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Caring for Your Tomato and Pepper Plants
Caring for Your Tomato and Pepper Plants
Tips to keep your indoor garden compact, productive, and healthy
Tomato and pepper varieties chosen for Sproutania seed kits are specially selected for compact growth—ideal for indoor systems with limited vertical space. However, every plant is unique, and some may stretch or grow taller than expected over time. Here's a week-by-week care guide to help you prune, shape, and support your plants through every stage of growth.
Photo Source: www.kew.org
Fill your reservoir with cool tap water and add the recommended plant nutrients.
Shake the nutrient bottle before each feeding to ensure even distribution.
Once sprouts reach around 1 inch tall, check for multiple seedlings in a single pod.
Thin your plants by using clean scissors to snip away all but the strongest seedling at the base.
Thinning helps direct energy to the healthiest plant and prevents overcrowding.
Photo Source: grownbyyou.com
Week 3: Germination Phase
Week 3: Germination Phase
No maintenance required this week.
Fun fact: outdoor tomatoes are rarely pruned—but indoors, pruning ensures compact growth and better yields.
- Week 4: Mid-Growth Phase
Continue observing growth. No pruning required yet.
Week 5: Mid-Growth Phase (Topping)
Week 5: Mid-Growth Phase (Topping)
Time to top your plant for stronger branching and bloom production.
Locate the main stem and count up to the fifth branch (skip the first two leaf sets when counting).
Clip the main stem just above the fifth branch.
For plants that have begun to fork into a Y-shape, cut just below the Y to stimulate even more growth.
Trim back any branches growing outside the light range.
Follow each branch to where it joins the main stem or another branch, and trim just before that junction to keep the plant compact.
Yellow flowers should now appear.
Tomatoes and peppers need pollination to produce fruit. Outdoors, insects and wind do this—but indoors, you’ll need to “be the bee.”
Gently shake plants or use a soft brush or electric pollinator to move pollen between flowers.
Pollinate every other day when lights are on.
Week 8: Mature Plant Phase (Troubleshooting)
Week 8: Mature Plant Phase (Troubleshooting)
If you're not seeing flowers or fruit:
Ensure your water pump or aeration system is clean and running properly.
Try a rinse and refill to rebalance nutrients.
Ideal temperature for fruit set is 70–76°F.
If plants are near a sunny window, relocate them to prevent overheating.
Too many flowers? Prune some off—this can help focus energy on fruit development.
Remove any yellow or brown leaves as the plant matures..
Weeks 9–12: Harvesting and Maintenance
Weeks 9–12: Harvesting and Maintenance
Tomatoes are ready when they’re firm with a slight give. Yellow varieties may still show a little green when ripe.
Harvest just before eating for best flavor.
Continue to pollinate flowers regularly for new fruit to develop.
Prune new top growth every two weeks:
Locate the growing tip (the newest, smallest leaves).
Snip just below this point, where the stem forms a V with a branch.
This signals the plant to stop growing upward and instead send out new side branches.
Over time, this will produce more flowers along the full height of the plant and keep growth within your light range.
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