Ask the gardening expert  Published: October 25, 2012, 6:00 AM
Here in the Northwest tomatoes ripen later than in other parts
of the country. I have lots of green tomatoes and wonder how I
could ripen them? Should I start clipping blossoms? I've heard
that "stressing" the plants by reducing water and fertilizer can
force ripening. I also heard I should strip the leaves to expose
the fruit and hasten ripening. Can you advise?  In cool summer
seasons such as we experience in the Pacific Northwest, it's
important to choose cool-season, disease-resistant varieties and
then provide them the ultimate growing conditions. Some
gardeners use black plastic mulch to help keep the roots warm
and plant in the sunniest spot available. Many cover tomato
cages with clear plastic early in the season to help the plants
reach maturity a few weeks earlier. I've heard that if you
remove late-season blossoms, plants will redirect energy into
ripening remaining fruits. I've heard that withholding water
will stress the plants into