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]

Hi robchin..

Thanks for your input..and thanks for "chirping in".!

When I first decided to try the hydroponic methods of growing vegetables inside..I looked thoroughly into it before I bought anything..

I could see that a fare bit of gear would be needed to cover most bases and at first I was a bit hesitant.!

But nothing ventured nothing gained.!!

To bring you up todate on the lighting side..I bought 2 T5 fluro light systems initially using 6400K tubes..I also bought 2 full spectrum LED panels..and then later 10 cool light LED strips..with timers and dimmers..

After the tomato plants had reached max. height..I changed one of the tubes over to a 2700K warm light to help with the blossoming..

It didn't help very much and that's when I discovered about the bloom nutrient..

The reason my plants look a bit " leggy" is because I've been trimming them fairly severely..

It seems that any leaf branches without flowers are only using up energy that could be utilized elswhere..

I'm using the Kratky method to grow the tomatoes and it's worked fairly well..I'm now trying the Deep Water Culture system and it's working well for my green vegetable plants..

When I get the Bloom nutrient and add it to the system, I'll let everyone know the results..

[Prof]

UPDATE...

I have some bad news I'm afraid..

I have what is called "blossom drop".. That means that the flowers close up and drop off..They never fruit..

It occurs for several reasons, one of which is lack of pollinisation...

Now when I bought these tomatoe seedlings I was under the impression that they were "self pollinating" plants.!!

That to me meant that they pollinated themselves with out any outside help.!!

Oh no..It doesn't mean that at all.!!! What it means is that I have to transfer the pollen from the male flower to the female flower myself by means of a paint brush.!!! Honestly.!!!

So I didn't do that and now the flowers are just dying and dropping off..and it maybe too late to recover..

All that time lost...It's very discouraging..

[MitchellMc]

That's disappointing to hear @Prof. 

I noted when we were talking last that you said, "These tomato plants are VERY thirsty.!! I've already gone through about 30L. of nutrient in each bucket.". I'm not particularly knowledgeable about hydroponic nutrients, but that sounds like an incredible amount. How do you determine the need for more nutrients? So I'm not beating around the bush, could you be adding too many nutrients, potentially leading to the issues you're experiencing?

Mitchell

[Prof]

Hi Mitchell...

During the green growing process, tomato plants are known to consume up to 40L. / plant.!! and they need to be in min. 20L.pails..

So as you can see the amount of nutrient water I've gone through is not excessive..

When the growing process finished I removed the plants from the pails...cleaned them out and put back "bloom" nutrient water..

Thats when the flowers starting appearing..

It was my own fault that I didn't know about the pollination process and so that was the end result..

[Prof]

One note of success that I'll mention..

My green plants have been doing very well..

I have 1 Bok Choi plant and one Iceberg lettuce plant..and I have been including the leaves from these two plants in my salads..

I cut off a few of the fully grown leaves for a salad and leave the short leaves..Within a few days those short leaves have grown and are then ready to be picked.!! and so on and so on..

This process has been going on for weeks...I could live on these two plants forever.!!!😊

[Prof]

Well in recent days I've made some disappointing discoveries..

It turns out my plants are in contaminated water.!! 😮 hence the reason for the growth problems with some of the plants and the reason for the "blossom drop"..

I've been using water out of the tap for the container tanks..The pH of that water is a bit high, but I've been bringing down by the recommended method..

What I had overlooked is that the mains water has Chlorine in it.!! 

Normally when you're watering plants in the ground, the Chlorine is absorbed into the ground before it reaches the roots..

In hydroponics the roots are directly in the water..They are getting the full does of the Chlorine.!!! Some plants can handle it..Bok Choi for one..but for others it's like poison.!!

I've changed over all the water and nutrients..but for some it looks it's too late..

Another lesson learned..

The other thing I discovered is that the recommended distance I found for the grow lights to be from the plants was wrong.!! What they gave was for 100W. of T5 fluro lighting..whereas I had only 55W. and I found that if the lighting was too far away from the seedlings..you get "leggy" plants..that is tall thin stems that can't even hold themselves up.!!

Another lesson learned..

So now it's back to the drawing board..

New tomato seeds..new lettuce seeds..two types..and new capsicum seeds..

My Cucumber plants are doing very well..hopefully they will stay that way..

[EricL]

Hi @Prof 

I think despite the setback you've learned heaps of information regarding growing tomatoes in a hydroponic setup. The critical take away for me is the distance of the light and the quality of the water. I believe the next batch should be more successful.

Thank you for sharing your results.  

Eric

[Prof]

Thanks Eric...

It certainly has been a lesson for me...

I always thought that with hydroponics you jusr threw some plants into a container with water and nutrient and that was it.!! After several weeks you had vegetables.!!

How wrong was I.!!🙄 It's almost a full time job looking after these things..

What with me having to pollinate the flowers and changing the water every two weeks..and then changing the water and the nutrients again over to "bloom" when flowers start to show and trimming the plants and setting up the grow lights and so on and so on.!! I'm just glad I'm retired.!!! 😣

Some good news..I have just found a very small capsicum on the plant and my cucumber plant is looking very good.!! 😄

[KatieC]

Hi @Prof,

Thank you for sharing your learnings, you are saving so many members time! Was there anything different about how the cucumbers were growing? We would love to see a photo of your veggies when you get a chance. 

Katie

[Prof]

Hi Katie...

The cucumber plant is growing in the de-chlorinated water..So far it only has male flowers, but I believe it can take awhile sometimes before the female flowers come out..

They are the ones that have the very tiny cucumbers behind the flower..

Her is a photo of the plant..