How to Grow Tomatillos Indoors With Grow Lights

Fill the flower pots with a high-quality potting soil. Moisten the soil with water. Place the flower pot in a warm location. The ideal temperature for sprouting tomatillo seeds is 75 to 85 degrees F.

Scatter several tomatillo seeds on the top of the potting soil. Cover with 1/4 inch moist soil. Spritz with water daily to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Tomatillo seeds germinate in seven to 10 days.

Place the flower pot under the grow lights and lower the lights to within 4 inches of the soil. If you are using a fluorescent light system, purchase high output bulbs rather than the basic cool and warm white duo. High output fluorescent lights produce twice as much light as standard fluorescent light bulbs.

Plug the grow lights into a timer. Tomatillos, tomatoes and peppers require a night and day cycle to thrive. Set the timer so the lights are off for eight hours at night and on for a 16-hour "day."

Raise the lights as the seedlings grow, keeping the lights 4 inches above the new leaves. When the seedlings produce the first real leaves, thin to one or two seedlings per flower pot. Tomatillos are self-sterile; you need at least two plants to produce fruit.

Place an oscillating fan near the tomatillo plants to keep the air circulating. Good air circulation discourages mildew and fungal diseases. It also helps cool the plants slightly in hot weather.

Water once a week, adding a liquid fertilizer or compost tea biweekly. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for fertilizing tomatoes.

Stake the tomatillo plants or pinch the tops to allow the plants to spread outward. Like tomatoes, tomatillos are sprawling plants that grow 3 to 4 feet tall and spread 3 to 4 feet wide.

Hand-pollinate the flowers with a small paintbrush. Swirl the paintbrush across a pollen-filled blossom and brush it onto the blossoms of the second plant. Repeat with a clean paintbrush, using pollen from the second plant to pollinate the first.

Harvest the fruits when the tomatillo husks turn brown. Do not allow the tomatillos to turn yellow or red, the flavor is reduced when the tomatillos are overripe.