Of the many types of indoor fruit trees, the new indoor tomato plant is sure to be the most popular, especially with the fluctuating price of tomatoes in the grocery store.
Here's a quick guide for buying and caring for indoor tomato plants...
Indoor Tomato Plants Now Available Many types of fruit have been successfully grown indoors for years.
The most popular, the Meyer lemon tree, is a prolific grower that yields sweet, seedless lemons twice per year.
With the success of the Meyer lemon, horticulture scientists have developed other small citrus trees that grow very well indoors.
Recently, a new indoor tomato plant was introduced.
The plant can be grown indoors in the same type of container used for outdoor tomato plants.
The tomatoes, actually a fruit and not a vegetable as most people assume, are roughly the size of a plum tomato.
These plants are designed to produce two or three crops of fruit annually.
In terms of size, they top out about the same height as an outdoor variety, about three feet.
One advantage though is this indoor variety is narrower and tends to grow more straight up versus branching out.
We've tested these plants are we are very pleased with the results.
They come in a three pack and are very inexpensive.
They don't look like much when they arrive, much like a tomato seedling plant, but after a few weeks they begin to grow rapidly.
Their yield per plant is very similar to what you'd get outdoors, about four to five pounds.
Indoor Tomato Plant Care Tips The two most important care tips are sun exposure and watering.
Water your plant twice per week so the soil is on the slightly dry side of moist.
Place the container in a sunny window, preferably one that provides at least six hours of sun per day.
If you need to add to the amount of sunlight, or if your living space doesn't provide adequate exposure, we recommend an indoor growing light.
By the way, these are also useful for other types of indoor fruit trees too.
Indoor growing lights can be set up to stand next to your plant and shine directly on top.
While there is no perfect substitute for natural sunlight, an indoor growing light is almost as good.
In terms of soil, just use a regular potting soil from your garden center.
Indoor tomatoes require no special care, and pest problems are infrequent.
If you want, you can take the plant outdoors during the summer but it is not necessary.
Indoor tomato plants are a welcome addition to the indoor fruit tree family.
Tomato prices seem to vary seasonally, especially in recent years with various droughts, freezes, and other natural disasters.
Summary You can now grow tomatoes indoors all year around with an indoor tomato plant.
These specimens are specially formulated to grow indoors and require minimal care.
A sunny exposure window and consistent watering schedule is about all they will need.
You can normally expect two to three crops per year, all things being equal.
If adequate sunlight is a problem in your living space, we recommend buying an indoor growing light which is the next best thing to natural sunlight.