IF you’ve started growing your own tomatoes, you’ll know the season is almost coming to an end.
But if you’re constantly checking up on your plant only to find that the tomatoes still haven’t ripened, all is not lost.
According to a gardening pro, there’s a way to speed up the process and ensure you have fresh, juicy tomatoes in no time at all.
Garden influencer Nettles and Petals recently uploaded a video in which he lifted the lid on how you can fix your frustrating problem.
He said: “Still have unripe tomatoes? Well, here’s a few tips to help ripen them before the end of the season.”
The green-fingered pro then explained: “It’s getting very close to the end of tomato season here in the UK and mine will be replaced with winter crops in a couple of weeks or so.
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“Yet, many of us will still have plenty of unripe fruit! So here’s a few things you can do to help speed up the ripening process…”
Nettles and Petals, who can be found on TikTok at @nettlesandpetals, then went into his tried and tested technique.
He said the first step is to “keep removing side shoots”, as he demonstrated taking the rogue branches off of the plant.
Explaining why this is so helpful, he went on: “This redirects the plants energy from growing and producing more trusses, then flowers, then fruit to ripening the fruit it already has.
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“And be sure to get the ones that grow on the end of the tomato trusses.”
After you’ve done this, it’s time to look more closely at each tomato to work out which ones would be better elsewhere.
Nettles and Petals said: “Remove tomatoes that have passed the breaker stage.
“Once the fruit has started to ripen and the colour change is visible, they then have everything they need to fully ripen off the plant, which again, will allow the plant to focus its energy into ripening the remaining fruit.
It’s getting very close to the end of tomato season here in the UK
“No need to do anything special with them once removed either, just pop them in a bowl and put them on the side in the kitchen until ripe.”
But even if you haven’t noticed the shade change, there’s still hope for your tomatoes.
The expert continued: “Reduce watering amount and frequency.
“This slightly stresses the plants, which encourages ripening, as the plant attempts to ensure it produces viable seeds so it can reproduce itself.”
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But he had one more word of warning: “Just ensure all ripe fruit is removed from the plant before the next watering to prevent the fruit splitting.”
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