Indoor Grow
 

This is my first time trying tomatoes indoors in a tent under a grow light. This is what I'm using and growing. 2'x2'x4' grow tent. I started these plants under a Mars 300 led. Actual watts=135. The variety is Tiny Tim, the breeder is Hudson Valley Seed Co. The 4 plants are 18 days old. I transplanted them last night into 2 gallon fabric pots using Fox Farm Happy Frog soil.
They will be going into the above mentioned tent in one week. They will then be under a QB 135 Led.
Anyone have any advice or tips on an indoor grow?

Fungus gnats are a common indoor problem, and the answer is to water the plants with a mosquito dunk liquid before you have any gnats. Or sometimes marketed as "mosquito bits" these can just be dug into the soil or sprinkled on top right from the get go - that way you have BTi leaching into the mix every time you water. It is most effective against only one of the developmental stages of the gnats, which is hard to time if you wait until you know you have a problem. I used the mosquito bits this year for my peppers, and no root devouring gnats this time! (Aphids is another question.. sadly.)
Good luck with your grow, hope you post some more pics as it goes along.

Thanks bower, I've grown with FoxFarms soil as well as my own organic soil mix I build. I haven't had any large amounts of fungus gnats yet. I spray with neem oil and use sticky traps. I guess I've been lucky so far. I think I'll give the dunks a try. I have had several on the sticky traps and do see them sometimes in my home. Thanks for your help. I'll update this grow in a week or so when it goes into the tent.

I was gnat free the year I used coir. Now I am back to using a peat based soilless mix and those nasty fungus gnats fly right up to my mouth and love to climb the computer screen , yuck!

Dunks are pretty pricey. That will be a lot of dunks over the course of several winter months. Natrol , also pricey, did not work, I'm cheap to preemptively strike.

Tiny Tim, are you familiar with the micro dwarf breeding project? Those cherries can prodect on a sunny windowsill without additional lights. I'm giving them another try - last year spider mites invaded.


-Lisa

The yellow sticky traps work just fine for me also. They can be purchased on Amazon which is cheaper than anyplace here in Anchorage.

Amazon has the cheapest price I've found on Mosquito Dunks:
[url]https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002568YA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/url]


I put out a yellow sticky trap for the first time. It has THOUSANDS of gnats on it.



Nan

Ditto on the coir being gnat-free. I've grown Tiny Tim indoors on an office windowsill several times, and just started some new ones two weeks ago. They've just put out their first sets of true leaves.



Once they have two sets of true leaves, I feed them with Schultz's liquid plant food every 10-14 days, starting with half-strength and building up to full-strength over a few weeks. (I cannot use organic foods indoors; too smelly.) My last Tiny Tims produced for about 6-7 months and lived for more than a year before I tore them out to reclaim the real estate.



Last year, I started seeds in September and ate my first ripe Tiny Tim in January -- it was a real treat on a frigid day! This year I'm also trying Jochalos, Pinocchio, a dehybridized version of Orange Pixie, and a Dwarf Project developing variety from the Teensy line. Could be an interesting Winter.



Good luck with your namesake, Tiny Tim! Your seedling looks great.


Edited to add -- I am not affiliated with the Hudson Valley Seed Company, though I like the company's seeds and we share a moniker.

Lisa, I'm not familiar with the micro dwarf breeding project. The tents are my fall-spring indoor hobby. I run two to three fans per tent and also have exhaust vent fans and passive intake for fresh air on the small tent and an intake fan on the other. This may help with my lack of gnats.
I have had the same sticky traps in both of my tents for about 1-1/2 years now and only have a few gnats on each. 2 traps per tent. I sterilize my tents after every harvest. I grow only from seed and don't bring plants from outside into them. Maybe I've just been lucky so far. I will try the dunks as a preventative measure.
As for the tomato's I'm growing.. I was going to top dress with Espoma Tomato tone when I see a need. Anyone have experience with this product. I usually grow with a full organic soil I build or coco-coir with salts. First time using this soil and nutrient combination.
Thank you all for your help and suggestions. Happy gardening.

Thanks for the reply HudsonValley. I'm growing out 4 of these. I was hoping for Christmas tomatoes. I run my lights 20 hours on 4 hours off. The plants are growing fast. Your varieties sound interesting. I'm a indoor tomato newbee. So I thought I'd start with something easier. I'm growing these organic as I liked the taste of my outdoor container plants better in soil than coco. Here's a better idea of the plant at 19 days from the seed breaking soil. It was transplanted into it's final 2 gallon bag. Hudson Valley seeds are top notch. Happy gardening..[ATTACH]84736[/ATTACH]

I'm hoping 2 gal pots are more than you need for a Tiny Tim. I'm growing many, and I have them under T5's right now in 4" pots. I will move them to 1 gal pots in a couple of weeks and I don't plan on any larger pots. I'm using plain MG potting soil. I use Hydrogen Peroxide for gnats but that hasn't been a problem yet.

Salsacharlie, I do realize that 2 gallons might have been a bit big for this variety. But, I've never grown tomatoes under this QB135 board before. I didn't want to short myself of the potential of the variety. If I made a big mistake, I'll learn from it. Thank you for your input and I hope your tomatoes flourish.

[QUOTE=Salsacharley;717972]I'm hoping 2 gal pots are more than you need for a Tiny Tim. I'm growing many, and I have them under T5's right now in 4" pots. I will move them to 1 gal pots in a couple of weeks and I don't plan on any larger pots. I'm using plain MG potting soil. I use Hydrogen Peroxide for gnats but that hasn't been a problem yet.[/QUOTE]

One gallon should be fine for any micro Charley.
Enjoy your plants guys, i started a few from my new crosses myself yesterday. :)
I’ll put up a thread once I have something growing
Karen

KarenO is there a disadvantage with the 2 gallon pots I used. I do have 1 gallon pots on hand if you think it would improve the growth or yield. I could easily transplant them.

[QUOTE=Tiny Tim;718025]KarenO is there a disadvantage with the 2 gallon pots I used. I do have 1 gallon pots on hand if you think it would improve the growth or yield. I could easily transplant them.[/QUOTE]

No, definitely no disadvantage, just a matter of space under lights, as well as height if using a shelf style light stand as I do.
You can grow a micro to maturity in a half gallon or even less if you want to and if you are careful with feeding and watering.
KarenO

Thank you for the clarification KarenO. I'll leave them in these pots, this time around. I have done more research on micros and as you mentioned most folks use 1/2-1 gallon containers. I have the space and lighting so that's not an issue for me. Thanks again.Tim

I grow year round. I've advanced some of my micros by doing that. I do find it is as
simple or complicated as outdoor climates. We all have different 'indoor' environments.

Once our leaves fall soon, I have a deep shelf that gets great sun...so I will keep my
micros in tall 4 inch pots for some time, (started 6 weeks ago). Under simple grow lights
T-5 and some LED's and easy to shift around. They get some good sun when we have it.

I also grow macro-greens and a few dozen dwarf sunflowers year round so I do pay attention 24/7. (a dollars worth of sunflower seed keeps a nice amount of fresh flowers
all winter in every room)...I start a round of seed every two weeks. A tray of 36.

Winter growing can be slow but I don't fret some losses. I'll have some very healthy
plants and some fruit but any early grows will see some outdoor warm early weather in
February giving fruit way ahead of any 'traditional' seed starting for my region/climate.

I learned my winter growing from pot grower forums. Experimenting and keeping any
gnats/fungus from humidity/white flies...watering with mosquito dunk water...

Oakley, I never thought about sunflowers indoors. That sounds like a lot of fun. I have also learned most of what I know about indoor growing from pot websites. Not much online for growing vegetables or flowers indoors in tents under artificial lighting. I have no south facing windows so everything grows under leds. What variety of sunflower do you grow indoors?

Fungus gnats - use equal parts in a small saucer of:
1) Water
2) Dawn
3) Cider Vinegar

Place the saucer(s) where ever you notice the gnats. Works great

Lots of dwarf sunflowers available and I keep meaning to try some different varieties.
This will be my third year growing Sunspot, TeddyBear and SunnySmile. I have lots of
seed. Just started another small tray of 36. I should have bloom all through the holidays.
I pot them up into 4inch 'tall pots'. (6inches tall) at about 4 weeks. Last year I put in
3 muscari bulbs per pot when I potted up. (bulbs spent some time in the fridge first).
They grow very well and bloom under LED's. I grow salad year round under lights so I
may as well tend to some other things while at it.

Having at least three varieties with various bloom time works well. Most stay well under
6-8inches with a random 10inch tall bloom. They stay in 4inch pots.

4 micro tomato varieties at F5 through F8 now. Started mid-August. Terenzo hybrid might
be a good winter grow. I might start a few today. It is a smallish bush type. Last year I
started them around xmas. My first fruit last year and lots of it.

rhines81, I have tried just vinegar in a saucer for fruit flies and it did work great. Thanks for the tip.

oakley,those plants look happy and healthy. I have a avocado I've started last december. It was doing well, until I repotted in Foxfarms ocean forest. The soil was a little hot and burned the new growth a bit. I may try some sunflowers this year. I did force mini daffodils once. If I recall it was something I picked up at Lowes. I grow my entire vegetable garden in containers on my deck. With an organic soil I build. I even grew sweet potatoes this year and they did very well.

Rhines, I just put a dish of your mixture in with my gnat-infested indoor tomatoes. Hope it works for me. Thanks for the recipe. Also using yellow sticky traps, Mosquito Dunk water, & chunks of Dunks on the soil surface.

Has anyone with the gnat infestations tried the fungus gnat predator, Hypoaspis aculeifer. Or beneficial nematodes? Steinernema feltiae? Seems like a good alternative to pesticides.

I just looked those up. Seem a bit pricey, but I may get desperate enough.

Just an update on this grow. They have been in my 2'x2'x4' tent under a QB-135 watt led for about a week now. They are growing fast and putting out lots of blossoms. I had a little bit of nutrient burn at the oldest leaves. Think I over fed a little. New growth looks fine now.

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;718210]I just looked those up. Seem a bit pricey, but I may get desperate enough.[/QUOTE]
They are pricey Nan. I would try them if I couldn't control the fungus gnats in any other way. My indoor grow is in a spare bedroom. I like keeping the bugs outside.

You folks have inspired me to try more micros (Pinocchio, Jochalos, and my old standby, Tiny Tim) and two dwarfs (Orange Pixie and a developing chocolate cherry from the Teensy line of the Dwarf Project) on my sunny office windowsill this winter. Maybe I'll have tomatoes in late January again! I'm also trying dwarf sunflowers, polka dot plants, and coleus, for some color. Various greens and a container spinach, too. Fingers crossed, and good luck to all!

Just getting over a work marathon that kept me from all the garden things, but it's time now to get my winter grow happening.

Sadly for me, I have to start with damage control. I have a bunch of neglected things happening, and sad to see unhappy plants.

I have three pepper plants in my cool room window under a light, that have kept going without aphids since planted back in Feb. But their leaves are a mess. Some miner, some disease. Couple peppers ripening now. And there is basil there in 4 inch pots that has been very generous with me but never got potted up... they are not liking the cool but are doing better in the window than under a LED shoplight in a more sheltered situation. At one point I was tempted to ditch the lot of these outdoors but it didn't happen. Now I'm wondering about pruning down, soaping down, and maybe keep them going. The main concern is not to perpetuate some pests by keeping plants on....

I had aphids in every other room - the upstairs is brighter and warmer, better for all of those, but some window is not tight and insects are getting in. I nearly stomped a parasitoid wasp, when I mistook it for an ant queen on the window where aphid hell took down my other peppers. Whacked the window but missed it, and then I got a better look, the red legs are a telltale for parasitoids vs ants here, oops. Afterwards it disappeared and I guess it got out as well as in. So window needs work. Aphids are still a threat, since they also infested the carrot experiment in the attached greenhouse... grrrrr. Anyway all that needs to be pulled too...

I have a few small celery that I want to get potted up and try them under the shop LED. Greens as well did fine under that and bok choy. I have some poor little brassica plants that have been dried up left in the dark etc until I remembered them off and on the last few weeks. :oops: Will probably bolt now even if potted up.

Anyway enough about the sad part of cleaning up my negligence. :lol: Will have something to show I hope by mid december. :) Can't go without vegetables!! :roll:

HudsonValley. It sounds like you'll have your plate full. I wish I had southern exposure in my apartment. Happy gardening.

Bower, you have your work cut out for you. I was tempted to keep a pepper plant from my container garden. But, I only have a small tent for my indoor grow. I wanted tomatoes this year. I do have a small thyme plant I keep alive all winter. This will be year two it's come inside,container grown on the deck in summer. Your lucky to have the parasitic wasp. My girlfriend likes to kill bugs first then ask if it was a bad one. I use neem oil to spray the plant I bring indoors. It's worked well so far. Your celery sound interesting. I've always wanted to try growing it. Happy gardening and best of luck with the aphids.