How To Ripen Green Tomatoes After Picking – And Store Them Properly

Figuring out how to ripen green tomatoes is a hurdle many new gardeners learn during their first season growing tomatoes. These quintessential summer plants are prolific and often produce too many fruits to ripen before the growing season ends.

Cooler temperatures and too many green tomatoes on a plant delays ripening, as this process requires a lot of energy from the plant. Harvesting green tomatoes and storing them indoors conserves your plant's energy and allows you to enjoy your crop well into fall.

But will tomatoes ripen off the vine? If so, how do you ripen green tomatoes? If your plants are loaded with unripe fruit, read on. Here are the most common reasons why tomatoes won't turn red, how to ripen them after picking, and how you should store your harvest for fresh flavor all season long.

Why Aren’t My Tomatoes Turning Red?

One reason your tomatoes may not turn red is because they were never meant to be red. There are roughly 7,500 tomato varieties to choose from, some of which are green. If you were in a frenzy picking tomato plants, it is possible you’ve planted a unique green variety like the lovely 'Green Zebra' tomato pictured below. If this is the case, no matter what you do, that tomato won't turn red.

The more likely possibility is that the fruit is simply not mature enough to become a ripe red. If you do remember what cultivar you planted, refer to the seed packet for maturation information or look up the variety to verify when to harvest your tomatoes. Perhaps you’re just too impatient and need to wait a little longer for the fruit to ripen.

Another reason why your tomatoes aren’t turning red has to do with the weather. When temperatures soar over 85 F (29 C), tomatoes won’t produce lycopene or carotene, the pigments responsible for their signature red hue. Colder temperatures can also prevent ripening.

Lastly, your tomatoes may be lagging due to a lack of nutrients. They require potassium and magnesium to produce lycopene. Without the proper nutrients, plants ripen slowly.

Picking Tomatoes Before They’re Ripe

Commercial growers pick tomatoes when they're still green for shipping and harvesting reasons. Once they reach their destination, they treat tomatoes with ethylene gas or put them into special rooms to induce ripening after picking.

In the home garden, most gardeners believe tomatoes should be fully blushed red for the best harvest. But that isn’t actually the case.

There are a number of benefits to picking at the breaker stage rather than waiting for the fruit to completely change color. Insects don't have that extra time to damage fruit, your crop is less prone to cracking or sunscald, and—believe it or not—vine-ripened tomatoes don't really taste better than breaker stage ones.

However, if you pick an undeveloped green tomato, it will never ripen off the vine. Wait to pick tomatoes until they are fully developed.

There are many delicious ways to use green tomatoes, too. So if you have an especially big bumper crop, there are lots of things you can do with them besides making fried green tomatoes. Some research also shows that eating green tomatoes is good for you. But how do you ripen the rest of your crop?

How to Ripen Green Tomatoes

Getting tomatoes to turn red is not difficult. There are several methods you can use. The best way to ripen tomatoes is to place them on your kitchen counter. For this method, tomatoes must be at the breaker stage and showing some color. The warmer the temperature, the more rapidly the fruit will ripen. Light doesn't impact ripening, so some people keep tomatoes in a dark garage or basement.

If the fruit is ripening more rapidly than you can use it, slow it down by putting tomatoes into the refrigerator. This should be a bit of a last resort, though, since refrigerating tomatoes makes them lose some of their flavor and makes their texture grainy.

Another methods is to imitate commercial growers. Professionals hasten the ripening of tomatoes using ethylene gas. Ethylene is given off by the fruit itself. To trap and use that gas, simply place green tomatoes into a paper bag and close it up. The trapped ethylene will hasten the ripening of the fruit.

Gardening Know How Editor Janey has a secret trick to make tomatoes turn red even faster.

Janey Goulding

Janey has worked for several gardening publications, including the UK's oldest gardening magazine, and is currently undertaking her RHS Level 2 certificate in The Principles of Plant Growth and Development.

For Janey's green end of season tomatoes, she adds a ripe banana. She says, "It's all in the ethylene — the chemical that ripe bananas give off. Ethylene is the ultimate super stimulant for this particular problem. It's like giving your green tomatoes coffee in the morning, it really gets them going!" No bananas on hand? Try an apple. It works the same way.

As tomatoes ripen the tannins, which are responsible for the sour taste of green tomatoes, decrease while the sugars increase. Green fruit ripens in about 2 weeks at 65-70 F (18-21 C) or 3-4 weeks when stored at 55 F (13 C). Anything under 50 F (10 C) tends to affect the flavor and results in bland tomatoes.

If you have lots of tomatoes you need to ripen, use an open cardboard box. Line the box with newspaper and place a layer of tomatoes on top. Although you can add a second layer, only do this when necessary as tomatoes are prone to bruising. Separating the fruit is important to reduce the incidence of rot spreading.

How to Store Tomatoes

Once tomatoes ripen, eat them immediately. Otherwise, store them out in the open on the counter or in a pantry and use them as soon as possible.

If you find you have a surfeit of fruit you can't eat right away, process the tomatoes or refrigerate them. Ripe tomatoes can be stored in slightly cooler temperatures than their green counterparts, so the fridge is good place if you can't eat them fast enough. Remove stems and leaves before storing tomatoes this way.

Learning how to store tomatoes and how to make tomatoes turn red will eliminate overcrowding fruits on the vine. Harvesting green tomatoes on a regular basis is a great way to continue enjoying your crop well into the fall season.

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