No Sweat to Growing Tomatoes Indoors: Just Tap the Plant?

Well Mr. Cox seems to present it as a tap on the stem to pollinate the plants. The entry below this one talked about an electric toothbrush to simulate the bee and thus the vibration releases the pollen. Now I hope I can just tap the plant vs. brush the plant.  One thing about gardening, you learn as you go. Seems like a 6 in pot is all I need.

Grow Your Own Tomatoes Indoors This Winter

Original Link

By Robert Cox, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Agent, Horticulture

Tomatoes here, tomatoes there, tomatoes everywhere. When we're adrift in a sea of tomatoes, why a column about growing more tomatoes?

Think about the taste of those store-bought facsimiles you purchased last January and you have the answer. Those pale, hard, tasteless, imitations made you long for the real thing. This winter, you can have it.

You don't need a green thumb or a greenhouse to grow vine-ripened tomatoes indoors. "Window-sill" tomatoes will do well in 6-inch pots filled with good potting soil. You'll also need the right tomato seed, seed starter mix, fertilizer, and plant stakes. Presto! Tomato salad comin' up!

Window-sill tomatoes are smaller than their outdoor relatives -- quarter-to-half-dollar-size. But don't let their small size fool you -- they come with a big tomato taste. They aren't "slicers," but they are perfect for salads or snacks.

Here's how to grow a winter tomato garden:

You can grow one plant in a 6-inch pot or two plants in larger pots. For a continuous winter supply, start one or two new plants from seed every two weeks. Recommended varieties are Pixie, Patio, Toy Boy, Small Fry or Tiny Tim. These varieties will produce small plants, but they still may need to be staked, especially when they begin to bear fruit. Quarter-inch dowels make good stakes.

Germinate seeds in a small pot with starter mix. Plant seeds about 1/4 inch deep and water. Keep starter mix moist but not soggy. Germination should occur in 5 to l0 days.

Transplant from starter mix into potting soil when seedlings are about 3 inches tall. Fertilize regularly, but lightly, beginning about two weeks after transplanting. Water plants thoroughly, but not too frequently. A catch pan under the pot will keep windowsills dry.

When plants bloom, help Mother Nature along: Tap the main stem and larger side branches with your finger. This moves the plant slightly and encourages pollination. As you tap the plant, you might see a small cloud of pollen falling from the open flowers.

Turn plants occasionally, so all sides get a fair share of sunlight. After each plant has provided a bumper crop and has become unproductive, cut it off at the base, saving the potting soil for future transplants. Toss the old plant in the compost pile.

THE STORY BEHIND STORE-BOUGHT TOMATOES

To satisfy our year-round demand, commercial suppliers plant tomato varieties suitable to production and shipping needs. Often, these tomatoes lack the taste, color or texture that most people prefer. To better withstand shipping, they usually are picked at the "mature green" stage. To complete ripening at their destination, they are gassed with ethylene, a natural plant hormone that is part of the ripening process.

A United States Department of Agriculture study found that ethylene gas has no effect on the tomato's nutritional quality. Surprisingly, such tomatoes provide only slightly less beta carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A, and vitamin C than the tastier vine-ripened fruits. One 5-ounce tomato -- whether home-or-greenhouse grown -- provides a third of our daily needs for these vitamins, along with some iron, fiber and B vitamins.

A Glimpse at Growing Tomatoes Indoors

Well, I decided I want to grow tomatoes indoors. Not seedlings but full plants. I am beginning my search for information. I thought I would share this entry from Jasons-indoor-guide-to-organic-and-hydroponics-gardening.

The above link has great pictures regarding pollination. First thing to keep in mind is forcing flowers. I did not know that would be an issue. Second thing to keep in mind if finding an electronic vibrating bee. Read below. Very interesting.

Back to my search. I think it would be great to have some cherry tomato plants in the house. I wonder if there are self pollinating tomato varieties?

The linked entry below: (Just the words, I could not copy the pictures)

Learning how to grow tomatoes indoors can be very rewarding. My own organically grown produce always tastes better than the store bought. My mouth waters thinking about my next fresh tomato salsa or the smell of a garlicky homemade spaghetti sauce simmering. Mmmm, let's get started!

For an indoor garden, you will want to choose a crack resistant variety. Not only will these tomatoes do better indoors under lights, but these varieties also tend to be the better sauce/paste tomatoes.

Seed Starting Soil Mix

The first step to learning how to grow tomatoes is preparing a good starting soil mix. The mix I always use is a standard potting soil mix with about 10% worm castings added. Standard potting soil is usually equal parts perlite, vermiculite, and sphagnum peat and is adjusted to the right Ph by adding 1 teaspoon of hydrated lime for every gallon of soil mix. I actually like to Ph adjust my mix this way for tomatoes because the lime is a good source of calcium, which prevents blossom end rot in tomatoes later on.

I moisten the initial mix little by little, using plain water and Thrive Alive B1. The mix is just right when you squeeze a handful and get a few drops out of it... but only a few. If you mix it a little too wet, just add a little dry vermiculite and remix.
Starting your Tomato Seeds

Starting seeds is always a delicate part of growing anything, and learning how to grow tomatoes is no different. Start with a regular nursery tray full of your soil mix. Tomato seeds should be planted 1/4 inch deep, and about 8 seeds/inch. You may want to cover them for the first few days to keep them from drying out.

Tomato seeds germinate best at 80 degrees, and should be mostly up in 5 to 12 days. Remove any cover you may have on them as soon as they begin popping up. The fresh sprouts should be kept 4 to 6 inches under fluorescent lighting. The light should be kept on 18 to 24 hours a day. When they are 1 1/2 inches tall, carefully transplant them into their own 6 inch containers.

Tomato Plant Care

The easiest step of how to grow tomatoes. Keep them under 2 or 3 fluorescent lights that you leave on 18 to 24 hours every day. I usually feed them Maxsea 16-16-16 at this point, although they could probably use even more nitrogen (the first number). The strength of the solution is about 600 ppm, which is 1 rounded teaspoon of Maxsea/gallon. I also add 10 ml/gallon Thrive Alive B1.

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 transplanting to one gallon containers. After 6 weeks or 8 weeks, your plants should be just about ready to begin fruiting them.

Begin Flowering your Tomatoes

Flowering is one of the trickiest parts of how to grow tomatoes indoors. You will need to be familiar with how to force flowering in plants. Some tomatoes flower in 60 days and others take up to 80 days, beginning from the time you force flowering. Just as you begin this process, you want to make your final transplant into 3 gallon containers.

For the first two weeks, you want to feed them heavy with a 10-52-70 or similar fertilizer. Each time they need water give them food also at 800 ppm, which 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, than 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.

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, making it easy to release pollen into the wind for pollination. In the tomato plant, however, pollen is produced internally, as if trapped in a straw. This is the biggest problem for tomato pollination.

The plant needs vibration at the right frequency, such as the buzzing of a bees wings, to dislodge and release the pollen. The best way I have found to do this is to take an electric toothbrush to each support truss and main branch. The more pollen to successfully fertilize the plant, the more seeds will be produced in the fruit (and therefore the meatier the tomato will be).

Final Indoor Tips

Just some final ideas for you on how to grow tomatoes. Flowering plants need stronger light to grow properly developed fruit. Check out high pressure sodium lighting tips if you have any doubts. Also, 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 not be a bad idea. Finally, the vines that grow from leaf axials are called suckers, and should be prunned off throughout flowering. They 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!

Well It is Time for the 2011 Gardening Season to Start: Seeds and Catalogs

I have been busy with my family and kid's sports. I've been managing my other blog Game On Youth Ice Hockey. I pretty much neglect gardening from October till January. The good news is I did manage to put in the radishes, kales, and other cold weather crops. I kept picking until mid November.

NOW. It is time to collect seeds. Yep. I collect my tomato seeds now off the dried fruits on the vine. I just bag and tag them. I am keeping three or four varieties that did well.

I am also ordering all my free catalogs. Here is a list of ones I ordered. Nothing like thumbing through next years potential when its 25 degrees out.

Free Catalogs:
Territorial Seeds
Harris Seeds (multiple catalogs)
Tomato Growers
Totally Tomato (multiple catalogs)
Park Seeds
Rare Seeds
Stoke Seeds

A Full Line of Quality Medical Scrubs, Uniforms, and Accessories

My wife has been in the medical profession for 15 years. She wears scrubs every single day. I found a great website for quality, comfortable, and stylish scrubs. Blue Sky Scrubs carries the finest and most fashionable medical scrubs and hats available to you or in my case as a gift for my wife. If you have to wear something everyday, you might as well make sure they are fun, fashionable, and professional.

Shopping at their site is easy and they offer a huge selection of hospital uniforms and scrubs, nursing scrubs, medical hats, medical coats, jackets, and they even have their own line of designer surgical hats that can only be purchased online. The have excellent shipping rates and offer free shipping for orders over one and fifty dollars. My wife typically orders scrub sets to keep things simple. You can order sets or mix and match as your style and comfort standards dictate. Check out the huge selection of medical uniforms and scrubs at Blue Sky Scrubs. They have everything you need.

My Daugher Found Style With Cole Haan Shoes

As I spend time searching the internet for seed catalogs and indoor growing supplies, my daughter enjoys using the internet to shop for shoes. She enjoys finding “stylish fashion bargains” that save me money.  And you know what? - she did. Shopping on-line at Zappos.com provides the buyer with two great money saving conveniences. They offer free shipping and free returns. This policy saves you money before you even shop. They even offer a 1 year return policy. If you are shopping on-line; free shipping, free returns, and a 1 year return policy is must. Now you have no reason not to take a look at the high quality shoes and styles of Cole Haan.

Cole Haan is a company that has been in business since 1928. Cole Haan not only met my daughter's standard for fashion bargains, they met her standard for the newest styles. They had what she wanted. She was fond of the Cole Haan Aire Laurie Mule. A stylish backless slip-on sneaker. Cole Haan not only sets quality and style standards in shoes but offers other luxurious product lines for handbags, belts, and eyewear. Cole Haan offers beautiful products people love to own, because they pay attention to the details. No two products are alike. They hand craft their products using the highest quality materials and create products that meet artisan standards.

It isn't about following style, it is about leading the charge. Every season Cole Haan adds exciting new products to their line of shoes, handbags, sunglasses, and leather goods. If you want quality, style, and luxury in a pair of shoes or two, Cole Haan shoes will exceed your standards. Free shipping, free returns, and a 1 year return policy makes shopping for Cole Haan products a bargain.