If this is your first time growing tomatoes indoors and you want to know how to grow big ones, keep reading this article!
Though tomatoes are not commonly grown indoors, nobody said they can’t be! If you maintain the right conditions for them to grow in your home, you will be rewarded with big, luscious tomatoes every season!
Quick Tips to Grow Big Tomatoes Indoors
1) Give Your Tomato Plants A Lot of Sunlight
Tomatoes are warm-season plants that require direct sun for at least six to eight hours daily. This means that if you want a good harvest indoors, the ideal spot for your tomato plant would be near a bright, south—or west-facing window. But that’s not all! You must also rotate the pot daily so your tomato shows excellent, healthy growth and sets fruit. As an indoor-growing plant does not naturally receive direct sunlight from all sides, rotating it is non-negotiable.
You can also go a step forward and consider moving it to your patio or open balcony during the daytime to make up for its sunlight needs, especially in the fall and spring when mere dappled sunlight would not do.
Also, in that case, remember to bring it indoors as the sun goes down. The daytime temperature should be in the upper 70s of the mercury, and nighttime temperatures must not fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, as tomato plants do not survive in the cold at all.
2. Pick the Right Varieties
While tomatoes are quite easy to grow outdoors, harvesting them indoors will require you to pick just the right varieties that can produce large quantities even indoors. Pick determinate tomatoes to boost the chances of a healthy harvest when growing indoors.
3. Little Bit of Pruning Goes A Long Way
Start by removing suckers—those small shoots that grow between the stem and branches. This helps direct the plant’s energy towards producing more fruit than foliage. Also, trim the lower leaves to improve air circulation and reduce disease risk.
4. Provide them Proper Support
Tomato plants grow better when they are provided enough support to grow. You can use potted stakes or support the stems against the window so they can stand erect and take the weight of the fruits.
5. Tomatoes Need Feeding Too
For the big harvest of your dreams, you must feed your tomato plant quite heavily! Choose an organic slow-release fertilizer specialized for tomato plants and feed your plant according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Remember to flush them properly while watering to avoid salt burn in the medium.
6. Ensure Pollination
Being self-pollinating plants, tomatoes don’t need the help of insects. However, you must remember they need hand pollinating when grown indoors. This means you will need to gently shake the stems daily to ensure the spread of pollen. You could gently touch each bloom with a cotton swab and then spread pollen from one blossom to another.
Alternatively, you can get an oscillating fan at a lower speed setting to mimic the natural wind conditions that would help spread pollen in the blooms.
