An aerogarden is a hydroponic garden that allows you to grow plants indoors using water, light, and plant food. It’s a great way to get fresh tomatoes, regardless of the weather outside.
Tomatoes are very easy to grow in an aerogarden, as long as you follow a few simple tips. In this article, we’ll go over some of the most important aerogarden tomato tips to help you maximize your harvest!
Water and Feed
One of the best aerogarden tomato tips is to use the right nutrients. This is especially important if you are growing heirloom tomatoes which can grow very large! Stick to the guidelines on the label and you will be rewarded with healthy fruit.
Keep your tomato plants well-nourished and watered regularly throughout the entire growing cycle to produce a good crop. This will also help with maintaining the right temperature and light.
Tomatoes thrive on regular moisture and optimum temperatures, so make sure you provide these when planting in your aerogarden. This is important for the development of roots, leaves and fruit.
During the early stages of growth, thin out the sprouts by snipping off the smallest stems to give the stronger ones room and the proper nutrition they need to develop.
You can also “top” your plants at this stage to strengthen the main stem and encourage branching out. This helps the plant focus its energy on producing fruit and reduces stress.
Light
Light is a crucial component to any indoor garden. From the sun warming our planet to photosynthesis kicking off life, light plays a role in all aspects of living organisms.
A good rule of thumb is that tomatoes need at least 16 hours of light per day. If you have a timer on your system, set it to turn off the lights after 8 hours of use.
Tomatoes are a fast grower and they need the help of light to produce fruit. Once the seed pods start sprouting, extend the LED light about four inches above the canopy to provide the most illumination possible for your tomato plants.
When your AeroGarden tomatoes are about seven weeks old, they’ll begin to flower. Flowers will stifle fruit production, so it’s important to keep them under control.
Pollination
Pollination is an important part of plant reproduction. Without pollination, plants can’t make seeds, which carry the genetic information to develop into a new plant.
It’s a process where pollen grains from an anther on one flower are transferred to the stigma on another flower of the same type to fertilize it and produce seeds. This is necessary for many crops, such as fruits (tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), vegetables, nuts, flowers and hay.
Fortunately, there are lots of animals that help with this vital process, including bees, flies and beetles. These animals fly or crawl from flower to flower and carry pollen to each.
To encourage pollination, gardeners usually shake or blow their tomatoes a few times a day once the flowers start to open up. If you don’t have a shaker, you can use an electric toothbrush or drill to touch against the flowers to simulate the vibration of an insect’s or bird’s wings.
Pruning
A good pruning process (think, “plant haircut”) can be a great way to help your aerogarden tomato plants get the most out of their growing space. Pruning can also help prevent rot and disease from developing on your plant.
Keeping your plants pruned correctly will improve the amount of clearance they have between the grow lights and the tops of their branches, and will encourage them to send out new branches below the light hood. This allows them to grow more fruit and flowers, while maintaining a healthy, strong plant.
Another benefit of pruning is it reduces the number of pests and fungi that live and build nests on your plants. These pests eat the leaves, roots and fruits of your plants, which can weaken them and cause them to develop diseases.
Pruning can also be a useful tool to control the growth of unwanted suckers that shoot out between your Aerogarden tomato plant’s base and branch. These suckers have no intention of bearing fruit, so removing them helps keep your Aerogarden tomato plant healthy and growing well.