What causes tomatoes not to ripen?

What causes tomatoes not to ripen?. why is my tomato still green ?If you camped next to your tomato plant waiting for that first ripe tomato and notice that it seems like weeks but still, you have no sign of red in sight, you're not alone.

Three factors cause tomatoes not to ripen. One is a disease and you'll know that by other changes that occur and the other two have to do with the weather.

The disease that keeps your tomato green is Graywall. It causes blotchy ripening on the tomato and usually occurs on those near the center of the plant and covered by dense foliage. After a bit, that green blotchy exterior begins to look gray. If you cut open the tomato, you'll find the interior has a green or brownish cast.

You'll often find Graywall occurring when the weather is cooler and damp. It tends to occur if you fertilize too much and you have too much nitrogen and too little potassium in your soil. Use mosaic resistant plants to reduce the likelihood of this disease.

The other two reasons have to do with the outside temperature. Tomatoes need it warm to ripen and yet, if it's too warm they don't make lycopene and carotene, the substances that give your tomatoes that ripe red color.

Your tomato plant is fussy. It needs the temperature to be between 50 and 85 degrees for it to produce these two organic compounds. The best temperature range for ripening is between 68 and 77 degrees. At that temperature, you'll have a large batch of the delicious red, yellow or orange globes ready for the table.

Tomatoes also need ethylene to start the ripening process. This gas is odorless, tasteless and invisible but vitally necessary to trigger the process of ripening. The tomato plant produces its own supply of ethylene; however on windy days, the wind whisks the gas away and it never triggers your tomato ripening process.

If you notice that the weather won't hold, find unripe tomatoes on the ground or you want to speed up the process, insist on a paper sack at the grocery store as preparation. Pick the tomatoes green and bring them into the house. Place them in the paper grocery sack and push out as much air as possible as you roll the top of the sack to until it reaches the tomatoes.

You need to remove any air space to increase the concentration of the ethylene gas given off by the tomato. The trapped gas speeds the process and you'll have ripe tomatoes in no time. This same trick works with other ethylene producers such as apples, avocados and bananas.

Ater knowing What causes tomatoes not to ripen,whatever you do, don't place your tomatoes in the refrigerator and expect them to ripen. They don't any more than a banana or avocado would. It slows the production of ethylene and by the time it ripens, if it does, it loses most of the nutritional value and taste. The reason you find fruits and vegetables in the refrigerated area of the store is to make their shelf life longer by slowing down the process.

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