It’s cold.
It’s dark.
It’s dreary.
Winter was always my least favorite season, but it becomes more of a bother the older I get.
I’m just not a fan, and I’ve grown increasingly bitter about it…
I mean, winter just barges in the door, kills all of your plants, and leaves your hands a cracked, dry mess.
I don’t understand all of the hype around snow, it’s just downright uncomfortable.
I don’t enjoy stumbling along in the cold, as bits of snow melt and eventually lead to dampened socks, gloves, or hats.
Then again, here in my area (zone 7a at that), we never really get snow.
You may see a whopping 3″ every other year or so, with a good snow (4″) occurring once every ten years.
Instead, we get ice.
Butt-busting, car door-sealing ice.
The entire world becomes something reminiscent of a half melted ice cube, or a slick bar of soap.
Have you ever slipped on an ice cube before?
It’s a lot like that. Except there’s nothing to regain traction on.
As we entered November, I decided I wasn’t going down without a fight: I was going to have something delicious to nibble on, and it was going to be grown indoors.
World, I introduce you to the Tiny Tim Tomato.
These little guys are my ticket to cheating winter, and eating fresh tomatoes with nothing more than a small flower pot and a seedling light.
Pretty neat, right?
Well, it’ll be even better when we get to taste test the tomatoes!
Eventually, this post will be updated to include pictures of the fruit and our final review of the fruit.
That’ll be a few more weeks as you would expect, but you’ll find the review BELOW the growth timeline of these two little plants.
Spoiler Alert: Tiny Tomatoes!
Our Timeline in Photos: Growing Tiny Tim Tomatoes Indoors
So, let me take you guys on a little adventure!
As we continue along, you’ll see the tiny tim tomato plants in their various stages of growth.
I originally sowed 3 single seeds, in a triangular pattern, in a 2″ or 2.5″ pot.
I originally obtained these seeds from a fellow gardener; I’m a big advocate of seed trading to get cool seed varieties because it’s one of the MOST frugal ways to get seeds!
I planted them in a lovely moistened organic veggie soil mix, and placed the pot inside of a cheap folding sandwich bag.
I then left the tiny pot beneath the grow light I have on my kitchen counter, and left it alone for roughly a week.
…. I forgot about it, I’ll be honest.
I remembered the little pot at just the right time, and checked on it only to find 2 of the 3 seeds had sprouted!
They were only a day or two old at most; still on the smaller side.
I pulled them out of the sandwich bag, and moved them closer to the light.
Below, you’ll see them at roughly 10 days old, with their first true leaves beginning to unfurl.
This is when I added a single fertilizer cube.
(I bought little Jobe’s fertilizer cubes for like $0.10 a pack at a discount store, and they are perfect for these little pots!)
Aren’t the babies cute?
Anyways, this is the time when you have to worry about dampening off.
I nearly never lose seedlings to dampening off, but so, so many people do.
So let me add some more value to this post, and tell you all what I do:
TOP TIPS to AVOID Dampening Off with Water Control:
- Never water your tomato seedlings from above, and always be modest with the water.
- Tomato seedlings don’t require wet soil. They only need the soil to be slightly damp.
- Aim for a dry soil surface. If the surface is dry, you are far less likely to encounter dampening off.
- As you become more experienced with your seedlings, let your seedlings remain as dry as possible without wilting them.
- Start your seedlings in a room with LOW humidity. This would be any room with central heating, or a radiator heater, during the winter.
Chugging Along: Tiny Tim Tomato Seedlings at Two Weeks Old
Next, we have some Tiny Tim toddlers!
As we rounded the two week mark, you can see that the tomato seedlings were clearly beginning to take off.
Look at those short, stout stems.
That lush, green foliage.
They were happy little tomato plants!
Shortly after this was taken, they were given too much water by a kind individual who was only trying to help.
Out of the kindness of his heart, he over watered my Tiny Tims; for two days, I couldn’t figure out what was going on with their poor leaves!
They were curling upwards, forming little pimple like breakouts on the undersides of their leaves, with brown spots appearing on the opposite side (the top of the leaf).
I will include an image (when I find it) at some point of the visual signs of over watering.
For me, I couldn’t recognize it because I had no idea that he watered them right behind me.
I was worried that my tomatoes were succumbing to a virus.
When I finally asked if he did anything with them, he told me. I then realized water was at fault, and was immediately relieved.
He, of course, received a crash course on tomato watering, and just how fussy tomato plants are with water.
You really have to know your tomatoes- you have to be the tomato whisperer, really connect with them on a spiritual level.
Otherwise, they’ll know you don’t understand them and they’ll just give up on you.
Trust me, guys and gals.
They’re not having any part in that.
They will break your heart, if you break theirs; they’re needy.
Here we go! Trucking along!
At the ripe old age of 24 days, my three week old Tiny Tim tomato plants were out of the danger zone.
Unless it came down to water and other care takers, of course…
Anyways, they were fairly rugged, sturdy, and ready to take on the world!
…The indoor world.
Now, I transplanted them at roughly the 16 day mark, shortly after the photo above was taken.
They went into a 5″ square pot together; normally you should space tomatoes more generously, but these are micro tomatoes that are being supplemented, and grown to produce a few more seeds- not for production.
Look at those beautiful, bushy plants!
I added fertilizer cubes at the 10 day mark, so that’s likely the culprit for all of this beautiful growth.
However, I fully intended on growing two or three plants in this pot.
I wanted to provide them with plenty of nutrition since they were sharing this 5″ square pot.
I want plenty of Tiny Tim Tomatoes from my indoor plants, so that I can save seed, grow more, and enjoy them every winter.
Here’s What We Had at Just Over 3 Weeks Old:
Tiny Tim Tomato Plants Are Flowering! Yippee!
I got so excited when the plants started to develop little buds!
Can you see them in the photo below?
I’ve currently got dozens of little buds popping up, which is very promising for us!
Each plant currently has roughly 4 or 5 clusters of buds, which means I should get loads of little fruits and seeds.
I only received a small amount of seeds in trade, and I want more than 4 or 5 in my personal collection.
I would rather be frugal and am avoiding purchasing more of this seed (especially since my favorite seed companies either don’t have them, or have them priced quite high), so I’ll ferment and save more tomato seeds instead.
It’s also important to mention how HEALTHY these beautiful little plants look!
Do you see how lush, green, and full they are?
They’ve also retained very stout stems, and are not leggy at all.
They’re roughly 8″ tall currently, and it’s already time to move the growing light up; however, I’m about to pull the plants over on their sides, securing them to a small stick, causing them to tumble/cascade over the edge of the pot.
This will allow me to bring the light back down (bringing great joy to the other plants that share it) while improving the amount of light that they receive.
This will assist the plants with fruit production and foliage growth.
I will likely use a small piece of bamboo, a scrap hanger, or any other item that I can re-purpose for these plants.
I think I have enough thrifty posts (like this one) to prove that I can always find a way to do something for free (or very, very cheaply!)
Below is a gorgeous little flower!
I was absolutely excited to see this, as it means I should see tiny tomatoes soon enough!
Now that the flowers are opening, I give the plants a firm, fast shake every day.
I take the plant by its stem and shake vigorously, as if I’m trying to shake dirt or water off of it.
I know, it sounds violent; but it does not hurt the plant!
It’s actually a technique that helps with pollinating the flowers!
Tomato flowers are self fertile, but the wind helps to pollinate.
There is no wind indoors, so this technique solves that problem.
Current Progress on My Indoor Tiny Tim Tomato Plants
So, we have not yet finished this journey. I’ve been largely quiet about these little guys, as I wanted to have some progress photos up until now at the very least.
The first wave of blooms have faded or have started to fade, and I’m currently waiting to see itty, bitty, teeny, tiny fruits in their places.
It’ll likely take close to a month before we have ripened fruit, so it’ll be roughly the end of January before I have an update, more photos, and an overall review of Tiny Tim tomato plants.
I’ll be starting my peppers and slow growing herbs at that time, too!
***UPDATE COMING SOON!***
I lied.
Enjoy the photos of the first baby ‘mater!
I mean, you saw it at the beginning of the post but here it is again!
I can’t even finish this post without an update, it seems; that’s okay though!
