Tomatoes are a staple for many gardeners, and it is almost time to harvest them. Many will have spent months carefully monitoring their progress and doing all they can to ensure the plants grow well.
Gardening expert Monty Don has urged gardeners to do a few simple tasks this month to ensure they are fully ripe and you get the best harvest possible. It is worth taking the extra time to follow Monty Don’s advice after waiting months for tomatoes to grow. He says the prime harvesting period can be extended and that any green tomatoes will fully ripen.
Writing on his blog, the expert said: “Tomatoes are coming up to their prime harvesting period, but to extend this and make sure that all the current green tomatoes fully ripen over the coming month or so, there are a few things the tomato grower should do now.”
He suggested cutting off the bottom leaves on each plant to encourage the tomato fruits to get more direct sunlight and air. Monty explained: “The first is to strip off the bottom half of the leaves on each plant.
“This will let in light and air so that the growing fruits get more sun, and also the extra ventilation will reduce the risk of disease. This process can be continued weekly until there are no leaves left at all.”
Monty also suggested cutting back on watering the tomato plants too much, unless it is very hot. This year has been a challenge due to the extremely hot weather, but if there are slightly cooler days, you can take advantage of that.
He shared: “Reduce the watering unless it is very hot to avoid the fruit splitting, but keep up a weekly feed of liquid seaweed or, if you can make it, home-made comfrey feed. Both are ideal for maximising flower and fruit production.”
According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), tomatoes will start to ripen from mid-summer onwards. The timing depends on the variety, weather conditions and the size of the fruit.
Cherry tomatoes ripen more quickly than larger fruits. The RHS said: “Check plants every few days and pick tomatoes individually, with the stalk still attached, as soon as they’re ripe and fully coloured.”
The RHS added: “At the end of the growing season, lift outdoor plants with unripe fruit and either lay them on straw under cloches to ripen or pick the fruits and place somewhere warm and dark to ripen. Alternatively, put unripe tomatoes in a drawer with a banana to aid ripening.”
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