Help me with storing my tomatoes!

[QueenB]

I'm starting to get very sad. I buy small on-the-vine tomatoes from the store and store them on my countertop, in a wicker basket with a paper towel. In a few days, they always turn moldy. The tomatoes don't have nicks and are in good shape when I buy them, so I don't know why this happens and with my plants starting to produce, I want to avoid this happening to my fresh garden 'maters.

Why is this happening and how can I stop it? Is it too dark (the countertop during the day is kind of shady)? Is it the paper towel? The basket?

Please help me with my tomatoes so I don't have to keep throwing them away!

[fromagina]

It's possible your basket is harboring spores of a nasty mold.. I had that problem with my apple basket once and I bleached it. I keep my tomatoes on a plain pottery platter now with no problems.

[Karl S]

I wonder if the store you are getting these from has mold issues. It could also be the basket. Not the paper towel.

What is "a few days", btw?

[Gio]

Actually, I forgot to mention something similar to this in my post up thread. When I was storing tomatoes in an antique wooden bowl, the tomatoes got mushy in about 2-ish days. I, too, wonder if your problem is with the basket.

[DanaB]

I was also going to mention the basket. I'd wash it thoroughly in hot soapy water and dry it in the sun before using it to store veggies in the future. I've had this happen before when storing veggies in a basket.

[QueenB]

I was thinking the basket as well. I think I'll switch to a pottery bowl.

The tomatoes have been from a couple of different stores. By "a few days" I mean 3-4 days.

[alkapal]

those tomatoes from the store are already quite old when they get to the store.

your pottery may still present the same problem; it is primarily retention of moisture around the skin that will set it to mush.

once you have your own (really) fresh ones, you'll be ahead of the game.....

[Gio]

FWIW: I store our tomatoes in our dark pantry, on a plate, unwrapped. If I think we won't be using them for a few days, I slow roast them, halved/sprinkled with S & P & herbes de Provence & EVOO, for 4 hours at 300*...allow to cool, drizzle with a little more oil and store in a covered container in the fridge. Every bit as good as store bought sun-dried. And..last considerabley longer.

I notice that farm where we buy tomatoes displays them cut/stem side down.

[xanadude]

Try storing an 'experimental' group on a plate as well.

[alkapal]

i would waste only one tomato -- and then quite reluctantly-- to find out that the open plate method is not superior.

[sfumato]

It's not really optimal tomato season yet, so I wonder if the tomatoes have been artificially ripened after being shipped (or in the hothouse)? Perhaps they've already made it through a fair bit of their lifespan by the time you buy them? That's so frustrating.

I've noticed that our farm share and homegrown tomatoes that we get during the height of summer last a longer no matter what we do to them- I can even keep a pile in a bowl on the counter for 1-2 weeks with no ill effects (not the best storage technique, but we usually eat them so quickly that they're not stored for long), though we usually try to give them lots of air in between so that moisture can't collect in between or below. I think the advice from alkapal is very good. I think you'll have an easier time when your own plants start producing.

[alkapal]

when i moved into my house, the prior owner had several tomato plants with plenty of 'maters. he told me to pick them ripe -- leaving a bit of the stem, wrap each one in a piece of newspaper, and store in a cool dark place, in a single layer, not piled on top of each other, or crammed closely together. they lasted a LONG time! (they were stored on the concrete floor in my basement...) i was really surprised.