Ending the summer season with a heap of unripe tomatoes can make all those months of watering and waiting feel pointless. That's why a gardening pro took to YouTube to explain a simple storage method that could turn those green tomatoes into ripe red fruit.
Here's what to know
According to a recent YouTube video shared by gardening creator Ben of Grow Veg (@GrowVeg), green tomatoes can be ripened indoors with just a cardboard box, newspaper, and a banana. The method relies on ethylene, a natural gas fruits release as they ripen.
Ben instructs viewers to place unripe tomatoes in a newspaper-lined enclosed box with a banana or apple. Then, keep your box stored somewhere warm.
After a couple of weeks, all of the tomatoes in the box should be ripe.
Because bananas and apples give off especially high amounts of ethylene, placing one in a partly closed box with tomatoes can help the fruit ripen more quickly by trapping more of that gas around it.
Choosing the right tomatoes matters, too. Fruits that are pale green, slightly soft, or starting to blush are much more likely to ripen well than ones that are dark green and hard as a rock.
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"Tomatoes do not need somewhere in direct sunshine to ripen. It's warmth that is doing the heavy lifting here," Ben also noted.
More background
Wasted produce also means wasted money, time, and effort.
Getting more usable food from plants that have already been grown can help stretch grocery budgets and provide better-tasting produce than many store-bought options.
Gardening can also support both mental and physical health. Tending plants gets people moving, encourages time outside, and can help reduce stress.
For households already growing their own food, learning how to save green tomatoes is one more way to make the habit pay off.
"All mine are green despite the blazing sunshine! Now I know what to do- thank you," one commenter wrote.
What can be done?
The method detailed above is one of your best bets for ripening tomatoes. If the harvest is large, Ben suggests stacking tomatoes with newspaper between the layers or placing them in egg cartons to keep them apart, which can help stop spoilage from spreading.
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