Growing tomatoes on a windowsill in winter: the best varieties, planting, and care

Fresh tomatoes are now available in stores year-round. But the taste of vegetables purchased in winter doesn't always live up to expectations. So, it's worth putting in a little effort and growing your own tomatoes on a windowsill this winter, using the best varieties in an ordinary apartment. You just need to provide the plants with good care. Then, in a few months, you can enjoy fresh and delicious fruits.

When to sow seeds

You can sow tomato seeds for winter growing on a windowsill indoors throughout the year. There are no restrictions, as with traditional seedling growing. It is recommended to plant seeds in four batches: October and November plantings will yield a harvest in winter, while February and March plants will bear fruit in summer.

Preparing seeds for planting

Growing tomatoes indoors and outdoors is the same process. First, sow seeds for seedlings. Home-grown or purchased seedlings are suitable for this purpose. In both cases, the following preparations are necessary:

1. The seeds are placed in salt water for sorting. Those that float to the surface are discarded, as they are empty and will not germinate.
2. Good seed material is placed in a pinkish solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes for disinfection.

Planting container

Initially, the seeds are placed in communal seedling containers. Individual trays with a capacity of up to 100 ml are a good option for growing tomatoes indoors during the winter. When the seedlings develop their first pair of true leaves and feel crowded, they are pricked out and placed individually in half-liter disposable plastic cups.

When the plant develops 10 pairs of leaves, transplant the young seedlings to their permanent location in a pot with a capacity of at least 1 liter per plant. A 2-3 liter pot is considered optimal. All containers should have drainage holes to prevent water stagnation. Place a drainage layer of expanded clay, crushed brick, or other material at the bottom of the tomato pot.

Suitable soil

To grow tomatoes on a windowsill in an apartment during the winter, choose fertile soil with good moisture absorption and air permeability. A mixture of equal parts forest soil and high-quality compost is suitable. However, a more complex composition is also possible:

• 2 parts humus;
• 2 parts peat;
• 1 part sand.

When you don't want to bother with mixing the soil yourself, use store-bought soil for growing nightshade seedlings.

Sowing and creating conditions for seedlings

Tomato seeds for seedlings are sown in the usual way. The step-by-step process is as follows:

1. Place the previously prepared soil into the seedling container.
2. In a large box, make furrows 1 to 1.5 cm deep. If these are individual cassettes, then dig holes in the center.
3. Place the seeds in the seedlings, leaving 2-3 cm between them. When planting, place two seeds per hole. If two seedlings emerge, remove the weaker one.
4. Cover the sown seeds with soil.
5. Spray with warm water from a spray bottle.

The seed trays are covered with glass or plastic to create the desired microclimate under the cover. The containers are moved to a dark place with a temperature of 22 to 25 degrees Celsius until the first sprouts appear. The cover is periodically removed to allow fresh air in and is regularly moistened.

When the seedlings emerge, they are moved to a bright room and the cover is removed. If the seedlings are growing too densely, they are thinned out. In cloudy weather, the plantings are supplemented with phytolamps. If the sun is shining brightly, the seedlings are shaded to prevent sunburn. Three weeks after sowing, the sprouts are fed with a weak solution of mineral fertilizer.

Picking

Three weeks after germination, the seedlings are pricked out. By this time, the young plants will have developed 3-4 true leaves. The seedlings are carefully separated and transferred to new, larger containers. These larger pots provide more space for the roots to develop properly.

Transplanting into larger pots

One and a half months after picking, the plants are finally repotted into pots for continued growth. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the pot, which is then filled with nutritious soil.

The container is selected taking into account the tomato varieties:

• for dwarf varieties, 2 l pots are sufficient;
• medium-sized tomatoes are planted in 4-liter containers;
• For hanging varieties, use pots of at least 5 liters.

The seedlings are transplanted by transshipment. To make the task easier, water the plants thoroughly the day before so that the root ball maintains its shape during the move. The empty space around the edges of the pot is then filled with fresh soil.

Care instructions

The health and quality of a tomato crop largely depend on proper plant care. To ensure rapid development and the formation of a large number of fruits indoors, tomatoes need timely watering and fertilizing. But first, it's important to provide the plants with the right temperature and light conditions.

Lighting and growing space

Tomatoes require long daylight hours to thrive. It's best to provide the plants with 14-16 hours of natural light by placing the pots on a south-facing surface. They can also be placed on a west- or east-facing window. In the summer, when the weather warms up, it's recommended to move the plants to a balcony or loggia.

In winter or early spring, daylight hours are not yet long enough for tomatoes to grow quickly. Therefore, young plants are supplemented with phytolamps.

Temperature

After the seeds germinate, when temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius are needed, the boxes are moved to cooler conditions. For optimal growth, daytime temperatures between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius are sufficient. However, in winter, when the heating is running at full blast, tomatoes can suffer from excessively dry and hot air. Therefore, radiators are covered with blankets.

At night, it's recommended to move the tomato pots to the floor to lower the ambient temperature by a couple of degrees. This prevents the plants from stretching. With the onset of summer, indoor tomatoes are moved to an open balcony.

Humidity

Tomatoes aren't tropical plants, so they don't require high humidity. Spraying should only be done when the air is very dry. If the temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, avoid spraying to avoid the risk of blackleg.

During flowering, it's recommended to mist the flowers with warm water from a fine-mist spray bottle. The moisture will improve pollen adhesion to the pistils.

Watering

Proper soil moisture is essential for tomatoes. However, insufficient moisture leads to premature fruit drop during the developmental stage. Overwatered tomatoes are more likely to develop late blight or blackleg. Therefore, water the plants only after the soil has dried out, using moderate amounts.

If the temperature and humidity levels are maintained, water the plants weekly. It's also acceptable to water the plant the day before repotting to make it easier to remove from the pot. Use settled or filtered water to prevent chlorine from leaching into the soil.

Top dressing

The first time plants are given an additional dose of minerals is by transplanting them. To do this, dilute the "Kornevin" preparation according to the included instructions and water the bushes. The "Ukorenitel" preparation can be used for the same purpose.

To enhance foliage growth, nitrogen fertilizers are added between picking and transplanting into a permanent container. Afterward, mineral complexes are used to stimulate fruit formation. These fertilizers are especially beneficial during the flowering period, when the winter harvest is just beginning to take shape.

Pinching out stepsons

Low-quality varieties and hybrids are used for winter cultivation indoors. Therefore, they do not require pinching, side-sonning, or shaping. However, if the seeds are of poor quality and the plant does not consistently grow upward, the top of the bush should be pinched.

Additionally, you can remove the lower tier of leaves, as they receive little light anyway. To prevent the bush from becoming dense, remove spent fruiting clusters, dried leaves, and branches promptly.

It's recommended to tie the bushes to a support driven into the ground. This will prevent them from falling apart and tipping the pot.

Protection from pests and diseases

https://youtu.be/KG9lxVeRqkk

Having asked the question whether it is possible grow tomatoes on a windowsill In winter, keep in mind that potted tomatoes require periodic treatment against diseases, as even indoor conditions don't provide complete protection. Tomatoes are most often affected by late blight. Therefore, it's important to maintain regular watering and prevent standing water in the tray. Ventilation is also helpful in preventing this fungus.

For preventative treatment, spray with the following solution:

• 1 g of potassium permanganate crystals;
• 3 liters of warm water;
• 100 g chopped garlic.

You can detect pests attacking your plants by their life traces. Pests lay eggs and larvae on the undersides of leaves. Adult pests can also be found there. If such a problem is detected, treat the bushes with insecticides or effective folk remedies: soap solution, tobacco infusion, or garlic infusion.

If there are no signs of pests, the cause of stunted growth or deformed plants is an infection. To resolve the problem, isolate the affected plant, and treat the remaining healthy plants with a disinfectant solution.

Selecting a variety

When choosing a tomato variety for growing on a windowsill in winter, it is preferable to use low-growing species With fast growth and good yields, especially when space is limited in an apartment. These plants don't take up much space and quickly produce a bounty of delicious fruit. The following varieties are the most popular for growing indoors during the winter:

1. Balcony miracle Forms a compact bush no more than 0.6 m tall. Small, round tomatoes with bright red flesh ripen three months after sowing. One plant yields up to 2 kg.
2. The non-hybrid Dubok variety forms a bush 0.4-0.6 m tall. It ripens early, producing round fruits with a fleshy interior. The bushes require artificial pollination, but their advantage is their resistance to late blight.
3. The low-growing Ruby Red variety was developed specifically for indoor growing. It forms small bushes up to half a meter tall. These small tomatoes are distinguished by their bright red color and mild flavor.
4. Tomato bushes White filling The fruits reach up to 70 cm in height. The round fruits, weighing up to 130 g, ripen in 85 days. The red-fleshed fruits have a pleasant, slightly tart flavor.

In conclusion

Growing tomatoes on your windowsill during the winter is a great way to always have a supply of fresh, healthy vegetables on hand, get your vitamins right on time, and be the first to harvest delicious tomatoes. For those without a garden or dacha, it's also a great way to practice growing vegetables at home.