Non-Maturing Tomatoes

Hello folks - I planted several early DTM tomatoes in early Sept and early Oct. They have set fruit very nicely but they are not ripening. It is my understanding that once temps start going under 55 at night for long periods of time, the tomato is essentially done maturing. We've dropped to the 40's and are heading to the 30's overnight.

Should I pull all the green tomatoes and just try to over-winter the plants for an early spring production? Leave the fruit on the plant all winter (bird food).

What about the vines? I'm guessing if I whack the plants back they will begin to sprout again in the warm daytime temps.

Thanks for any help.

It happens here, too. Green tomatoes never ripen.
Except they finally do.
Most tomatoes are 70 or more days to mature. When you count, take out cold days.
October 1 to December 4, only 65 days total!

They'll ripen, just give them more time unless you are expecting a freeze. I always plant a few cold weather varieties in early October and they start ripening around Christmas/New Years Day. We too are getting temps in the 30's at night but 60's during the day. I just add about 30 days to the DTM when growing tomatoes/peppers in the winter.

Thanks to both. Ray, I did plant three types of cool weather toms: Kimberly, Glacier and Polar Baby. It's good to know I can leave the fruits on and they will eventually ripen. We may have a freeze tonight or tomorrow, temps are projected in the low 30's. I'll rig up some covers.

Hi Mary, I went with Siberian, Glacier, Oregon Spring, Sub-Arctic and Siletz this winter. All are around 55-60 DTM but in the winter I don't expect to see any ripening for 80-90 days. Looks like we too might get down to 32 the next few days, but I'm gonna let them fend for themselves. Last night it got down to 35 and it didn't bother them at all. Wish you luck!

Oh I have Oregon Spring too, forgot to mention that one. I had one plant early last summer and was not too impressed but maybe it will like the cooler temps. We'll see.

DH is hooking up some ambient heaters for me. He's a bit of a scavenger and found these several months ago and has been waiting for me to need them in the garden. We have 4 of them and will place on the ground, under the sheet covering. This pic shows the heating element.

The element is covered with a thick screen.

Those will do the trick! You shouldn't have a problem keeping them warm. Updated weather says it's gonna get 27 the next night or 2 here. Now I have to re-think about protecting them. But part of me wants to let them be and see how they fare just for kicks.

Not a fan of any early, cool weather varieties. But it's better than having no tomatoes(or store bought) I guess.

If you decide to let them fare on their own, let me know how it goes. I'm tempted too but we just came back from Saver's (like Goodwill) with 3 king size sheets. The ones I have are over-used, this being their third season. Good luck, keep me posted and I'll do the same.

There's no question of overwintering tomato plants here of course - we're supposed to have 19 degrees and some snow tomorrow night. When I pulled up my tomato plants in late October after having ripe tomatoes all summer, they were still loaded with green tomatoes that never had a chance to ripen.

Fortunately, fried green tomatoes are a real favorite of ours. We picked and sliced green tomatoes, and my wife breaded the slices with flour, salt, and pepper. She put waxed paper between the slices on a cookie sheet and froze them. Once the slices were frozen she removed the waxed paper and put them in freezer bags - they don't stick together that way.

Our oldest daughter and her family from CA (near you in Temecula, Ray_Der_Phan) were here for Thanksgiving week and I had ORDERS to provide plenty of fried green tomatoes. They can't get those in CA, and the fast-food restaurants there don't have biscuits and gravy either. Well, it's California. Anyway, our daughter and grandkids miss such things a lot, and they got plenty of fried green tomatoes while they were here.

We just drop the frozen slices in the skillet while they're still frozen, and they come out as good as fresh green tomatoes. Garden tomatoes, ripe or green, get enjoyed equally here.

I know but I prefer not to fry our food. wahhhh. It's not that we don't like it. We do. But. Maybe I'll try just a few.........she said knowing she could stop whenever she wanted to. ;-))

I grow tomatoes in a greenhouse, so I pull the plug the 1st of November.
2 years ago we picked all the large green ones off & put them stem side down on tables in our basement. About once a week my wife would take the red ones & can them. I ate the last one on New Years day. About ¼ went bad, which we didn't figure was to bad.

"I know but I prefer not to fry our food."
----------------------

We're the same way, we do very little frying and try to avoid cholesterol. Fried green tomatoes are an exception, though. We fry them in canola oil and get it very hot so little oil is absorbed.

With another garden favorite, fried okra, we've quit frying it entirely. We've found it's better and maybe healthier to leave the pods whole, season them with a little olive oil, salt, and cayenne pepper, and roast them in the oven. Good!

So we try to be good, but sometimes I'm skeptical of the whole concept. Medical knowledge goes through fads, you know. Sixty years ago my mom's doctor suggested she take up cigarette smoking to lose a little weight! (She didn't do it and lived to be 94.) The old-timers in my family who are now gone fried nearly everything they ate in lard and bacon grease and were mostly healthy and active into their 80's and 90's. So, I don't know.

Ozark, I'll try that hot canola oil trick....I agree, one can only be so careful, could get hit by a beer truck crossing the street. I certainly have plenty of green toms....take up smoking to lose weight...scheesch! Hopefully she found a new doctor. I think your key word is 'active'....you gotta move it.

What about that old farmer's trick of getting up at 5am and spraying water on the plants? What's the chemistry behind that? In layman's terms if possible.

Ray_Der_Phan - Nope, I've never been able to get #1 daughter interested in growing anything, though her younger sisters both grow good gardens. PICKLED OKRA? Oh, yeah! I pickled a bunch of pint jars, using 2/3 white vinegar and 1/3 water for brine, with 1/2 a clove of garlic, 1/2 a tsp. pickling salt, and two little hot Maui Purple Peppers in each jar. Those pickles are GOOD, and I've got myself rationed. If I only eat one pint jar every two weeks, they'll last me until okra-harvest time next year! Needless to say, I've got these hidden from the grandkids - those little salt/vinegar addicts get my cucumber pickles only. lol

MaryMcP - A coating of ice on plants can sometimes protect them against air temps that are even colder. When we've got snow on the ground here and the kids are playing in it, I try to get them to NOT remove snow all the way down to the ground on the lawn. Doing that can cause dead patches of grass in the spring, because the (relatively) warm snow cover protects the dormant grass underneath. Same thing with the water-hose trick at 5 a.m., I think.

This message was edited Dec 5, 2011 9:56 AM

Thanks for explaining that.

I still have a bunch of green tomatoes. Patiently waiting on red. We are looking at the high to mid 20°s by the end of this week.

Now, I understand the delay on DTMs due to the cold nighttime temps but am curious. Assuming we continue to see these types of temps, does that mean they will never ripen? Would I be better harvesting them and allowing them to green on their own in the GH?

These have already survived five nights in the high 20's with a light frost cover blanket. There was only minor foliage damage.

Pod-you havent gotten a freeze yet? Shot we hada freeze 6 weeks ago. TX is such a strange state.

Not a killing freeze but this week may be tempting fate. Those maters are from your Big Beef. Never could grow them in summer. Shees!

Update....

Well, on Monday night the yard got down to 32, while the deck was 34. The tomatoes were fine. But.....The next night was the coldest one in awhile here. Got down to 29(only for about 2-3 hours) and definitely saw some damage on those in ground or in pots. Some leaf burn, and a stem or 2 wilted. However, the ones in Self Water Containers didn't miss a beat. Not a speck of damage. I wonder if me filling the reservoirs right before night set in helped keep the temps above freezing in their general area? Only thing I can think of. The pepper plants in regular nursery pots took the biggest hit as far as my veggies go. My tropicals aren't very happy either but fared better than I thought they would. Only a few with moderate damage. All in all, I'm pleased how they all stood up to unusual frosty conditions :)

Winter tomatoes are turning. Looks to be about 85-90 days, the DTM says 55-65. So patience is definitely needed when growing them in the winter.