Cherry tomatoes started indoors

last year

Hello,

A few months ago I planted 3 different cherry tomato plants from my own succesful outdoor seeds in my Aerogarden aeroponics indoor garden. They have grown very tall even I I trimmed them regularly so I transplanted them to three 1 liter Mason jar Kratky setups near the windows and they keep growing and I keep trimming them.

My question is: They never flowered. Even if I shook them once in a while to simulate polinating. Is it worth keeping them and transplanting them in my garden in the spring? Once outside, with the bees, sun and wind, will they start producing fruits???

Featured Answer

Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)

last year

last modified: last year

I have two Aero gardens - and I don't usually grow tomatoes or tomato seedlings in them. I'll use peat pots under strong grow lights to do tomatoes. Then when they are about 8" tall or so, I'll harden them off. 2 weeks later I'll plant outside in containers or huge grow bags. I'll sink the plant down so that 1/2 of it is buried along with roots. Then wait. I usually have rows of 12' tall, crazy prolific tomatoes and lots of fruit. Oh, and I ONLY grow cherry tomatoes.

However, for the first time, I tried a micro cherry tomato called Tip Top (something like that). Stays very small and bushy, loads of small orange fruit. Supposedly for growing indoors on window sills or AG type gardens. I've found this actually works in the Aero Garden - but I've had to only grow one or at most, 2 plants (and nothing else) in the AGs. My AGs are all 6 or 7 pod, tall sized.) The tomatoes get sprawling and bushy, and take a good long time to grow. I actually added grow lights in addition to the light on the AG. (FYI, AG lights are replaceable, and you are supposed to replace the after so many hours.) I get a handful of ripe tomatoes about every 3 days or so now. Of course, I get BOWLS full from my outside cherry tomato plants right now... lol.

Back to the original OP's questions: Worth saving? Likely. Tomatoes are super adaptable and forgiving. Stop trimming them tho. Up pot them into some 12-14" diameter and at least 12" deep pots while you wait for spring to plant them outside. Plant them deeply, sinking the stem at least a couple inches down. That will encourage the stem to grow more roots to support the plant better. In the larger pot, you can add a small cage or trellis to let them grow taller and bushier.

They need more light for sure. Get some cheap 'stick in the pot' led grow lights, and add a few to each pot. You'll need to rig up an extension cord/power strip of course. I suggest to stop snipping them because when you do that, you truncate all the growth on that part of the plant for good. You can still have suckers that will overtake the world, but you've truncated the plants natural growth process by trimming them. You'll also need to feed them a bit more often but LESS to keep them happy while they wait. Choose a tomato version fertilizer, that you can dilute into the water to 1/2 strength. Key is to feed more often, but only at 1/2 strength while they are potted.

As someone already said, 'shaking' the to induce pollination when there are no flowers is useless. Must have flowers first. Shaking stresses the plant too much, and tomato stalks are notoriously 'snappy'. #1: Don't plant seeds so early. You'll get plants way ahead of nature's timeline in your climate. Look up the info on the tomato variety and read about it's seed germination times. You can plan better next time with that info. #2: if you 'must' pollinate something - simply use a small, soft hair brush to swipe/wipe the flower parts in the order needed. (not foam, not stiff, not a paint brush). Try a makeup brush if you don't have a watercolor brush. You can Google how to do this for your plant (it is different for each type of plant).

tldr: Yes. Repot to a much much bigger pot, plant seedling DEEP, set them on the floor, add lots of led grow lights, a trellis or tomato cage, feed 1/2 strength every 2 weeks. Stop pruning, only pinch off suckers in between joints. When spring comes 'harden them off': move them outside during the day, bring inside at night. Do this for at least a week. Then plant.

Hope some of this helps you.

Comments (9)

beesneeds
last year
last modified: last year
Are they a micro cherry? As in the plant is supposed to stay under a foot tall, micro sized. If they are a larger plant, could be your grow space and pot are too small to support it. Even with growing micros in the past I give them at least a 2 liter pot, if not a bit bigger. How big are your plants getting out in the garden? If you keep trimming it down, it could be trying to produce foliage or diverting energy to healing/growth and it's feeling not ready to start producing flowers. How long ago is a few months ago? Different tomatoes have varying rates of maturity.
callirhoe123
last year
Where are you located? Do you have a picture?
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woodrose
last year
last modified: last year
They will never bloom if you keep cutting them back. You're probably cutting off the tips of the branches where there would have been blooms. They have to be blooming in order to be pollinated, and then a cherry tomato will grow from each bloom. They should be grown outdoors in large pots or in the ground.
Jean-Francois Ouellette thanked woodrose
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Cherry tomatoes are almost always indeterminate varieties. That means they continue to grow and set fruit all season long and so grow to a significant size - 6-8 feet is typical and they often get larger. I have a very hard time imagining cherry tomatoes growing indoors successfully outside of a full greenhouse operation. Certainly starting them indoors makes sense but the plants get far too large and lack sufficient sunlight indoors to flower and set fruit. I grow them outside in 20 gallon containers and by the end of the season the roots have completely filled the container. I'm not sure what you think a 1 liter container is going to accomplish as it is nowhere close to being a adequate size.
Jean-Francois Ouellette thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
last year
Adding that shaking your plants won’t encourage flowering. Shaking (or buzzing) a tomato to stimulate pollination would only occur after the formation of flowers, not before.

I grow some tomatoes inside from seed, but under some pretty bright artificial lighting and pot them up a couple of times before the spring planting outside, ending up in gallon containers by the time I plant them in the garden. The plants are typically flowering or budding by the end of winter.

But, even I don’t grow cherry tomatoes.
Jean-Francois Ouellette thanked rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
lack of proper flowering.. IN ANY PLANT.. is usually a function a lack of proper light or sun ... that why you cant grow roses.. or dahlia.. etc.. in any shade .... or indoors ....

these plants are middle of august full blistering sun plants... they are not going to thrive in the house unless you have them under some serious supplemental light ...

and even without a pic.. i can tell your plants are seriously etoliated.. tall and scraggly.. forcing you to keep cutting them back ...

of course you have to continue with the experiment.. if for no other reason.. than toe LEARN.. and report back to us.. how it goes.. hardening them off to full sun.. will be a very long process ... done correctly ...

im not sure i would try it with anything other than a tomato.. since you can buy it as deep as you want.. to offset some of the etoliation ...

my last thought... back when i dabbled with winter seed.. my biggest error.. was starting the seed much much to early .. because i was so hard up to play with plants during a cold MI winter... in my MI.. Ts dont get planted until mid to late may.. so starting the seed in january .. is not the right time.. start the seed in early march.. under properly light.. would give you a nice stout plant to start hardening off in late april ...

sooo.. next year.. dont start so early.. and have a light setup ... and good luck...

ken
Jean-Francois Ouellette thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
beesneeds
last year
With an Aerogarden, one can grow tomatoes in the system. But the system is meant to handle smaller determinate plants. Since the OP is using seed for plants meant to be out in the garden and more likely indeterminate, and is not using the seed varieties meant for the system, it's likely they are overloading the system. The foliage is outgrowing it and needs cutting back, the root mass is outgrowing it and at a L is still too small.

At a few months in of this treatment, the plants might be too stressed to be worth it to try putting them outside. Especially if they have to keep treating the plants like this for however many more weeks till it's warm enough where they are to put them outside.
Jean-Francois Ouellette thanked beesneeds
Jean-Francois Ouellette
Original Author
last year
I will follow your guide. Thank ou very much!

Cherry tomatoes started indoors

Kimberly Wendt (Florida Z. 10b)

Comments (9)

beesneeds

callirhoe123

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woodrose

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Jean-Francois Ouellette
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Cherry tomatoes started indoors

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