How to Grow Tomatoes Indoors

Growing Tomatoes Indoors

If there’s one vegetable that tastes so much better homegrown than at the supermarket, it’s tomatoes.

So when I started gardening inside my apartment, I always knew I wanted to work my way up to growing tomatoes.

Big, juicy, colorful funky looking tomatoes like they sell at the farmer’s market.

My first couple attempts kept failing.

One tomato shot up so tall it outgrew my largest Aerogarden Farm by week 3.

Another stayed compact and looked promising… only for me to discover that they were completely flavorless – 4 months after painstakingly tending to them!

And I wasn’t sure if I could ever get large slicers to grow in an indoor environment.

But finally, I figured it out! 

It took LOTS of trial and error but I now regularly grow tomatoes, big and small, in my NYC apartment.

Here’s how!

growing indoors means you can start your tomato plants extra early and have ripe tomatoes months before anyone else!

Tomato Varieties

Not all tomatoes are suited for indoor growth.

I don’t recommend taking seeds from a tomato you bought at the grocery store. Most of the store varieties are large indeterminate varieties that can grow 7+ feet tall.

Instead, focus on more compact tomato types, like:

1. Cherry Tomatoes: small bite sized tomato snacks
2. Grape Tomatoes: similar to cherry tomatoes, with a slightly different taste and texture
3. Bush Tomatoes: tomato types that are specifically bred for small space container gardens
4. Dwarf Tomatoes: compact tomato varieties that will stay under 3 feet tall

I have a more in-depth list of 40 indoor-friendly tomato varieties in this post.

Where to Buy Tomato Seeds for Indoor Gardening

Some of my favorite seed companies include True Leaf Market, Renee’s Garden, Botanical Interests and Park Seed.

There are so many tomato varieties I still want to try, but I’ll typically filter for ‘container friendly‘ to ensure that the plants are compact.

My largest machine, the Aerogarden Farm, has a max grow height of 3 feet and most tomatoes can easily outgrow, so compact varieties are key.

So far, I’ve grown

• Orange Hat Cherry Tomatoes
• Patio Red Cherry Tomatoes
• Patio Slicers

Read more: How to Grow Orange Hat Cherry Tomatoes

Indoor Tomato Gardening Supplies

I grow everything indoors hydroponically, to avoid pests.

To grow indoors, you can DIY your own hydroponic set up using:

• Containers: Tomatoes need room, so you’ll want at least a 5 gallon tote or bucket.
• Grow Lights: full-spectrum LED grow lights are necessary to provide enough light for tomatoes to grow indoors
• Fertilizer: Tomatoes are heavy feeders, so use a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer
• Support Structures: Even dwarf varieties might need a little help to stay upright. Small stakes or cages can provide the necessary support

I use pre-built hydroponic systems so that I don’t have to string together all these parts myself.

The Best Hydroponic System for Tomatoes

I have indoor gardens from lots of different brands and they all work well for growing tomatoes indoors.

If you want to grow cherry tomatoes, a small countertop garden like the Aerogarden Harvest, Ahopegarden or Letpot will work just fine.

If you want to grow larger tomatoes, use a floor model like the Aerogarden Farm XL or Lettuce Grow so that the tomato plants have enough room and support.

two varieties of tomatoes grown in one half of an Aerogarden Farm 24xl

 

 

Starting Seeds

I sow all my tomato seeds directly in my indoor gardens.

Tomato seeds typically take ~7 days to sprout. Once the plants produce their first set of leaves, I start adding nutrition.

when you’re growing indoors, you can start tomato plants at any time of year!

Tomato Nutrition

Tomatoes are heavy feeders, so you’ll want to stay on top of nutrition.

I start out on a 14 day feeding schedule, until I see flowers form. Most tomato flowers are tiny yellow buds.

If I notice flowers dropping, or signs of leaf stress, I may bump up the nutrition to every 7 days.

Nutrients that work well include Aerogarden’s plant food and Maxigrow.

I have a more in-depth guide to hydroponic nutrients here.

Tomato Pollination

Since we’re growing indoors, tomato plants need a bit of help with pollination.

They won’t have access to bees like they would outdoors!

But it’s very easy to pollinate tomato plants, as they’re self pollinating (meaning each flower contains both male and female pollen).

tomato flowers are self pollinating

All that you need to do to successfully pollinate is ensure the pollen inside the flower mixes.

You can gently shake the plant, or manually use a stick, brush or electric toothbrush to transfer pollen.

My preferred method is to set up a fan near my gardens.

The motion of the fan simulates the wind and helps increase pollination rates.

I use this quiet floor fan and it’s been great at cooling down the room, pollinating my plants and increasing air flow.

Tomato Pruning

I used to prune my plants heavily, to keep them within the height of my indoor garden machines.

But lately, I’ve been letting them grow wild.

I find that cherry tomato plants will still produce tomatoes outside the machine so I stopped being so attentive.

It’s lower maintenance and that way, I get more tomatoes!

letting my tomato plants grow wild

Harvesting Tomatoes

The nice thing about growing tomatoes indoors is you can wait for them to fully ripen on the vine.

There’s no pesky birds or squirrels nibbling at your hard work!

The waiting is the hardest part.

Green tomatoes take nearly a month to fully ripen to their final color.

It can feel like forever, especially when you’ve been painstakingly taking care of the tomato plants for months.

the slowww turn from green to red

But the silver lining is that after the first batch of tomatoes ripens, I’ve noticed the next series of tomatoes doesn’t take nearly as long to change colors!

It’s like the plant “gets it” and knows what to do.

Once your tomatoes start turning red, make sure to harvest them off the plant.

Fruit takes a lot of focus and energy from a plant, so removing ripe tomatoes helps give it more energy to produce new fruit.

I love having fresh tomatoes all year round :)

large tomatoes need support, or the tomatoes can fall down and bruise

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