I’ve had my greenhouse for over 6 months now and I still love it. One of the things I wanted to find out was would I be able to grow tomatoes in it during winter.
When I was at the Flower and Garden Show recently I asked someone from the Digger’s Club, of which I’m a member.
I was told that I wouldn’t be able to do it without grow lights. Not to keep it warm but to give the greenhouse more light during the short days of winter.
I have to admit I found that disappointing. I have a heater for it now and an Inkbird Temperature Controller so when the house gets below 10 C then it will heat it to 12. During the day if it is sunny that will keep it very warm.
I just don’t want to think of something else I need. So this winter I’m just going to give it a go and see what happens.
Take a look at how well they are growing so far.
They have grown so tall they are hitting the roof. I have had to trim them off. Part of the reason for that is also so the plant will concentrate more on the fruit rather than the plant.
There are tomatoes all over them and I am really hoping that they ripen before it gets too cold. So far the leaves haven’t turned yet on most trees, well the ones in my garden. The days are still beautiful, most of the time. We did get a heap of rain earlier this week, which was great, but the sun has been shining most days.
We can get warm weather into May and I really hope that happens this year. It is all an experiment I suppose, so time will tell how it all goes. I have really struggled to find any information on this, so I do feel like I’m on my own.
I just hope we don’t get any early frosts. Fingers crossed.
Have I told you how much I love my greenhouse?
Hi Leanne. I too wish to grow tomatoes in winter. I am just building my greenhouse and am inspired by your success so far. Could you please tell me what sort of heater you are using? Thanks, Martine.
I won’t be using a heater, but instead plan on using grow lights. It is probably warm enough here, but not enough light.
I can tell you love your greenhouse! Hoping you don’t have an early frost!
I’m glad you can tell. My heater is working in there, so hopefully it won’t matter now. Thank you Marland.
Fun to experiment. Though I can understand about the light. A good way to learn.
Yeah, I agree, it is a fun experiment and it will be interesting to see what happens. I get the light too, so we will see if that is a problem. I have trimmed some trees so it will get more light, so I hope that helps. Thanks RJ
I wonder if solar lights would work, not the ones that come on just at night but ones that can be switched on and off. Maybe they could be expensive but so are tomatoes at the moment.
I don’t know. I have tried to find some, but they are really expensive. I think I will just try it with the heater right now and see what happens this winter. Then we can make a decision for next year. You are right they are very expensive. I was thinking about how many kilowatt hours it takes to run the heater, and how much one tomato costs in the supermarket. We can use 3 kW for each tomatoe basically and still be in front. Thank you bushboy.
You sure have a green thumb, Leanne! Enjoy those yummy tomatoes. ❤️
I wish that were true, I can grow things, but my thumb isn’t as green as I wish it were. I will let you if they ripen and I do get to enjoy them. Thank you John.
It’s always worth a try!
So very true Dorothy, won’t know unless I try. Thank you.
These look great, Leanne. You might be able to inform the Diggers Club that tomatoes CAN grow without grow lights.
Thank you Lois, though I haven’t got there yet, will see how it goes in June and july, that will be the real test. I am fairly confident cherry tomatoes will grow, so that will be something.