My Indoor Garden 11-11.

[Signal30]

I posted months ago that I started a indoor garden where all plants were solely relying on artificial light and keeping the soil healthy with food and fertilizer. With a few tips from some of you and a green house caretaker for a university that is a friend of mine, I have mainlining 3 plants.

One of the three plants is a tomato plant. The goals of the tomato and the other two plants are to keep them alive and healthy, and continue to have them flower and produce veggies and fruit.

The three plants I am growing are a cherry tomato plant, a Habanaro, and a Basil. The images are explained below.





The first above image is my indoor growing area. The only light these three plants are getting is from 5 CFL daylight bulbs.






The next two images are two clusters of cherry tomatoes that are growing. I bought this plant in July and the label said it was a Cherry tomato plant. Usually this plant has been producing three tomatoes per branch with the biggest being about the size of a golf ball. I have been noticing that these almost appear to be a beef master type because some of them have a pumpkin type form.




This above image is the other two plants a Habanro and Basil. Both these plants have been growing well and I recently had to trim back the Habanaro plant because the canopy of it was getting huge.





This last image is of the habanero peppers I have been getting from it. Good peppers and obviously hot.



The tomato plant has been getting a organic plant food called Tomatoes Alive (6-2-2) The other two plants get a Miracle Grow liquid plant food where I use a medicine dropper and put 3 to 4 drops per a full indoor watering can. The yellow plastic has a sticky chemical on it to trap the gnats, (I was told that their larvae can damage the roots. ) Hopefully I can get all the plants to stay alive and thrive through the winter and into the spring. I will post updates in this thread through the winter.
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[OROZCONLECHE]

That is pretty cool, and smart I should give my plants thise nutrients to help them grow better

[Signal30]

I was told that it would be extremely hard to successfully grow a tomato plant indoors just using artificial light. That it would not be worth the cost of the type of lights I would need and the power to light them.

100 watt CFL daylight bulbs cost around 8 bucks for a two pack at Home Depot. The back reflector is a old photography reflector I no longer use and the side reflectors are simply poster board with foil attached to it. The light harness was made out of PVC and I painted it with black spray paint. The clamp lights came from Big Lots for around 6 bucks each.

The reasons I am doing this is because it's a challenge, I will like garden tomatoes in the winter, and the smell alone of the tomato plant will be nice in the dead of winter. I sometimes get a bit of seasonal depression.

I forgot to add that I use a battery powered toothbrush to pollinate the flowers.

[rainbowgardener]

Very nice! Do keep us posted. How many hours a day are the lights on?

[Signal30]

Very nice! Do keep us posted. How many hours a day are the lights on?

7AM to 9PM. I haven't been noticing a high electric bill. This set up is in my office. It's kind of a dark room so the lights do a good job lighting it up.

[Signal30]

Update on the indoor garden:

The tomato plants is still doing fine. It only produces 2 to 4 cherry to golf ball size tomatoes every month. When the season starts, I will plant it and let it grow to it's full potential.

The Habanro got rid of because I don't use a lot of the peppers. I replaced the Habanro with a Purple Flash I grew from seed. When the season arrives I will also take it outside and make it a out door potted plant.

I have also been growing basil from seed, letting it grow, pull it, dry it, and plant another seed. I won't ever need to buy basil for the rest of my life...lol.

Around May, I will shut down the indoor garden for the regular gardening season. October I'll buy another tomato plant of a different type and start all over again.

Tomatoes Alive is the fertlizer I am using and works really well. Sorry I do not have any pics with this post. I'll post some later.

[klevelyn]

I Set up a hydroponic garden of lettuce. Here is a picture.


The lettuce is in cups held in place with foam which floats on water with fertilizer solution. This worked great. I have the lights on for 12 hours a day. The lights are set up on a timer.

[Signal30]

Wait, someone is as crazy as I am?

Very nice.

[klevelyn]

It isn't much, but keeps me happy in the winter until spring and I get to dig in the dirt again.

Here is a tomato I grew a few years ago one winter.

[rainbowgardener]

Many of us would love to not eat store-bought tomatoes in winter, kvelyn. Tell us more how you did that. Was it hydroponic? What kind of lighting did you use? When did you start the seed/plant? etc

[klevelyn]

I used an ebb and flow system. Granite pea gravel in plastic dish pans hold the plants. I started my tomato plants and then put them in the gravel. I planted the tomatoes when they were 5 to 6 inches tall.

The ebb and flow system delivers a nutrient solution to the plants twice a day. The solution washes down through the gravel and moistens the plant roots. It then drains out into a 5 gallon bucket. I used a pump on a timer to wash the roots 2 times a day.

About an inch or two of solution stays in the bottom of the containers so the roots of the larger plants always have some moisture. the gravel has air pockets for the roots.

I used standard 4 foot shop lights with two cool bulbs each. 2 of them for a 4 x 15 inch grow bench. Lights were on chains so they could be adjusted as the plants grew. The lights were on a timer to deliver 12 hours of light each day and the window had filtered outdoor light coming through during the day.

I also sprinkled the vegetable seeds on the gravel and they grew. I did some spinach this way.

The planters have spinach on the left, sweet basil and radishes in the middle and a tomato on the right.