Hi all, I’m in zone 9b and have a couple tomato plants I cloned from suckers mid-season that have set all their fruit, but have yet to ripen yet. I topped them about a month ago to let them focus on the fruit, but now I’m wondering with nighttime temps in the 45-48 range if I should just harvest the plants and hope they ripen inside.
I know anything under 40 is bad news, even low 40s. But from a ripening perspective, is there any benefit to leaving them on the plant at this temp? For what it’s worth daytime temps are low 60s high 50s. Thank you!!
by boimilk
8 Comments
Might as well let them ride until the plant is dead
Let them ride.. what’s the worst that can happen? Plant may die and you pick the fruit then.. they won’t freeze till the temps are much lower anyway..
I’m in the same boat, 9b Arizona. This unpredictable weather is stressing me out. I’m gonna try some plant covers for nights but we’ll be back up to high 60s in a few days for daytime. Fingers crossed. It’s my first time growing tomatoes and it’s the year we get early cold weather.
Im in Alabama. I picked about 90% of my remaining tomatoes when we were in the low forties for about a week. We had one night where it hit 30 unexpectedly before it watmed back up and I lost all my plants and the fruit that was on them was history. I boxed everything I picked, threw some brown bags on top and put a banana inside. I still have lots of tomatoes ripening. That was 4-ish weeks ago. The ripe tomatoes can sit out ripe for a considerable time as well. The box ripened tomatoes are yummy!!!
Let them ride, unless you like green tomatoes a lot. I pick my remaining green and ripening tomatoes just before first frost no problem
Bring some in and let them ripen with a banana or apple. They won’t ripen on the vine, it’s too cold now.
What variety is this? Looks productive
They will still ripen at those temperatures. They will not taste the same if picked when fully green. Let them go until it’s much colder. I picked the day before my first frost. If you start having daytime highs consistently below 55 you might consider bringing them inside, but it doesn’t sound like you’re there yet.