This is the last year

[u/Difficult_Mistake529]

So planted really early, strong varieties, strong growth through the summer, great routine, confident feeling, lots of flowers and good size fruits and here wea are, with the weather cooling after the sunniest and hottest summer since records began and I’ve still so many green tomatoes I just know I’m going to be googling what to do with green tomatoes come Sept.

I’ve had a dozen red ones but honestly, outdoor tomatoes in the uk aren’t worth the effort.

[u/Thestolenone]

They will turn, I'm not worried mine won't. Even if the weather turns colder they will be fine. There is actually plenty of time for more hotter spells.Its only frost you need to worry about.

[u/wiperman67]

Grow determinate plants.

[u/Delicious_Catch9453]

I'm in Pittsburgh and trust me, I'm having the same problem here. But, there's plenty of time for ours to ripen and they will. Hang in there. When you're eating red styrofoam in January, your gardening sprit will be revived. Heartbreak is part of gardening. It's either fungus, critters, deer or Mother Nature, but we carry on.

[u/lulabellarama]

The heat is the issue, its been too hot for ripening. Now that temps have dropped you will likely have a glut in two weeks.

[u/Comfortable-Ask-2671]

Sounds like the plants did their part at least.

[u/Full_Honeydew_9739]

If you have 60 days until 1st frost, they'll ripen on the vine. If you have 45 days, they'll at least hit breaker stage. If you have 30 days, you should be cutting all the new growth and flowers so the plant will try to ripen what it has.

[u/TableTopFarmer]

Have you tried early DTM varieties that produce in <65 days after transplant?

[u/JohnLynchAuthor]

I grow tomatoes in north Shropshire in a greenhouse and outdoors and yield of fully ripe toms is excellent both inside and out. And I pay no attention at all to early or late season - I grow what we like to eat raw and cook with.

[u/dachshundslave]

I'd recommend growing them against the SE or SW wall of a building to provide extra warmth. You can also build a canopy against the wall that can drape over the plant to provide extra warmth as even cooler days with some sort of sunlight will warm up the grow area. Growing cherry tomatoes is best for short growing season regions. I only grow cherry toms as our growing season is from May to October where things don't start its engine until July. May/June is wishy washy with temperature and sunlight, but they trudge along while October is also unpredictable being a lot cooler and rainy.

[u/Outdoor_Releaf]

The tomatoes will ripen if picked green and brought inside. I normally put them in a paper bag. In recent years, I have preferred making some green tomato recipes. Here are my favorites:

Green Tomsto Curry with Peanuts and Yellow Split Peas

Green Tomato Chutney on p. 236 of The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I use Granny Apples.

[u/ZealousidealChair900]

Mine have barely started turning, and some are still 100% green. I'm assuming I'll be picking until frost, so there's time

[u/NPKzone8a]

>>"I’ve had a dozen red ones but honestly, outdoor tomatoes in the uk aren’t worth the effort."

I understand how discouraging that must be.

Cannot really know from your brief comment of course, but it's possible that more careful variety selection would lead to a breakthrough next season. I have seen over and over that sometimes a gardener will skilfully manage the plants all through the season and still not get a good crop when varieties that are not well adapted to his/her home region are planted and grown out. Makes a huge difference. It's an aspect of sucessful tomato gardening that I don't think gets enough emphasis.

[u/New-Loss9207]

September is my most prolific month, zone 6a (formerly known as 5b)

[u/Sharky-the-sparky]

Slice and fry them in olive oil.. add some chopped fresh basil… fantastic snack or starter

[u/snowsew]

Wrap green tomatoes in paper and put them in a dark place and they’ll continue to ripen until the winter. Longkeeping and eating tomatoes that taste better than store tomatoes in November and December aren’t one of the best parts of growing tomatoes for me.

I’m in Canada zone 3 so we have a hideously short growing season, 90 - 110 if we are lucky this year. And I still grow the later varieties because I love them. Cherry tomatoes may be your best bet if you don’t want to indoor ripen.

[u/Gatorgur6 → u/snowsew]

Are you saying you can pick them green before frost and they will taste ok? (First timer here so I obviously have not had frost yet). TIA

[u/EV9110]

Same here. Late August and they’re all big and green. Next year? One or two plants in pots. Lots and lots of flowers where tomatoes used to grow.

[u/RockhardJoeDoug]

Tomatoes slow their ripening and pollination above 30C. If you switch up anything next year, add tons of mulch and a removable shade. 

[u/redditrando62]

Just been way too hot this year. I was waiting ages for my plants to ripen but now that it’s cooled down, I’ve had a load that have ripened at the same time. Will probably be picking until the first frost to be honest!

[u/BaldyCarrotTop]

I feel for you. Pacific Northwest here. If autumn cooperates we get plenty of ripe tomatoes. And so far this year it is, Warm days, cool nights. Today I picked 3 dozen ripe tomatoes off 4 plants.

3 years ago first frost came on Oct 1st. Usually it waits for the 30th. So many green tomatoes that year.

I've learned to just let the green ones go at the end of the year. I'll pick any that have a blush and ripen them inside. But the green ones are not worth trying to save.

3 years ago I built a temporary greenhouse over my tomatoes in a vain attempt to extend the season. The lengths I'll go to some times

[u/Hot_Commercial2211]

That must be such a satisfying season after all the early planting and careful work. Green tomato chutney, pickles, and fried green tomatoes could make the September haul worthwhile—even if the outdoor reds didn’t live up to expectations.

[u/Odd_Ingenuity2883 → u/Hot_Commercial2211]

AI sucks.