11 days ago (I'm late posting) and 72 days after planting the seeds, I ate my first tomatoes.

The chives were poking up through the snow in the outside garden, so I made an omelet and homemade bread to celebrate the fresh tomatoes.

There flavor of the tomatoes was better than when I have grown this variety in the greenhouse. They were not as sweet, or as acidic. But they had a rich deep and complex flavor. It really was fun.

I've been pruning all the leaves off the lower part of the vine and using the suction cups to pull the vine down, coiling the fruit along the floor of the unit. That way I still have room at the top of the unit for the vine to continue to grow.

I've been plucking all the suckers. I am considering letting one of them grow. I think there is enough space in the unit for a second vine. Any thoughts?

Every morning, while I tend the plant, I eat a few tomatoes. I harvested just over a pound one day this week. The flavor is perfect: sweet, rich and bright.

Day 6
I noticed that the seeds sprouted yesterday. I must have dropped several seeds into the whole; I pinched off all but two seedlings, and will pluck one more in a few days.

@jk Oh, and it smells wonderful. Like a mature tomato plant in summer.

@bloomcs said in BLOOM Components and System Overview: Nutrient Dosing System:
Thank you. I found this interesting. I had to look up what a Peristaltic pump was, and that was interesting too.

I grew eggplant this summer in the greenhouse for the first time, and I cannot believe how much I enjoyed eating it. Cook's Illustrated has a great recipe for baba ganoush. I was also amazed by how productive one plant was. I'm excited to see your grow!

Outside, bleak winter; Inside, tomatoes are growing!

Yesterday I moved to Stage 5: Fruiting. The plant has in fact started setting fruit.

I had trouble when I changed the water yesterday. The extension hose leaks, and I spilled water. So, when it all started back up the moisture sensor gave an alert. I dried it, but must not have reseated the grow tray correctly, because it flooded a second time. I dried it out again. But a few hours later the plant did not look good. I got an alert that the temperature had dropped below the target range. (Which was odd, the temperature inside the Bloom was below the house temperature.) I ran through the system check; everything seemed to be working. An hour later, I watched to make sure the roots were being flooded, and everything seemed to work. It took around 7 hours for the ph and nutrients to reach their target range. Everything has stayed in range since then. The plant has perked back up.

56 days since planting, at it is has an unbelievable number of tomatoes!

I've been pruning it to a single vine and training it in a spiral along a piece of string... I think it is working. Last week I dimmed the lights to 95% and tightened the spiral so the vine is a little further away from the wall lights. There is still some leaf curl, but not as much as last week.

No color yet, but I think they will start to ripen any day now.

Does the root mass every become a problem? Should we ever trim the roots?

83 Days after planting the seed, here is the vine:

I had trouble photographing the way I trained the vine, but perhaps this will make sense. I used suction cups along the walls and little bungee cords to hold a string in a spiral and then trained the vine along the string.

I had hoped that when the vine filled the cabinet, I would be able to trim the bottom branches, move each bungee cord down one suction cup and coil the vine at the base of the cabinet. (This is similar to what I have done when growing this plant in the greenhouse.)

However, this vine doesn't actually need the supports. It is able to support itself. I am not sure that I will be able to coil it without snapping the vine. And it has nearly filled the Bloom.

I am considering transplanting the whole plant into the greenhouse.

Or topping the main vine and letting a sucker from somewhere low on the plant grow.

Or just trying to coil it and risking a snap.

Any suggestions for how I might be able to lengthen the grow time?

That looks magnificent!

I want to see how long I can keep the vine growing. So I've trellised it in a spiral growing up through the cabinet. Of course the vine reaches the top periodically:

When this happens I trim off all the leaves from the bottom of the vine:

And then I I remove the lowest suction cup, and lower all the rest.

This creates more room at the top for the vine to continue to grow. It seems to be working well, so I am hopeful that I can continue eating tomatoes for a while. I'm 117 days since planting the seed now. That is roughly equivalent to the number of frost free days I get in a year outside here.

@gr0w3r Thank you.

1. I had missed at least one water change, so I changed the water yesterday.

2. Nutrients are set to 1500 ppm with a ratio of 1:2:3. (I have not adjusted the nutrients from the pre-made recipe.)

3. I turned the temperature down.

Thank you again.

That looks magnificent!

Some of the flowers have been disappearing. I though I might have a caterpillar, but I've searched high and low for it without finding any evidence of insects. Does anyone know what might be causing this:

I continue to prune the vine heavily and pull it down as it reaches the top. I have not been fertilizing the flowers with a paint brush for several weeks. Some of the flowers continue to set fruit, but I think hand fertilizing is necessary, so I'll go back to doing that regularly.

Here is the vine at 110 day:

I'll need to pull it down again in the next couple of days. The bottom is coiled densely, and the top has more leaves and room.

@bloomcs Thank you! I will continue to clip the suckers. It is growing beautifully. And the tomatoes are fantastic in flavor.

I've been pruning all the leaves off the lower part of the vine and using the suction cups to pull the vine down, coiling the fruit along the floor of the unit. That way I still have room at the top of the unit for the vine to continue to grow.

I've been plucking all the suckers. I am considering letting one of them grow. I think there is enough space in the unit for a second vine. Any thoughts?

Every morning, while I tend the plant, I eat a few tomatoes. I harvested just over a pound one day this week. The flavor is perfect: sweet, rich and bright.

83 Days after planting the seed, here is the vine:

I had trouble photographing the way I trained the vine, but perhaps this will make sense. I used suction cups along the walls and little bungee cords to hold a string in a spiral and then trained the vine along the string.

I had hoped that when the vine filled the cabinet, I would be able to trim the bottom branches, move each bungee cord down one suction cup and coil the vine at the base of the cabinet. (This is similar to what I have done when growing this plant in the greenhouse.)

However, this vine doesn't actually need the supports. It is able to support itself. I am not sure that I will be able to coil it without snapping the vine. And it has nearly filled the Bloom.

I am considering transplanting the whole plant into the greenhouse.

Or topping the main vine and letting a sucker from somewhere low on the plant grow.

Or just trying to coil it and risking a snap.

Any suggestions for how I might be able to lengthen the grow time?

11 days ago (I'm late posting) and 72 days after planting the seeds, I ate my first tomatoes.

The chives were poking up through the snow in the outside garden, so I made an omelet and homemade bread to celebrate the fresh tomatoes.

There flavor of the tomatoes was better than when I have grown this variety in the greenhouse. They were not as sweet, or as acidic. But they had a rich deep and complex flavor. It really was fun.

Every two weeks I empty the water from my Bloom. Water that is ph balanced and has lots of good nutrients. I've been diluting it and using it to water my houseplants. Do I even need to dilute it? Am I likely to run into problems repurposing the water?