Hello GardenLovers :)
I wanna share with you my 'journey' of growing cherry tomatoes indoor, for the first time. First, let me tell you gardening is pretty new to me. Even though I grew up on country side and we always had a (big) garden full of vegetables, it wasn't me who took care of it, at all. I did helped my parents from now and then but it wasnt my passion to spend time gardening.
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My love for gardening grew up like a flower 🌷
But from the moment I started to study nutrition and I've become interested in healthy eating, I understood the importance of growing your own vegetables (for keeping the body health and for the enviroment).
So, when I've got married and moved to our own house, where we have a LOT of outdoor space (kind of an opened field) and a big space for yard and garden, it was obvious to me that gardening its a must. It was NATURAL to have a garden in this place. So now me and my husband are very into gardening. We love it and we study and try to get as much information we can in order to create here a place where Sustainability is the Word. This year we wanna build a greenhouse and create a space so we can make our own compost, plus install solar panels all over 🍅.
Last year it's been my first time to grow tomatoes INDOOR and I was super excited about it! 🍅🍅 Tomatoes are one of my favourites to eat; this is why I wanted to try growing them first.
When I ate the first tomato (ughmm..... actually the second or third 'cause the first I gave it to my 1yr old who's also really crazy about 'em) I felt all the work I've done was SO worth it.🍅
It was in April when I harvested the first tomato, which was great considering the fact that they start to be available only in June. In late February I already had a few green, unripe tomatoes.
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Now that I'm thinking about this, I can't say it was hard to grow the tomatoes indoor. Bassically I just did a few things with minimal effort in order to keep them growing. But I made a few mistakes and I know it now.
But hey, this is how we learn, right?
🍅 What I didnt like was the fact that they occupied all the space of the window sill + some space from the counter (which is near the window where the sunlight reached them). Maybe I can do better this year.
🍅The major NOT GOOD was that their stem was LONG and way to THIN. My mom said I didnt cut the veins (at the right moment) that compete with the main stem for water, nutrient and light sources. And yes, thats right; I didnt cause I was still a newbie. I have so many things to learn yet.
🍅 I planted the seeds in late autumn, somewhere in Octomber. I guess because it was winter, they didnt grow so fast as they naturally grow in spring/summer. I used seedling soil.
I kept them on my windowsill, where I could get only 5-6 hours of direct sunlight.
🍅 After about one mounth, when they already sprauted, I transplanted the seedlings into a large pot.
What I did periodically, was to change their pot. I'm not saying this is the right thing, but I did it twice because I always ended up (in my opinion) to put them in a pot to small for them and their roots. I wanted to create enough space so they can grow properly and have reasonable conditions.
🍅 I water them every few days, when the soil was dry.
🍅 As the vines were growing, I put in the pot near the plant, some stakes so they can hold up these vines straight.
But WOW! I regret I didnt take photos at the moment when they had flowers. So so many flowers!!!! I had 30 to 40 cherry tomatoes on a plant. One day I counted all the tomatoes, there were about 150! I remember it very well! One hundred and fifty coming from 5-6 plants!! For a novice, I'll say this is a good harvest! 🍅
I consider this experience a succes. I had tomatoes in my house for my family and I get to learn a bit about planting and growing indoor tomatoes.
🍅 I didnt use fertilizers, not even natural or homemade. Maybe I would try another time. If you know some good diy natural fertilizers, share it with me. I guess there are plenty ideas on the internet but I want to hear something that you've already try it and it works.
🍅 When the nice weather really came in, I took them outside but I didnt transfer them directly in the soil. I let them in their pots, in our front yard. I had another ones in the garden. They made fruits for 2 months.
This is it! This is my first experience of growing indoor cherry tomatoes! I hope you could learn something from my experience and if you have any advice regarding "gardening skills", I would be more than happy to learn from you!
P.S. This is my entry for the challenge hosted by 
#GARDENJOURNAL. Check it out, there are a few days until due date!
Thank you so much for reading!
Missdeli