Tomato Long Keeper was created at the end of the last century by domestic breeders. The variety was in the State Register of Vegetable Crops, but it is bred in small quantities due to the late ripening.
For gardeners, the Long Keeper tomato variety is of interest due to the excellent preservation of the fruit. It provides an opportunity to get late harvests, supplying tomatoes to the markets at a time when the harvest of other varieties is already over.
Description
Tomato Long Keeper is a late-ripening, undersized, productive variety intended for long-term storage. Maturing term - 130 days. The leaves of a medium-sized plant. The first inflorescence is laid over the seventh leaf, and the next - after 1-2.
Fruit properties
The fruits of the Long Keeper tomato are flat-round. They are smooth, medium in size, weighing about 150 grams. The color of the fruits in the unripe form is white, and when ripe, they become pink-pearl. Ripening occurs one month after harvest.
According to reviews, tomato Long Keeper is used for salting, canning, fresh consumption in the winter.
Growing
According to the description, Long Keeper tomatoes are grown in seedlings. Sowing of seeds is carried out 60–70 days before the expected date of planting seedlings in a permanent place.
Before starting sowing, seeds are prepared. To do this, they are soaked for fifteen minutes in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate. All surfaced material is removed, and the one that remains at the bottom is washed with water. The seeds are dried.
Then prepare the soil for sowing. You can make it yourself or purchase a ready-made substrate for tomatoes.
Soil fill the landing tank. Then make grooves with a depth of about 1.5 cm. Seeds are laid on the bottom, maintaining a distance of 2 cm.
To get the Long Keeper tomato in the photo, you must follow the planting scheme. To do this, it is recommended to plant no more than eight bushes per square meter.
Grade Advantages
Tomato has several advantages, among them:
- stable yield;
- excellent keeping quality - tomatoes are stored for up to eighty days in room conditions, and in the cellar - until spring;
- when harvested for fresh consumption, it is recommended to take off half-ripe fruits.
The bushes are highly resistant to various diseases, including: tobacco mosaic, cladosporiosis, fusarium.
Long Keeper tomato is included in the State Register and is recommended for cultivation in open ground, under temporary shelters and in unheated greenhouses.
Transplanting
A place for planting tomatoes is prepared in the fall. It should be well lit, protected from drafts. Bean, onion, green crops, cabbage, cucumbers can be predecessors of tomatoes.
In spring, the selected area is cleared of weeds, the soil is dug, fertilizing at the rate of 5 kg of compost per square meter. Be sure to add three tablespoons of phosphorus and potash fertilizers.
As soon as the average daily temperature does not fall below 15 degrees, seedlings can be planted. For this, holes are made in the garden according to the scheme 40 x 30 cm. It is better to plant seedlings in cloudy weather or in the evening. Humus, several granules of superphosphate are placed in each well. Pits are watered. Seedlings are buried to cotyledon leaves.
If the seedlings have grown, it is recommended to remove the two lower leaves, the plants are planted at an angle, positioning it so that there is about 20 cm of the stem above the ground.
Care
What culture looks like can be seen in the photo. Reviews about tomato Long Keeper suggest that the plant does not need special care. This variety is looked after in the same way as other tomatoes.
Agricultural technology involves periodic loosening of the soil. Two weeks after the seedlings are planted, the bushes should be spudded so that a more powerful root system grows.
At first, plants are rarely watered, but abundantly, spending 3-5 liters of water per bush. During the formation of the ovary, watering is increased. To do this, use only warm, settled water. During ripening, watering is reduced.
Tomatoes belong to a determinant species, about 120 cm high. They need garter, support, stepsoning. They are led into 1-2 stems.
Top dressing
The first time fertilizer is applied ten days after the seedlings are planted. If fertilizers were placed in the planting hole, then the first top dressing is carried out later, after about three to four weeks.
Nettle tincture gives good results. For its preparation, nettle is taken, but without roots, the plants are laid in a container with water. After a week, the concentrate is ready for use. To prepare the working solution, take a liter of concentrate and dilute it in a bucket of water. The resulting composition is watered tomatoes at the root. At the same time, the consumption should be one and a half liters of the composition for ten bushes. You can use nitrogen fertilizers, diluting them according to the instructions.
The following two top dressings are carried out during the period of flowering plants and fruit growth. To do this, apply the same fertilizers as the first time.
Useful foliar top dressing. To stimulate the ovaries during the flowering period, tomatoes are treated with special preparations or shaking the bushes. This procedure is carried out in the morning.
Harvesting
Long keeper is collected from mid-late August. In order not to damage the fruits, they are carefully removed. This variety is recommended to be removed from the bushes at the stage of technical ripeness. Tomatoes ripen at room temperature or in the cellar. With the latest storage method, they retain their taste and appearance until spring.
When the night temperature drops to ten degrees, take off the entire crop. Ripe tomatoes are stored separately from greens to slow the ripening of the latter. If you want the fruits to ripen faster, it is recommended to store them with ripe.
Variety disadvantages
Long Keeper has disadvantages, due to which it is rarely grown in the middle lane of the country. These include not only the late maturity, but also average taste. However, they are preserved even during prolonged storage of harvested fruits. When storing other varieties, the taste is lost.
Minor disadvantages include the need for garter, pinching of bushes. These negative traits are characteristic of almost all varieties of tomatoes.
Reviews
According to gardeners who rated the variety, tomato is worthy to be grown in each plot. In winter, it supplements the diet. Some even compare the taste with tomatoes offered in stores and, according to the claims, the latter are much inferior to Long Keeper.
There are reviews confirming that the fruits are stored for a long time - until mid-March they do not lose their appearance.
The description says that the plant is about 120 cm high, but, according to reviews, the bush is taller, with a powerful trunk. Tomatoes do not ripen on the plant, which is why they are harvested whitish. During storage, they first turn yellow, then turn pink. They will not become red, but inside the flesh is saturated red.