Information About When It's Too Late for Planting Tomatoes

Windowsill Tomatoes

• Winter tomatoes can be grown indoors on a sunny windowsill. Colorado University Extension horticulturalist Robert Cox recommends smaller, determinant varieties such as Patio or Pixie. One tomato plant is comfortable in a 6-inch pot. Two plants can be planted in bigger pots. Room temperature should be 70 degrees and in full sun. Turn pots daily so all sides of the plant get some sun. Hand pollinate by finger tapping stalks to simulate the wind.

The Greenhouse Effect

• Nature can be tricked by growing tomatoes in greenhouses. Some tomato varieties have been created specifically for greenhouse growing success. Greenhouses can be simple to elaborate. Kits are widely available for purchase. Homemade greenhouses are often simple sturdy plastic or a lean-to of old windows constructed on the south side of a house. In some areas, greenhouses need to be vented during the heat of the day to avoid burning tomato plants.

Ripening Green Tomatoes Indoors

• When tomatoes are in danger of impending frost, harvest the green tomatoes and let them ripen indoors. Cut, do not tear, tomatoes from the vine. Pulling them can injure the immature fruit. Wrap washed green tomatoes in newspaper. Box tomatoes two layers deep and store at 60 to 65 degrees. Check tomatoes every two weeks and remove any that begin to ripen and those that are rotting. Tomatoes can finish ripening on the kitchen counter.

Tomatoes through Hydroponics

• Hydroponics involves growing plants in water indoors with little to no soil. There are different types of hydroponics suited for different plants. Large plants like tomatoes use a semi-soil system with drip irrigation. Tomato seeds are started in standard nursery 1-inch rockwool cubes. The whole cube is transferred to individual pots when true leaves appear and covered with heydite, small porous rocks that provide root aeration. Constant nutrients are fed to the root system allowing a large yield in a small space.