I'm growing hydroponic tomatoes indoors

[Prof]

Last season I started to grow some tomatoes in large pots outside..

They were regularly watered and fertilized and I had a few tomatoes on the plants..

Then we started to get high daily temperatures reaching into the mid 40's.!!!..

Even with the plants sheltered with shade cloth..they all  died..

This was the second time that it had happened..the first being at another location..

I decided I wouldn't try again..and besides at my age it was becoming impracticable to do any further gardening..

Then one day I happened to come across an article about growing tomatoes all year round indoors.!! This perked up my interest again..

I discovered that one could grow tomatoes indoors in a hydroponic system.!!

I liked the idea because you didn't have to worry about bugs and insects getting at your plants..and the containers were at bench top height..so no bending..no watering and you can have tomatoes all year round.!!!

I've always imagined that hydroponics was just for growing Weed, with all sorts pumps and bubblers  with lights everywhere and using lots of electricity.!!

What I discovered is that with simple systems you can grow all sorts of herbs, vegetables and flowers..

There is a system called the Kratky method..It's basically having a container with liquid fertilizer and putting a seedling suspended in the liquid..That's it.!! No pumps or bubblers or expensive lighting..

Looking at you tube video's I found people were even using ice cream containers and large coffee jars to grow tomatoes in.!! Some used what they call in the US Mason jars..

The more sophisticated ones used plastic tanks and grew several plants in them..

I decided to give it a try..The best place I found was in the laundry..It's out of the way and I found that the space between the washing machine and the cupboard was ideal..

In my next post I will describe what I bought for the system and I'll show the little table I made to fit between that space..

[Prof]

Thanks for your advice Jacob..

I have vibrated the plant both by hand and electric tooth brush during their flowering process..

I also have been running fans for 12 hrs everyday on the plants..

I checked both pH and EC and both are near perfect..

With all that the flowers come out and then die.!

Prof..

[Prof]

Hi Noelle..

In the past I have used a paint brush to transfer pollen from anthers to stigmas..but you can't do that if you only have flowers with anthers.!

Prof..

[Prof]

Hi Dave..

Yes they were new seeds from a new supplier..I was after indeterminate tomatoes larger than Cherry and the seeds I bought looked to be what I was after..

Germination process was the same I always use and the seedlings grew well..

I'm beginning to suspect that these seeds were sterile..plenty of green growth and virtually nothing else..

Prof..

[Prof]

Dave..in my last batch of hydroponic vegetables I bought from Bunnings..Cucumber seedling plant..Capsicum seedling plant..which incidently had some Aphids which then spread rapidly..I had to treat the plant constantly with a formula I had made up myself..which killed them all eventually..

I wasn't happy about that purchase.!!

The cucumber plant thrived and I'm getting loads of cucumbers..and I managed to get two capsicums off the Aphid riddled plant.!! 

Prof..

[MitchellMc]

That's very unusual @Prof, but it’s possible for tomato flowers to be “incomplete” or malformed, which could make it look like they have only a stigma (the female part) and lack anthers (the male part). Typically, a healthy tomato flower is perfect, meaning it has both male (stamens/anthers) and female (pistil/stigma) structures. Sometimes, due to genetics, environmental stress, or developmental issues, the anthers may fail to develop or the flower may be “parthenocarpic,” which can give the impression of only a stigma.

Sometimes the stigma can be enclosed by the anthers, concealing it.

Mitchell

 

[Prof]

Hi Mitchell..

I think you might have hit on it.! The plants are parthenocarpic which I had forgotten about (old age.!!) and I might not have treated them well enough this time.!!

Thanks..I just hope i'm not too late to get them to recover.. 

Nice drawing by the way..

Prof..