tomatoes? can I ask about here?

Beverly Erlebacher bae at
Mon Mar 2 12:46:44 EST 1998

In article <6dd9a0$5iq$1 at>, Dr. Jones <drjones at> wrote:
>I hope this is the right group to pose the question of how to grow plants
>indoors. Could someone advise me on possibilities for growing various plants
>such as tomatoes indoors. I can't stand those plastic acetylene injected
>round balls from the grocery store being sold as 'tomatoes.' Also I have
>heard of growing citrus fruits, as well as other plants normally suited to
>the more temperate and warm climates as being successfully cultivated

You will get more and better responses in the groups.

You can easily grow lettuce and similar salad green indoors under ordinary
fluorescent lights, keeping the plants as close to the lights as possible,
but fluorescents are usually not enough to get tomatoes to fruit reliably.
Indoor citrus is mostly for fun - you may get enough calamondins for a few
hundred ml of marmalade, or maybe a lemon or two per year.

>I can't set up an external detached greenhouse at present, but am
>considering a corner of my office for a few interesting plants. Please email
>me if you know of reference materials for my project.

There should be plenty in your local public library.  You may also want to
look into hydroponics.  Depending on your climate it may be much cheaper to
light a heated place than to heat a lighted place.  Btw, with a variety of
cheap season-extending stunts and the right plants, you can eat from your
outdoor garden for as much as 8 months per year even in a cold climate like
mine (Toronto, Canada).  There are innumerable books on how to do so.

More information about the Plantbio mailing list