How tomatoes grow: growing features, description of methods, tips

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 20:55

Tomatoes in Russia began to be grown back in the 18th century. In care, this popular garden crop is considered unpretentious. However, tomatoes are still southern plants. It takes a long time for their fruits to ripen. Therefore, in Russia, such a culture has long been cultivated in seedlings. We will tell you about how tomatoes grow and how to properly care for them in our article.

Choice variety

You can grow early tomatoes, medium ripening or late tomatoes in a suburban area today. The first variety of tomatoes is in most cases used for eating fresh or for making salads. Tomatoes of medium ripening or late are harvested, including for various kinds of preparations for the winter.

As you know, in most cases, varieties of garden crops are chosen taking into account the climatic characteristics of the region in which the site is located. To some extent, this also applies to tomatoes. However, today breeders have bred many varieties of this crop that are perfect forfor cultivation in both warm and cold regions of the country.

Of the early varieties, the most popular among Russian summer residents are, for example:

• King of early;
• Pink Bush F1;
• Early Dubinin.

From varieties of medium ripening period, summer residents of Russia in most cases grow:

• Gazpacho;
• Anastasia;
• Black Baron;
• Pink Honey

Of the late-ripening ones, the best reviews from summer residents deserved:

• Plushka;
• Cheerful neighbor;
• Hubl F1.

For growing in greenhouses, of course, you should choose special varieties of tomatoes. Pollinating insects of various kinds cannot practically penetrate into such structures. Consequently, the owner of the site will not be able to wait for the formation of ovaries when using ordinary tomatoes for growing in a greenhouse. Choose only self-pollinating varieties for indoor ground. The best varieties of this group, according to summer residents, are:

• early - Yarilo, Funtik, Druzhok, Blagovest;
• mid-season - Watercolor, Buyan yellow, Butterfly;
• late-ripening - Ivanovets, Krasnobay.

Seed preparation

Sometimes summer residents complain, for example, that tomatoes do not grow on the plot. What to do in this case? Correcting such a situation is simply impossible. It goes like thiswhen inexperienced gardeners choose the wrong tomato planting material for sowing.

On your own, for example, in the garden you can collect only seeds of varietal tomatoes. Planting material for F hybrids should be purchased new from the store every year. When grown from self-harvested seeds, such tomatoes lose their varietal qualities, practically do not grow and do not produce a crop.

In any case, before planting, tomato seeds should be carefully prepared - treated with an antiseptic and germinated.

To get rid of bad empty planting material, the seeds must first be put in a glass, pour water into it and pour 1 tsp. s alt. Next, the planting material should be shaken. Empty seeds will float to the top and can be easily collected and removed.

The remaining high-quality planting material is soaked in a flat dish at the next stage. Previously, it is placed in a bag of gauze. Further, for example, a layer of cotton wool is placed in a saucer. A bag of seeds is placed on it. Then the planting material is again covered with cotton wool. At the next stage, warm water is poured into the saucer.

Soaking tomato seeds in gauze is supposed to be no more than 12-18 hours. Every 5 hours, the water in the saucer should be changed to a new one. After germination, tomato seeds are treated with a weak, slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate. Keep the planting material in this antiseptic for about 20 minutes.

In order not to ask later the question of why tomatoes do not grow on the windowsill and develop poorly, at the final stage the seeds can beadditionally hold a little in a solution of some stimulant, for example "Kornevin".

Soil preparation

Tomato seedlings are grown at home, usually in boxes. Soil in such containers can be poured with ordinary garden soil, harvested in the fall and mixed with a small amount of organic matter, or purchased. In the latter case, you should purchase land intended for growing nightshade.

Before falling asleep in the boxes, it is advisable to fry the soil in the oven or just spill it with boiling water. This will remove any remaining pest eggs in the ground.

Planting seedlings

After the earth has cooled down after processing, it can be poured into boxes and the prepared seeds can be planted. They are usually sown at home using this technology:

• the earth in the box is spilled with warm water a day before planting;
• make grooves in the soil with a depth of no more than 2 cm at a distance of 3 cm from each other;
• spread the tomato seeds along the grooves in 2 cm increments;
• sprinkle the grooves with earth.

Sometimes it happens that tomatoes planted in boxes grow up, that is, they stretch. To prevent this from happening, place plant boxes in the first place on windows facing south or east.

Seedling care

Next, let's see how tomatoes grow in boxes and what care should be taken after them. Dry tomato seeds usually hatch no earlier than 10 days after sowing. soakedgerminate in 5-8 days. The picking of young plants in most cases is carried out 3 weeks after planting. At the same time, the bushes are distributed in separate containers, for example, in plastic cups of 1-3 pieces, choosing the strongest ones.

If you wish, you can not dive tomatoes. But, of course, you need to thin them out, leaving 4-5 cm of free space between the bushes.

Approximately 10 days after picking or thinning, tomatoes should be treated for pests. To do this, you can, for example, use a solution of skimmed milk and water, prepared in a ratio of 1: 2 with the addition of a drop of iodine.

Watering young tomatoes should be as necessary, preventing the top layer of the earth from drying out or swamping. For the entire time of growing on the windowsill, seedlings can be fertilized a couple of times with a mineral composition intended for tomatoes, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Approximately 20 days before transfer to open ground, plants need to start hardening off. To do this, boxes with seedlings should be taken out to an open balcony, first for 1 hour a day, gradually increasing this time to 3 hours.

Preparing the land in the beds

Where do tomatoes grow best on the plot? Beds for tomatoes in the garden are supposed to be equipped in well-lit places protected from the wind. The soil in the area chosen for growing this crop must be fertilized with rotted manure beforehand.

Tomato beds are best cooked narrow. In this case, the plants inIt will be easier to take care of later. Having formed such beds, inside them, in increments of about 50 cm, pour half a bucket of manure. Next, the earth needs to be dug up with a shovel and leveled with a rake.

How to transfer plants to open ground

Seedlings are brought to the site directly in boxes or cups at the end of May. The day before, the soil under the plants is abundantly watered. Tomatoes are placed on narrow beds, usually in two rows in a checkerboard pattern. The distance between individual plants is left depending on the variety. Tall fluffy tomatoes are planted in increments of up to 80 cm. Low and medium-sized ones are placed at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other.

The plants are taken out of the boxes with a spatula along with a clod of earth, trying not to damage the roots. The cups are pre-kneaded with hands until the earth separates from the walls. Next, the plant is also pulled out with a clod of earth.

If the seedlings grow too long during the growing process, it is allowed to plant it, deepening the stem into the ground. In this case, long holes are dug in the garden. The stem is placed horizontally in them.

After all the seedlings are planted in open ground, a support should be installed next to each bush (for long varieties). Next, the bed must be tightened with a film. This will protect the tomatoes from recurrent frosts and wind.

If the planting of tomatoes is done late - in early June, you can not stretch the film on the garden bed. But in this case, it is best to use well-leafed, freshly cut branches of any kind as supports for tomatoes.growing on the site of fluffy trees - for example, maple. Such "devices" for a couple of days will not only keep the bushes from lodging, but also protect them from wind and sunlight.

Helpful advice

It is advisable to shed the soil in the garden for tomatoes a day before planting seedlings. This will make the procedure more convenient. In addition, experienced gardeners do not recommend watering tomatoes immediately after planting. In soft, moisture-saturated soil, plants will definitely “lie down”, which will reduce the percentage of survival.

How to properly water tomatoes: recommendations from experienced gardeners

The answer to the question of how tomatoes grow on the site, probably, every summer resident knows. This culture is developing, including in open ground, quite actively. But in order for tomatoes to grow quickly in a suburban area, the soil under them, of course, needs to be periodically moistened.

Experienced gardeners recommend performing this procedure in the evening. A feature of tomatoes is that they love rare plentiful watering. Therefore, it is necessary to moisten the soil under these plants only after its top layer on the bed is almost dry.

After each watering every other day, the soil under the tomatoes must be loosened. At the same time, it is desirable to carry out simultaneous weeding of tomatoes. To reduce the amount of watering, it is advisable to mulch the ground under the tomatoes, among other things. You can use, for example, uprooted weeds, compost or well-rotted manure for this purpose.

What and when to fertilize

Of course, in the process of growing tomatoes, they need not only watering, but also periodic feeding. Fertilize this crop when cultivated in a suburban area, usually 3 times per season.

At the same time, for the first time, top dressing is carried out about a week after the seedlings are accepted. As a fertilizer during this period, they usually use an infusion of mullein or bird droppings, mixed with a small amount of ash.

The second time the plants are fed during the beginning of the fruit set. This time, mullein infusion with the addition of mineral compounds is used for fertilizer:

• 1 tbsp l. complex fertilizer;
• 3 g each of potassium permanganate and copper sulfate.

For low-growing tomatoes, in this case, they spend 1 liter of solution per bush, for high ones - 1.5-2.0 liters.

The third top dressing for the season is done just before the harvest. In this case, the same composition is used as was used for fruit set. The dose for feeding during the fruiting period is increased to 2.5-3.0 liters per bush.

Tomatoes do not grow well: what to do

In addition to the usual, foliar top dressing can be carried out as needed when growing tomatoes. This is done, for example, when slowing down the development of tomatoes, yellowing of the leaves, etc. For foliar top dressing, they usually use:

• if tomatoes do not grow well - a solution of urea 1 tbsp. l. per 10 liters of water;
• in low light - a solution of calcium nitrate in the amount of 10-15 g per 10 l;
• forweakened and thin plants - with a solution of 10 g of urea and 15 g of calcium nitrate per 10 liters of water.

If the fruits of tomatoes do not grow, that is, ovaries do not form, it is worth using boric acid in the amount of 1 tsp for spraying. for 10 liters of water. This treatment will prevent the shedding of flowers in the first place.

Pest and disease control

If the tomatoes do not grow well, you can try to fix the matter with the help of conventional or foliar dressings. However, such a problem may not be caused by a lack of any nutrients at all.

Like any other garden crops, tomatoes in the process of growing in a suburban area, of course, can be infected with fungi, bacteria or damaged by pests. In this case, one should ask the question not about how to water the tomatoes so that they grow, but about what compounds they should be sprayed against diseases.

Preparations of a certain group are used to treat tomatoes from each species of insects and bacteria. Spraying is carried out when the first signs of infection are detected.

Prophylaxis on the site is carried out mainly only from fungal diseases (for example, phytophthora) of tomatoes, since it is from them that this crop suffers most often. In this case, solutions of preparations of a special group are used - fungicides.

Method of growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

Today, breeders have bred a huge number of tomato varieties that are resistant to cold. Therefore, most summer residents even, toFor example, in the Urals, he grows tomatoes in open ground. But to speed up the harvest, in some cases, such plants can also be planted in greenhouses. Indoors, you can also get good yields of tomatoes. But if the care technology is not followed, of course, tomatoes in the greenhouse will grow poorly.

Of course, growing this crop indoors has some peculiarities:

• watering the bushes is done if the soil crumbles when compressed in a fist;
• feeding is carried out weekly with nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizers in a ratio of 1:3:2 (10 g per 10 liters of water per 5 bushes);
• plants are sprayed monthly with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture;
• as the plants grow, they are fixed on supports;
• during flowering to get more ovaries from time to time tap the stems of plants in the daytime.

The soil in greenhouses is depleted quickly enough. Therefore, in order not to wonder why tomatoes do not grow indoors and do not develop as well as we would like, from time to time soil from greenhouses should be taken out by wheelbarrows and new ones should be laid in its place. Pre-imported land must be mixed with a small amount of organic matter.

Sometimes the answer to the question of why tomatoes do not grow in a greenhouse is simply a banal stagnation of air in the bushes. To improve the ventilation of tomatoes when grown indoorssoil, they should remove the foliage at the bottom of the stem.

Harvesting

So, we found out how tomatoes grow in a greenhouse and in the open field. Summer residents cultivate such plants in suburban areas, of course, to get a good harvest. As tomatoes develop in open ground or in a greenhouse, gardeners form their bushes. The technology of such a procedure depends on the characteristics of this particular variety. To form tomato bushes, gardeners simply pluck a certain part of the stepchildren from them at the required height.

The answer to the question of how long tomatoes grow before the fruits are fully ripe depends on the characteristics of this particular variety. In most cases, gardeners begin to harvest this crop in July. In this case, there are only three degrees of ripening of tomatoes:

• dairy;
• blunge;
• full.

In principle, you can start picking the fruits of tomatoes from the bushes already at the stage of milky maturity. During this period, the tomatoes are still green, but already reach the sizes required for this particular variety. At the stage of milk maturity, tomatoes are removed from the bushes for the purpose of their long-term fresh storage in the future.

When ripe, tomatoes already have pink skins. During this period, they are also removed for a sufficiently long storage. Such tomatoes ripen, being plucked from the bush, in about a week. Sometimes they also make original ones from milk and blanche tomatoes.blanks.

Fully ripe tomatoes are harvested for salads and fresh consumption. The same tomatoes, of course, are used in most cases for canning.