Winter tomatoes?
So whenever I leave a tomato out too long and they send out sprouts, I'm viscerally compelled to stick the new babies in soil. This batch was especially vibrant and are already way too big for their (rotting) peat pots. My probably dumb question is, how much light can I get away with keeping them in once I put them in pots that will allow them to grow for real? I really want to make myself a greenhouse with an existing structure someday, but a single grow light and brick walls (1 large west picture window) need some expensive upgrades before I can move any plants out there and expect them to live. In the meantime, will regular household lights keep them alive? I've got grow-lite bulbs in a corner space for a rehab tree, but they're about '6 up and I'm not confident they're strong enough for tomatoes (I got them cheap on Amazon).
10” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 month ago
1
Best Answer
12-15 hours under grow lights for tomatoes to produce. They will definitely need a grow light though. I am growing three right now indoors. The growth is not as quick as outdoors with high heat. But I do have 2 tomatoes 🍅 . If they start to flower and you want them to produce indoors keep in mind you will have to be the bee . 🐝 The flowers will drop off quickly if not pollinated. You can:
A) take a q-tip and gently spin it around the center of flower going flower to flower. I always knock mine off doing that though. But you may have better luck.
B) give your bush a gently shake to move the pollen around when it should reach the center of the flower where it needs to be. That’s the method that works for me. Plus they should get stronger stems doing this because it’s similar to wind outdoors.
Your plants are beautiful! Have fun with your greenhouse it sounds like quite a project but will definitely be worth it!
A) take a q-tip and gently spin it around the center of flower going flower to flower. I always knock mine off doing that though. But you may have better luck.
B) give your bush a gently shake to move the pollen around when it should reach the center of the flower where it needs to be. That’s the method that works for me. Plus they should get stronger stems doing this because it’s similar to wind outdoors.
Your plants are beautiful! Have fun with your greenhouse it sounds like quite a project but will definitely be worth it!