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lakelady · September 7, 2011

I'm planning to have a fun little project this winter growing tomatoes indoors, as I know some others are also doing. If anyone else wants to contribute to this thread, we can keep it all in one place as a point of reference and follow each other's progress, so feel free to post away...

This year I've started buying lots of different seeds for varieties I'd like to try, so the thought occurred to me that I should try to grow some tomatoes indoors this winter in containers. As it is just an experiment, and I don't expect a bountiful harvest (well, I wish I would get one!), I'm not going to expect too much, but wanted to have some fun, at minimal cost.

So, while the weather is not too cold yet, I wanted to start seedlings now while they can still benefit from some real sunshine. Currently, they are about 2 weeks old on my screened porch in front of a window, and on nicer days I bring them outside for some fresh air. I didn't choose all small, or specificially for container plants, I just bought a few dwarfs, and then seeded a few others I already had. My kitchen has a 3 glass door slider, southern exposure and vaulted ceilings. My living room has a bump out bay window also with southern exposure. Once the leaves fall from the trees, I'll get a lot of direct sun in those two locations. Additionally, the house is kept at 68 degrees on the thermostat, but my kitchen gets to about 75 degrees when the sun is out because it has a vaulted ceiling and skylights as well. Nice and sunny and warm. So I think I will be okay with temps. It is a matter to me now of growing medium, water, nutrients and some supplemental lighting. I'm not making a grow closet or anything like that, but I'll figure it out as I go along if that needs to be done.

I spend so much time agonizing over things I do sometimes, like my gardens, and then people like my mom just stick some seeds in dirt, and viola, they get flowers or vegetables with no effort. So this time I'm going to do what I think needs to be done, and try not to get all OCD over it, lol...

So, that being said, I'm going into this without high expections, but hoping to have a nice surprise in getting some tomatoes, and also being able to try a few varieties i've really wanted to taste too. Besides, I have tomato plants I have literally tried to kill that just keep growing with no care at all on my deck but I can't bring myself to dump them....so they can be pretty sturdy fellows after all sometimes.

I'll post pics tonight, but I've got a few dwarfs for the bay window, Dwarf Stone, Big Dwarf, and Silvery Fir Tree. The others for the kitchen are just regular plants....two I'm going to try in hanging baskets, which are Sweet Pea, and Spoon. On the floor I will have Black from Tula, Thessaloniki and Marina B, and Ildi. Just seeds i had on hand, so we'll see what happens.

Any and all suggestions as I go along are always welcome!

September 7, 2011	#1
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	Indoor Winter Tomato Project I'm planning to have a fun little project this winter growing tomatoes indoors, as I know some others are also doing. If anyone else wants to contribute to this thread, we can keep it all in one place as a point of reference and follow each other's progress, so feel free to post away... This year I've started buying lots of different seeds for varieties I'd like to try, so the thought occurred to me that I should try to grow some tomatoes indoors this winter in containers. As it is just an experiment, and I don't expect a bountiful harvest (well, I wish I would get one!), I'm not going to expect too much, but wanted to have some fun, at minimal cost. So, while the weather is not too cold yet, I wanted to start seedlings now while they can still benefit from some real sunshine. Currently, they are about 2 weeks old on my screened porch in front of a window, and on nicer days I bring them outside for some fresh air. I didn't choose all small, or specificially for container plants, I just bought a few dwarfs, and then seeded a few others I already had. My kitchen has a 3 glass door slider, southern exposure and vaulted ceilings. My living room has a bump out bay window also with southern exposure. Once the leaves fall from the trees, I'll get a lot of direct sun in those two locations. Additionally, the house is kept at 68 degrees on the thermostat, but my kitchen gets to about 75 degrees when the sun is out because it has a vaulted ceiling and skylights as well. Nice and sunny and warm. So I think I will be okay with temps. It is a matter to me now of growing medium, water, nutrients and some supplemental lighting. I'm not making a grow closet or anything like that, but I'll figure it out as I go along if that needs to be done. I spend so much time agonizing over things I do sometimes, like my gardens, and then people like my mom just stick some seeds in dirt, and viola, they get flowers or vegetables with no effort. So this time I'm going to do what I think needs to be done, and try not to get all OCD over it, lol... So, that being said, I'm going into this without high expections, but hoping to have a nice surprise in getting some tomatoes, and also being able to try a few varieties i've really wanted to taste too. Besides, I have tomato plants I have literally tried to kill that just keep growing with no care at all on my deck but I can't bring myself to dump them....so they can be pretty sturdy fellows after all sometimes. I'll post pics tonight, but I've got a few dwarfs for the bay window, Dwarf Stone, Big Dwarf, and Silvery Fir Tree. The others for the kitchen are just regular plants....two I'm going to try in hanging baskets, which are Sweet Pea, and Spoon. On the floor I will have Black from Tula, Thessaloniki and Marina B, and Ildi. Just seeds i had on hand, so we'll see what happens. Any and all suggestions as I go along are always welcome!