Early spring, as I was preparing my tomato plants for planting in the greenhouse and outside, I had an idea: What if I keep one inside, and see how she might fare in my kitchen?
Fast forward to late autumn, and my tomato took over the kitchen. It took quite some time, but to my surprise, she even gave me some gifts! I did not pick many tomatoes from her, but she gifted me at least a few handfuls of very tasty cherry tomatoes, and I felt very happy!
Now, winter is coming, and my tomato gives no signs of slowing down. She is green, vibrant, and BIG. She has flowers, too, but it does not feel like she is about to give more fruit any time soon. She teaches me patience.
Did anyone else experiment with indoor tomatoes? I have no idea what kind of tomato plant this is, as I save seeds from previous harvests, and this one was a purely random plant. What can I do to make her life better? I suppose some tomato sorts are better suited for indoor thriving than others. I'd love to hear everything you know about this, as it would truly be amazing if I could have a few homegrown fresh tomatoes to enjoy over the winter, and never ever have to buy tasteless ones from the supermarket.
Thank you in advance for your tips and wisdom!
by sarienn
6 Comments
Very cool đ. How does pollination work? You do it by hand? Maybe it will give more fruit if you imitate a bee and go from flower to flower with a little brush.
You need to learn how to cordon your plant, youâd get alot more fruit
“Omg Diane your plant is so beautiful in that corner what is it?”
Tomato.
OK but actually I like to make a new plant from cuttings once in a while to keep things going in case it gets sick/dies off. They can last a while with fertilizer though. You may want to trim it back a bit so it stays where it gets the most sun as well. Indeterminate tomatoes seem to grow forever like a vine.
You should get a bush tomato.
Red robin, tiny Tim, there’s a bunch more too
I took a black krim plant in when it started to get cold, I have it under some HLG grow lights in my garage. I added some compost and 444 fertilizer, mixed into the soil gently (but mostly itâs just a top layer) – and thereâs plenty of new growth on what was already a fairly established plant- even new tomatoes.
Other Redditors in old posts said something like âindeterminate tomatoes are a tropical vine and will grow indefinitely provided theyâre warm enough and have the nutrientsâ – so it should be interesting to see how far we can get. If you have the ability, adding an LED grow lights would help it get through these darker months nicely!
Looks like you’re quite far south but the window will still be of no help. To our eyes it might look somewhat bright for a few hours but it’s not enough to make a difference.
I would either use some reflective curtains that you can close or try to move the plant. You’ll need light, lots of artificial light. Remember the inverse-square law? If not read it and weep…
That being said it’s not that hard to grow indeterminate tomatoes indoors. I over wintered a few plants for several years to act as the control when stabilizing my own variety. The first year I wanted fruit, ended up with a room in the basement filled with mylar, aluminium foil, 1kw of LEDs and the plants going everywhere. I’m very lucky there was no desease or pests.
The following years I just coiled up the stem and kept one tip growing, only providing light to the tip. I rooted all the pruned tips as back-up (which I never ended up needing)…
You could probably get away with using something like a 200w high bay and hang some mylar (nöd/överlevnadsfilt) to keep the light in. Set the timer to run the lights when you’re sleeping or at work and take down the mylar when the lights are off.