I live in Zone 5b, and the temperature is dropping to around 50°F and below at night. I am considering bringing my tomato plants inside and growing them with a grow light. Has anyone had success with indoor tomato growing?
by Environmental-Sort72
7 Comments
Taycat11
I have and yes you can if it’s already established is much easier, if it’s a fresh tomato stalk you won’t get the same yield out of it but it does work just make sure to have an accurate timer for the light.
dontpretzel
It’s doable, but bear in mind that bringing plant from outside might and most likely will introduce pests to your indoor space.
mslashandrajohnson
I’ve started from seed in my basement.
Heating mats below 7×24.
Overhead lights 16 hours per day.
Oscillating fans for two hours at around 2am.
I’ve had seedlings flower in these circumstances.
Not sure if the air movement of the fans is enough to pollinate tomato flowers. The flowers are “perfect,” meaning they have both male and female parts so wind should be enough.
But the cost of electricity was becoming prohibitive. I was starting hundreds and giving half them away. It was getting expensive.
If you have a greenhouse, that would help with the cost of lighting.
Tomatoes flower if days are long enough. Winter days are too short. You’ll have to set up lights to run part of the night, if you have a greenhouse.
Tomatoes like warmth (but not too hot). Flowers are sterile, if it’s too cold or too hot. In a greenhouse, there will have to be a heat source (but not too warm).
Given unlimited resources and automated systems, you can definitely grow tomato fruit indoors.
Wickedweed
Has similar requirements to cannabis, so yes
AdhesivenessCivil581
One year I tried to extend summer by bringing my sungold plant inside. I did get a few tomatoes but the taste reverted to the miserable taste of supermarket tomatoes. I’ve never tried it again.
Yes, I grew some in lockdown during the summer, I think that’s an east facing window (morning sun), so not a huge amount of sunlight, but a shit tonne of daylight because it was a high rise flat.
Soggy_Equipment_4375
Oh yeah! Instead of bringing the whole plant inside just take a clone (easier to treat for pests). We did this last year and grew some beasts in the basement over the winter, so we had fresh tomatoes year-round:
7 Comments
I have and yes you can if it’s already established is much easier, if it’s a fresh tomato stalk you won’t get the same yield out of it but it does work just make sure to have an accurate timer for the light.
It’s doable, but bear in mind that bringing plant from outside might and most likely will introduce pests to your indoor space.
I’ve started from seed in my basement.
Heating mats below 7×24.
Overhead lights 16 hours per day.
Oscillating fans for two hours at around 2am.
I’ve had seedlings flower in these circumstances.
Not sure if the air movement of the fans is enough to pollinate tomato flowers. The flowers are “perfect,” meaning they have both male and female parts so wind should be enough.
But the cost of electricity was becoming prohibitive. I was starting hundreds and giving half them away. It was getting expensive.
If you have a greenhouse, that would help with the cost of lighting.
Tomatoes flower if days are long enough. Winter days are too short. You’ll have to set up lights to run part of the night, if you have a greenhouse.
Tomatoes like warmth (but not too hot). Flowers are sterile, if it’s too cold or too hot. In a greenhouse, there will have to be a heat source (but not too warm).
Given unlimited resources and automated systems, you can definitely grow tomato fruit indoors.
Has similar requirements to cannabis, so yes
One year I tried to extend summer by bringing my sungold plant inside. I did get a few tomatoes but the taste reverted to the miserable taste of supermarket tomatoes. I’ve never tried it again.
https://preview.redd.it/jgu8afz04ysd1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ded59b844009dc93310237ba5d88b117e654fb4f
Yes, I grew some in lockdown during the summer, I think that’s an east facing window (morning sun), so not a huge amount of sunlight, but a shit tonne of daylight because it was a high rise flat.
Oh yeah! Instead of bringing the whole plant inside just take a clone (easier to treat for pests). We did this last year and grew some beasts in the basement over the winter, so we had fresh tomatoes year-round:
https://preview.redd.it/uky7imw54ysd1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d33bf6e48a727267b064eec1811401d53b84092