Q:
With rain in this weekend's forecast, lots of folks are talking about picking their tomato plants clean. I can't stand the idea of picking all those green tomatoes! Will the rain really ruin tomatoes if we leave them on the vine? If we must pick them, how can you help green and orange tomatoes ripen indoors?
A:
You have several options. You can simply leave them in the rain, and some of the fruit will crack and otherwise lose quality. You can pick anything with any color and store them to ripen slowly out of the field. You can tarp the plants in the field to keep the rain off. You can also pick anything with color and then uproot the entire plant and hang upside down and at least some of the green fruit should ripen.
Want to learn more about this topic? Explore more resources from OSU Extension:
Garden vegetables and herbs, Gardening techniques
