. And now the forecast changed! It was pretty nice today, rain tomorrow, freezing temps tomorrow night and snow maybe this weekend, but I could have spent 2 days prepping (and maybe that big plant would be doing better). I've still got 2 big Thai plants in the ground, I should have harvested ripe pods today but they're covered with a tarp - have to see what I can cut off tomorrow or Friday. I don't use the Thais too much, have a bunch in the fridge, so no great loss.
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I have no experience with doing that, but have read on another forum that it does not work. One method that I read did work was to place the peppers in a bag with a ripening banana. I tried it with a bunch of habs that weren't ripe off of a broken branch and it worked very well for me. I placed the peppers around a banana (about 15 of them) in a plastic bag and put them under a flourescent light. After two days all the peppers had ripened to a nice orange. HTH. Scott
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Fried green tomatoes are a Southern delicacy. They're easy to make too, just use the same basic technique used for pan-frying lots of things. (okra, zucchini, chicken, chicken-fried-steak, catfish...) Slice the tomatoes into thick-ish slices (you want them thick, but not so thick that they don't cook all the way through once the outside is done). Dip first in seasoned flour, then in an eggwash (beaten egg and milk), then in cornmeal. Let them sit for a little while to get the breading to stick well. Pan-fry them in a cast-iron skillet with enough oil or fat to come halfway up the tomato slices. Fry on one side until golden brown, then turn and fry on the other side until that side's done. (I've also heard you can do them in the oven for a "healthier" version, but I haven't tried that yet.) Usually served as a side dish, though lately I've been making sandwiches out of mine after having some tasty fried green tomato sandwiches at a local restaurant. They had a version of a BLT with fried green tomatoes, with bacon, lettuce, chipotle mayo, on toasted sourdough bread. Another option is a patty-melt like version I had at another restaurant with melted swiss cheese.
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Yah, not much you can do with them now. You could still use a few of them in dishes right away but they will only continue to soften if you try to keep them. You could make some of them into pastes or sauces as well. Drying them and either grinding them to powder or flakes would be a good idea at this point as ronnyb123 suggested. It is too bad because you have some really good eating varieties listed.
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wertach zone 7-B SC
12 years ago
Just a thought, not sure if it would work with toms and peppers. The peach and strawberry farmers around here turn on their sprinklers when we have a late frost in the spring to keep the blooms and/or fruit from being damaged.
kriswrite
12 years ago
I always pick them and place them individually (single layer) in a dark pantry. They ALWAYS ripen, but some do not ripen until December.
Trishcuit
12 years ago
We don't have any frost in the immediate forecast but I was waiting on my Striped German tomato to give me at least ONE ripe one before the season is over. I put the plant in late (it was a mercy rescue from an end of season clearance). It only now has fully grown fruit. They are at the glossy stage that comes before color change. Our weather turned cool and rainy these last few days. I dunnnooooooo...... :P
Weather forecast says it will dry up but it is still a race against time or Nature, if you will.
2ajsmama
12 years ago
It always is!

Weather.com says it's supposed to be 36 out now, but the outdoor temp on my thermostat says 43. They installed the sensor in a somewhat protected area just outside my back door (I can't trust it after doing laundry since it's right by the dryer vent - don't know if it's warmer right now b/c of leaking house heat). But inside the uninsulated, vented garage is 51. So we may have escaped frost last night. Early tomorrow is going to be the worst though.

How did your peppers do joanne? Did you cover them or just pick?
lpinkmountain
12 years ago
I pulled my tom. plants one year and hung them upside down on a clothesline I had in the basement. Some did ripen. About the same as the other method, but a mess as they shed leaves onto the basement floor. They ripened a little faster maybe than by storing them individually in the dark. Nothing dramatic.
2ajsmama
12 years ago
My peppers look good, going to be in the 80's this w/e so they're staying uncovered, will probably be warm enough to get more ripe ones over the next week (though end of the week will be 60's and raining).

Still waiting to hear from OP...

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