In regions that experience very cold weather and snow through winter, your choice of fruits and vegetables to grow during this time is limited.
It can leave you having to purchase all of your produce from the grocery store, which can be of poor quality and not your choice of what you wanted.
Tomatoes are easy to grow, but not with snow on the ground and freezing temperatures.
However, now you can grow tomatoes in an aerogarden, no matter the weather, outside. An aerogarden allows you to grow tomatoes indoors using water, light, and nutrients, all without soil.
Indoor hydroponic gardens, like an aerogarden, are getting so popular that commercial farmers have begun to grow a larger scale using it, as well!
This article is meant to help you grow tomatoes in an aerogarden with the most success.
What to Expect: You will read helpful tips on how to grow tomatoes through the hydroponics process in the most efficient way. Continue reading to get all of the aerogarden tomato tips you should know.
Getting Started with Aerogarden
If you’ve never used your aerogarden:
- First, take it out of the packaging and clean it.
- Next, find a location where you will have easy access to it, and where there’s an electrical outlet close by,
- After you’ve determined it’s home, add water to the reservoir, along with the nutrient packs.
- Next, add the tomato seeds to the pods. Do not place the pods too close together, remembering that the tomato plants will need to vine out.
Occasionally, aerogardens are supplied with seeds.
If you are going to buy you own look for dwarf determinate criteria for size 3 or 7. That will be the most suitable for an aerogarden.
The grow light mounting bracket should be two inches above the pod tray. The grow light needs to be on for 16 hours each day.
I would suggest you turn it on as you wake up first thing in the morning and turn it off as you are going to bed. Some aerogardens also have a automatic shutoff option as well.
When Will I See Sprouts?
In a week, you’ll notice the first sprouts.
When you see these, raise the light again. The light should always be two inches above the plants.
Soon after the sprouts appear, you’ll notice stems.
Usually, several stems will appear in one pod. You’ll only want to keep one stem in each pod.
Remember: there isn’t enough room for multiple stems in each pod.
Making the Most of the Nutrients
Remove all but the healthiest stem from each of the tomato plant’s pods. The idea behind thinning sprouts is that it enables the healthy stem to take all nutrients and thrive.
While it may seem like having more is better, in this case, it is not. The hydroponic garden is limited in space; the more stems means you’ll limit the growth of your tomatoes.
Six weeks into growing your tomato plants, they will have developed into small, recognizable tomato plants and they will need to be topped.
With your fingers, you can run them up the stems and when you feel a knobby section of the stem, cut it right below that knobby section.
There may be flowers and leaves beyond the knobby section. The stem will probably split into a Y shape right there as well.
Topping tomato plants will assist in allowing the stem to build up stability to hold the weight of the tomatoes.
You’ll also want to trim any leafy branches that start to head toward the light source. After a few rounds of trimming, you’ll likely notice that the plant is no longer growing in that direction.
Don’t Forget to Pollinate
In order for the tomato plants to create what you want them to produce, they have to be pollinated:
- You could shake the plant to distribute pollen from the small yellow flowers that will appear in around seven weeks.
- Or you can use the electric toothbrush technique, which releases and spreads pollen throughout the plant using vibrations.
After pollination, the flowers will drop off and small green tomatoes will emerge from the flowers.
Just Keep Trimming
Keep an eye on your plants for more flower growth. Too many flowers can suffocate the tomatoes so prevent the plants from over blooming.
Also, do not allow yellow or brown leaves on plants. They are energy thieves.
Quick Tip: Let the energy flow where you want it to, the fruit producing part of the plant.
Should I Clean the Water Tank?
The instructions that come with most aerogardens will tell you when to empty and clean out the water reservoir.
You’ll want to do this every once in a while.
Dirty water is not safe and could hurt your plants. Just a quick rinse with sanitizer once in a while will do.
When Is Harvest Time?
You should plan to start harvesting your first tomatoes in about 3 weeks to your first harvest.
A few weeks prior to harvesting, you will notice the green tomatoes changing color.
Once the tomatoes have softened enough to test if they are firm but not hard, these can be harvested.
It is best to cut them when you are ready to eat them.
What’s the Best Way to Harvest Tomatoes?
Grab your garden scissors & sanitize them.
Cut the stem near the top of the fruit. You may let it drop. Please try to keep your scissors clean so you can make a clean cut.
Go easy: You don’t want to cause trauma to the stem. It will grow another tomato in the same spot as long as the stem is healthy.
How Do Aerogarden Tomatoes Taste Relative to Traditionally Grown Tomatoes?
While there may be some assertions aerogarden tomatoes lack the taste of soil-grown tomatoes, there isn’t any evidence that backs up these claims.
In general, if you taste them side by side you will likely not be able to tell the difference.
Additional Aerogarden Tomato Tips You Should Know
- Little tomatoes are a better choice for basic aerogardens.
- Sanitizing your equipment is important to keep safe.
- In the first weeks, it is helpful to use plastic domes.
- Add some support to branches of tomatoes that seem heavy with fruit.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to grow aerogarden tomatoes.
With a few simple considerations, you can maximize your harvest with the easy way to grow delicious tomatoes from the comfort of home, any time of year.
You’ll be able to monitor their growth, prune, and harvest, all from the comfort of your home and without ever having to leave the house.
Regardless of time of year, start today and you will be enjoying your home-grown aerogarden tomatoes in just a couple of months.