Growing tomatoes entirely indoors?

[Deleted]

I mentioned elsewhere I moved recently.

One of the great things about this apartment is all the natural light it gets. I get the eastern sun on one side and the setting sun on the other.

Once the leaves fill in, however, there probably won't be that much direct sunlight from the west. We are NOT allowed to plant anything outside.

So, how much direct sunlight would a potted tomato plant need to produce some fruit?

[Callie]

A lot. Hours and hours a day. It's always worth a try.

[manygoatsnmore]

Are you allowed to hang a potted plant, hanging basket? There are some really nice cherry tomatoes that will grow well as a hanging basket plant.

[Deleted]

Apr 12, 2015 9:56:22 GMT manygoatsnmore said:

Are you allowed to hang a potted plant, hanging basket? There are some really nice cherry tomatoes that will grow well as a hanging basket plant.

I don't think so. They're pretty strict about what we can do. Wouldn't it be lovely if they did what they do in Britain, where they assign 'allotments', or garden plots for people who want to garden? The irony is we are surrounded by land. Guess the management doesn't want to deal with people who would not be responsible.

[manygoatsnmore]

Well, bummer on the no hanging plants.

I know Homesteader posted pics of her MicroTom tomatoes - they grow in a tiny pot and give a good number of tomatoes for their size. You could have a rack set up with a few shop lights and grow those under lights.

[Skandi]

Apr 13, 2015 1:23:30 GMT @stef said:

Apr 12, 2015 9:56:22 GMT manygoatsnmore said:

Are you allowed to hang a potted plant, hanging basket? There are some really nice cherry tomatoes that will grow well as a hanging basket plant.

I don't think so. They're pretty strict about what we can do. Wouldn't it be lovely if they did what they do in Britain, where they assign 'allotments', or garden plots for people who want to garden? The irony is we are surrounded by land. Guess the management doesn't want to deal with people who would not be responsible.

I've grown a cherry tomato on a east facing window before, it did ok, a little leggy. probably didn't get enough light, but it survived and I got tomatoes, I doubt it was ideal, but it worked.
Oh and a lot of the allotment waiting lists are closed, they already have a 10 year wait on some. So don't believe everything you hear! I have had two, one was great but a good 30min walk away, and the other had NO water, so not perfect.

[Deleted]

You could give it a try. Just remember to give the plants a bit of a shake when they bloom. That is how they pollinate. They don't need bees to get pollinated, but the wind. So you can take over the wind's part and shake them a little when in bloom.

[Maura]

We planted a Mexico Midget tomato in a large pot for outside. Well, it was so lovely that we brought it in for the winter. They do stop flowering, but for quite some time we had tomatoes. That plant got so big we had to use a piece of cattle fencing around it. Then, we put it back outside when it warmed up. Brought it inside a second winter. Jungle plant.

I think you would need to have a large pot, think a tub. You would need to have said tub on a rolling base. You would need a grow light. On wheels, you can turn the plant every day for the grow light. Keep the plant in front of the window, but realize you also need the grow light.

[Deleted]

I think growing some basic herbs would probably be my better option.

I've recently 'discovered' fresh rosemary ( where have you been all my life!?) and think a pot of that, maybe some chives, parsley and oregano would be fun.

[Chickadee]

Herbs in pots grow so beautifully on windowsills, @stef. I think that is a great idea! Plus they smell so lovely too...

[Deleted]

Optimize your light by using mirrors to direct it back towards the plant, it helps. I use grow lights to start all my tomatoes every spring. You can use aluminum foil like a mirror, to shoot the light back at the plants.Don't put the foil over the top of the fluorescent light as it will trap the heat which might possibly cause a fire. Just run the foil along the sides. You'll see what I mean when you do this. The lights need to be very close to the plants, otherwise the plants get leggy. Enjoy your experiment. And don't forget, they make those self contained grow boxes just for folks who want to grow. Ut don't have a place to plant.