tomatoes indoors all year round?

[JennyFlowers]

I have read on a few websites that it is possible to grow tomatoes throughout the year. I am going to start with a few tomato pots this spring and summer and see if I can raise them through the winder seasons. has anyone had success with growing tomatoes inside your home? if so , any tips and tricks I should know about? any feedback is appreciated.

thnx
Jenny

https://howtogrowtomatoes.org/

[rainbowgardener]

Start by reading this:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/v ... hp?t=48807

a 9 page thread with pictures, by two of our regular members, who have been growing indoor tomatoes all through the winter.

It can be done, but isn't necessarily easy. Especially in winter, the main trick is getting enough light on them for enough hours. The variety you grow makes a big difference, also. Look for smaller sized, quick maturing varieties.

[hendi_alex]

IMO, not worth the trouble. I've grown them during the winter in my greenhouse, which gives far better growing conditions than a home. The plants grew slowly, were very susceptible to aphids and white flies, and produced at an extremely slow rate. On top of that, the tomatoes produced were nothing to write home about with very little flavor and texture that wasn't exactly right.

Tomatoes love over 80 degree temperatures and they love lots of sunlight. Tomato plants are so large, that it is difficult to give supplemental light in a very meaningful way with ordinary bulbs and fixtures. Without lots of supplemental light, the days in the winter time were just too short to give much growth or to produce much fruit. Here in S.C., late December gives us less than 11 hours of sunlight per day, whereas June gives us more like 16 hours per day.

After giving up on growing tomatoes in the greenhouse, I decided my effort would be better rewarded by working as hard as possible to extend the season. I usually start my first plants in mid to late December with mid April as the target date for planting them outside. The plants go through a series of containers and by late March are in 3 gallon nursery pots and the plants are over 2 feet tall, are flowering and starting to set fruit. Our first harvest is usually in late April while most people in our area don't get tomatoes until sometime between mid June and mid July. We usually have fresh tomatoes from mid to late April through mid to late December with the last tomatoes having been picked in November and allowed to ripen in the house.


The approximate four months without fresh tomatoes is just long enough to make us really appreciate the start of harvest the next season.

[hendi_alex]

I've found that it is not energy efficient, nor very satisfying to fight mother nature. Other than tomato starts and a few herbs, we just grow things in the winter that like to grow during the winter. Our winter garden is such a pleasure, producing a nice harvest with none of the typical chores that are associated with a garden. There is almost no weeding, no bugs other than an occasional aphid colony, no watering. Just go out, harvest and prepare.

We grow kale, collards, arugula, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, broccoli, and garlic. Most years the kale, collards, arugula, parsley, and cilantro thrive from fall until late spring. Broccoli makes it until late fall or early winter, and the garlic just slowly grows, but can start being harvested in late winter or early spring. Of course the main garlic harvest takes place in early summer after the bulbs have filled out and the tops start to die.

[gixxerific]

It's absolutely impossible to grow tomatoes indoors.

That is what I have heard at least.

Check the thread that Rainbowgardner linked in her post. That might have something to do with the ripe tomatoes sitting in front of me right now.

Really there is a lot to it. Rainbow hit some good points though. The variety is the key point, you want something that can prosper in other than ideal conditions. I could go on and on but please check out that thread and if you still have questions we will go from there.

Good luck

Dono

[prettygurl]

On one point I will agree with Hendi. The tomatoes I started from seed in late fall are doing much better than the late summer ones.