I'm growing hydroponic tomatoes indoors

[Prof]

Last season I started to grow some tomatoes in large pots outside..

They were regularly watered and fertilized and I had a few tomatoes on the plants..

Then we started to get high daily temperatures reaching into the mid 40's.!!!..

Even with the plants sheltered with shade cloth..they all  died..

This was the second time that it had happened..the first being at another location..

I decided I wouldn't try again..and besides at my age it was becoming impracticable to do any further gardening..

Then one day I happened to come across an article about growing tomatoes all year round indoors.!! This perked up my interest again..

I discovered that one could grow tomatoes indoors in a hydroponic system.!!

I liked the idea because you didn't have to worry about bugs and insects getting at your plants..and the containers were at bench top height..so no bending..no watering and you can have tomatoes all year round.!!!

I've always imagined that hydroponics was just for growing Weed, with all sorts pumps and bubblers  with lights everywhere and using lots of electricity.!!

What I discovered is that with simple systems you can grow all sorts of herbs, vegetables and flowers..

There is a system called the Kratky method..It's basically having a container with liquid fertilizer and putting a seedling suspended in the liquid..That's it.!! No pumps or bubblers or expensive lighting..

Looking at you tube video's I found people were even using ice cream containers and large coffee jars to grow tomatoes in.!! Some used what they call in the US Mason jars..

The more sophisticated ones used plastic tanks and grew several plants in them..

I decided to give it a try..The best place I found was in the laundry..It's out of the way and I found that the space between the washing machine and the cupboard was ideal..

In my next post I will describe what I bought for the system and I'll show the little table I made to fit between that space..

[Prof]

And finally the lighting system is in place..

Those little black devices are miniature hoists.!!

[EricL]

Hi @Prof

Thank you very much for that update. That looks to be an excellent method of adjusting the light. Once the plants begin to get taller you can simply pull on the rope and the lights will go higher. 

We look forward to the next update.

Eric

[Prof]

We have hydroponic tomatoes under way.!! 😁

[Prof]

At the moment the plants are just sitting in water..

The instructions on the fertilizer packet suggest leaving them in plain water for 1 week..Then for the next 2 or 3 weeks they will sit in  a water solution with 50% addition of fertilizer..

Then at the beginning of the fourth week a full strength water / fertilizer mix can be put into the tank..

[Prof]

It's the beginning of week two..

I've emptied the plain water from the tank and replaced it with a 50% mix of the fertilizer..

That will stay in the tank until the beginning of week three, when I'll make up a full strength fertilizer mix..

Then the plants will really take off.!! 😊

They have a grown a little in the plain water as I've had to raise the grow lights about 2"..

In the last week I've ordered a couple of Mason jars and some more net cups..I also bought a 4 shelf rack system and another fluro grow light..

As you can see, I'm planning to expand my hydroponic garden to incorporate several varieties of vegetables..

I was amazed at just how many varieties of vegetables you can grow hydroponically.!!

It seems that any vegetable that grows above ground is suitable..including water melon.!!! 😋 I've never thought of that as being a vegetable..but it's included..

Initially I'll be growing Capsicums..Cucumber and Iceberg lettuce..and two more tomato plants.!!

[Prof]

My digital pH meter has just arrived and after calibration and testing the 50% fertilizer mix, I found that the reading was 7.4.!!

The  reading should be between 5.5 - 6.5..At 7.4 this would not promote growth..

So I had to make an adjustment to the  pH level and after the change the reading came down 6.0.!! Perfect.!!

[EricL]

Hi @Prof

Thanks for the update, this is really inspiring and I am starting to think that I should give this a go as well. At this very moment, my tomato plant has started to wilt and I've been keeping a close eye on it but it's not looking promising. I'll have to find a spot in the house where I can set this up .

Eric

[Prof]

Hi Eric..

This is the rack that I'm getting..It measures 700mm W x 300mm D x 1.5M. H.

I'll be putting it in the spare room..Doesn't take up much room..

[Prof]

Well it's the beginning of week 3 when I'll be making up the fertilizer mix to full strength..

In last week there has been significant increase in the size of the plants.! so much so in fact that I had to raise the grow light to the maximum height possible..

Also there is now a long thick root system protruding from the net cups..All in all I'm very happy with how quickly these plants have grown.!!

I can't imagine what's going to happen when I give them the full strength fertilizer mix.!!

I realised that I would need more height adjustment for the grow light so to that end I bought a new fluro light..

This light has two double tubes (4 in total) and puts out about 70% more lumens..

On the back of the unit it has a small stand up at each end..This gives me much more adjustment on the hoist system than previous.. 

Here is a photo of the growth currently..If you compare these to the original photos you can clearly see the increase in growth..

[Prof]

It's now the beginning of week four...

The plants have continued to grow..now with the addition of the full strength fertilizer..

Initially I had a problem..The leaves were starting to curl a bit and the plants were losing some colour..

I had set the pH level to just under 6.0 when I first added the full strength fertilizer..I took the pH reading again three days later and it registered 7.7.!!!

I don't know what happened as I had taken the reading the same way as the first.!! I immediately dropped it back to 6.0 and after a couple of days they started to come good again..

I've now set up my hydroponic garden.!! I've added two 20L.buckets..one for each plant..This will help the individual plants to expand with no limitations..

I also set up the twine supports for the plants to cling to as they climb..

The growing rack is also now assembled and I will be using that for growing other vegetables..

Here is a photo of the plants in the original tanks that shows how high up the growing lights are now.!!

I've also trimmed the plants to remove unnecessary stems and leaves which will help to keep them away from the bottom of the plants..

This will help with air circulation as they grow bigger..