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Re: indoor tomatoes

Bob,

> This year I would like to try and grow tomatoes indoors during the
>  winter under these lights..I have never done this before and would
>  like some advice on how to do this

We cultivate tomatoes here on a basis of successional cropping under artificial light 
giving a harvest period that runs from March to late October or  even year-round. 
That's the good news <s> The bad news is that you will need a combination of 
supplementary light & HEAT, maintaining 20C by day and 16C by night @ ALL times 
between late autumn and mid spring at least. In effect you will find yourself running a 
hot (though not a stove) house in a temperate climate if like us you're, let's say, 
somewhere around latitude 50-54 N. That means a considerable commitment in terms 
of fuel costs etc which you will only recoup if all your crop sequences are at least 70% 
successful on each iteration. I.e., there's a good deal of hard graft involved to keep the 
show on the road & profitable! <g>

If you're interested, I have found some of the best information on this culture (and all 
matters Greenhouse) in "The Complete Book of the Greenhouse" by Ian G. Walls. 
Truly a "classic" it's now in its 5th edition since 1973 and as regards tomato culture 
under glass it gives you a whole array of early cultivation scenarios dependent on 
what level of heat/light investment you're prepared to make -- if any, of course. The 
stats for the book:

Title: The Complete Book of the Greenhouse
Author: Ian G. Walls (et al)
Publisher: Ward Lock
ISBN: 0-7063-7446-0
Price: GBP 15.99

US Distributor:

Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.
387 Park Avenue South
New York
NY 10016-8810

Usefully, Walls also give a rough "translation table" for the early/mid/late season 
definitions he employs applicable to both Nothern and Southern hemispheres to take 
at least some of the guess work out of evaluating these notoriously imprices 
terminologies wherever you happen to be... <wry s>

Hope this helps some.

Rgds,

Richard -- Hereford (UK) HR9 5ZA
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