Check your type of tomatoes photo period. adjust timer accordingly. Are they determinate tomato variety? They would be better indoor type to grow. You need to keep your room 80F or lower, not only is that 75-80F peek growing temp, but pest will thrive in temp above 85F. So if it takes running fans 24/7 then do that. The room needs fresh are if it is a small area. Humidity needs to stay in the 50% area aswell, exausting air out of the romm lowers humidity. Additional fertilizer may be needed, smaller the container the more fertilizer/water the plant will need frequently. One 400w hps will support one large cherry tomato plant.

Thx for the insight...Ill definitely keep the room under 80. Its a 12 x 12 room with 2 windows... I do have a humidifier I will use if it gets to try... Im trying 2 bush tomatoes and 2 smaller indeterminates...

Indeterminates are mostly for a test to see what will work...

Thanks again

Im glad it helped. Keeping the humidity below 50% is better than above so you might need a small de-humidifier, but taking air out of the one window and allowing a vent to let air come in another would be ideal. Be ready to trellis the indeterminates aswell.

Good luck.

Clones2;
Tomatoes are perenials most often grown as annuals. In their Geographical location of origin (equatorial South America), days and nights are of near equal length all year round. They are not photoperiodic, although you will experience faster growth and production with longer day cycles. So feel free to experiment with shorter day cycles to save on your utility bill. My tomatoe seedlings grow fastest at around 18/6, this seems to be the upper limit. I would suspect the lower limit to be around 8-10 hours of light per 16-14 hours of dark providing they are getting lots of lumens, spectrum, and adequate CO2 during those 8-10 hours. Let us know how you make out.
Good Luck,
Ken

They seem to be doing decent so far. They are 12" - 20" tall...

Will it really help if I switch over to my 400W HPS lamp when the plants get a little taller to help with fruiting?

Will I still get good fruit from a MH or is it a better idea to switch to the HPS?

I got my first flower on one of the determinates. A couple plants seem a little weak in the main stalk so I'm going to try and keep the fan on them longer. They are just starting to send out their first "suckers".

But I absolutely love having a little "farm room". :-)

I grew tomatoes last winter under a 400w MH and next to them I had a 400w hps. They grew the same and both set loads of fruit. Here's a video clip of it from last March when I was near the end of my indoor grow.

This winter I'm growing peppers and was thinking of cucumbers too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Indoor Tomato Video Link

Watched your video... those Micro Toms are pretty cool.

I'm wondering what other miniature tomatoes would be open-pollinated or heirloom variety...?

I think I need to look into hydroponic systems as well. Everything Im doing right now is pro-mix potting soil. Its working ok - but Im thinking the hydroponics would work better?

great video project gardener! You are several levels ahead of me so very informative! Duh! do determinants indoors! I've got about 8 indoor plants that are becoming monsters, and I have tiny tim seeds - why didn't I consider that???

Can you elaborate on your various light set ups? Bulbs, etc?

Thanks!

I had an interesting experience this winter to say the least... thanks for bring this back to the top. :-)

My 400 watt Metal Halide lamp works awesome for the tomato plants. I started some plants in soil and the plants grew great. My issues were not getting enough buds to produce fruit, fairly small fruit, plants that got a little too big, and soil that dried out very quickly.

I quickly tried to start a DWC hydroponic system and was able to grow 1 plant about a foot tall. But it grew with a weak stem - nutrients were probably a bit off.

Next year - I will attempt a tomato in the DWC system and one in soil. Try to see what the difference is in growth rate, will probably add some perlite to my soil as well to get it hold some moisture longer.

All in all - I was very happy with my light system. My light is basically a heavy duty shop light that i bought with a new bulb for $40 off craigslist.

I purchased a 400 HPS Lamp as well - and never needed it as my tomatoes and peppers all bloomed extremely well.

@ t-bird,

I'm using two 400watt MH made from warehouse lights. I paid $30 each. I have a new crop going now and just started to get tomatoes. I switched the bulb out to a HPS bulb that runs on MH fixtures since they started flowering. I have 2 indeterminate heirlooms going right now. They aren't as crazy as last years crop. Very happy with them.

Here is a link that might be useful: some photos in my blog