Last Updated on September 17, 2026

How to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors Before (and After) Frost

Pick the mature green tomatoes before frost and ripen them indoors at room temperature, out of direct sun. Mature green fruit is full size, glossy and pale, with a light star at the blossom end. At 65-70°F it ripens in about two weeks, and near 55°F in about a month. Light is not needed, the refrigerator is too cold, and fruit that is still dark or matte green will not ripen well, so cook that green.

Sort them first: will this tomato ripen?

The signs come from three extension sources. University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension gives the hands-on tests: at mature green the skin is not easily broken when scraped with a thumbnail, and the seeds cannot be cut by a sharp knife. Immature fruit has soft white seeds that cut easily, ripens much more slowly if it ripens at all, and usually shrivels. Colorado State University Extension describes the shiny green fruit with a light star on the blossom end, says matte green fruit will not ripen off the vine, and says breaker fruit ripens off the vine without any loss of flavor. Penn State Extension adds that at the breaker stage the tomato is already considered vine ripe.

University of Minnesota Extension puts it plainly: tomatoes picked truly green will probably never ripen to a good flavor, and if the bottom of the fruit is as green as the rest, it is not worth ripening indoors. If you are unsure about a tomato, cut it open and check the pulp and seeds against the table.

Ripening temperatures

Read the table as a range: anywhere from 55 to 70°F works, warmer is faster, and cooler buys you time. A kitchen counter or spare room does the fast job. A basement, cellar or garage can do the slow job as long as it stays at 55°F or warmer. The refrigerator cannot: South Dakota State University Extension leaves it out of both its methods because red color will not develop below 50°F.

Light does not matter. University of Minnesota Extension says light is not necessary and warm temperatures are more important than light, and South Dakota State University Extension says not to put the fruit in a sunny window, because that shortens shelf life.

Four ways to ripen them

None of them needs sun or a refrigerator. Ripening tomatoes give off their own ethylene gas, which stimulates the fruit around them to ripen (Iowa State University Extension), and a banana or a ripe tomato adds more. The steps and sources for each method are below.

Before frost: top the plants, then pick

A month or so before your first fall frost, once a plant has more fruit than it can ripen, snip the growing tips. The plant stops making new growth and ripens what it already has. That is the last step in my guide to supporting tomato plants. If you do not know your date, enter your zip code on Plan My Garden and it finds your frost dates.

A light frost does not have to end the season. Utah State University Extension says tomatoes are very sensitive to freezing, recommends covering them with tarps or blankets during a light frost, and says to pick the fruit once the weather turns cold for good. My fall gardening checklist uses frost blankets or old bedsheets for the same job.

On picking day:

• Pick ripe, nearly ripe and mature green fruit from strong, healthy vines, and leave anything with disease, insect or mechanical damage (Iowa State University Extension).
• Pick before the vines are killed by frost. University of Alaska Fairbanks also notes that fruit from nearly spent vines is more likely to decay.
• Clip each tomato with a very short stem instead of tearing it off. Cornell Cooperative Extension says a stem ripped out of the fruit opens it to decay.

You do not have to wait for frost to use this. The Colorado State University Extension writer picks most tomatoes once they show a light blush and ripens them indoors, and finds that fewer are lost to sunscald, critters or simply being missed until they are overripe.

After frost: sort what is left

If frost has already reached the plants, pick what remains and sort it. Use the same standard as before frost: Iowa State University Extension says fruit for ripening should be solid, firm and free of defects. Cornell Cooperative Extension says damaged, soft or spotted tomatoes can be tried but may rot quickly, so keep those in a separate box. Penn State Extension says not to can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. None of the sources here says how well fruit touched by frost will ripen, so treat that box as a try, and check it often.

The ripening box keeps going after the garden is done; near 55°F the fruit takes about a month (Colorado State). Out in the bed, unless you are pulling plants to hang them (Method 3), clear them the way I do every fall: cut the spent plants at the soil line and leave the roots in the bed.

Method 1: the covered box

Most of the extension sources on this page describe some version of this box, and it suits most batches.

1. Remove the stems so they cannot puncture other fruit (Iowa State).
2. If the fruit is dirty, wash it gently (Iowa State) and let it air dry on a clean paper towel out of direct sun (Colorado State).
3. Line a box with newspaper. Set the tomatoes one or two layers deep, not touching, with newspaper between layers.
4. Cover the box with newspaper, cardboard or its lid, and keep it somewhere between 55 and 70°F.
5. Check every couple of days. Take out the ripe ones and throw out any that start to rot.

Colorado State layers the fruit 1 to 2 deep in a covered box. South Dakota State says no more than 3 layers, fruit not touching, with a sheet of newspaper on top to hold in some humidity. Wrapping each tomato in its own sheet of newspaper also works (Iowa State), though Cornell Cooperative Extension says layering between newspapers does the same job with less work.

Method 2: a paper bag with a banana

Ripening tomatoes give off ethylene gas, and ethylene stimulates ripening in the fruit around them (Iowa State University Extension). Hold that gas in with the green fruit and it catches up faster.

• Illinois Extension: put the tomatoes in a paper bag, punch several holes all around it, and fold the top over. For fruit already turning light green or showing a little blush, this may take one to five days, depending on how underripe it is. Check daily.
• Add a banana or one or two red tomatoes to the bag or box (Colorado State). Utah State also suggests a banana, and Cornell lists a ripe tomato, a banana or an apple.
• To slow a box down instead, sort the ripened fruit out of it each week (Iowa State).

Method 3: hang the whole plant

Pull the plant up, roots and all, with the green fruit still on it, shake off as much soil as you can, and hang it upside down (Iowa State; South Dakota State). Pick each tomato as it ripens. University of Alaska Fairbanks says to do this before frost and to hang the plants in a garage or crawl space that stays at 50°F or higher, where the fruit ripens over an extended period. Iowa State calls for a cool, dark spot; South Dakota State, a cool area with indirect light.

Method 4: slow ripening to stretch the season

If you have more tomatoes than you can eat in two weeks, ripen them cool and pull a few at a time into the warmth.

• Iowa State University Extension wraps each tomato in newspaper, stores them in a single layer at 60 to 65°F in a basement or cellar, and moves them to room temperature, unwrapped, once they begin to color.
• Utah State University Extension stores end-of-season fruit at 55°F and uses it as it ripens. Colorado State says fruit near 55°F takes about a month.
• Do not go colder. Penn State Extension says mature green tomatoes will not ripen normally below 55°F.
• Watch the humidity. Too damp and the fruit molds; too dry and it shrivels (Colorado State). University of Alaska Fairbanks gives 85 to 90 percent relative humidity to prevent shriveling. In a dry house, Colorado State sets the tomatoes in a strainer or blanching pan inside a covered container with water in the bottom, the fruit not touching the water.

Green tomatoes that will not ripen

Immature fruit is not wasted. University of Alaska Fairbanks’ A Harvest of Green Tomatoes says green tomatoes can be fried, sautéed, cooked into sauces and stews, made into pickle relish, or baked into bread or cake, and it includes recipes. Colorado State mentions fried green tomatoes, relish and salsa, and my fall gardening checklist suggests green tomato pickles. The same UAF guide says the quality is better the sooner green tomatoes are used, and to hold them at 55 to 60°F until then.

For canning, use a tested recipe. Penn State Extension says green tomatoes are more acidic than ripe ones and can be canned safely following its recommendations, and South Dakota State reprints tested recipes for pickled green tomato relish and green tomato pie filling from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Once the indoor tomatoes turn red, use them like any garden tomato. My quick roasted tomato sauce takes about five minutes of hands-on time, with no peeling.

What else to pick before the first frost

Tomatoes share the deadline with every other frost-tender crop. The Plan My Garden planner marks these crops as frost tender: peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, bush and pole beans, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash, butternut and spaghetti squash, pumpkins, melons, cantaloupe, watermelon, okra, corn and basil. Kale, collards, spinach, carrots, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips and arugula are marked hardy, and beets, lettuce, Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, peas and radishes are marked semi-hardy.

Peppers do not have to end with the frost either. My fall gardening checklist includes potting up pepper plants and bringing them indoors, and the steps are in How to Overwinter Pepper Plants.

Quick questions

Should I pick green tomatoes before frost?

Yes, pick the mature green ones. Iowa State University Extension says to pick ripe, nearly ripe and mature green fruit before frost, from strong, healthy vines, and to skip fruit with disease, insect or mechanical damage. Fruit that is still dull, dark green will not ripen well, so cook it green.

How long do green tomatoes take to ripen indoors?

About two weeks at 65-70°F for mature green fruit, according to Iowa State University Extension. Colorado State University Extension says fruit kept near 55°F takes about a month. Warmer is faster and cooler is slower, so pick the spot to match how soon you want to eat them.

Do green tomatoes need sunlight to ripen?

No. University of Minnesota Extension says light is not necessary and warm temperatures are more important. South Dakota State University Extension says not to put them in a sunny window, because that shortens shelf life.

Can I put green tomatoes in the refrigerator?

No. South Dakota State University Extension says red color will not develop below 50°F, and Penn State Extension says mature green tomatoes do not ripen normally below 55°F. Keep them between 55 and 70°F.

Can I still ripen tomatoes after a frost?

Pick before the vines are killed by frost if you can, since no source here says how well frost-touched fruit ripens. If frost already reached the plants, you can try: put firm, unblemished fruit in the ripening box and keep damaged, soft or spotted fruit in a separate box, since Cornell Cooperative Extension says it may rot quickly. Penn State Extension says not to can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines.

Plan next year’s tomatoes around your frost dates

Your frost dates set both ends of the tomato season. Plan My Garden is free to start: enter your zip code and it finds your frost dates, draw your beds, pick tomatoes and everything else you want to grow, and it places each plant at square-foot spacing and builds a planting schedule (start indoors, transplant and direct sow dates) from those frost dates.

Related: How to Support Tomato Plants · How to Prune Tomato Plants · How Many Tomato Plants per Square Foot? · Quick Roasted Tomato Sauce · Fall Gardening Checklist