Saving the Tomatoes

Draping the garden against the cold

First Published Jan 11, 2013

Update: This is still relevant today, as for many, many generations, gardeners have gathered green tomatoes and stashed them safely against the harsh elements of winter.

Thanks for reading. October 2025

In Phoenix, Arizona, the growing season is nearly year round; people plant tomatoes in September and October because we have such mild winters. Sometimes, though, even the valley of the sun experiences near freezing temperatures and we have to cover up the plants, from ornamentals to small shrubs to the vegetable garden out back.

Our back garden looks a bit like a refugee camp for wandering veggies. Drive through the neighborhood and you see old sheets and blankets draped over hedges. But if it saves the plants, then drape we shall.

Ripening tomatoes in a box

One problem I'm having though, because of this cold snap, is the green tomatoes won't ripen. It's simply too cold. So I'm going to try and ripen them off the vine (though tomato plants are not actually vines). According to B. Rosie Lerner, writing for Purdue Yard and Garden News, the optimum temperature range for tomatoes to ripen on the vine is 68 to 77 degrees, not usually a problem here in Phoenix in the usually warm and mild winter months.

This year, though, it's cold. So I've taken the large green tomatoes off the plants and I'm going to try and ripen them in the house.

There's no dearth of suggested methods for ripening tomatoes off the vine. I can place them in an open paper bag with a banana. The ethylene gas from the banana hastens ripening.

Ripening tomatoes in a bowl

I can put them in a crate cushioned on straw or crumbled newspaper, and set the crate in a warm, unlit place. Sunlight isn't an essential element, so say some, when ripening tomatoes in this fashion.

Others say to put the green tomatoes on a window sill, and let the sun do its job.

I don't have any bananas at the moment, nor do I have a crate. But I do have a light bulb box and a bowl. So I'll put a few tomatoes in the box and set then out of the light, and some in a bowl in indirect sunlight.

Then we'll see what happens next.

The strawberry plant is still alive

In the meantime, the Kratky in a Can experiment is doing well; the strawberry plant is still alive. I bring it in at night during this cold weather, and set it out again in the early morning.

But cold weather notwithstanding, it's time to get ready for spring. I'm going to start seeds for greens and tomatoes and summer squash, but that's all for another post.