[q]How long are tomato plants supposed to produce? I thought they would die after the first frost, but mine are like the energizer bunny and just keep producing more and more maters! The only trouble is they don’t seem to ripen! I have tons of big green tomatoes on the plants, but with the exception of a very few, they don’t turn red! Does anyone know if there is a way to pick them green and let them ripen indoors? I don’t know if it matters, but I live in the high desert of southern California, where at might the temperature drops to almost freezing. Daytime it has been in the 60’s and 70’s.
Has anyone ever grown cucumbers in an indoor greenhouse? This certainly wasn’t my intention, but back in the summer I bought a little portable greenhouse in a craft store – about 9 cubic feet to start seeds in. I kind of forgot about the cucumbers until it was way to cold to put them in the ground, so I just put them in a large pot and left them in the greenhouse. The plants are now between 2 and 3 feet tall. I am wondering if I should just tie them up and across the frame, or what? Any suggestions would be welcome.[/q]
[a]
Tomatoes will ripen indoors if you put them in a dark place. I used to wrap them in newspaper, them put them in a kitchen drawer, like where you might keep potatoes. Now I just put them in the drawer-don’t even wrap them. They get red in about 10 days or so + -. You can tie up the cucs in the greenhouse. Where you live they should do o.k. It must stay warm enough in there that they haven’t froze. I grow tomatoes in a greenhouse here in Valley Center, in inland north San Diego county. Last year we had a good frost and the tomatoes in the greenhouse had damage, but came back! BTW, I still have my summer outdoor garden tomatoes producing, as you do. Amazing, isn’t it, being December 15th! We are lucky.[/a]
[a]
In a tropical climate- tomatoes will keep ON producing-you can take cuttings of them and bring inside in the winter where they will root and if your winters are long enough-they will give you tomatoes. You may have to hand pollinate them, or shake them when they bloom. If you grow them in containers, bring them inside under lights and they’ll keep right on producing. Or, the cuttings can be transplanted back out in your garden when the temps are right next spring and you’ll have some more of the very same tomatoes you had last season. You can cut them off at ground level, and hang them upside down inside a building so they don’t freeze, and most of the tomatoes will ripen like that. Or ones that are turning, you can put inside a brown paper bag with a red apple, and leave it to ripen to how ever ripe you enjoy yours.[/a]
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