In just 8-10 weeks you can have fresh tomatoes in the middle of winter! These tomatoes are super fun to grow, a great activity to do with kids, can be grown in small spaces and offer you fresh produce while there’s still snow on the ground. These tomatoes are the perfect winter plant to fill the garden void during the cold, dark months.
Micro tomatoes are a small, dwarf variety of tomato. They grow 8-12″ in height and produce large amounts of cherry tomatoes that come in colours from yellow, to orange, to red. They are the perfect patio gardeners tomato, but also the perfect indoor garden tomato. These tomatoes will adjust based on the pot size they are grown in, therefore if you plant in a small pot the plants will stay small but still produce fruit, and will grow larger when given a larger pot. They are a fun way to continue gardening into the winter season when the days are short and the snow is plenty.
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There are a lot of varieties that exist on the market right now, especially as micro tomatoes become more popular. A few varieties include, Red Robin, Tiny Tim and Tumbler. Having new varieties out means you can try multiple plants and see which ones taste the best and grow best for you!
As is typical with other tomatoes, they require full sun. Therefore, if you are growing them indoors over the winter you will want to make sure that you have a grow light for your plants. Grow lights such as these are perfect to grow a couple of pots since they are adjustable and can be moved as the tomato plant grows.
Tomatoes require a lot of nutrition in order to grow. Make sure to use a potting mix that is meant for pots to ensure that they don’t dry out too quickly or hold too much moisture. You can also make your own potting mix using worm castings, coco coir and perlite.
Micro tomatoes are super simple to grow from seed. Start the seeds in a sterile, seed starting mix. You can make your own using my recipe here. Since tomatoes are heat loving plants, the seeds will germinate faster if you plant them in a warm place. Use a heat mat and a dome to speed up the germination of your seeds, otherwise you can place your seed pot on a heat register to help warm it up. Just be careful that your pot doesn’t get too hot.
Once the seeds have sprouted you want to ensure they are under a grow light. Keep the light only 1-2″ above the seedlings and adjust it as they grow. Once your plant has 2-3 sets of true leaves, upgrade them to a larger pot. I recommend moving them to a mid-size pot and not their final destination as plants don’t enjoy being upgraded too quickly.
Upgrade seedlings to a pot that is approximately 2″ in size. Once they have outgrown their 2″ pot transplant them to their final pot. The smaller the pot, the smaller the plant. 1 gallon pots are a great size for the plants if you have access to one, otherwise an 8-10″ pot is perfect.
Keep your tomato plants well watered but allow the soil to dry between waterings. Don’t let them dry out too much or it can hinder their flowering and fruiting. Feed your tomato plants every 2-3 weeks once they start flowering to make sure they don’t run out of nutrition as they start to grow fruit.
Since you’re growing your tomatoes indoors you don’t have to harvest them early to beat the squirrels! This means you can harvest your tomatoes once they ripen to the colour that the variety is. Keep on top of harvesting to make sure the plant continues to flower and grow more fruit.
Micro tomatoes are perfect for salads or in curries! Since the plants are so small you can expect to harvest a handful from each plant every few days.
Since you’re growing your tomatoes indoors you don’t have to worry about any pests, except fungus gnats, if your soil is contaminated. The best solution for fungus gnats is to use sticky papers. There are not many problems that can hurt your micro tomatoes other than to not care for them properly (such as under watering them). Enjoy your indoor garden with few pests and diseases!
Saving seeds from micro tomatoes is exactly the same as saving them from normal tomatoes! You can check out my article here on how to save tomato seeds.
