Can You Grow Tomatoes Indoors?

When you are used to delicious tomatoes from your garden, is difficult to consume tomatoes from the supermarket at the end of the season and during the winter. Even if you are buying the best tomatoes, these will never be so delicious and flavorful such as the ones which are coming out freshly from your garden.

The good news is that you can grow tomatoes indoors during the cold season. In fact, you can grow tomatoes indoors anytime. If you don’t have a garden or a patio, you can still enjoy tasty tomatoes right from your tomato plant.

In this article, I will talk about what to do to have tasty tomatoes all year round. So, let’s get started.

Best Tomatoes Growing Indoors

Do you live in an apartment and you don’t have a garden or patio? Or you just want to have fresh and tasty tomatoes all around the year, but the growing season is over? Well, you are lucky, because tomatoes can be grown indoors as well.

First, you should choose an appropriate variety which will fit your home and the available space of it, because some of the varieties can grow quite large, such as 2,7 meters/9 feet. You probably don’t want such a big bush in your house.

The size of the tomato plant is important because of the growth factors that a tomato plant need, such as light and soil. Not all tomato plants like to grow in pots.

So, when you are looking for the perfect tomato variety for yourself, think about determinate varieties, because the indeterminate tomatoes are growing big.

Determinate varieties can be easily grown in pots and can be easily placed on window sills, as these don’t take up much place. Red Robin, Tiny Tim, Toy Boy and Florida Petite are just a few of the determinate varieties which I can recommend, however, there are so many more.

Or if you consider having tomato plants in a hanging basket, to save some space, then Yellow Pear or Burpee Basket King are perfect for this.

These determinate varieties will not take up too much space. However, you should keep in mind, that determinate tomato varieties will ripe all their fruits at once, so if you want to have fresh tomatoes continuously, then you should plant varieties that will mature at different times. Or you can sow seeds every two weeks or each month.

How To Grow Tomatoes Indoors?

Tomatoes will grow well indoors only if the conditions are similar to the conditions of an outdoor garden. Tomato plants like to get full sun and indirect light at least 8 hours a day. If this doesn’t get enough light, it won’t have enough energy to produce fruits.

So, consider putting your tomato plant on a window sill or near a screen door. If your house has not enough light for the plants, you should use a growing light to do the trick. But don’t forget to turn it off during the evening. While tomatoes need a lot of light, they need darkness as well.

Choosing the right pot for your tomato plants is essential. This has to be big enough for the variety chosen by you. The bigger the variety, the bigger the pot. This should be at least 12 inches deep and should have ample drainage holes.

The temperatures are also very important for tomato plants. The temperature of the room where you keep your tomato plant should be 65° to 85°F/18° to 21°C. Higher or lower temperatures will stress the plants and this will not produce fruits.

When the light and temperature are sorted, you can then sow the seeds in organically rich soil (a mix made for vegetables usually makes the magic). You can first sow them in small containers, and then replant them into their bigger and final pots, or you can sow the seeds directly to the big pot.

The tomato plants should be watered regularly, as they like wet soil, however, make sure the pot is draining well. If the soil is too wet, tomatoes will suffer, and this can lead to root rot.

Fertilizing is also very important. Tomato plants are heavy feeders; therefore, you should fertilize your plants with organic slow-release fertilizer by following the instructions on the labels.

Flowers and Fruits on Tomatoes if Growing Indoors

You might be asking how will the fruits be produced if there are no insects indoors? The good thing about tomatoes is that they are self-pollinating. They don’t need insects, birds or other pollinators to produce fruits.

You can hand-pollinate to help the flower turn into a fruit. By pollinating them, every single flower can produce fruit. Shaking the plant several times during the flowering period, helps them to release the pollen and this will get stuck to the female part of the flower.

To help the plant in producing many flowers, you should rotate your tomato plant daily so this gets light on all sides evenly. Rotating the plant helps to ripen the fruits evenly as well.

You should also stake the plants to prevent the weight of the fruits from breaking the branches.

Wrap Up

If you prefer home-grown, tasty tomatoes over bland, tasteless, supermarket tomatoes, I can relate. In this case, you can grow your own tomatoes indoors during the whole year.

But because tomatoes are usually outdoor plants, you should pay attention to the details and the circumstances that you must provide for the tomato plants.

First, you should choose a variety which grows well in a pot and its size is suitable for your home. Make sure it gets enough sunlight. Or you can use a growing light if you don’t have an available south-facing window sill.

The pot in which you plant the tomato should be big enough, otherwise, this will not produce as many fruits as it could, because the roots will not have enough space; therefore, the plant cannot get enough nutrition.

Fertilize your plants regularly and hand-pollinate as well to ensure you are having plenty of fruits to enjoy.