There are several ways to ripen tomatoes faster, both on the vine and off the vine. If you follow any of the methods, your tomatoes will ripen faster. But which process ripens tomatoes more quickly depends on how efficiently you apply that method.
Ripening tomatoes on the vine means picking them from plants after they get ripened colors and less firm. And off the vine means harvesting tomatoes earlier at the mature green or breaker stage and ripening them indoors at room temperature.
However, the following factors play an essential role in determining the faster method.
1: Temperature
The temperature range for ripening tomatoes off the vine is around 55° F to 67° F. Besides, you can easily control (higher or lower) the room temperature as you require. If you want to ripen your tomatoes faster, higher the room temperature.
On the vine side, the temperature range is about 68° F to 78° F for ripening tomatoes. However, there is no control over the outdoor temperature, and you must depend on mother nature.
2: Weather Condition
Your tomatoes may remain mature green stage at the season’s end. Besides, the temperature may drop or the frost come earlier. In that case, you have no choice except to ripen your tomatoes off the vine at room temperature.
3: Ethylene Gas
Tomatoes produce ethylene gas naturally to ripen fruits. But if they are on the vine and don’t get a suitable weather conditions, they stop ripening.
On the other side, when you ripen tomatoes indoors, you can supply and control ethylene gas manually by adding banana or apple to tomatoes. More ethylene gas means ripening tomatoes faster.
4: Early Ripening Tomato Variety
If you grow an early-ripening tomato variety, your tomatoes will ripen faster on the vine.
On the other hand, warm temperatures and adding more ethylene gas also ripen tomatoes faster off the vine.
5: Tomato Ripening Methods
Both on or off-the-vine methods perform better for ripening tomatoes. Besides, it may also vary on your personal preference and environmental issues.
Off-the-Vine Methods
- Breathable container + green banana + warm temperature (55° F to 67° F)
- Paper bag + green banana+ warm temperature (55° F to 67° F)
- Plastic Bag + green banana+ warm temperature (55° F to 67° F)
- Glass Jar+ ripe banana+ warm temperature (55° F to 67° F)
- Simply place your tomatoes on a windowsill for a few days
On the Vine Methods
- Top pruning and root pruning.
- Regular pruning, like removing diseased, lower, suckers, and dense leaves.
- Pinch off the new flowers and fruit sets a few weeks before the season end.
- Reduce watering and stop fertilizing before four weeks of the expected frost.
- Provide plant support for tomatoes and ensure air circulation.
- Apply black or red plastic mulch for tomatoes.
- Pick regularly the ripe tomatoes.
So, by following the above methods, you can rip your tomatoes faster in both ways.
However, off the vine methods still work, whereas on the vine methods don’t work at all. Besides you can control easily the ripening process off the vine. So, my point of view ripening tomatoes off the vine works faster and easier than on the vine methods.
