The ripening period of tomatoes. When to pick tomatoes in a greenhouse, is it necessary to pick green tomatoes? Prices for seeds of different varieties of tomatoes

In the Central region of Russia, it is difficult to do without such a procedure as ripening tomatoes.

Take our greenhouse, for example - small orange cherry tomatoes literally sprinkle the bushes and ripen on their own. They taste more like a juicy exotic fruit than a vegetable. By the way, what surprised me was that I thought it was a hybrid, before they self-seeded the next year from all the cracks... Large tomatoes like “Dubka” do not have time to ripen on their own. If you give them this opportunity, then much fewer fruits will form on the bushes.

Final ripening at home becomes even more important in bad, rainy summers. Here you risk not only reducing the number of ovaries, but also catching late blight and other diseases on fruits that take a long time to ripen.

There are 3 phases of tomato maturity based on their color:

1. green;
2. blanzhevye (begin to fill, the color changes to light green, greenish-yellow);
3. red, pink, brown, yellow (final version).

When to shoot?

Green tomatoes that have reached their final size can be sent for ripening. If you cut such a fruit in half, the formed seeds should be clearly visible.

All fruits with signs of damage from diseases or pests must be immediately removed and destroyed, otherwise you subsequently risk getting a fungal or viral epidemic in the greenhouse.

At the end of the season, all tomatoes should be removed from the bushes in any condition at the moment when the night temperature first drops below +5 C.

From my own experience, I will say that we try to remove the blanzhe fruits that begin to pour from at least 1 barrel. We remove very large fruits while they are still completely green, so that they “give the green light” to the smaller tomatoes remaining on the bushes.

To obtain maximum yield, it is important to regularly harvest tomatoes at intervals of 1 time every 3-5 days. Overripe fruits are not stored for a long time, and their taste becomes worse.

It is advisable to collect them in dry weather, in the morning, while the sun's activity is low. We pick the fruits by hand, although it is often written that it is best to cut them off along with the 1 cm stalk with sharp scissors.

Harvested tomatoes should be sorted according to their current degree of ripeness and placed in appropriate boxes. By the way, I noticed long ago that if you put a few ripe ones in a box with unripe ripening tomatoes, then the rest will begin to fill much faster. All thanks to ethylene (if you are interested, you can find more information on the Internet).

Throw away damaged and partially diseased tomatoes or use them for cooking by heat treatment.

How to ripen?

There are several options:

• In a ventilated, bright room with a constant temperature from +12 to +25 C and air humidity from 80 to 85%. Tomatoes should be laid out in wicker baskets, cardboard boxes or directly on shelves in 2-3 layers (total thickness up to 20 cm). It is advisable to top each layer with paper or sprinkle with sawdust. Once every 3-4 days, you should check and reject spoiled specimens.
• To speed up ripening, the temperature can be raised to +28 C, and boxes of tomatoes can be placed directly on a bright windowsill. Be sure to add a few fully red tomatoes to the container (you can use red apples or ripe bananas instead).

And don't forget that green tomatoes can also be used for canning. Once upon a time I published a corresponding recipe on the site.

Growing tomatoes in greenhouses has significant advantages over growing them in open ground. The greenhouse is most useful for gardeners in the northern regions of Russia, who do not have the opportunity to keep fruits until they are fully ripe on unprotected soil. The greenhouse allows vegetables to complete their development unhindered, despite unfavorable weather. Since each variety has its own ripening time, it is impossible to definitively answer the question of when to harvest tomatoes in a greenhouse. However, you can, based on external signs, determine the degree of readiness of the fruit with your own hands.

As already mentioned, there is no exact date that you should focus on when picking tomatoes. The following factors influence the ripening time of tomatoes:

• Location of the site. Since there are areas on the territory of Russia whose climatic characteristics differ significantly from each other, it makes no sense to give uniform recommendations. If a southerner can afford to harvest at the beginning of August, then a northerner by this month will collect completely green, unfit for consumption fruits;

If we talk about the exact ripening time, then for different varieties it can vary from 80 to 120 days. We will talk about some varieties of tomatoes and their characteristics in the next section.

Collection of different varieties of tomatoes

Despite the fact that it is not possible to cover all the variety of tomato varieties, we will consider the most popular options and the time it takes for them to ripen.

Table 1. Tomato varieties and timing of their ripening

Tomato harvesting has its own key features. If in open ground it is recommended to wait until the onset of frost in order to achieve the greatest ripeness of the fruit, then greenhouse conditions require different rules. In order for the tomato to subsequently last longer, it is necessary to remove it from the bush a little unripe so that it has time to ripen in the cellar or any other storage.

It is allowed to wait for tomatoes to fully ripen in three cases:

1. There are varieties that, due to their structure, do not facilitate easy extraction of unripe fruits. Pulling out green tomatoes with force will only harm the bush, so the best solution would be to wait until the day when the berries can be removed without unnecessary effort;
2. If in the future you need seeds of ripening fruits for seedlings, then you need to extract them only from fully ripened plants. From underdeveloped seeds, tomatoes will grow much worse, if they can take root in the soil at all;

By the way! For any upcoming transportation of fruits, transportation from the dacha, and so on, unripe fruits should be collected, since their peel is tougher and saves the fruit from most potential mechanical damage.

In order for tomatoes to ripen faster and not be damaged during further storage, it is necessary to take care of the proper condition of the soil from which the bushes grow. Below we tell you how to process purchased soil and create your own.

Prices for seeds of different varieties of tomatoes

tomato seeds

Features of tomato harvesting

Greenhouse heating plays a significant role in harvesting. If the gardener has the ability to control the temperature in a given room, then there are no obstacles to the year-round harvesting of ripening fruits.

If your greenhouse is not equipped with heating and depends on the weather outside, then you should focus on the following tips:

• Harvesting begins when the night temperature in the greenhouse approaches zero, and the daytime temperature does not rise above eight degrees;
• If you plan to sell tomatoes, you can pick them green on the branch so that they ripen at the same time as each other and are better stored;

Video - Details of tomato harvesting in a greenhouse

Degrees of ripening of tomatoes

Each tomato goes through several stages during its development period, which will tell the gardener the condition of the fruit better than any approximate dates. Tomatoes are distinguished by the fact that they can be used for cooking in almost any condition, but each such condition requires its own approach.

Unripe tomato gaining weight

Unripe tomatoes are easily recognized - their dimensions are significantly smaller than the standard for a particular variety. The color of such fruits is usually dark green, they are elastic and hard to the touch. It is recommended to leave unripe tomatoes on the bush until their skin begins to gradually lighten. The use of such tomatoes is simply unprofitable, due to the fact that they have not yet reached their full size.

Tomato that has reached milky ripeness

The appearance of the milky-ripe fruit does not inspire doubt - the whitish tint of the skin indicates that the berry is clearly not ready for use. However, if you cut the fruit, you will see a pink center, which is an indicator of the onset of milk ripeness. This stage is ideal for moving the fruits to the cellar for ripening. As a rule, tomatoes of this condition require about two and a half weeks to ripen.

Tomato that has reached blanzhesky ripeness

The condition of blanzhe ripeness involves coloring the tomato in a rich orange-brown hue. This tomato is hard to the touch, elastic and has almost reached the optimal dimensions for its variety. Fruits that have reached blanzhesky ripeness should be moved to the cellar. However, unlike milky ripeness, blanzhevoy requires less time for ripening. One week is enough for the fetus to reach maturity.

Ripe tomato

The final color of tomatoes depends on their type. In addition to red, there are pink, yellow and even purple varieties. A universal sign is the characteristic shine of the fruit skin. The life of ripe tomatoes is short. They are used for cooking raw or canned as quickly as possible to avoid massive rotting of the berries.

Ripening tomatoes

Ripening is an integral part of storing tomatoes for many gardeners, as it allows them to extend their shelf life to two and a half months. For comfortable ripening, tomatoes will need the following conditions:

1. The most important nuance in extending the ripening period is adjusting the temperature in storage. It should not rise above ten to twelve degrees for green-ripe specimens. Ripe tomatoes will need zero temperatures to maintain their quality. It should be remembered that some tomatoes can be susceptible to rotting even at low temperatures;

Important! Before ripening, it is necessary to carefully examine and sort all the tomatoes. Only those fruits that have no signs of mechanical damage, diseases or cracks are allowed for both short-term and long-term storage. During storage, the stalk should be separated only if it comes off easily.

Late blight

Unfortunately, when growing tomatoes, gardeners often encounter such an unpleasant phenomenon as late blight. It also happens that the disease manifests itself only during storage. Late blight refers to fungal spores that annually infect many bushes with fruits. First, the fungus invades the leaves, which gradually dry out and turn brown. If these primary symptoms are ignored, the disease spreads to the berries, rendering them unusable.

Treatment and prevention

Despite the fact that this disease cannot be treated, it can be contained using the following measures:

1. Garlic spray. Mushrooms quickly die under the influence of garlic, so this method works flawlessly. In order to make such a composition, you need to mix one and a half glasses of crushed heads of garlic, a couple of grams of potassium permanganate and ten liters of water. The resulting composition is first distributed before the formation of the ovary, the second - ten days later. Further preventive spraying is carried out every two weeks;

Depending on the season of planting tomatoes, they are harvested 1-2 times a week or every day. As a rule, regular harvesting is done in the summer, when tomatoes are actively ripening. In summer, you need to carefully ensure that the greenhouse is ventilated if the air temperature reaches high levels.

Harvesting tomatoes in a greenhouse must be done before the thermometer shows a reading below zero, otherwise the fruits may freeze. An exception may be crops planted in heated greenhouses. This way you can grow and harvest tomatoes, regardless of seasonality and weather conditions.

First of all, when trying to grow a tomato crop in a greenhouse, remember that it is necessary to maintain all the conditions for the high-quality development of the plant in order to receive maximum benefit in the future.

Here are some main conditions:

• Temperature. Make sure that the readings are not above 30 degrees, otherwise the bushes will dry out. It is optimal to keep the temperature within 20-25 degrees during the daytime. At night, on the contrary, the air cools and the soil can freeze, so it is necessary to control sudden temperature changes in the greenhouse;
• Humidity. Avoid humid air, as tomatoes will not be able to self-pollinate if the level is above 65%. Dry, warm air is ideal for growing plants and pollen;
• Lighting. Seedlings cannot be kept in the dark; tomatoes love light and sun, so do not set up a greenhouse in a place surrounded by trees and bushes. The plants should be well lit, then they will ripen quickly, and the number of fruits collected will please you;
• Watering and fertilizing. Timely watering and the use of fertilizers will help the seedlings maintain their quality and bear fruit abundantly. After watering, be sure to ventilate the greenhouse and loosen the soil. A mineral solution added as a top dressing will improve the quality of tomatoes;
• Ventilation. Be sure to ventilate the greenhouse. Moreover, this must be done in any weather, at least for a few minutes. Lack of timely ventilation will lead to the accumulation of moisture, and, as you know, greenhouse tomatoes do not like this. In unfavorable conditions, the fruits will fall off, but even worse if the flowers fall off and there will be no harvest at all.

Since the plants are self-pollinating, you need to help them. Shake flower stems periodically so that pollen can move from one plant to another.

It is easy to determine the condition of the seedlings by the appearance of the flowers. If the flowers are bright and yellow, large in size and firmly attached to the stem, then everything is fine with the plant and you can expect a bountiful tomato harvest.

If at the time of picking you notice that some of the fruits are cracked, this may indicate errors in care. Cracks indicate untimely and irregular watering. Uneven and spoiled fruits indicate a lack of ventilation and excessive moisture in the air. Most often, tomatoes suffer from late blight, which occurs due to moisture entering the plant.

Top dressing

The mineral solution is alternated with organic solution for better seedling growth and a bountiful tomato harvest. In a greenhouse, these products should be used with caution so as not to provoke the active growth of green shoots.

If they grow too big, you need to cut them off. This will free up the plant and allow sunlight to penetrate freely. Additionally, removing shoots and leaves will reduce moisture buildup in the greenhouse.

Greenhouse tomatoes need to be fed three times a month. The very first solution is prepared on the tenth day of planting tomatoes in the soil. To prevent tomatoes from looking faded, supply the soil with manure and wood ash in combination with superphosphate. One bush requires half a liter of solution, which requires about 30 g of ash, 20 g of superphosphate and a bucket of manure diluted with 5 buckets.

You should feed organic matter only from the beginning of fruiting. Seeds and shoots should not be fertilized using this method. Mineral supplements also need to be withheld until the tomatoes appear on the bush.

Cleaning

Harvesting begins with determining the degree of ripeness of the tomatoes. Tomatoes have 4 stages:

• Green fruits;
• Pale brown;
• Pink or brown with green;
• Reds.

You can pick tomatoes at any stage of ripeness; you need to decide this issue yourself. If you cut brown tomatoes, the unripe fruits remaining on the bush will turn red faster. Tomatoes in a greenhouse can be harvested daily or as they ripen.

Harvesting tomatoes grown for sale is different from harvesting them for personal consumption. In order for collection and storage to be at a high level, it is necessary to cut off not individual tomatoes, but entire branches with tomatoes. When stored in branches, the redness is more even; if you are harvesting for yourself, it is better to pick off the tomatoes gradually at different stages of ripening.

The most favorable weather for harvesting is dry and warm. In a greenhouse, a similar atmosphere can be created artificially, but if it is not possible to maintain the temperature at the proper level all year round, the tomato harvest should be completed before the first frost.

If there is little time left for picking, and the fruits are not yet ripe, you can use one trick. When completing the harvest of tomatoes, the plants must be slightly pulled out. Undermining the roots helps to quickly saturate the tomato fruits with useful substances; they ripen more actively. Experts also advise tearing off the leaves near the inflorescences. All these manipulations will allow you to harvest the crop in the shortest possible time.

When purchasing seeds, immediately pay attention to the variety of tomatoes. The fact is that when harvesting, some varieties can lead to confusion, since they do not turn red at all. They can take on brown, earthy green and yellowish hues. If you initially understand which seeds will give a similar result, there will be no problem.

Harvesting green tomatoes in a greenhouse is preferable if you plan to leave them to ripen in the dark. This method is suitable if you do not expect to get ripe tomatoes instantly. In this form they turn red slowly, but evenly.

Storage

Storage of harvested tomatoes differs depending on their degree of ripeness.

Fully ripened tomatoes are the most difficult to preserve, but they are usually picked for immediate consumption. In addition, they can be canned, made into vegetable preparations, and turned into sauces. It is impossible to store them for more than a week, so if you do not intend to use them in a short time, try to harvest while the tomatoes are at the stage of milky ripeness. They can be stored in a cool, dark place for gradual ripening.

To speed up the reddening process of tomatoes, keep them in a warmer place. For slow ripening, on the contrary, try to keep it cool. Due to temperature fluctuations or disease, tomatoes ripen poorly or completely deteriorate. If they are frozen before they are picked, they are unlikely to turn red.

Tomatoes are grown in greenhouses to get an early harvest and protect the heat-loving crop from weather disasters. The ripening period is extended over time and it is not always possible to correctly navigate the timing of harvesting. Knowing certain rules for harvesting and storing will help you get the maximum amount of harvest and preserve it for a long time.

What determines the timing of cleaning?

The timing of harvesting tomatoes depends on the purpose of collection: consumption, processing immediately after harvesting or later, storage, forced collection due to unforeseen circumstances. In addition to goals, other important reasons also influence deadlines.

Factors influencing the timing of cleaning:

• weather conditions - in damp and cool weather, tomatoes are harvested earlier to prevent infections, leaving only small fruits on the bushes;
• varietal affiliation - early, mid-ripening, late-ripening variety;
• growing conditions - in greenhouses with different coverings, the conditions vary slightly, but vary;
• use of fertilizers, soil composition, care.

Reference!

Early and early ripening varieties begin to ripen in mid-July, mid-ripening ones - at the end of July, late ripening ones - in August.

Stages of maturation

The purpose of the harvest determines at what degree of maturity the fruits should be harvested; for example, tomatoes ripened on the bushes can be used for food, and ripened ones are suitable for harvesting and consumption in late autumn.

When and how to collect

Tomatoes that have not gained weight and size cannot be harvested - they simply will not ripen, even if they lie for a long time.

At the stage of milky ripeness, large fruits are harvested, regardless of the weather. It is still too early to use them, but under appropriate conditions they will ripen well, and the remaining small tomatoes will gain weight faster and more new ovaries will form. Sometimes “milk” tomatoes are forced to be harvested in order to preserve the harvest when infected with late blight or during long, lingering rains and low temperatures. If this is not done, you can destroy the entire crop.

At the stage of blanzhe ripeness, it is recommended to harvest all tomatoes, unless it is necessary to leave them until fully ripe for consumption and for preparations immediately after harvesting. You can collect fruits that have turned brown on at least one side.

Fully ripened tomatoes cannot be stored for long periods of time; they are consumed within a few days or used for harvesting.

Reference!

Tomatoes for seeds must ripen right on the bush - they are removed when they become juicy and soft.

Collection rules:

• cleaning is carried out in dry, preferably warm, weather early in the morning, while the sun is less active;
• It is recommended to leave the stalk - this way the tomatoes are stored better;
• collection is carried out every 3-5 days;
• with mass ripening, the interval decreases to 2-3 days;
• in late summer or early autumn, if the temperature is above +8°C, you can allow the set fruits to ripen on the bush;
• the entire crop is harvested at temperatures below +7°..+8°C.

Ripening green fruits (ripening tomatoes)

When choosing a place for ripening, you need to take into account that at temperatures below 5°-6°C, the taste of tomatoes deteriorates and they lose most of their beneficial properties, so cold rooms are not suitable. Green tomatoes need to be brought to full ripeness in a warm room (15°-20°C) - at high temperatures the coloring pigment is not released and the fruits do not ripen.

How to ripen tomatoes:

• choose a dry, dark, well-ventilated room (15°-20°C);
• arrange the tomatoes in layers (1-3) in containers with ventilation holes, cover with paper or sprinkle with sawdust;
• put 1-2 ripe fruits in each container - the ethylene gas they release accelerates ripening;
• The ripening period can be delayed - ripening tomatoes should be removed periodically.

Storing tomatoes

Tomatoes of varying degrees of ripeness are stored for storage - this makes it possible to ripen gradually and consume tomatoes for a long time.

The collected fruits need to be sorted by size and degree of ripening, placing uneven fruits with minor damage separately - they can be used to prepare juice and paste. Large tomatoes ripen faster, so there is no need to put them together with small ones.

After sorting, they are laid out in layers (1-3) into containers, covered with newspapers, sawdust, straw and put into a dry room with an appropriate temperature and humidity of 80-85%. High humidity leads to damage to the crop, while low humidity leads to loss of taste and technical qualities.

Important!

The storage temperature for ripe tomatoes is 1°-2°C, for blazing tomatoes - 4°-6°C, for green tomatoes 10°-12°C.

The boxes need to be periodically checked and re-sorted, removing the ripened ones and moving the ripening tomatoes to the brown ones.

Ripe tomatoes are stored in a cool room in a box or drawer, but not in a bag, where they quickly deteriorate.

Other storage methods:

• in the fall, dig up a tomato bush with fruits and leaves along with a lump of earth and hang it with the roots up (put a plastic bag on them) in the basement (10°-12°C);
• Wrap the milk-ripe fruits in cloth (paper), put them in boxes with straw, stalk up, and put them in the cellar (12°-15°C).

Collection and storage are one of the components of growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. If they are properly organized, the harvest will please you with both quantity and quality, and the efforts made will not be wasted.

Growing tomatoes in greenhouses has significant advantages over growing them in open ground. The greenhouse is most useful for gardeners in the northern regions of Russia, who do not have the opportunity to keep fruits until they are fully ripe on unprotected soil. The greenhouse allows vegetables to complete their development unhindered, despite unfavorable weather. Since each variety has its own ripening time, it is impossible to definitively answer the question of when to harvest tomatoes in a greenhouse. However, you can, based on external signs, determine the degree of readiness of the fruit with your own hands.

Ripening time

As already mentioned, there is no exact date that you should focus on when picking tomatoes. The following factors influence the ripening time of tomatoes:

Location of the site. Since there are areas on the territory of Russia whose climatic characteristics differ significantly from each other, it makes no sense to give uniform recommendations. If a southerner can afford to harvest at the beginning of August, then a northerner by this month will collect completely green, unfit for consumption fruits;

Greenhouses allow gardeners in the northern regions to wait for the final ripening of the fruit

If we talk about the exact ripening time, then for different varieties it can vary from 80 to 120 days. We will talk about some varieties of tomatoes and their characteristics in the next section.

Collection of different varieties of tomatoes

Despite the fact that it is not possible to cover all the variety of tomato varieties, we will consider the most popular options and the time it takes for them to ripen.

Table 1. Tomato varieties and timing of their ripening

Variety Ripening Description

A mid-season variety that ripens three and a half months after planting. Depending on growing conditions, it reaches one and a half meters in height in open soil and about two meters in greenhouse conditions. On average, the fruits of this variety weigh 400 grams at ripening. During growth, it is advisable to tie several stems to a support to secure the plant

An early ripening variety that requires less than three months to finally ripen. The fruits have strong immunity and are not prone to disease. The weight of a ripe tomato of this variety is half a kilogram. The leader of the redskins is not susceptible to cracking due to temperature changes and tolerates transportation well. Has a sweet and rich taste

A mid-early variety, the end of the growing season occurs three and a half months after sowing. The plant bushes reach 120 centimeters in height and are perfect for growing in open ground, but they also grow well in a greenhouse. The variety produces excellent yields, and the average weight of one fruit is eight hundred grams. However, to achieve tomatoes of this size, it is necessary to monitor the amount of ovary

Beef Pink Brandy

A late-ripening variety that requires at least four months of careful care from the gardener. The reward for your efforts will be the weight of the fruit, reaching one kilogram. Under good conditions, bushes of this variety grow up to two meters in length. Despite their size, these tomatoes tolerate transportation well and can be stored for a long time. They are well suited for salads and have a very unusual taste, reflected in the name. Mid-early variety, ripening within more than three months. They are distinguished by their resistance to low temperatures, which is why they are often grown in open ground. The average weight of a ripe fruit is close to one kilogram. Tomatoes of this variety are valued for their sweet taste and are actively used for making juice. Consumed both raw and dried

A mid-early variety that ripens within one hundred and ten days from the moment of the first shoots. Adult bushes, with proper care, grow up to one and a half meters in length. The main feature of the variety is its thin stems, which are recommended to be fixed to avoid damage under the weight of the fruit. The dense peel allows you to move tomatoes without harming them. This variety is intended for greenhouse cultivation, but can also take root in open ground.

When to harvest tomatoes in a greenhouse?

Tomato harvesting has its own key features. If in open ground it is recommended to wait until the onset of frost in order to achieve the greatest ripeness of the fruit, then greenhouse conditions require different rules. In order for the tomato to subsequently last longer, it is necessary to remove it from the bush a little unripe so that it has time to ripen in the cellar or any other storage.

It is allowed to wait for tomatoes to fully ripen in three cases:

1. There are varieties that, due to their structure, do not facilitate easy extraction of unripe fruits. Pulling out green tomatoes with force will only harm the bush, so the best solution would be to wait until the day when the berries can be removed without unnecessary effort;
2. If in the future you need seeds of ripening fruits for seedlings, then you need to extract them only from fully ripened plants. From underdeveloped seeds, tomatoes will grow much worse, if they can take root in the soil at all;

Seeds of only ripe fruits are suitable for further seedlings.

By the way! For any upcoming transportation of fruits, transportation from the dacha, and so on, unripe fruits should be collected, since their peel is tougher and saves the fruit from most potential mechanical damage.

In order for tomatoes to ripen faster and not be damaged during further storage, it is necessary to take care of the proper condition of the soil from which the bushes grow. Below we tell you how to process purchased soil and create your own.

Features of tomato harvesting

Greenhouse heating plays a significant role in harvesting. If the gardener has the ability to control the temperature in a given room, then there are no obstacles to the year-round harvesting of ripening fruits.

The presence of a built-in heating system allows the gardener not to depend on the weather when harvesting

If your greenhouse is not equipped with heating and depends on the weather outside, then you should focus on the following tips:

• Harvesting begins when the night temperature in the greenhouse approaches zero, and the daytime temperature does not rise above eight degrees;
• If you plan to sell tomatoes, you can pick them green on the branch so that they ripen at the same time as each other and are better stored;

Video - Details of tomato harvesting in a greenhouse

Degrees of ripening of tomatoes

Each tomato goes through several stages during its development period, which will tell the gardener the condition of the fruit better than any approximate dates. Tomatoes are distinguished by the fact that they can be used for cooking in almost any condition, but each such condition requires its own approach.

Unripe tomato gaining weight

Unripe tomatoes are easily recognized - their dimensions are significantly smaller than the standard for a particular variety. The color of such fruits is usually dark green, they are elastic and hard to the touch. It is recommended to leave unripe tomatoes on the bush until their skin begins to gradually lighten. The use of such tomatoes is simply unprofitable, due to the fact that they have not yet reached their full size.

Tomato that has reached milky ripeness

The appearance of the milky-ripe fruit does not inspire doubt - the whitish tint of the skin indicates that the berry is clearly not ready for use. However, if you cut the fruit, you will see a pink center, which is an indicator of the onset of milk ripeness. This stage is ideal for moving the fruits to the cellar for ripening. As a rule, tomatoes of this condition require about two and a half weeks to ripen.

Due to the recognizable milky hue of the peel, this stage got its name

Tomato that has reached blanzhesky ripeness

The condition of blanzhe ripeness involves coloring the tomato in a rich orange-brown hue. This tomato is hard to the touch, elastic and has almost reached the optimal dimensions for its variety. Fruits that have reached blanzhesky ripeness should be moved to the cellar. However, unlike milky ripeness, blanzhevoy requires less time for ripening. One week is enough for the fetus to reach maturity.

Ripe tomato

The final color of tomatoes depends on their type. In addition to red, there are pink, yellow and even purple varieties. A universal sign is the characteristic shine of the fruit skin. The life of ripe tomatoes is short. They are used for cooking raw or canned as quickly as possible to avoid massive rotting of the berries.

Ripening tomatoes

Ripening is an integral part of storing tomatoes for many gardeners, as it allows them to extend their shelf life to two and a half months. For comfortable ripening, tomatoes will need the following conditions:

The most important nuance in extending the ripening period is adjusting the temperature in storage. It should not rise above ten to twelve degrees for green-ripe specimens. Ripe tomatoes will need zero temperatures to maintain their quality. It should be remembered that some tomatoes can be susceptible to rotting even at low temperatures;

The greater the distance between the fruits, the better they are ventilated.

Sorting is carried out not only based on damage, but also by variety

Important! Before ripening, it is necessary to carefully examine and sort all the tomatoes. Only those fruits that have no signs of mechanical damage, diseases or cracks are allowed for both short-term and long-term storage. During storage, the stalk should be separated only if it comes off easily.

Late blight

Unfortunately, when growing tomatoes, gardeners often encounter such an unpleasant phenomenon as late blight. It also happens that the disease manifests itself only during storage. Late blight refers to fungal spores that annually infect many bushes with fruits. First, the fungus invades the leaves, which gradually dry out and turn brown. If these primary symptoms are ignored, the disease spreads to the berries, rendering them unusable.

Treatment and prevention

Despite the fact that this disease cannot be treated, it can be contained using the following measures:

Garlic spray. Mushrooms quickly die under the influence of garlic, so this method works flawlessly. In order to make such a composition, you need to mix one and a half glasses of crushed heads of garlic, a couple of grams of potassium permanganate and ten liters of water. The resulting composition is first distributed before the formation of the ovary, the second - ten days later. Further preventive spraying is carried out every two weeks;

The saline solution protects the bush not only from fungus, but also from other infections

Fermented kefir enhances its effect compared to fresh

In addition to the generally required conditions that prolong the life of fruits, there are a number of tricks, the use of which simplifies the storage of tomatoes:

To protect against rotting processes, it is advisable to cover the tomatoes with Vaseline or paraffin. These substances gently envelop the surface of the tomato and prevent the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria inside it, serving as reliable protection;

A controversial point during storage is the removal of the stalks. Some gardeners unanimously say that removal is necessary, otherwise the stalk will take some of the juices for itself, worsening the condition of the berry. At the same time, by removing the stalk, we make the berry more vulnerable to various infections. It is impossible to give unambiguous advice in this situation, because each gardener is guided by his own individual experience.

Before deciding how to speed up the ripening of tomatoes in a greenhouse, you need to make sure that there are a lot of green fruits on the bushes. Indeed, in different areas, the ripening time may vary, taking into account the air temperature and conditions. Tomato varieties also play a role.

How to speed up the ripening of tomatoes in a greenhouse?

A very important condition that affects the acceleration of the ripening of tomatoes in a greenhouse is. If plants do not have enough sun, this immediately affects their ripening. Therefore, the bunches should be exposed to the rays as much as possible; for this they are tied to poles. And the leaves that are located below are cut off, 2-3 per day.

Other methods:

1. Remove pink or brown fruits so that they reach the house.
2. Do not add fertilizer.
3. Clean the leaves from rot with a saline solution: 1 cup of salt per 10 ml of water.
4. Introduce 0.5 ml of ethyl alcohol into the fruits through punctures; this does not change their taste or composition of vitamins, but returns the red color.
5. Prick the fruit halfway through with a toothpick.
6. Place a red one among the green tomatoes; it is placed in a bag, which is put on a bunch of unripe ones.

Choosing how to speed up the ripening of green tomatoes in a greenhouse requires taking into account several factors. Tomatoes ripen at different rates, depending on the climate and daylight hours. After all, the fruit turns red thanks to a chemical called lycopene. And it is produced at the right temperature. It will not be produced if the summer is hot and the greenhouses are poorly ventilated. And when the nights become cooler, the production of the substance is activated. The ripening period for large-fruited tomatoes is 34 days after flowering.

Caring for tomatoes during fruit ripening

To ripen a tomato in a greenhouse, it is necessary to remove irregularly shaped fruits from the bushes, and direct those that grow low towards the sun, picking off the withered leaves. Pinching and pinching have a very good effect on the growth of tomatoes. Plants often branch, intertwine, and many shoots arise, where the bush’s strength goes.

Caring for tomatoes also includes the following methods to help ripen:

1. Ventilation of the greenhouse.
2. Cover the body with lime or lay down a white cloth.
3. Make clamps on the stems, first cutting them 10 cm from the ground.
4. Place plastic bags cut at the bottom on immature brushes; the temperature in the cap will be higher.
5. Once a week, smoke the greenhouses with a tobacco smoke bomb. They help fight pests and also release carbon dioxide after combustion, which promotes photosynthesis.

Feeding tomatoes in a greenhouse during ripening

Greenhouse tomatoes are acutely lacking nutrients; they often need good feeding to ripen. And not only during the formation of the ovary, but during fruiting. Fertilizer for ripening tomatoes can be used at your discretion: iodine, ash, nitrophoska or superphosphate with sodium humate.

Preparation of solutions:

1. On the ashes. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of ash in 5 liters of boiling water, cool, dilute to 10 liters. Pour in a bottle of iodine and 10 g of boric acid, leave for a day. Dilute again 1 to 10, water at a rate of one liter per bush.
2. By leaps and bounds. Dilute 100 g of yeast, 5 tbsp in 10 liters of water. spoons of sugar, 1 cup of wood ash, 0.5 liters of fermented chicken manure. Leave in a warm place for a day. Dilute again 1 to 10, water 1 liter per bush. Carry out the procedure no more than once a month.

Watering tomatoes during fruit ripening is also very important. At the same time, you need to monitor the humidity in the greenhouse; if there is too much of it, the plant gets sick, and the yield drops significantly. After each watering, the room must be ventilated. And water only with settled water and strictly at the root. The tomato variety also plays an important role.

In order for tomatoes to ripen quickly, watering must be correct:

1. Low growing varieties. When they ripen, they are given watering less often, and a month before harvesting they stop.
2. Tall varieties. When ripe, they need to be watered once every 4 days; each bush requires up to 10 liters of water.

A product for accelerating the ripening of tomatoes in a greenhouse

Various preparations have been developed to accelerate the ripening of tomatoes. It is best to make special mixtures. The principle of operation is the same: they burn the foliage, and the roots devote their energy to feeding the fruits, not the leaves. You need to spray the bushes generously until the liquid begins to drain from the leaves. After 3 days, the leaves will fall off, and within a week the tomatoes will turn red.

The most popular solutions:

1. Dilute 2 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate or nitrophoska with 1 teaspoon of sodium humate in 10 ml of water. The calculation is 5 liters per square.
2. Dissolve 2 matchboxes of urea in 5 liters of water.
3. Dilute 35 drops of iodine in 10 liters of water.
4. Pour 2 tbsp into a bucket of warm water. spoons of superphosphate, leave for 2 days.

In our country, tomatoes have long competed with native Russian vegetable crops. Polycarbonate-based greenhouses are most often used for growing tomatoes. This covering material has excellent technical characteristics and is well suited for cultivating heat-loving plants.

Tomatoes are grown in greenhouses in our country, not only in the Moscow region, but everywhere. It is possible to pick ripe and juicy fruits in a greenhouse even in cold and rainy summer conditions. The timing of tomato harvest ripening in a greenhouse varies greatly and depends on properly organized growing technology.

Of course, sometimes you need to harvest tomatoes for ripening; notomata produce a full-fledged harvest of fully ripened tomatoes directly in the greenhouse.

Signs of maturity

Any vegetable grower knows that tomatoes need to be collected or picked at the stage of incomplete ripeness. A properly harvested crop in a greenhouse guarantees the production of high-quality tomatoes, which can be used not only for ripening, but also for full processing. Tomatoes must be harvested while respecting the ripening time, and the first tomatoes in the greenhouse are picked at the stage of full ripeness.

The main signs of ripeness that allow for timely harvesting depend on the variety of tomato and the method of growing it. The timing of determining when it is possible to harvest fully ripe tomatoes in a greenhouse varies greatly. The climatic conditions of Russia require the planting of early ripening varieties, which can be harvested as early as possible.

How to speed up the ripening of tomatoes (video)

Ways to accelerate maturation

Currently, there are several ways to influence the ripening of tomatoes when grown in a greenhouse. As a rule, it is especially easy to speed up the process of fruit ripening in a polycarbonate greenhouse, which is due to the characteristics of this modern and high-quality plastic. Carrying out affordable and uncomplicated measures helps to speed up the filling of fruits, when they can be picked when they are already fully ripe in natural conditions.

The main measures that speed up the harvest of tomatoes in a greenhouse based on a polycarbonate coating are as follows:

• spraying with iodine solution when the fruits reach the stage of milky ripeness. This treatment is combined with a short-term cessation of watering and fertilizing of plants grown under a polycarbonate covering;
• turning the branches of the plant with clusters of formed tomatoes towards maximum illumination. This manipulation is especially effective when daylight hours are longest;
• Fruit harvesting can be done earlier by removing the largest fruits from the plants, which are sent for ripening. Such fruits must be picked correctly, along with the stalk. Harvesting the largest fruits has a beneficial effect on the ripening of subsequent tomatoes;

• A very effective method that accelerates the ripening of fruits is pinching the apical part of a tomato bush grown under a polycarbonate covering. This procedure can be carried out on cloudy days to reduce damage to the plants. Correctly performed pinching can speed up the harvest of ripe fruits by several days;
• When removing excess green mass from a tomato, it is necessary to leave two or three leaves above the already formed cluster of fruit, which will increase the yield and speed up ripening. All lower leaves, as well as leaves shading bushes growing under a polycarbonate covering, must be removed;
• if there are many fruit clusters growing on one tomato bush, then some of them will have to be broken out, which somewhat reduces the yield, but harvesting ripe fruits will happen much faster. On a properly formed plant, no more than five fruit clusters grow, which will ensure a harvest of fully ripened fruits.

In addition, depending on how many times a week watering is done and how much fertilizing is done during the entire growing season, the ripening time can be either lengthened or shortened. If the humidity in the greenhouse is too high, the ripening of tomatoes can be affected by limiting the flow of water from the root system into the green mass.

Fruit harvesting can be brought closer by performing such a simple manipulation as partially pulling the stem at a distance of five centimeters from the ground surface. Some vegetable growers reap a good harvest by splitting the stem. How long the growing season of plants in a greenhouse and open ground will take depends on the variety and method of cultivation.

Ripening time

Of course, in closed ground, plants form fruits faster, and their ripening period is much shorter than when growing tomatoes outdoors. How long it takes from germination to fruiting depends on the variety or hybrid. Growing hybrid plants is considered the most profitable from an economic point of view in conditions of short and cool summers.

Hybrid seeds are designated by the manufacturer on the packaging as F1. Experienced vegetable growers already have their own preferences in varieties and hybrids. It is not easy for summer residents who are beginning to grow tomatoes to understand the huge assortment of seeds, and in the pursuit of a large harvest, mistakes are sometimes made that affect the number of formed and ripened fruits.

There are several unpretentious varieties and hybrids that novice vegetable growers are especially successful in growing. Such tomatoes are not only advantageous for their early ripening, but also form a friendly and large harvest of high-quality marketable fruits. These varieties and hybrids include tomato seeds “Typhoon”, “Semko”, “Verilioka” and “Druzhok”. To obtain a very early harvest and minimize the time spent on ripening, it is recommended to plant varieties "Hurricane", "Samara", "Yantarny" and "Junior".

It is very important to remember that the earliest ripening is typical for varieties belonging to the determinate type. However, the indeterminate type of tomatoes produces a more abundant harvest. If it is necessary to grow an unpretentious, abundantly fruiting and early-ripening plant, preference should be given to modern zoned hybrids. Knowing how long the growing season takes, it is quite easy to determine the timing of planting such tomatoes.

Harvest time

It is possible to increase the quantity and significantly improve the quality of fruits only with strict adherence to harvesting rules. The regularity of collection is of no small importance. Harvesting can be carried out at the stage of partial ripening or full ripening of tomatoes. In the first case, it may be necessary to ripen the fruits, but already at the stage of milky ripeness, tomatoes are edible and can be used for preparing soup dressing, salads and canning.

In closed ground, harvesting takes longer. When growing plants outdoors, the last fruits should be harvested before the end of August, and in cold and rainy summers, the harvest time is reduced to the second ten days of August.

Tomatoes in a greenhouse: general principles of growing (video)

There are a limited number of mature tomato varieties. Most tomatoes picked at full ripeness can be stored for a very short period of time. For longer storage, tomatoes should be collected with the stalk and in the milky ripeness phase.