tomatoes not ripening/ripening slowly

12 years ago

I had this problem last year too; however last year I grew two roma tomato plants from seed.

By the time they started to blossom and set fruit, it was September; since my growing season is so short, it was too late for them to ripen and mature.

I figured out why people use transplants where I live.

I used transplants for my tomatoes, and set them out May 30th. However despite using transplants I'm still having this problem occur again this year.

The three varieties I have are cherry, roma, and slicers; the cherry take about 60 days to ripen, the Romas about 70-80 days, and the slicers about 80 days.

The cherries have set fruit, but they're immature and green; some are hard, tiny, and a dull green color, and others are larger, softer, and have a shinier green.

The romas have just started to set fruit, but they're nowhere close to ripening.

I know with some veggies, that if temperature extremes occur (too hot, too cold, or just a general fluctuation in temperatures) this stresses the plant out and reduces yields, or slows maturity time. I also know with some veggies that if it gets too hot, that this will interfere with fruit ripening. Do these rules apply to tomatoes too?

If you overcrowd the containers (put too many plants in too small of a container) then will this cause tomatoes not to ripen, or delay ripening? I have three romas in a 30 gallon container, 3 cherries in 30 gallon container, and 4 slicers in a 30 gallon container.

I'm just wondering why this keeps happening and what to do about it, I don't know why this keeps happening, nor do I know what to do to remedy it because I don't know what's causing the problem. Until recently it's been in the mid to high 80's, and mid to high 90's. So I'm wondering if the reason the fruit isn't ripening is because it's been too hot and dry? There has been very little rain.

I water the plants every evening, but I'm wondering if I should water during the day so the soil is kept moist during the hottest part of the day?

Comments (4)

mulio
12 years ago
High temperatures effect the chemicals involved in ripening. It tends to be the cumulative or diurnal temperature over a 24 hour cycle which will be the issue. "Diurnal Temperature Variation is the change in temperature between the warmest and coolest parts of the day." The link provides a way to look up DTV for your area. I only bring this up as a way to pointing out - its been HOT over most of the US for the past week or more. For the most part just going to have to wait till the weather changes.

I am not sure about crowding effecting ripening. I don't seem to recall anything specific about that issue. Generally though 10 gallons is pretty good for each plant.

Keeping the pot/container cooler, and thus the roots, may help the plants some. Dark colored pots are going to absorb more heat so shading them with something to reflect the light (like aluminum foil) and regularly watering them during the hottest part of the day should lower root temperatures some. That helps chemicals and enzymes produced in the roots stay stable but probably won't do much for those produced elsewhere.

Additionally if you could shade the plants slightly that could help. That has been shown to make a big difference in pepper set. You need to keep airflow up though if you do use a covering. Otherwise you could start seeing disease issues.
Bets
12 years ago
Hello kawaiineko,

To me it sounds like your tomaotes are right on schedule, considering the unusual weather this year. I'm also in zone 5a and I don't expect to see any ripe tomatoes until mid-August or later. We had such a cold wet spring that I set out my first plants in the middle of June, and even then they tended to sulk and hardly even grew until it warmed up. Which it did with a vengeance!

Days to Maturity (DTM) is a guideline or average for comparing various varietes ripening times from transplanting into the garden. If it were a hard and fast rule, you would just now start seeing ripe cherry tomatoes, and your other tomatoes would ripen 10-20 days later.

"I know with some veggies, that if temperature extremes occur (too hot, too cold, or just a general fluctuation in temperatures) this stresses the plant out and reduces yields, or slows maturity time. I also know with some veggies that if it gets too hot, that this will interfere with fruit ripening. Do these rules apply to tomatoes too?" - Yes, it pretty much does.

"If you overcrowd the containers (put too many plants in too small of a container) then will this cause tomatoes not to ripen, or delay ripening? I have three romas in a 30 gallon container, 3 cherries in 30 gallon container, and 4 slicers in a 30 gallon container." - Here I'll say maybe. I don't think your plants are over crowded since a 10 gallon container is usually considered ample for a single tomato plant, but you may be pushing it a little with 4 slicers in one 30 gallon container.

"I water the plants every evening, but I'm wondering if I should water during the day so the soil is kept moist during the hottest part of the day?" Check the soil moisture about 3-5 inches below the surface and about the same from the edge of the container, is it too wet, damp or dry? If it is wet, don't water, if damp, check again later in the day or the next morning, if it is dry water it. It really isn't unusual to have to water container plants more than once a day when the weather is hot. Larger containers will not need watering as often.

I sure hope that helps.

Betsy
Related Discussions
Tomatoes Don't Ripen
Q
Comments (10)
I agree with glib about the plants probably needing more sun. If you are very close to the coast in the northwest (probably elsewhere where the water temp is cool) it is hard to ripen tomatoes because of low night time temps combined with generally low high temperatures. - If your plants are in full sun, your situation could be similar. It is definitely time to do what len suggested - pull the plants and put them somewhere that they will not get frosted. Leave some of the roots - pretty much what comes up when you pull them, knock off the dirt and hang (I have also placed on a table). It really would be better if you had your fill of tomatoes and just wanted to see them go until next year, (it just is not the same) but it does work. If there were a bit more time you could try some types of root pruning. Either pulling on the base of the plant a bit or using a spade to cut on two sides of the plant. This is supposed to shock the plant into ripening fruit because it is stressed and dying. Some top the plants or remove blossoms when there is no longer time left for the fruit to ripen. Your best bet - There are lots of varieties of tomatoes, it can take a few or more years to find out what works best for your tastes and climate. If you have a neighbor who is having success, you could ask a few questions and get a jump start on the process, or you could ask for suggestions for your climate on the tomato forum here. Best of luck!
...See More
winter ripening tomatoes?
Q
Comments (1)
I'm not really sure. I have slowly ripened green tomatoes indoors (temps 40s to 60s) during the winter, but it has always been my understanding (and experience) that tomatoes after a hard freeze turn to mush on thawing, rather than ripening in any pleasant fashion. But as long as you could avoid a freeze, have you ever looked into the "storage" tomatoes? They have names like "golden treasure" and "ruby treasure" and are available from Peters Seed and Research. I got my seeds a few years back and haven't grown enough of them to really decide whether I like them or not. I first got interested in them years ago after reading an article in one of my organic gardening magazines. One grower posted a discussion of them: Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Treasure Storage Tomatoes
...See More
Tomato ripening and rotting really early in the season
Q
Comments (26)
<I was researching compost tea a lot last month and it's been praised by many and others say it's a waste of time. The more I read into it, the more I was excited to try and brew my own batch. I read that pumping enough oxygen into it was very important though. What are your thoughts on compost tea?> Aerating compost tea is good if you can do it however it is a relatively new aspect of using compost tea, not the be all and end all as some would claim. Plain old compost, allowed to steep in a bucket of water in the sun for a couple of days is still quite beneficial and has been used for centuries in that form. Of course the better the quality of the compost (diverse ingredients), the better the tea. It can then be used, diluted to the color of weak iced tea, as a root drench for plants. And if diluted even more many use it as a misted foliar feeding. That is the simplest approach to it. Above and beyond the basics you'll find all sorts of recommendations for additives and making it with different methods but it all still boils down to compost tea. There is also "manure tea" that some make in the same manner. It is richer in nutrients but is also higher in pathogenic bacteria so it should be used as a root drench only and only when it won't come into direct contact with the edible portions of the plant (like lettuce). Dave
...See More
Ripening a tomato after the branch has broken off
Q
Comments (24)
digdirt2: Yes, have numerous times as has Carolyn, Mule and several others have both here and on Tomatoville (as you know gb) as it has also been discussed ad infinitem on that forum. And yet, nobody has actually provided a reference. And people keep calling it a "membrane" that "seals", even though an abscission zone is not a membrane and does not seal in tomato fruit. <The original research papers were out of Kansas State University AG research station I recall and have been referenced in hundreds of articles over the years. > And yet, nobody here or at tville has ever managed to point to an actual reference in any of these hundreds of articles. I find this odd. <The research is based on the changing chemical nature of the vasculature structure between the pedicle and the abscission zone of the fruit as they ripen.> I'm going to guess that you haven't actually read the article. I actually had a friend with access look up this article for me a year or two ago, and I read it. And the article is about how, in maturing tomato fruit, the xylem (water transport vasculature) decreases and all transport of wet and dry matter into a maturing tomato fruit is taken over by the phloem (dry matter transport vasculature). It says nothing about a stop to transport of dry matter into a tomato. It certainly says nothing to support the claim that ONLY water enters a tomato from color break until it's picked and its implications actually debunk that idea. <Many scientific studies: Tomato fruit abscission studies> Did you read your search results? They have nothing to do with the question at hand and most of them are about the no-joint gene variation in which an abscission zone never forms at all (lime green salad is a variety like this, for example). <Given all that research is commonly accepted then I don't understand why it is so hard to accept the same studies done on tomato fruit. But some are determined to not accept it. That is their choice but it doesn't make the research any less valid.> Commonly accepted by whom? The people I see claiming the "sealed membrane" are all either from tville or quoting people from tville. Can you point to an independent, scientific source that says this? Because I've looked a lot, and I can't find one. The accusation that people are only believing what they want to believe can be leveled in both directions. And when you look at the actual science, it doesn't back up the "sealed membrane" camp. The fact is, tomatoes continue to get both water and dry matter and volatile compounds from the plant up until at least the point of becoming table ripe. This is not up for debate--it has been shown. Whether most human beings can detect these changes in a fruit ripened to table ripe on the vine vs. in a fruit that was picked early and ripened off the vine is, as I've always said, an individual matter, and whether the average human cares enough about subtle differences is yet another individual matter. But the "sealed membrane" claim so far looks to be folklore, not science.
...See More
tommyr_gw Zone 6
12 years ago
My cherries are slow to ripen too so far. I have picked and ate some (a dozen or so) but have LOTS still green and some others slowly turning.
kentstar
12 years ago
Me too tommy. I have tons and tons lol of black cherry tomatoes all nice looking and green but not ripening yet. I think I have pulled off to eat maybe a dozen or so. But boy will I have a lot when they all do ripen! Yum!

tomatoes not ripening/ripening slowly

Comments (4)

mulio

Bets

Related Discussions

tommyr_gw Zone 6

kentstar

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US