Could it be a (temporary) houseplant?

[tam91]

Well I really wanted to try a Big Beef (I plant a few hybrids, just in case of disaster). I put one in back in May. In June, my husband drowned it (container wasn't draining). I yanked it out and threw it on the burn pile.

In mid/late July, I noticed the silly thing was growing and flowering (with a six-inch rootball dangling in midair). Determined thing.

Feeling sorry for it, I plunked it in a pot. Funnily enough, it is a bit behind the other plants

It's quite happy now, but may not manage to ripen fruit before frost. As it's a smaller pot, I could actually move the thing into the house when the weather turns.

Could a tomato plant possibly make it as a houseplant long enough to finish ripening some fruit?

[TomatoDon]

That's one of the good things about containers, you can bring them inside to extend the season. I have a friend in my zone that posts here and he said he got tomatoes well into December last year from some inside container plants.

I haven't tried it yet, but am planning to this year. That's why I'm potting up these rooted cuttings. I am very doubtful the plants will produce anything close to what they do outside in the first part of the season, but anything is better than nothing and it can't hurt to try.

I'm interested to see what others who have tried it say about it.

[tam91]

I wonder if you do anything special, other than put it next to a window and water it.

[afrance30]

It may not get enough light just being by the window. I've never grown vegetables inside but I am doing it for the first time this year using hydroponics and some in pots as well. Everything I've read has said the plant won't get enough light without some supplemental light. However, I remind you I am not speaking from experience, just from what I have heard from others. Hopefully someone with more experience with this subject can weigh in, I'm curious as well.

[tam91]

I imagine the light would be far from ideal. I wasn't going to try to keep it all winter though, just wondered if I might get a few tomatoes to ripen.

We'll see what others say, and of course what the plant looks like come frost time.

[dice]

You might get a few tomatoes to ripen. I had some cuttings
inside a few years ago, to have some bigger plants come spring
and to try a couple of crosses if they happened to fruit during
the winter. They were growing beside a small south window,
under four 4' standard flourescents. There were a range of
types: Odessa, Stupice, Aurora, Box Car Willie, maybe one
other indeterminate that is a bit late ripening for the Pacific
Northwest.

I got a fruit from Odessa (an early determinate) about February
(small but delicious). These were all well behind your Big Beef
plant, with my cuttings rooted in October-November, so it
might ripen fruit much sooner, even under low light conditions
that one normally would not try to set and ripen fruit with.

[tam91]

Thanks all. I'll see what the status is when frost is looming - if it has green tomatoes, and how big the thing is (haha probably take up half the dining room, but ah well).

I really wanted to taste Big Beef, to see if it would be one of my few hybrid keepers.

[dice]

No loss of flavor on the one Odessa fruit from that indoor
cutting. You may need to prune the tips of branches on the
Big Beef if you bring it inside. It is going to stretch out,
reaching for more light. That should cause it to ripen already
set fruit sooner, too.

[tam91]

Good idea. It's in a stupid little cage now too, and is reaching all over. I'm thinking of putting it in bondage (stakes and string lol).

[svalli]

I have never brought tomatoplants back indoors, but have done it many times with hot peppers. Even if the plants do not show any signs of insects outdoors, after a week inside you may get an aphid infestation. There is no predatory insects inside, so all the pests multiply quickly. That is why I do not any more try to bring the plants indoors to ripen the fruit, but pick everything green and cut and spray the plant before bringing indoors.

[tam91]

Hmm maybe some Sevin spray first then...

[RinTinTin]

I brought in a pair of cherry tomato plants one year, and they did well. Window light doesn't seem to be enough. I used some of those under-the-cupboard flourescent light fixtures with the full spectrum bulbs. If you can't find the bulbs at your usual supplier, most tropical fish/aquarium stores sell them. They cost a lot more than the regular ones, but are well worth it. We were eating cherry tomatoes well into January here in the PNW. Not as abundant as our summer crop, but they certainly brought some 'sunshine' into our cold, wet winter. Pick a plant with a compact habit.

[tam91]

Thanks. Unfortunately, haha, this is a Big Beef - not compact in the slightest. Ok, now so if I move the dining room table out...

If I do it, I'll just try to ripen any tomatoes on it, not keep it going for a long time. It will be entirely too big.