HelpfulGardener.com

Hey team!
I mentioned to a few of you that I've planted a San Marzano tomato plant without knowing anything at all about growing tomatoes :') I just chucked the seed in the pot and hoped for the best!

This is it in it's current state - the broken branch is thanks to an eager younger brother wanting to help with the gardening who found the garden tools..!

Is it going to survive the Melbourne winter? I'm considering bringing it inside to a northern window (the sunniest down here in Aus!) as the nights start to get colder.
Are tomatoes generally a one season plant or are they meant to last a while if taken care of?
The packet says this bad boy will get to around 180cm. Should I be transferring it to a bigger pot at all? The straw is my feeble attempt at keeping the soil a little warmer as winter sets in.

Tomatoes are basically annual though Indeterminate varieties can live for quite a while -- usually taken down by diseases. BUT San Marzano is a Determinate variety and will only live until it fruits all at once. I *have* noticed that there are some Determinate varieties that will grow new shoots from the base of the plant and repeat the growth cycle, and do this again and again -- Tatjana repeat-grew four times for me before it really died.

What is the coldest Melbourne winter temperature?
I like experimenting with trying to grow tomatoes indoors in the winter. I've done it every winter... except the last one.

You do need good light and I mean more than natural sunlight from the window. You'll need to set up some kind of supplemental lights. Tomatoes need even more light than peppers when grown indoors during the winter. (I find peppers are easier overall).

Here's the thread from 2015-16 winter
Subject: 2015-2016 Winter Indoor (Tomatoes, etc.) Garden

Typical detailed, rambling, verbose, and photo heavy thread as most of mine are -- so open at your own risk
...but if interesting to you, go ahead and scroll down to the bottom of the page from there for more related threads from other years/winter experiments.

What an incredible thread and winter garden - so much going on! My measly garden looks pathetic in comparison We all start somewhere though I suppose. (Was a little heartbroken when I read about the fate of poor squeaky.. )

Well it's still 2 weeks until official winter here, but at the moment the average low overnight is between 9-11C, which is 48-52F. The days have still been reaching around 60F with the same forecast for the next week or so, but it only gets colder from here.

I don't really have the space/money for any fancy grow lights, no idea where I would set them up if I did get some. I'm a uni student still living at home

Might just concentrate on my winter garden and get myself way more prepared for the next tomato season now that I have a bit more of an idea.

[quote="Bethkay12"] I don't really have the space/money for any fancy grow lights, no idea where I would set them up if I did get some. I'm a uni student still living at home

If it helps, I lived most of my adult life as a student (or on a student's budget- one or the other haha) and in a 300sf apartment. BELIEVE. Some of the smaller ones here are less expensive and can sit on a countertop: https://www.gardeners.com/buy/indoor-gar ... ow-lights/ You can also save if you have one of those modular metal racks (love them) and just get the light fixture.

Also, as far as growth size of indeterminates, it really rides on how you prune them. I've trained indeterminates to a single stake and grown them to 9', and I've also lopped the top in some cases to let the plant bush out a bit more. You can do a lot to dictate size with this type of tomato by pruning to redirect its energy where you want.