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When it is predicted that it will freeze and stay colder during the day, tomatoes can be harvested. To get the most tomatoes end-of-season tomatoes plants, you can cut back on watering, trim the plants and stems, and pick them often.
You can eat the green tomatoes that haven’t turned red yet, let the red tomatoes ripen off the plant, and save the tomato seeds. You can cover the tomato seedlings to stop the diseases from spreading.
How do you know when to harvest tomatoes?
Tomato vines die in the winter. Tomatoes can be picked when a strong cold is expected and the temperature during the day is always low. After planting, it could take 40 to 50 days for the tomatoes to be ready to eat. The number of days until a tomato is ripe depends on the type of tomato and the climate.
If you live in a cooler place, you might want to keep an eye out for the first snow. The National Weather Data Center is a great place to get information about freezes and frosts.
There are two big reasons why you might need to harvest tomatoes:
- when a very cold winter is coming. All of your vegetables can be picked before it gets too cold. If not, the tomatoes will mix together and lose their taste. Let the seeds grow from the inside out.
- when the high temperature during the day stays below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s because the peppers are no longer getting better. If you leave the plants outside, they will stop making flowers, lose their leaves, and eventually die.
You can keep your seedlings warm if it gets cold out of the blue and then pick them later. You should cover the plants with light comforters or sheets that you have to take off every day.
There are also row blankets that move. It allows water, light, and oxygen to get to the plants. It doesn’t need to be taken down until after the crop season.
Many experts say that you should take out all of your tomato plants at the end of the growing season, right before the first frost in your area.
How can I keep harvesting even after the growing season is over?
Several things can be done to make the crop last longer and help it reach maturity before the end of the growing season. Read on for more information!
Don’t water too much
You could water tomato vines less to make them feel stressed. It could tell tomato plants to make their crops ripen faster. When the tomato plants have grown as tall as they can or are about to, you can stop watering them.
They might take this as a sign to let the crops grow up faster. It also helps concentrate the taste of the fruit. But watch out for torrential rain. If there is a sudden rise in water after a period of drought, the tomatoes may split.
Trim Tomato Plants
At least a month before the first frost, cut back the new flowers, the older leaves, and the
stems from late in the season. Instead of making more fruit, it might help the plants bring the ones they already have to full maturity.
Even in the fall, tomatoes that don’t have a set number of stems keep growing and making new ones. But these new blooms won’t have enough time to start making tomatoes before winter.
In this situation, I should prune my tomato seedlings about a month before the first cold is expected. You can get rid of the late-season branches, the elder’s dying leaves, and the fresh flowers. Ignore the plants that are already there.
This makes plants put more energy and resources into growing the crops that were left over. They won’t be able to make any more flowers because they won’t have enough time to grow.
Move the plant’s roots
The side roots of a plant can be cut back, and the main root can be moved. The trees will grow up faster because of the tension. You can move the roots by gently pulling on the plant’s foot.
Even though it seems wrong, doing this shocks the tomato plants and tells them to stop making tomatoes. You can also cut the stems. By making it harder for plants to get water, it will hurt the plants. It will give them a reason to hurry up and get the crops ready.
Pick the ripe tomatoes
The tomatoes can be picked often and left on the plant to grow. You can change how things grow, which makes you less likely to get sick. When winter comes, you can bring the potted plants inside.
If you see tomato bushes with a lot of tomatoes and you know you’ll be sick in a few weeks, you could pick some fruits. They may have just started to feel better, but now they’re off the plant. It gives you more control over how quickly something ages.
So watch your tomato plants and keep picking the tomatoes often. Also, it could make it less likely for people to get sick or be attacked by bugs. Seven to fourteen days is how long the tomatoes can be kept.
If you grow the plant in a pot, you can take the whole thing with you. During the growing season, you can give scarlet tomatoes the right amount of sun and heat.
How to maximize tomato growth at the end of the growing season?
Let’s talk about how to maximize tomato growth at the end of the growing season.
Harvesting early
If you think it might rain, you could pick the tomatoes early and let them stay on the plant to grow. You can put them right on the window, or you can wrap them in the paper. Add an apple or banana to help it grow up.
The last tomatoes of the season are ready to be picked. They might grow inside if they were not on the plant.
Some people let their late-season tomatoes grow by putting them on paper at room temperature. I put the apples in a spot near the kitchen window where the sun would shine through the trees.
Some people store their vegetables in a turned-over paper bag. Some people go to the trouble of wrapping each tomato in a newspaper and waiting for it to grow.
I’ve also heard that putting an apple or banana in a paper bag can speed up the process. Even though I don’t know this for sure, it could be because they make ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process.
Utilize green tomatoes.
You can make sautéed tomatoes, stews, and sauces with green tomatoes that don’t ripen on the plant. Don’t throw them away because you can eat them.
Even if tomatoes don’t ripen and are still green, you can still use them. Don’t throw away green tomatoes because you can eat them. Pick them up before they start to go bad. It’s better to have these tomatoes than to have none at all. But they might not taste as good as ones that have been left on the plant to ripen.
In fact, some people just like the taste of tomatoes that aren’t fully ripe yet. You can use them to make many different kinds of food. One of my all-time favorite foods is fried green tomatoes. Try this recipe to make the best-cooked green tomatoes:
Keep tomato seeds safe
When the tomato seeds are ready, they can be saved. Wipe them down, and then put them in the fridge. They could be planted the next year. Save seeds from tomato plants that have done well in my yard, especially heritage varieties.
There are different ways to do this:
- Method 1: Choose the ones that look the best. Cut the tomato in half and scoop out the insides onto a plate.
Take the seeds out of the flesh and dry the flesh. You could also use a strainer to clean the flesh and save the seeds for next year.
- Method 2: Putting the puree in a glass container with water is another way to do it. Mix it all together and let it sit for five days.
Cover the container with a cloth or a paper towel to keep fruit bugs away. Throw away the moldy mush, and then use the strainer to collect the small seeds that fell.
After collecting the seeds, the next step is to dry them out. Spread them out on a piece of paper to get rid of the water. Put them in a container with a lid that will keep them safe. If they get too much sun, they might not grow.
Conclusion
Before we can cozy up by the fire this fall, we have to be ready for tomato season to end. Your yard will be ready for tomato season or for those vegetables that can grow in cold weather. While you wait, you can also enjoy your tomato plants’ harvest.
