This post is my best explanation of “tomatoes don’t ripen if it’s too hot out”.
Why does that need an explanation? Because I’m still getting a few ripening tomatoes, despite the heat.
After some close observation, I think the correct statement is “tomatoes won’t start the ripening process if it’s too hot out”. Once they’ve started the ripening process — passed beyond the “mature green” stage to “breakers” (see chart below) –I think they continue to ripen, heat or no heat.
The upshot is that you don’t get a nice, sharp cutoff of tomato production, contemporaneous with a string of hot days and nights. You get a dip in tomato production some days later, as the ones that have already started ripening continue. But the ones that haven’t made it to the “breakers” stage get stuck at “mature green”.
At least, that’s my best guess for what I’ve been observing in my garden this year.
(Completely separately, tomatoes won’t set fruit under excessive daytime heat. See Post G24-021, on tomato blossom drop and heat. Both of these effects — blossom drop and non-ripening — depend somewhat on the variety of tomato being grown, with some tomatoes (e.g., Floradade) having been bred to perform somewhat better in high heat.)
Continue reading Post G22-043: Rephrasing “tomatoes don’t ripen in the heat”.