A complete guide to indoor tomato gardening: Getting your homegrown indoor garden started:

A complete guide to indoor tomato gardening: Getting your homegrown indoor garden started:: "Hello all, First of all I would like to thank you for checking out this blog. I hope this guide will enable you gro..."

Getting your homegrown indoor garden started:

Hello all,
     First of all I would like to thank you for checking out this blog.
I hope this guide will enable you grow juicy ripe tomatoes in the comfort of your own home for years to come. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at leadinsteven@gmail.com

     Gardening is a proven stress reliever. It is also good to know where your produce is coming from. Additionally, organic homegrown produce will always taste better and be more fresh than any other produce bought from a store. An organic indoor tomato garden is a good way to start if you have little or no experience in gardening. Learning to grow your own tomatoes can be very rewarding.
The first thing you need to choose is a variety of tomato to your preference. There are many different types of tomato. Crack resistant tomatoes generally grow better indoors and make great sauce or paste. Cracking may occur in any tomato due to sunlight or overwatering.



Crack-Resistant Tomato Varieties include:
• Arkansas Traveler. 80 days. Pink, slicing.

• Big Beef. 70 days. Indeterminate; globe shaped, hybrid.

• Big Boy. 78 days. Indeterminate; meaty.

• Black Cherry. 65 days. Indeterminate; cherry.

• Blondkopfchen. 75 days. Indeterminate; cherry, heirloom.

• Box Car Willie. 80 days. Indeterminate; large, heirloom.

• Burpee's Big Girl. 78 days. Indeterminate; large red, hybrid.

• Burgess Crack Proof. 80 days. Indeterminate; large scarlet fruit.

• Celebrity. 72 days. Semi-determinate; medium-large.

• Chianti Rose. Beefsteak, Italian heirloom.

• Colonial. Midseason. Determinate; medium-large.

• Debarao. 72 days. Medium, deep red, paste or salads, open-pollinated.

• Delicious. 77 days. Indeterminate; large globe shape.

• Eva Purple Ball. 78 days. Indeterminate; heirloom.

• First Lady. 66 days. Indeterminate; slicing, hybrid.

• Gardener's Delight. 70 days. Indeterminate; small, round, red.

• Glamour. 74 days. Indeterminate; medium-size, heavy clusters.

• Gold Nugget. 70 days. Determinate; yellow cherry, open pollinated.

• Golden Sweet. 60 days. Indeterminate; grape.

• Grape Tomato. 60 days. Indeterminate, bright red.

• Jackpot. 70 days. Determinate, meaty.

• Japanese Black Trifele. 80 days. Indeterminate, meaty, dark fruit.

• Jet Star. 70 days. Determinate abundant producer to 8 ounces, hybrid.

• Juliet. 60 days. Indeterminate; red oblong grape, hybrid.

• Market Champion. 80 days. Indeterminate, heirloom.

• Morado. 85 days. Dark purple-pink.

• Monte Verde. Midseason. Determinate; large, hybrid.

• Mountain Fresh. 79 days. Determinate; large fruit.

• Mountain Gold. 80 days. Determinate; yellow heirloom.

• Mountain Pride. 77 days. Determinate, large, hybrid.

• Mountain Spring. 79 days. Determinate; large red.

• Park's Whopper Improved. 65 days. Indeterminate, big juicy.

• Peron Sprayless.  68 days. Indeterminate; globe shape.

• Piedmont. Mid to late season. Very large.

• Pritchard. 90 days. Indeterminate, heirloom.

• Prize of the Trials.  Cherry tomato.

• Pruden's Purple Tomato. 65 days. Indeterminate; pink-purple heirloom.

• Red Rose. 85 days. Indeterminate.

• Red Sun. Determinate; medium red.

• Rutgers. 75 days. Determinate; bright red globe-shaped.

• Santa. 60 days. Indeterminate; cherry.

• Spitfire. 75 days. Determinate; large, hybrid.

• Summer Sweet. 58 days. Indeterminate; grape, hybrid.

• Sun Gold. 57 days. Indeterminate; orange cherry, hybrid.

• Sun Sugar. 60 days. Indeterminate; yellow cherry.

• Sunpride. Midseason. Determinate; very large, matures green.

• Super Fantastic. 70 days. Indeterminate; canning, hybrid.

• Sweet 100. 65 days. Indeterminate; cherry to 1 inch in diameter.

• Sweet Chelsea. 64 days. Indeterminate; large red.

• Sweet Million. 65 days. Indeterminate; round cherry.

• Sweet Olive. 57 days. Grape, hybrid.

• Thessoaloniki. 77 days. Indeterminate; for slicing.

• Traveler 76.  76 days. Indeterminate; Southern growing, open-pollinated.

• Williamette. 70 days. Determinate; smooth, globe-shaped.

• Yellow Pear. 78 days. Indeterminate. Sweet, continuous harvest.

First things first: selecting your grow area and lighting

     The first thing that you're going to want to do is decide where you are going to grow and what type of lighting that will be used in growing your tomato garden. The tomato, which well may be our nation’s favorite, has proven to be one of the most versatile when it comes to being coaxed into growing under conditions other than what nature meant for it. With the right lighting, temperature, and variety of tomato you will be on your way to a flourishing and beautiful indoor garden. 

The Spectrum:

         

     Natural sunlight is a range of wavelengths of light which is also known as the spectrum. It is a very wide range, some which can't be seen at all. What we can see are the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, and violet. During different times of the year, the angle of the Sun is more intense than other times. The influence of the blue-green spectrum in spring is what boosts vigorous, new growth in plants. During the seasons of Spring and Summer, the angle of the sun changes the spectrum to a prevalence of red-orange. This is what promotes blooms in the Fall. The lighting we are about to discuss all try to imitate the natural phases of the Sun. This kind of light not only gives plants the right kind of energy for photosynthesis, it also tricks the plant to thinking what specific time of the year it is. This is how  indoor gardener's coax the plant into blooming in the dead of Winter.

 
     There are many types of light bulbs out there can be used to grow. Nevertheless, there are three specific types of lights that are best for growing, starting, maintaining, and blooming plants indoors.
These lights are: fluorescent bulbs, metal halide (MH), and high pressure sodium (HPS)

           

 Lighting:

            

     So what makes up good indoor lighting? A large, south-facing picture window is ideal – but not all people have access to that. Successful indoor gardeners have to augment their natural lighting with a spot grow-light or fluorescent lighting. The tomato plant needs to receive at least 12 hours of sunlight each day. Grow lights are necessary if you have small or inconveniently placed windows or if most of your Winter is spent under overcast skies. If you have a limited budget these lights can be purchased at a garden center or hardware store. Professional grow lights may be purchased at a specialty indoor grow/hydroponics shop. What you decide to use depends on how many plants you wish to grow and the size of your grow area. 

     There are few shortcuts when it comes to the lighting your indoor garden. About 60 watts/sq.ft. is recommended. High pressure sodium lights or metal halide lights will do a great job and are often the most popular choice for indoor gardeners.  I recommend the use of a 600 watt light or a 1000 watt light. Two 600 watt lights will cover a larger area and save you a few extra dollars on your utility bill. This will be one of your biggest expenses. You can expect to pay between $400 and $600 dollars. Check out your local Craigslist postings for a deal on some great used equipment.

Fluorescent Bulbs:         
           

     Regular fluorescent lighting does not put out enough usable light for a healthy grow. They and are really only good for clones, seedlings, or young plants which are in the vegetative stage. If you choose to go fluorescent, T5 lights are the only option. T5 lights produce less heat than HID lights. They only yield about half as much. We want a high yield! With fluorescent lighting it is also necessary to keep the tops of your plants within a few inches of the light.

           

Metal Halide (MH):

 

     Metal halide bulbs are plentiful in the blue-green light spectrum. They promote stocky, vigorous vegetation on the plants. Be that as it may, they burn more hot than the fluorescent bulbs. A gardener must make sure not to let the plants grow too closely to the light. This type of lighting also uses more electricity. Although they promote great growth, they do not promote the amount of flowering sites on the stems. Since they burn hot and the light has to stay up off the plants, they might even encourage some stretching. By way of explanation, the more room there is between your sets of leaves (internodal length), the more stringy your plants may become.

High Pressure Sodium (HPS):

           

     HPS bulbs imitate the red-orange part of the spectrum. This range is most prevalent in the Fall season, when yield-bearing plants produce their blooms. HPS bulbs encourage plentiful, hearty flowering with some vegetative growth. They boost a large number of flowering sites. Also, they do not burn as hot as metal halides and use less electricity.


     In the next section we will discuss soil and planting your tomato garden from seed as well as from seedling starters.

Soil selection

Seed starting soil mix:

     The first step to learning how to grow juicy tomatoes is making a good starting soil mix. I always use a standard potting soil mix with about 10% worm castings added. The ideal potting soil is usually equal parts perlite, vermiculite, and sphagnum peat. It is adjusted to the right Ph by adding 1 teaspoon of hydrated lime to every gallon of soil mix. I actually like to Ph adjust my mix this way for tomatoes because the lime is a great source of calcium and  prevents blossom end rot in tomatoes later on. I like to moisten the basic mix little by little, use plain water and Thrive Alive B1. This mix is perfect when you squeeze a handful and get a few drops out of it... but only a few. If your mix it a little too wet, add a little dry vermiculite and remix.

  "Though I've walked down many shady lane, and down several primrose paths, I can't pretend to know much about gardening."    -Truman Capote

            

Starting your tomato seeds

Starting plants from seed:

     Starting seeds is always a fragile part of growing anything. Learning how to grow tomatoes is no different. Start with an ordinary nursery tray full of your soil mix. Tomato seeds should be planted about 1/4'' deep, and  8 seeds/inch. You probably will want to cover them for the first couple of days to keep them from drying out.

     Tomato seeds germinate the best at 80 degrees. Most of the seedlings should be  up in 5 to 12 days. You should remove any cover you may have on them as soon as they begin to up. The fresh sprouts should be kept 4-6'' under fluorescent lighting. The light should be kept on 18 to 24 hours a day. When the seedlings are 1 1/2 inches tall they should be carefully transplanted into individual 6'' containers.

The life cycle of a tomato plant:

Watering your tomato garden:

     Tomatoes are the most popular vegetables grown in the home garden. One of the reasons is that they are relatively easy to grow. That does not mean that they grow without care. One of the most important parts of their care is knowing how much water do tomato plants need. Let’s take a look at how to properly water tomatoes.

 

Tips for watering tomato plants

     Water slowly, water deeply – The first rule of watering tomatoes is to make sure that you go slow and easy. Never rush the watering of tomato plants. Use a drip hose or other forms of drip irrigation to deliver water to your tomato plants slowly.
 
 
     Water regularly – How often should tomato plants be watered? There is no hard and fast rule to this. It depends on how hot it is and if the plant is actively growing. A good rule of thumb is to supply water once every 2 – 3 days.

     Water at the roots – When watering tomatoes, make sure to get the water straight to the roots. Do not water from above as this can cause disease and pests to attack the plants. Watering tomato plants from above also encourages premature evaporation and unnecessarily wastes water.

                                                                                                                           

Care of your new tomato plants: fertilizing

Tomato plant care:

    
     Proper tomato plant care is the key to having a great success in raising home-grown tomatoes.The ideal temperatures for growth are 70-75 degrees during the day and 65-67 degrees at night. When the plants reach 12 inches or more, they may need to be transplanted into one gallon containers. After 6 weeks or 8 weeks, your plants should be just about ready to begin fruiting them.

Tomato fertilizer:         

     The first thing we need to discuss in tomato plant care is the use of tomato fertilizer.

If you're like most gardener's, you'll want fruit quicker than what the plants usually produce. If you use a tomato blossom and set spray  a person can get fruit up to three weeks earlier than normal.
  Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!

     I like to use Miracle Grow to fertilize my indoor tomato garden. Their products for potted plants and container gardens are awesome. I use thier Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food  (about every 7 days.) Use this, and fresh tomatoes are just around the corner....

     Typically, when applying any water soluble fertilizer, apply directly to the tomato soil around the base of the tomato plant every 7-10 days. Make sure not to administer it over the tomato leaves. A tomato leaf doesn't react well to water sitting on its surface. This can lead to Tomato Blight.

     Follow these easy steps and you'll have tomato plants that are 6 feet high!! The problem  is that they get SO tall, I have trouble keeping them from falling over with all the weight from the fruit. Make sure to provide ample support for fruiting tomatoes with a tomato cage.

Tomato plant care part II: disease and pest prevention

Tomato Disease

     Tomato diseases can vary from fungal diseases to viral diseases and leaf spotting.
A great number of tomato plants found at your local nursery are extremely disease resistant. This makes tomato plant care a little easier than the days of old.

 

Shopping for Tomato Plants

     When selecting plants, especially non-hybrids (known as heirlooms), pay close attention to the "look" of the tomato. Look for any yellowing on existing leaves or yellowing on new leaves. This  is probably a viral-disease contaminated plant.
     Take note of any spotting. Spots can occur on the top or the under-side of the leaf. Stay clear of any tomato plants that have rings or streaking on the leaf or stem. This too could be stemming from a viral disease. The best tomato plant of the bunch will be one that is short and stocky with a nice deep green color.

 

Existing Tomato Plants

     Now to discuss existing container tomato plants at your home. Planter gardening soil lends itself to be extremely sterile and great in the cultivation of tomatoes. The sterile soil is also g for preventing soil-borne fungal diseases which tomato plants are susceptible to. A few things that need to be watched for are tomato plant diseases such as tomato blight and tomato blossom-end rot.

Tomato Wilt Disease

     Tomato wilt can cause absolute devastation to any number of tomato plants.

 

Tomato Blight

       
     Blight disease comes from too much moisture absorbed on the leaves. This can occur from too much rainfall and also water from sprinkler systems. Since we're growing indoors don't worry about the method used in watering plants outside. In the world of tomato plant care, don't water over the tomato leaves, rather directly to the soil. The less moisture on the leaves, the better.

 

Blossom-End Rot

     A tomato plant disease worth mentioning is blossom-end rot. It occurs from improper watering. Watering too little or too much can have terrible consequences on all tomato varieties. Shallow watering forces the plants roots to grow upward in search of nutrients when a plant doesn't receive enough water.
 A gardening tip for watering tomato plants is to lightly mulch the plant. This will hold much needed water in the soil. When a plant receives too much water, the roots are deprived of oxygen. Hence, the plant is starved of calcium. If a gardener is suspect that a tomato plant needs calcium, apply crushed eggshells around the base of the plants' stem. The use of eggshells return calcium back to the soil.

 

Tomato Pests

     When doing any normal garden care, gardener's must be ready to deal with gardening pests.

 Tomato Hornworm            

Thrip

     First, we'll discuss some tomato bugs known as thrips.

The thrip is a really small green to brown insect that can be responsible for carrying diseases from one plant to another.  A good way to suspect you have a tomato thrip is by noticing signs of tomato spotted wilt disease. You won't be able to see thrips. Symptoms noticed are blackened, dead looking spots on the tops of the plants. Streaks of black or a dark color can be noticed running down the stems.

 

Treatment

 

     How to get rid of thrips?  Use a product called NATURAL RX. I recommend this spray for thrip control. It  will do the job in a very quick amount of time. For tomato plant care, a dust application might be suitable. Look for a product called Permethrin Dust. It is a bit messier than a spray. But anyone using dusts before know the advantages of this choice. Gardener's can see where the application has taken place. Consistent and even coverage is key for good tomato plant care.
Last on my list would be an Insecticidal Soap. It works very effectively but will need to be applied at least twice a week if you know you have a thrip problem.

 

 

 

Aphids      Next on the tomato pest list is a pesky little critter known as the aphid. A common symptom of the aphids would be yellowing leaves and leaf curl. You might also notice stunted plant growth. Notice of a shiny leaf could be a sign of "honeydew" which is a shiny and sticky excrement left behind by the aphid creates this effect.

Treatment

     Any of the above mentioned products will very easily work for aphid control!

 

 

Tomato Hornworm

     A downright foliage eating machine. This tiny tomato worm will eat everything from leaves to your beautiful growing fruit. As you can see from the picture under Tomato Problems, Tomato Hornworms are hard to spot. Happy Hunting!!!  Black droppings left behind by this terrible little creature would be a way to notice an invasion.
If you do spot one, you'll notice a green, reddish horn on the " behind !"

Treatment

Pick them off by hand!!
EASY! EASY!
     Just put on some gloves and pick them off. The plants can also be treated with a common vegetable insecticide. Keep some brand names such as Biotrol or Dipel on hand for existing and future tomato plant care.

Flowering tomatoes:

Begin Flowering your Tomatoes

        
     Flowering is most likely one of the trickiest parts of how to grow tomatoes indoors. You will need to be familiar with how to force flowering in plants. Whatever you call it: blooming, flowering, flower forcing, or photo-period manipulation it is all the same thing. Some plants measure the dark periods and light periods of each day and change their growth patterns based on that information.

     A few tomatoes flower in 60 days and others take up to 80 days, beginning from the time you force flowering. Just as this process is begun, to make the final transplant into 3 gallon containers.

         
     For the first couple of weeks,  feed them heavy with a 10-52-70 or similar fertilizer. Each time they need water give them food also at 800 ppm. This would be a little over half of the recommended "full strength" on the directions. Keep in mind you are feeding them each time you water them. For the rest of the season, feed them 16-16-16 or similar at 800ppm.

Tomato flower pollination:

     If flowering is the trickiest part of how to grow tomatoes, then pollination must be the trickiest part of flowering. As soon as flowers develop and begin to open, you must pollinate everyday while it is warm and humid. Ideally, the humidity will be 65 to 70 percent. Greenhouse growers usually do this between 11:30am and 12:30pm (basically noon) when these conditions occur naturally. For them, early and late day pollination often will not produce proper crops. Since we are manipuating the light spectrum pollinating your plants at the time you wish should not be a problem!

     This is a tomato flower. Part A is the male anthers that will drop the pollen. Part B is the female carpels that will catch the pollen. The little red arrow is where it all takes place.

Most male anthers produce their pollen on the outsides of the anthers. This makes it easy to release pollen into the wind for pollination. In the tomato plant pollen is produced internally as if trapped in a straw. This is the biggest problem in tomato pollination. The plant needs vibration at the right frequency such as the buzzing of a bees wings. The best way to dislodge and release the pollen I have found is to take an electric toothbrush to each support truss and main branch. The more pollen that successfully fertilizes the plant, the more seeds will be produced in the fruit therefore, the meatier the tomato will be.

Final notes:

     Just some final notes for you on how to grow tomatoes. Flowering plants need a stronger light to grow properly developed fruit. Additionally, always use a little lime in the transplant soil to prevent blossom end rot. A dose of Cal-Mag once your tomatoes have fruit set would be a good idea. Finally, the vines that grow from leaf axials are called suckers.  They should be pruned off throughout flowering. "Suckers", suck up food that would normally be used to grow nice tomatoes. In 60 to 80 days you should be enjoying some homemade spaghetti sauce yourself!

     There are many places where you can go wrong when it comes to garden grow lights for an indoor garden. There are only three types of lights that are really cut out for growing plants. They are fluorescent grow lights, metal halide (MH) grow lights, and high pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights. Any of these can be used as a garden grow light.

     Light loses it's "punch" quickly as it travels away from the bulb. Plants  need to be kept within a certain distance from the light. This is especially true with fluorescent lights.

     Thanks for reading my blog on growing tomatoes indoors. Please feel free to comment or email me with any suggestions or questions.