I don't think it can be done in temperate or northern latitudes without grow-lights.

Even with grow lights it isn't automatic that one will grow tomato plants at all worth growing other than as a novelty.

Simply put tomato plants like most veggies require full sun and this isn't possible to provide indoors during the winter without a considerable investment in lighting (HID, not floros) as well as a considerable ongoing expense in electrictiy to run the lights as well as replacement of the bulbs as they wear out.

The 'soil' or growing medium is utterly irrelevant. When it comes to growing full sun plants indoors during the winter it's the light (or lack there of ) that is the primary limiting factor.

With all this said, yes, you can grow tomatos indoors during the winter. Just place them near the sunniest window you have and chances are they will live and grow. No, they won't look much like what grows outside during the summer and no, you won't get much, if any, tomatos from them, but yes, it can be done.

Agreed. Here's a link to a discussion on this topic in the Oklahoma forum.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Tomatoes

Right, you could probably keep a scraggly plant alive for some months.

But I presume the questioner wants ripe, luscious tomato fruits in january. Who doesn't, right? Actually, I'd find it rather strange. I have no desire for a ripe tom in cool or cold weather. A little tomato soup or chili takes care of it, and those can be made fine from canned or put up tomatoes.

I have this little plan in mind and we will see if it works...I don't want to spend my time bringing plants in and out of the house or using a bunch of lights so I plan to use this method and just see how it works...I will probably get tired of messing with it too but this is the plan....I started seed ages ago and planted the plants in 5 gallon buckets...they are a couple of San Marzano and some cherry tomatoes...I used my {{gwi:114692}} to hold them and will use this to transport them to their ideal spot...At the moment they are sitting in the aisle of my garden for easy care and watering...as it cools off...I will move them to a spot up close to the house and our {{gwi:114693}} which is over 4 feet of solid concrete and use the foundation/brick face as a good heat source for cool nights since the sun hits it nearly all day...on the rare occasion when it actually freezes or gets just too cold, I will use a cover of Remay or if it is really going to freeze, then I will hook my cart to the EZ-Go and pull it into the {{gwi:114694}} ..during the day, when it is nice, I can open the garage doors so that the plants get plenty of light or if it remains just too cool, I can turn on all of the shop lights for at least some light...We will see if this affords us some tomatoes or if it is wasted effort...as I see it at the moment, it hasn't required much in any effort so even a few winter tom's will make it worth it....

The lowering sun angle and/or temps below 65 at night prevent any new flowering. All that can happen is to hasten the ripening of toms that are already set. One can do that with large green tom's off the plant in any case.

I grow them in the winter. You do get a few, and it's a treat to have a real tomato in the dead of winter.

I use two techniques--I grow one full-size indeterminate plant in a full height window and I grow several determinate miniature plants under close fluorescent shop lights. Last year for the dwarfs I tried Orange Pixie and Red Robin. I won't do orange pixie again indoors--they get too big and scraggly. Red Robin did very well, got only 6" tall and produced abundant clusters of small tomatoes. In spring I planted them out in the garden, where they kept on living and produced 1-2 more flushes of tomatoes before they got ratty-looking.

If you're going to use the indeterminate plant method, then you need to start with a mature outdoor cherry-type plant and bring inside a sucker now, before frost hits.

If you want the dwarf determinate/micro determinate variety then you should be planting now--it takes at least three months to start producing.

For more info:

Indeterminate method:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2004-10-01/Winter-Tomatoes.aspx

Dwarf determinate method:
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/VegFruit/tomatind.htm

My neighbor kept some Tiny Tims alive and producing over 3 winters. Her health is failing and doesn't want to do it anymore

Plants were in a southern exposure window

Tiny Tim is the one exception I'd make for growing winter tomatoes. I used to have the seed and grew them under lights a couple of times. The plant is perfect for growing under lights in a 3" pot, not getting much over 6" tall. The downside on this variety is that the taste is pretty insipid. But if you have to grow a tomato indoors, as in to beat your neighbors to the "first tomato of the year," this is the one.

George

ralleia,

The method you discussed with the indeterminate plant sounds pretty good.

Makes sense. Let the plant grow outside getting energy from the sun and then bring it inside and it can expend that energy to hopefully produce some fruit.

The only thing I would do differently than you suggested is that I would try to time things such that the sucker could root outside in a container and I wouldn't bring the plant inside until it was too cold for it to survive outside. That way it would keep getting energy from the sun for as long as possible.

Okay, first post here, looks like a great forum.

I bit on the "year-round tomatoes" deal, I took delivery on wed. The kit looks to be well thought out, complete and well made. The variety of tomatoes they sent is "best boy". I looked it up on the web, not too much info available. It IS a determinate plant, so it shouldn't get too big.

I garden in a community garden, so we have to be out of it, cleaned up and tore down by the second sat. in Oct. No frost here abouts YET, so the tomatoes that were not ripe yet had to die early. I had seed onions,(white bunching), that were still growing as well as heritage giant kohlrabi. The largest was 7 ¼ inches across, 13+ pounds,(my kitchen scale only goes up to 13 LBS.

I figured what the heck, I'll give those tomatoes a try, I'll report back on what happens with them. The seeds are planted in the provided peat pellets, they should be sprouting in a couple of days.