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Old 23-09-2003, 05:22 PM
Spider
 
Posts: n/a
Default Frost forecast, and green tomatoes still outside

I suggest you harvest your tomatoes and put them in a drawer/box with a
banana. The ethylene (sp?) gas given off by the bananas will encourage the
tomatoes to ripen. If you leave them outside 'on the vine' in wet weather
you are risking blight.
All I know about pumpkins is that they need ripening in warm, dry air to
harden the skin. If the skins don't harden, the pumpkins won't store well.
I'm concerned about your spuds. If you mean the tubers are entirely green
then they will be poisonous. If just the top of the tuber is green, then it
can be sliced away and the remaining flesh eaten. Potatoes must be 'earthed
up' as they grow to prevent greening. Simply bank earth up against the
foliage periodically with your next crop. Unless I've misunderstood you,
your current crop is unsafe.
Spider
Martin Richards wrote in message
...
So there's some rain forecast at last, but with frost for Wednesday, and
thanks to a rather late start, I've still got lots of unripe tomatoes in

the
allotment. Some are that pale green, thinking about ripening colour, but
others are still very green. Should I just leave them and hope the frost
doesn't get them, or is it green tomato chutney time?

I guess the same question applies to the pumpkins (or what ever they are -
they're not orange!) and spuds (green tops, showing no signs of yellowing
yet)

Thanks

Martin