A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Tomato sunlight question

if my tomato plants get only sun at the top of them, is that alright? will they still grow well? theyre in containers and as they grow i cant keep getting a lower box to put them on.thanks for the help!

Are they outside? Or inside in front of a window? I"m sorry but I don't quite understand the situation.

Like Marica said please explain your situation better. We can help you better. Jay

okay lets try again. they are indoor tomatoes being grown in containers.heres a pic.

I found this at a tomato site. It doesn't directly answer your question but I think it's saying they need sun all over.

Tomato plants, like any plant that produces fruit, need at least seven hours of direct sun. If you have less, you will have fantastic foliage but very few fruit. There is nothing-repeat, nothing-that can overcome this light requirement. Fruit production takes a tremendous amount of energy, and tomato plants, like all plants, get that energy from the sun.

Thanks for the pic-- that helps a lot.

Here are my thoughts-- I bet others will chime in with theirs! If this window gets 6-8 hours of direct sunlight, as BestoFour said, I'd guess they'll be fine. They may start off a little bit spindly, as they are trying to grow to toward the light. Don't worry about that. And don't worry that the lower leaves aren't receiving direct light. They don't in a garden either! I'd say just let them do what they do naturally.

Do be prepared to stake them or provide support as they grow up your window.

What variety are they?

the tag says better bush cherry and ive never seen it in books so i dont know much.also,the leaves all the way at the bottom of the plant seem to have not grown ever since i got the plant.is this all right? thanks once again!

gosh, they look awefully healthy to be growing indoors! I'd say keep on keeping on. sometimes you can make up (somewhat) for the lack of sunlight by having very rich soil. what ever your doing they look wonderful at this stage!

your from Hawaii? can't you grow them outside this time of year? tomatoe plants are VERY heavy feeders. you'll have to bump up the pot size as you go. they like they're roots deep. and like marica says, you'll need to stake them at some point.

I'm not real familiar with your climate this time of year, but I"d think they'd do better outside IF that's a workable thing to do.

Just a spot of looking at seed catalogs, and although I didn't find this exact variety (only looked for a few seconds) I think this is a variety that is excellent for containers. I'll defer to the tomato experts, but I'd say you're probably o.k. leaving them in that pot, so long as you fertilize regularly. As cricket says, tomatoes are heavy feeders.

And now having looked at the better bush varieties, you may not even need to stake them. Apparently they are short & squat-- as tomatoes go!

All that said, if you can get them outside in the sun, that's best. But inside will work.

I think Better Bush may be a determinate variety of Better Boy, although Beter Boy may be a bush for all I know. I'd say "bush" indicates a determinate, and a plant that my not normally need staking, but most any tomato may need staking at some point. You'll just have to look at this as an experiment, sean, the conditions aren't ideal, that doesn't mean you won't get some good fruit. Yes, those plants do look healthy, even robust. One thing I see is that the planter can allow more soil, bury the stems as much as you can while leaving enough room to water. I'd recommend using a liquid fert with a high middly number (Do you know about NPK? nitrogen phosphorous p9otassium) go easy on nitrogen, higher on phoshorous...P helps flowers and fruit form.

Your plants look ok to me. I would say just keep on doing what you have been. I can't tell for sure but the pot looks very shallow that would concern me some. But being a bush plant you might be ok. Like Dave said look at it as an experiment. You will learn some things you did right and a few you can improve on in the future. Jay

thanks for the input everyone.but i wish i could go outside but i live in an apartment and therefore have only the option of planting indoors.also, i bought 10-10-10 slow release fertilizer(miracle grow) a while back and was wondering if thats alright? im 15 and have no job yet so im kinda tight on money and cant buy something unless its absolutely necessary so if 10 10 10 is alright then ill just have to live with it.right now the potting mix i put in is from miracle grow so it says it feeds up to 2 months so im not gonna put in the fertilizer yet. and one more question for all of you, if im making a string cage(putting the stakes up and putting a string around the stakes) can i just use the thread that is used for clothes? once again, thanks alot everyone! i really hope to get tomatoes this year:)

The 10-10-10 should be ok. Being that you already have it I would use it.
If the string is going to be in contact with the plant and especially the stem I would use a bigger diameter string the size of twice if possible. Small string can cut right through a stem. I'm not 100% how you are going to construck the cage. That would be the concern I would have. I hope you get a nice crop. So many like myself take so much for granted. I have 2 acres to use if I desired. So have never tried the methods you have to so you can enjoy a fresh tomato. Jay

*If* you need to stake them-- and that's a big *if* if they are a true bush variety-- you can be creative in how you try to support them. Keep in mind that the pot you have probably isn't deep enough to anchor a stake-- it would just teeter over under the weight of the tomatoes.

But you do have some good looking windows there. You may be able to make a make-shift trellis up the window. You can use strips from an old bedsheet, or old t-shirts, instead of thread or fine string, to tie up the vines to the trellis. Don't tie them too tight. If you have a tall house plant, you can use it to provide support-- just tether the tomato to the house plant! If you have a mini blind in that window, you can strip it of the horizontal slats, and dangle some stuff vertically from the top part of it. Be creative!

I think there are two important things to remember. First, phototropism! The plant itself is going to grow in the direction of the sun, even if you do nothing. Even if it does get tall & eventually flop over, the new growth is going to continue to grow toward the sun--up!

Second, when the plants do start to flower, you're going to need to gently shake them to aid in pollination, since they're not outside.

You have a fabulous project going on here, Sean! I'm sure we're all anxious to help you make it a success.

ok well i got more worried today.a little sun use to hit some of the bottom leaves but now the sun only hits the leaves at the top. is this all right?

Ideally, vegetables of all kinds should get 6-8 hours of direct sunlight every day. Unfortunately, we don't always live in an ideal world! I think they'll be fine. I wouldn't worry about the bottom leaves vs. the top leaves. Here's my thought about why:

My tomatoes are outside, and are taller than I'm am already! To maximize space, I plant two rows very close together, and then leave a bit more space before planting the next tow rows. This means that it's noticeably shadier between the two rows, and closer to the ground. As far as I can tell, these leaves hadn't gotten direct sunlight in several weeks. And yet the plants are thriving!! And there are tomatoes. I had the same thing happen when I had tomatoes in containers on a deck.

So I think all in all, this is o.k. The plant is going to grow toward the light. Even if the bottom leaves don't get direct light, these leaves will shade the soil surface and help reduce evaporation from the soil.

Since this is your first time doing this, consider it an experiment! We all really hope you get tomatoes (and we bet you will). Keep us posted. And take lots of pictures over time so you'll have a record of how things went this year.

bleh my tomatos had less than 5 minutes of sunlight today.well heres a picture update.

5 minutes? you have a real challenge. Seems I remember blackbadger recommending using foil to reflect light, you should be able to figure out a way to rig up a reflector.

If it was only 5 minutes b/c it was a cloudy, overcast, or rainy day, I don't think there's any need to worry!

okay once again thanks for the advice.the sun isnt as much of a worry as the problem i found this morning.i looked at my bottomest(not a word)leaves and they seem to be turning yellow but the most worst thing saw was black spots on my leave at the 2nd level.so i look on the other side of the leaf and theres like this white,i dunno,powder thing with black specks in the middle.its not powdery mildew.i hope its not deadly but please help me as fast as you guys can.thanks thanks thanks!!!
i tried to take a pic but i have have to go real close with my cam but it doesnt focus and if i go far away you cant see it so i tried my best to describe it

Try taking the best photo you can at the highest resolution, and post it to photobucket or some other hosting place. Then just post the link and folks can zoom in from there. Don't post a high resolution photo here.

pluck a leaf and get as good a phot as you can. I doubt what you described is powdery mildew, but grown indoors, it's hard to figure out what could be attacking it. Give us the best description you can, details, details, or a good pic, and we might be able to help.

okay heres an update!

I see you have what appears to be a birdcage next to the plants. I think that will help provide a little extra carbon dioxide. That could make a noticeable beneficial efffect. Just a thought.
I would add another inch of soil to the planter...the more soil in a small container, the better off you are.
Those plants look good to me.
Can you afford a couple of cheap reflector lamps? 2 of the new style flourescent bulbe could provide 200 watts worth of light for only 66 watts of energy, it could help quite a bit.

thanks for the advice once again but if i can or cant afford them it wouldnt matter because my mom would never allow it.well i just hope for the best

rig up some soil behind them, tht will also help.

foil, not soil dave, you are typing like i do.

DOH! Yes, heaping soil behind them wouldn'thelp much, would it?
I nominate you chief of grammar police...there is no pay involved, that's why I don't want the job!

another question!!! how to i pollinate the tomato flowers and when? i tried tapping close to the flowers but i dnt know if that does anything and what imean by when is,do i pollinate when the flowers are the biggest they can be, or when they are closing...thanks for the help again!

I'm pretty sure a fan on low will do just as well as tapping. Although tapping won't hurt. And probably you have flowers at different stages of development, so tap away as you pass by them.

How are they looking, by the way? flowers are a good sign!!

well one of my flowers fell off while i was tapping...BLEH!

The flower was probably ready to fall off anyway. Otherwise unless you just really wacked it it wouldn't have fell off. If they don't pollinate they will die and fall off. Often times you will see a yellow spot form around the stem where it break off at. If you see that you know it didn't pollinate. Jay

Actually flick the blossoms, sometimes the pollen is hard to shake free. a fan will help in more ways than omr, as well, strengthening the stems, circulationg air so mold and mildew are reduced, etc. If you are getting blossomyou shouold be able to coax some fruit from those plants, so take heart! I hope you are eating tomatoes in a month or 2, it's a lifelong addiction once you've grown your own.

hm that is very informative but unfortunately, before i read about the fan being better, i tapped some more and another blossom fell of.and, looks to me like all of my flowers have the yellow spot that jay mentioned where they drop off.hm, im not to confident about my plants forming tomatoes:(
heres anoher pic.

What I always use to tie my tomatoes to a stake is cut up pantyhose or stockings. If you flatten them a bit, they make a wide band w/ a lot of stretch. And, they are a good way to reuse something that normally gets thrown out.

I do much container gardening and I am a bit concerned about the depth of your pot. While you do not need the equivalent of soil to get to the center of the earth, you do need several inches.


Merme

Merme,
I share the concern about the depth. Looks shallow to me.
Sean just make sure you tap them everyday. Hopefully soon you will see some fruit setting. Jay

i would love to buy a bigger container but unfortunately im too poor at the moment.anyway, are you sure tapping works? ive been try but no fruit seems to be forming and i think i see another flower about to drop.blehhhhh.well i just have to hope for the best.also, there has been a flower that has been dead for a long time but its not falling nor is it making any fruit.i was wondering if since it isnt dropping maybe it'll make fruit??thanks everyone!!!

it could be making ftuit, possibly.
Try this: take a cutip and push it into the flower. gently move it and pull it out. If you see pollen on it, you may have pollenated that flower. Do this to seceral flowers and use the same cutip. Tell us what hapens.

i tried to use the cutip but didnt really know what i was doing but nothing came onto it.heres pics of my flowers if it helps.


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This may be related or not, sorry if it isn't, BUT We have had a cool summer so far, And now we have clouds and rain for the past few days. My plants are huge, Lots of green tomatoes, But I know that HEAT and sun are a big factor in the ripening stage correct? how will this affect my yield?