cherry tomatoes grown inside under lights?

[gardenbandit]

Hello there, new to this site, semi new to indoor gardening.

Was wondering what kind of cherry tomatoes i would get under the following circumstances:

250 watts of light, with a 5600k and 2100k mixture. About 17,000 lumens. All in a small white box that i will make bigger as the plants grow.

plan on having several plants under there. Have grown other plants under these kinds of lights with great success (just have to keep the bulbs close to the plants) but never tried fruit.

thanks in advance for your opinions and thoughts!

[bustani.mama]

i would think any should? look at the aerogarden it sounds like youre trying a variation of that

they have red and yellow cherry tomato packs they sell but really? you can grow ANYTHING it seems in an aerogarden (no carrots/roots)

[malkore]

I've done the aerogarden thing as well. Yeah, it works, but its hardly ideal and their bulbs lose a lot of spectrum, and really need more lumens output.

It should work though, and lining your box with mylar might be better than just white paint, but taht's an upgrade you can do later.

just be sure to give the plants some support...maybe run a few horizontal dowel rods inside the box and use twist ties as needed.

trim the young plants too, to encourage the right amount of 'bushy' growth vs height.

[bustani.mama]

really? is tyhat why youre to replace every 6 months? im iun my 2nd year like 4th growing season attempt thing with my first bulbs and everyone looks ok to me physically

ive only been raised/beds whole life containers 7 years seeds 2 hydro 1ish--what do i know?

[malkore]

really? is tyhat why youre to replace every 6 months? im iun my 2nd year like 4th growing season attempt thing with my first bulbs and everyone looks ok to me physically

ive only been raised/beds whole life containers 7 years seeds 2 hydro 1ish--what do i know?

it depends on the bulbs you use. Metal Halide bulbs work a long time.
Compact Fluorescents and standard tubes degrade at 6 months to about half the usable spectrum as new. But, if you're throwing a ton of lumens down, it doesn't matter quite so much.

I note more leggy, less bushy growth when bulbs are past their prime. Some plants will care a lot less though. If you're happy, stick with it. If it seems the plants are suffering, might be time to replace bulbs.

[Chilli]

My lighting is around the same, and it seems to be a little above the minimum in order to bear fruit. you're all good.