Is this a working bathtub in the house?

LOL, yeah. but its one of the spare bathrooms.

I don't know if I'd be comfortable having a light source so close to a working water source.

Are you just growing plants to plant outside in the spring or are you trying to grow for fruit?

One shop light will cover several seedlings but has to be hung so as to be very close to the tops - 2-3 inches above max. For larger plants, 1 shoplight = 2 plants.

Fluorescent shop lights are great for growing seedlings but don't provide the broad spectrum light needed for blooming and fruit production. How to you plan to provide that?

You might want to review the many helpful posts over on the Growing Under Lights forum here.

Dave

aww, i want fruit. Hmm, i will have to check out that forum. So far i have moved the shower curtain rod to the middle of the tub and will be hanging the light from that. Do you think those "grow" lights will work?

And Holly, i don't plan on watering the plants from the tub faucet. so i think i will be ok unless we have a pipe burst or our toilet decides to spew water. lol.

I know that you don't have to worry about yourself, it's just the other people that might stray into your little shop!

Free perms with every plant.

LOL!! no, all our family is in California. The few visitors we do get use the downstairs bathroom. This spare one upstairs was our daughters' but she moved out a couple months ago, so no one to worry about going in there :)

Zone 8 in California? You can grow outside most all year round as it is compared to many of us. Why go to all the work and expense of trying to grow tomatoes inside in the bathtub? :^)

For blooms and fruit you have to provide full-spectrum light as close to sunlight as possible. That means halide lights - very expensive to buy and run 12-16 hours a day.

Honestly, without a greenhouse, indoor fruit production is quite difficult and seldom worth the cost and effort involved. But why not just focus on growing some varieties from seed indoors to transplant outdoors as soon as the weather permits?

Dave

Hmmm, interesting idea. I may be relocating my flourescent lights for spring transplants. Keeping all the mess in the tub sounds good. And we usually only have our grown children visit and use that bathroom during Christmas and in the summer.

I agree with others who think raising fruiting plants under the lights would be hard. I've had better luck in a sunny window. I'd guess you would have more sunny days and more intense sun at your location...and probably a warmer house, too. Give a few Micro Toms a try in your sunniest window.

I'm in Texas, my family is in California. Therefore, very few visitors. I did plant some Micro Toms and Hahm's last year on the window sill and they did terrible. Our winter was extremely cold and the windows were drafty.
Dave, I'm hearing ya. After reading a few posts in the Growing under lights forum that you recommended, everyone was talking about how expensive this and that kind of light is. I think i'm just going to experiment and not expect any fruit. Won't cost me anything but my time and what i've already put into the shoplight, which i originally bought for seed starting. Anywho, thanks for all the input.

I'm intrigued by your post because I'm going to try to grow tomatoes indoors this winter as well. I live in CA in a mild climate. I'm going to try a couple of small determinants in front of a large, south facing window. That side of the house roasts from the sun in the summer, so I think that it will work well for the winter. Worst case scenario is that it doesn't work. I figure I'm not out anything by trying.

my experience with silvery fur is that its petty wispy, it will need some staking.

micro toms are very very small.

if staking is a concern, totem gets about 2', and wouldn't need much staking.

I don't see how you would keep them warm enough--even with a light. My tub without any water in it is very cold, and that's where your roots will be. Maybe if you had a heating pad, and didn't care about the cost of your electric bills....

Carla in Sac

Although I can't yet vouch for it, one of the virtues of Red Robin is supposed to be the ability to set fruit in low light conditions like winter windowsills. That is said to be true of Micro Tom and Totem, too. If you had the 3 of them by a window and used your shoplight for supplemental lighting, I'll bet you could get a nice little crop of tomatoes. Or, at the very least, a nice little crop of experience. LOL

Carla, thank you. I hadn't thought about bottom heat. Duh! But yes, i do happen to have a heating pad around. Jll, ty too. I might just do that.

So Tessa74 how is your bathtub garden growning during this holiday season, pictures please.

George

Oh, its not. The first batch of plants were cuttings that i brought in from outside. After a couple of days i started noticing little bugs on them. There were webs with little buggers crawling all over them! I think they were spider mites but from my past experience with spider mites, they were only contained to the undersides of leaves. This time they built bridges and skyscrapers! I promptly yanked them all and threw them out. After only 4 days they were already taking root! Oh well. After the holidays i'll have more time to start a second batch with seeds. I'll be reusing the potting soil but i'll zap it in the microwave first! Happy Merry Christmas everyone!!!