By David Cavagnaro, Mother Earth News
Just one encounter with a tasteless, artificially ripened, winter supermarket tomato makes you want to grow your own tangy tomatoes in the off-season. It sure did me, and now, in a good winter, at peak production, a single plant in my window produces a pint of cherry or pear tomatoes every day or two.
Although many varieties of “compact” bush tomatoes are advertised as good for container production, they won’t perform well over a long winter. These are “determinate” varieties—plants with branches that grow to a certain length and then stop. They produce a finite number of fruits over a limited period, far less time than the long stretch of northern winter.
Better options for indoor winter tomatoes are “indeterminate” varieties, those that continue growing and producing indefinitely. Furthermore, I’ve found that cherry and plum types, bearing small fruits in abundance, are more productive than large slicing types.
Favorite Varieties
Because indeterminate vines bear a blossom cluster at each node, and the stems between nodes grow longer indoors in the dim light of winter than they would in summer, I recommend you choose from among the less vigorous indeterminate varieties on the market.
Sufficient light is paramount for successful indoor cherry tomato production. Choose a window as nearly floor-to-ceiling in height and as south-facing as possible.
A large-enough container will be needed at the outset, too. Choose a 5-gallon container at a minimum, and 10 is even better, to support the rather massive growth that will accumulate.
To get a head start, you can start your indoor plants from cuttings at the end of the summer. If grown from seed, indeterminate varieties must reach several feet in height before the first blooms appear, so the cuttings save precious time. To start your own, cut a branch from a favorite variety in your garden in late summer, section it into several cuttings, each with two sets of leaves. Clip off all but one leaf at the top and place the whole bundle in a jar of water in a sunny window.
Ready to Root and Bloom
The lower sections of long vines are already covered with bumps that are roots just waiting to grow, so rooting will take place very quickly. After cuttings root, pot them up and keep them outdoors, in full sun, until frost threatens. They should be well in bloom when you move them indoors, and these mature stems will produce blossoms immediately on new growth.
Train the plant, which will grow like a climbing vine, on a sturdy string trellis tied from and between small nails solidly hammered into a window frame, or build an independent trellis. Just be sure to accommodate the weight of a huge vine amply loaded with fruit.
Regular fertilization is a must to support the vigorous growth of an indeterminate tomato vine. Fish emulsion or any other liquid nutrient mix will do. Follow the instructions on the product label.
Also, be sure to consider pollination and potential pests. Tomato blossoms are internally pollinated, an act aided outdoors by the vibrations of wind and visiting bees. To mimic such movement indoors, lightly tap or shake the vines each time you water, or turn a fan on them.
Insect pests can be a much more difficult problem to solve. You can control aphids with a batch of ladybugs, which you can buy commercially or you may already be abundant in your garden.
Whiteflies, once established on an indoor tomato plant, will defoliate and kill it. The best solution is to be extremely careful to not introduce these insects indoors in the first place. Also, install yellow sticky traps before you notice any whiteflies, to catch any that sneak inside.
One final advantage to growing a tomato vine indoors in winter becomes clear in spring: You have a ready source of cuttings for a jump start for summer tomatoes. Simply repeat the procedure used in the fall and set them out as soon as any danger of frost has passed. These plants will bear well in advance of varieties started from seed.
September 18, 2020 at 10:16PM
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Winter Tomatoes | Farmingmatters | heraldstandard.com - Uniontown Herald Standard
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