Originally Posted By: AuntyM

Pick the full grown ones and put them in a flat or cardboard box, put an apple in with them (very high in ethylene gas which ripens fruit) and cover loosely with plastic.


Thats how store 'maters are ripened. They're picked and transported green so they dont squish, then theyre gassed before they hit the shelves.

My old man used to start 'em early under milk jugs with the bottoms cut off.

He finally broke down and sprang for a greenhouse a few years ago.