Q.roma tomatoes
My roma plants have been battered by stormy weather and just do not seem to be ripening. I have picked a couple and am trying to force ripening by putting them in a bowl on the window ledge. Will this work and, if not, will my tomatoes eventually ripen? I am growing them outdoors by the way!
As long as they have reached their turning stage (a green stage right before they begin to redden), they will ripen on your windowsill. To tell the truth, covering the bowl will speed up the process and putting a banana in the bowl will speed it up even more. The reason is that tomatoes ripen when exposed to ethylene gas, which they give off naturally. Covering the bowl will trap the gases around the tomatoes, speeding it up. Bananas are major producers of ethylene gas, so putting a banana in with the tomatoes will add even more gas to the process, speeding ripening up even further.