Peppers and tomatoes, they grow together well

[venta]

After a lengthy discussion this morning, the tomatoes and I have reached the conclusion that we should just cut our losses. Accordingly, I have picked all the green tomatoes of any reasonable size and will shortly be putting them in paper bags to encourage them to ripen. Why paper bags ? I have no idea. Maybe it's an old wives' tale. If anyone has any alternative tomato-ripening strategies let's have 'em - I've got plenty to practise on. If bananas in a fruit bowl make the apples there ripen quicker, will they have any effect on tomatoes ? Alternatively, you can all look forward to getting pots of green tomato chutney for Christmas.

The tomatoes just about recovered from the blossom end rot a few months back, but then they got some strange leaf disease and were persistently nibbled by snails. In the last week or so, the snails have moved from occasional leaf-nibbling to blatant tomato-munching. This morning, the three ripe tomatoes I'd hoped to pop in my Dalek lunchbox to take to work had already become snails' breakfast by the time I got out there. I removed a further two from unripe tomatoes, and began trying ewx's suggested projectile remedy. I couldn't quite bring myself to take on the more drastic measures suggested by Cathy (even when projectiling, I was doing it reasonably gently onto the compost heap).

Sadly, the more I looked, the more snails I found. We live in a bad (or good, depending on how you see it) area for snails, and our greenhouse seems very unsnailproof. The little blighters are everywhere, and are showing no signs of obeying my decree to get themselves hence and quit munching. Without sunshine, the tomatoes aren't ripening quickly enough and are splitting on the vine.The plants themselves are looking yellowed and poorly despite my best efforts, and are reminding me that actually it's October, occasionally frosty, and about time they were left to have a nice quiet winter.

In general I like snails, but they seem a bit incompatible with tomato-growing. Maybe next spring I shall dedicate some time to attempting to make the greenhouse snailproof.

Comments

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Bananas will indeed ripen tomatoes. And having them in an enclosed space (eg. a drawer) will do so quicker than an open fruit bowl.

Paper bag is good -- we picked our remaining greenies, forgot about them and left them in a plastic bag, and they spoilt very quickly.

[froglet.livejournal.com]

If you like curries then a good thing to do with green tomatoes is to slice them up and then gently fry them in butter and a teaspoon or so of whatever curry powder you use (we normally have a tikka marinade mix in).

Elizabeth used to make me go and pick green tomatoes during the summer so that she could have it with her curry.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Hmm. By Christmas I may have gone through my tasty green tomato ketchup and actually need the chutney :)

(I cut my losses some time ago)

There was a snail on my windscreen the other evening. By the time I got from Berinsfield to Abingdon, it had doggedly made its way 2 inches further across.

[(Anonymous)]

It's the ethylene that bananas emit which makes them ripen fruit. Just don't go overdoing it ...

Cathy xxx

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

I picked my green tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. Two were just off-green, they are now nearly ripe, and the effect does spread from one to another, just like bananas.