Green tomatoes

Even with an extended fall harvest season like we had this year, you're inevitably going to end up with some unripe fruit on the vine. This can happen to a lot of crops, but tomatoes are the most common culprit. Fortunately, there are a few simple techniques to help ripen up fruits at the end of the season.

1. Root pruning: one key strategy to force plants to ripen fruit is by stressing it out. If a plant becomes stressed, it jumps into action, trying to mature any remaining fruits in the hope of creating viable seeds before its demise. Start by turning off the irrigation to your tomatoes (if that's possible) and then prune the roots of the plants, to give them an extra shock. The process is simple, just take a spade shovel and cut a line around the plant (or across the edge of a row) about 12" from the stem. This will sever a large portion of the root system, stressing out your plants and compelling them to put their remaining energy into fruit ripening.

2. Hard pruning: get your plants to put energy into fruit ripening by preventing them from trying to set new fruit. It's too late in the season to set and mature new fruit, but your tomatoes might not realize that. So cut off any new shoots from your plants, especially those that have new flower blossoms. You can also cut off most of the leaves from your plant to help get a bit more sun and air exposure to your existing fruits. This can help both prevent rot and speed up the ripening process.

3. Pick and wait: If rain is imminent or your plants are succumbing to pest or disease issues, consider harvesting all the unripe fruit now. Most of these fruit should still ripen off the plant. All you need to do is place them out on a counter or windowsill and wait. Make sure each fruit has space, no stacking. If your fruits are too close together or set in a pile, they're likely to rot. If you have space to lay them each out individually, you'll see them slowly ripen up over the next several weeks. Check them regularly and toss any that begin to mold or rot. The rest should ripen up and be almost as good as those finished on the vine.