How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors

If frost threatens, cut tomatoes off the vine and bring indoors.

When fall arrives, tomato plants can be filled with green tomatoes. If subjected to repeated hard freezes, the plant will die and the green tomatoes will be lost. To avoid losing the tomatoes to freeze, one way to ripen green tomatoes is to take them indoors, but not to a windowsill. Tomatoes do not need light to ripen.

Things You'll Need

• Tray
• Paper towel or newspaper

Instructions

1. Snip the green, non-split tomatoes from the plant. Select only healthy fruit, so check for bug and worm holes. Though there is no need to wash the tomatoes, if you choose to rinse them, wipe them dry

2. Put the green tomatoes on a plate or tray, spacing them so they do not touch, and cover them with a single thickness of paper towel or newspaper.

3. Place the plate or tray in a dark space where temperatures are around 65 degrees and allow to ripen. The warm, dark place could be a windowless laundry room, on top of kitchen cabinets not near a window or in a closet.

Tips & Warnings

• Placing a ripe apple or banana near the tomatoes will speed ripening, advises the Colorado State University Extension Service.

• At 65 degrees, the tomatoes should ripen in about two weeks.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Ripening Tomatoes Indoors