My tomato plants are still producing lots of young, green fruit. What are the chances of these properly ripening at this stage? I’m growing them in big pots in a small glasshouse in my sunny, sheltered back garden, trained up along bamboo sticks. Michael F, Galway
Although your tomato plants will continue to produce new flowers and baby trusses of fruit at this time of year if left unpruned, there’s no guarantee of any very young, tiny fruit properly swelling and ripening at this late stage in these heat-loving, annual plants’ life cycle. This is especially true of indeterminate/cordon types such as yours (rather than the smaller, tumbling kinds), which quickly turn into a tall, messy tangle by early autumn unless regularly pruned.
For this reason, many gardeners nip off the growing tips of these kinds of tomato plants once four to five trusses of fruit have formed (this should be done a few leaves above the highest fruit truss), and then strip away all leaves from the bottom half of the plant. Very regular side shooting and removal of any emerging flowers is also important at this time of year, along with removal of any diseased leaves or fallen fruit. All of this helps keep plants healthy and prevents them from putting further energy into the production of new flowers, fruit or axial side shoots, concentrating instead on fruit ripening.
The removal of lower leaves further helps by reducing the risk of disease setting in and allowing air and sunlight to reach the semi-mature, ripening fruits. But don’t remove all the foliage as it’s still needed for photosynthesis. Also stop feeding and only minimally water plants at this stage to encourage good quality fruits.
RM Block
If the weather stays frost-free and unseasonably warm into late autumn, your tomatoes will continue to ripen. But otherwise it’s a good idea to remove any remaining unripe fruit from your plants by late October and bring them indoors to ripen, which you can help by placing then near a bowl of fresh fruit. Any tomatoes that remain green can be used to make tomato chutney, a gardening classic.
