Why are my tomatoes not turning red? This is a very common question that I get asked a lot!
In this post, I will talk about when tomatoes should turn red, and give you some reasons why they don’t. Then I’ll share my five tricks for how to ripen tomatoes on the vine faster.
Are your tomatoes slow to ripen on the vine? There’s nothing more frustrating about growing them than being forced to frantically pick tons of green tomatoes the night before frost.
Then you bring them inside to ripen, where most of them end up rotting in a paper bag on your counter instead. Yuck!
If you live in a cold climate like I do, you start to get pretty nervous in late summer when your plants are full of large tomatoes that aren’t ripening.
If you’re tired of being stuck with tons of green tomatoes in the fall, I’ve got you covered.
But first, let’s talk about when tomatoes should ripen, and the most common problems that cause them to stay green.
When Do Tomatoes Ripen & Turn Red?
The exact tomato ripening time depends on a few things, like the variety that you have, and your growing zone.
What month tomatoes ripen for the picking depends on a lot of factors the climate you live in, and a big factor is the temperature and sunlight exposure (they need warmth and full sun).
To give you an idea, here in Minnesota (z4b), my early tomatoes start ripening on the vine sometime in late-June. But the bulk of them don’t start turning red in mid-July, or even later in the summer.
How Long Does It Take For Tomatoes To Ripen?
In general, it takes about 6-8 weeks after the flowers are pollinated for tomatoes to ripen and turn red on the plant.
However, if there’s anything wrong with the environment, like extremely hot temperatures in the summer for example, then it will slow or even stop the ripening process.
That means your mature tomatoes will stay green on the vine, and they can stay that way for a very long time.
Related Post: How To Grow Tomatoes From Seed & When To Start
Why Aren’t My Tomatoes Turning Red?
There are a few things that prevent tomatoes from ripening. Some varieties will mature faster than others, but temperature and plant health are huge factors too.
Here are the 3 main reasons why your tomatoes aren’t turning red…
1. Temperature
Tomatoes won’t turn red if it’s too hot (above 85°F, or 29.4°C) or too cold (below 50°F, or 10°C ). This is probably the biggest culprit for most people, especially during a heatwave.
There’s not much you can about the weather. But you can try protecting your plant from extreme heat with a shade cloth, and add a thick layer of mulch over the top of the rootball to help cool down the soil.
Otherwise, your tomatoes will ripen once the weather cools down or warms up again.
2. Plant Is Overgrown
As tomato plants mature through the summer, they can become huge and overgrown.
When that happens, they tend to spend most of their energy on producing leaves and flowers, rather than ripening tomatoes.
Properly pruning them throughout the summer is important, and will result in more red tomatoes. So keep that in mind for the future.
3. Too Many Green Tomatoes
When your tomato plant is covered with small, immature fruits, they can steal energy away from ripening the mature ones.
So if you’re staring at a bunch of green tomatoes not turning red in late summer, don’t worry, it’s not too late!
There are still a few tricks you can try to give them one last push to ripen before cold temperatures are here to stay.
Related Post: How To Make Sturdy DIY Tomato Cages
How To Ripen Tomatoes On The Vine Faster (5 Easy Tricks)
We can’t force the plant to ripen tomatoes on the vine, but there are a few things we can do to help encourage them to turn red.
So, if fall is quickly approaching, and you’re stuck wondering how to turn green tomatoes red, then try these five tricks…
1. Cut Off The New Growth
The season is coming to an end, so your plant doesn’t need to waste anymore energy on new leaves.
Topping the plant and cutting off all the new foliage will give it more energy to ripen tomatoes faster.
2. Trim The Flowers
It takes a couple of months for tomatoes to ripen after the flowers have been pollinated.
This late in the season, it’s a pretty sure bet that new flowers aren’t going to amount to anything. So pick off all the flowers.
Related Post: How To Can Cherry Tomatoes
3. Pinch The Suckers
Suckers are the smaller stems that form between a branches and leaf joint. They get their name because they suck energy from the plant.
So be sure to pinch off all of the suckers you see on your tomato plant.
4. Pluck Off Tiny Tomatoes
I know it’s hard to remove any tomatoes from the plant, but these poor little babies won’t have time to mature before frost.
Pull them off so your plant can focus on ripening the larger green tomatoes on the vine instead.
5. Prune Some Of The Leaves
Don’t cut off all of the leaves, de-leafing tomatoes is never a good idea, even at the end of the season.
But if your plant is huge and full of healthy green leaves, you can trim off much of that vigorous growth.
Related Post: Why Do Cucumbers Turn Yellow & How To Prevent It
What To Do With Green Tomatoes
If you still have a ton of green tomatoes after trying all of these tricks for ripening them on the vine, all is not lost.
Once frost comes, you can gather all of them and bring them inside. Any that have started blushing will usually turn red on your counter.
But even the totally green ones are still good to eat, and there are a ton of ways you can use them. One of my favorites is pickling them, it’s easy and delicious!
FAQs
Below I’ve answered some of the most common questions I get about tomatoes not ripening on the vine. If you can’t find yours here, add it to the comments section.
How do I encourage my tomatoes to turn red?
To encourage your tomatoes to turn red on the vine, try giving your plant extra shade if the temperature is over 85°F (29.4°C). You can also remove the tiny green tomatoes and extra flowers, and cut back the foliage to force the plant to put its energy into ripening the mature fruits.
Why are my tomatoes growing but not turning red?
When your tomatoes keep growing but not turning red, it’s usually because the temperature is too hot (above 85°F, or 29.4°C). But it could also be because the plant is focusing too much energy on producing new fruits and foliage.
Why is it taking so long for my tomatoes to turn red?
The reason it takes so long for your tomatoes to turn red is usually because it’s too hot. They won’t ripen when it get above 85°F (29.4°C). You can try giving them extra shade and mulch the roots to help keep them cool.
Sometimes tomatoes can be slow to ripen, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help to speed things up. If you’re tired of your tomatoes not ripening on the vine, then try these easy hacks to turn green tomatoes red in no time.
If you want to learn how to grow your food vertically, then my book Vertical Vegetables is just what you need. It will teach you all you need to know, plus you’ll get plans for building almost two dozen projects. Order your copy today!
More Vegetable Gardening Posts
- How To Pollinate Squash By Hand For Maximum Production
- How To Grow Blueberries In Pots Or The Garden
- How & When To Plant Garlic In Your Garden
- How To Grow Garlic In Your Garden
More About Tomatoes
- How To Tell Determinate vs Indeterminate Tomatoes
- How To Grow Tomatoes In Pots
- Sun Dried Cherry Tomatoes: An Easy Homemade Recipe
Share your tomato ripening tips in the comments section below.
Connie watson says
I. Was told by heirloom tomato growers if you want them to grow keep watering them. If you want them to ripen quit watering them. As long as you water them they think they need to grow. When you quit watering they start ripening.
Crystal says
I live in Central Florida, it’s still only early spring I have one brand of cherry tomatoes that self grow all over the place, the original plants did have red tomatoes on it, but these are covered in fruit the turn orange and still have green tops near the stems. They never turn red even when picked and left to sit on the counter, and they stay hard. I’m thinking maybe there is something I’m missing when fertilizing that they need. A little assistance would be great 😀
Amy Andrychowicz says
Cherry tomatoes tend to become huge and overgrown when they are unpruned, which can hinder ripening of the fruits. Here’s my tomato pruning guide to give you help there. Green ones will be hard and won’t turn read if they are picked too early, so that’s probably why they won’t ripen on the counter. Also, tomatoes won’t turn green if it’s too hot, so it may just be time of year.
Dona says
Instead of picking and bringing all of the green tomatoes in( I literally got no red tomatoes this year and have been pinching suckers, flowers and leaves blocking the sun for weeks) I once heard about pulling the whole plant and hanging them upside down to ripen the tomatoes… have you heard of that?
Zone 5/ Hudson Valley,NY.
Amy Andrychowicz says
I have never tried that myself, but it would be a fun experiment! 🙂
Sally says
I’ve done this and it works great if you have the space for it. It takes up a lot of space and it’s pretty messy.
Marion says
I have grown three tomato plants, and have so many harvested I had to give them away. But now I still have a bountiful of green 🍅 on the vines, the weather is getting colder and they are beautiful, but still green, what to do?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Follow the steps in this article to try to get your green tomatoes to turn red before frost. If it’s too cold already, then you’ll have to bring them inside to try ripening them on your kitchen counter.
Tom Myers says
This year my tomatos started out very strong with vigorous vines and set a fairly good Crop of fruit. For the past several weeks the vines are looking very poorly almost dead, and the tomato’s are a pale yellow. A few have ripened but some rot before turning red. If they get hint of red I bring them in to ripen on the window sill. Any suggestions?
Amy Andrychowicz says
When the fruits rot before they ripen, it’s usually either caused by blight or blossom end rot. This late in the season, there’s not much you can about either, unfortunately. But for the latter, consistent watering is the best way to prevent it, and keep the plants looking their best and the fruits from rotting on the vine.
kathy says
We started those tiny tomato bombs from seed and they grew to almost 6′, have TONS of green tomatoes but NONE of them are turning red…..What do I do? They are in sunlight all day and get watered regularly (every other day) but NO red ones.
Amy Andrychowicz says
You need to prune them regularly, otherwise they’ll spend most of their energy putting on new growth and flowers rather than ripening the fruits. Follow the tips in the article above for what to do late in the season, or check out my detailed pruning guide to learn how to keep them from getting that overgrown in the first place.
Kevin leonard says
An easy way to ripen green tomatoes is to pick them place a few together in a brown paper bag and pop in a dark warm cupboard or kitchen drawer.
Check every 4 or 5 days and remove the ripe red ones.
To help speed up the process place a ripe banana in the bag with them.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes of course, but this article is how to ripen tomatoes while they are still on the plant so you can get that fresh-from-the-vine flavor! They taste SO much better that way! 🙂
Selene Quinn says
Hi! I have 3 cherry tomato plants in pots that are so overgrown they keep tipping the pots despite my best efforts to support them. How aggressively can I trim back to rescue them and at least ripen a decent amount of the plentiful green fruit? Late August, zone 5.
Amy Andrychowicz says
This late in the season, you can be very aggressive with your pruning. The new flowers and tiny tomatoes won’t have time to mature, so there’s nothing to lose by cutting them all off.
Helga Miller says
Hi Amy, I only have one tomato plant nd it has given me several tomatoes that are red on the bottom, still green on the stem end and cracked. I never had good luck with hem and with the costs of the plant, water each tomato costs about $2.50! What should I have done to keep them from splitting!
Thanks for your great column which is very educational!
Amy Andrychowicz says
The reason they split is inconsistent watering. If tomatoes don’t get enough water, and then they get soaked (often during a rain), the insides of the fruits rehydrate too quickly, and the skins don’t have time to expand, so they bust open. Then only way to prevent it is to ensure you’re watering them consistently, so they never become dehydrated. Here’s a post with more info.
Mary says
Someone told me to tie red ribbons or something red around the plant. It makes the tomatoes think it’s time to ripen. I did try it once, it seemed to work. I also live in z8b on the gulf coast.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Oh wow, I’ve never heard of tricking tomatoes into ripening by doing that. I guess there’s no harm in trying, LOL!
Helga Miller says
Thanks Mary, it’s worth a try!
Lisa says
Thanks for this article! It’s been a really hot summer and a drought as well here in Buffalo, NY. My tomato plants are huge and healthy but the tomatoes are green. I’ve pruned a bunch but only not fruit bearing or flowering branches. I only trim off shoots. Cam you cut down the height? I thought you had to leave the main branches alone. This article was really helpful!
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re welcome, glad you found it helpful! Yes, you can trim down the height, especially this late in the season. It’s getting to the point in the year where the new flowers and most of the tiny tomatoes aren’t going to have time to reach maturity before frost anyway. So, when you cut the plant back, all that energy will go into ripening the existing tomatoes instead of producing new ones. Here’s more details about how to prune them.
Leslie says
So if I pick them while still green they will ripen in the house? I thought they had to be blushing first. Please advise. Thank you for the tips!
Amy Andrychowicz says
If they are close to ripening, they can still turn red inside – but yes, you’ll definitely have the best success with the ones that have already started to blush first. That’s why it’s best to try to do what you can to get tomatoes to turn red while they’re still on the vine.
Melissa Neibacher says
Hi I also live in MN and was wanting to make sure all my tomatoes will ripen. My 2 plants are LOADED with tomatoes and new growth have made it hard evern to see the tomatoes I have so many leaves. I think the pruning will defintely be the trick for me too. THANK YOU! I’ve never had good luck with big tomatoes…cherry or grape are good and ripe and we’ve been gettting a lot of those this week. I’m hoping to get lots of big tomatoes on my other 2 varieties. 🙂
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re welcome! Yes, pruning will definitely help your overgrown plants focus more energy on ripening the tomatoes. Good luck and enjoy!
Paula Ignatowicz says
San Juan Islands Washington are a cooler climate 8B in general to the Puget Sound area and never really hits the eighties much in Summer so growing tomato’s can be a challenge- especially since we don’t even warm up until July! Cool nights too. Don’t get me started on how hard it to even start tiny plants in the spring! I go to the mainland and buy bigger plants just to have a “snowballs chance in….” well, you get the idea, to even produce any fruit at all in my woodland/forest garden. I do get lots of sun, but it just never gets hot enough for long enough then the nights cool off too much.
This information is great- I will try the pruning technique. Greenhouses work too but yes, they sometimes get too darn hot and must be sealed against vermin who will steal anything ripe or not. Ugh! Next year I am moving current and building some new greenhouses on some concrete slabs (no more digging vermin) .Some of them will be partially shaded, others in full sun and then can move the tomatoes (planted in peat pots) around into sun and shade to see what happens. Perhaps that combined with your wonderful pruning tips I can finally get the darn things to ripen on the vine!
No problems with any flowers or any root veggies at all- just these darn non ripening tomatoes! Thanks!!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wow, sounds like you live in a very challenging climate. Yes, tomatoes like it hot, but not too hot. They can be a bit finicky that way. Good luck with all of your methods for getting them to produce tons of fruit and ripen before it gets cold again. Sounds like you’re doing all the right things.
Babette says
Thank you for such great tips . I want to create a small planter garden on my balcony and what are the best vegetables for a small area?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You’re welcome! Here’s a good list for you… 15 Best Container Vegetables For Pots & Planters.
Debbie says
This is my first time growing tomatoes mine are still green so fingers crossed after I follow your instructions I should get some red tomatoes so excited thanx x
Amy Andrychowicz says
Good luck, hope your tomatoes start turning red soon! 🙂
Sarah says
I came across your page from a google search on why my tomatoes won’t ripen? I think my answer was to prune my plants. I only have 8 plants, 6 that really needed some TLC, but they looked like a jungle! This is my first year actually enjoying gardening, but my 3rd year gardening 👩🏼🌾