What makes a tomato get ripe?
I keep waiting and waiting and waiting for a red tomato, and still waiting. It got me thinking, what happens that makes the tomato ripen? Just curious.
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7419
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
I think it is warm weather and sun light that makes ripe tomatoes.
I have covered my tomatoes with glass in October and had tomatoes until the end of December when it was below freezing, frost, and snow on the ground the tomatoes get ripe very very slow under those conditions and they don't taste as good as summer tomatoes but still much better than grocery store tomatoes.
I have covered my tomatoes with glass in October and had tomatoes until the end of December when it was below freezing, frost, and snow on the ground the tomatoes get ripe very very slow under those conditions and they don't taste as good as summer tomatoes but still much better than grocery store tomatoes.
The actual process is triggered by the seeds within the fruit reaching maturity.BERRYHILL wrote:I keep waiting and waiting and waiting for a red tomato, and still waiting. It got me thinking, what happens that makes the tomato ripen? Just curious.
They then send a chemical signal to the plant to ripen the fruit so that it either falls to the ground and releases the seed or the fruit becomes edible for an animal to eat the fruit and carry the seeds off for distribution.
There are chemical methods of accelerating the process by the introduction of ethylene to the plant by sprays...or even keeping the fruit close to other plants that are producing the gas.
That's why toms in transport are kept seperate from flowers...and a banana skin placed in a bag with some toms will help the fruit to ripen.
Wow, Thankyou for sharing that info.I guess I will still be waiting and waiting and waiting. I would never do anything to rush it. I don't think they would taste as good. Sometimes I feel like a 3 yr old asking questions. But if there's one thing I have learned from my grandaughter, if you don't ask , you can't learn. Thanks Loretta 