Tomato growing tips for the first part of the season including growing tomatoes from seed, in pots, outside and in containers. http://www.tomatogrowing.co.uk.
Question by Intel+nVidia!: Are regular incandescent bulbs good for growing tomatoes indoors?
Are regular incandescent bulbs good for growing tomatoes indoors?
I bought a tomato plant today and its sitting on my window ledge, i dont have anywhere for it to get under the sun so i was wondering if a lamp would be useful, not for the heat as my room is warm anyway.
Best answer:
Answer by kostas
Light is a factor required in order that photosynthesis can occur. Supplemental lights are the easiest way to overcome the lack of natural lighting. However artificial light does not have the same effect as natural sunlight. For example tomato plants which are exposed to sun more hours of the day have a higher vitamin C content. Plants need the full range of the visible light spectrum for successful photosynthesis. They absorb more effectively blue and red light and reflect green thats why the look green.
So if you don’t like growing your tomatoes on the window ledge and you think that the place where you will put them does not have adequate light (if this is the case you will notice a lack of growth and yellowing leaves) you can supplement with artificial light. There are specific lights for growing plants, however for house conditions two types of bulbs can be used:
INCANDESCENT BULBS: As a single light source for plants, incandescent light bulbs are not particularly good. They are a good source of red rays but a poor source of blue. They produce too much heat for most plants and, if used, must be located some distance from the plants. You can use them supplementary to the daily light during the blooming period.
FLUORESCENT BULBS: fluorescent lamps resemble daylight illumination. Because most fluorescent lights are calibrated to be full spectrum or mimic daylight, they are the most widely used home illumination for growing indoor plants. The main advantage of using fluorescent lights is they emit very little heat. But the disadvantage is that the light put out by the fluorescent bulbs are not adequate and therefore,one would have to keep the plants under fluorescent light for some additional hours. You can use cool white lights which produce mostly blue light and are low in red light. The cool white lights lights are used effectively for foliage development, during blooming-flowering period you can use warm white bulbs.
Tomato plants need at least 7-8 hours period of light
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Official 2010 Tomato List
Image by Chiot’s Run
I’ve finally planted my tomatoes and have a final list for the 2010 growing season. I was hoping to grow around 10 different types, but the wonderful selection got the best of me again. My final list includes 15 varieties (10 fewer than last year).
For the official 2010 list: chiotsrun.com/2010/05/06/official-2010-tomato-list/
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