"Looking forward to getting all these guys into the ground and reclaiming the parlor for people!"

Ha-ha-ha. Been there, done that. And continue to do it again, every year. I love the "indoor" season, but am ready to be done with it when spring comes.

I've had the best luck indoors with Red Robins, and Sophie's Choice tomatoes, both grown in a south facing window with no extra light. Poor Sophie was squeezed into a small container, with no more than a gallon or two of soil, but she fruited mightily, and though only a foot tall, had to be staked to keep her from keeling over.

Jan

Thanks for the recommendation Jan - will try those this fall/winter.

I started a diva cuke and tasty jade in containers under the light - there is no more sun and the sun is right up above us - so only the ambient light of daylight through the window plus shop lights. Have harvested 1 small cuke each already!

I think to potential of indoor growing is more than we think.....just need the right varieties.

Next winter will have the shop lights, and another experimental area in windows while the slant of the sun will give it a lot of light!

"just need the right varieties"

T-bird, there used to be a seed site called 'container vegetable seeds' or something similar, that made recommendations for plants that could be grown indoors. Some work better than others. I haven't tried cukes yet but I'll keep your varieties in mind.

In addition to Tomatoes, I've had good luck with a variety of small pepper plants (choco, mini-bells, yellow wax, shishito) as long as I use yellow sticky traps to keep the whiteflies away.

Jan

My cukes are doing pretty good. I've moved them out to the mudroom, east facing, so they get about 6 hours or maybe less of direct light through the window.

I've got about 5 cukes now that would be ready anytime, but they are super small so want to let them go another day or two. Probably have had about 10 so far.

I've been giving them seaweed diluted to the suggested amount 1-2 times/week. It does take a bit to keep them producing. It is very warm out there with the heat wave and all - the mudroom gets hotter than outside sometimes, but so far they are doing well. 101 yesterday - and they are ok this morning. wouldn't surprise me if the mudroom hit 110 or more.

Will be a different story this winter, with lower temps, they'll be upstairs in a corner with windows facing s and w, and temps around 70 or lower - unless the sun heats up my corner a bit more once I set up.

will be using mirrors to try to reflect some sun, going to see what I can do without supplemental lighting....

A better option for light would be to use CFL bulbs instead of the tube style shop light. Safeway in my area carries a 200w equivalent in both the 2700k & 6500k light spectrums. CFL bulbs can be found in equivalent wattages up to around 300w that still have a standard size base which can be used in any lamp. I like to use the heat lamp fixtures because they are compact and easy to move. CFL's will give you double the light of the shop lights and take up 1/4 of the space.