Introduction:
I planted 4 tomato plants (from seeds) in 1st December 2012 (i ll name it group A) then another 4 in 20th January 2013.(i ll name it group B)
It was all in soil and i was watering them (without any fertilizers) I live in Riyadh (Dry hot weather) (http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/saudi-arabia/riyadh.php) the plants group A grow and reached only 12 inches and the plants group B reached around 8 inches.
Then I decided (on 18 April 2013)to move to Hydroponic system because the weather is too hot & dry for tomato
I controlled the weather in my tent to have a temperature of 66-75 Fahrenheit and humidity of 45-65 %; with a fertilizer 20-20-20 I reached a 1600-2000 PPM and PH 5.8-6.2 .....
SUDDENLY the plants grows faster than ever (more than 4 inches each in a week) and the leaves became dark green instead of light yellowish green.
My questions:
1. when should i change my lamps from white color to yellow color?
2. how could i pollinate my tomatoes indoor ? (it there any other way than the electric toothbrush :)) )
3. what is the average time elapse for tomato from seed till harvest
4. after the tomato plants harvest ....could it still produce tomatoes again or it is just once then we plant again ?
Questions for Group A plants:
5. some follower appears before going to hydroponic but it all falls ....is that because it was not in the good condition or its normal ?
6. the stem is a thinner than Group B plans although its taller ...is it going to get thicker with the new conditions or what?
Thanks in advance for your feedback