Gardeners' World: How to make tomatoes ripen quickly

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Gardening expert and Gardeners’ World lead host Monty Don returned this week for another episode of the hit BBC Two show. This week, Monty detailed which jobs gardeners can do to their gardens this week. The gardening expert said now is a good time to remove tomato leaves to help speed up the ripening process.

Tomatoes are starting to set fruit and ripen around this time of year.

Monty explained: “To speed up this process, remove all foliage beneath the bottom truss and any leaves that are obscuring the fruit.

“This will mean they get maximum sun and ripen quickly.

“It will also help ventilation which in turn will reduce the risk of tomato blight.

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“By the way, if you have any foliage that is tightly curled, don’t worry, it’s simply a sign of uneven temperatures.”

Here are two of the other jobs Monty said gardeners can do this weekend.

Check for lily beetles

The scarlet beetle, also known as lily beetles, lay its eggs on species of lilies.

The parents are bright red and hard to miss.

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However, most often gardeners will notice dark brown blobs underneath the foliage of lilies.

These are the beetle’s larvae wrapped in their own excrement.

“While it munches away at the foliage, you can scrape these off.

“But also you might see the parent which is bright red on the surface of the leaf.

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“If you managed to remove it, this will break the cycle of eggs.”

Cut back delphiniums and collect seeds

Delphiniums have finished flowering now so should be cut back.

First of all, take off the seed heads and pop them whole into a paper bag.

Then the seed can be sown later to raise new plants.

Monty added: “Then cut the rest of the plant right back down to the ground.

“Remove all material and it should quickly regrow and throw up new flower heads that flower later in summer.”

Gardeners’ World can be streamed on BBC iPlayer.

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