Have you got a land plot and with it an irresistible desire to start growing vegetables and, in particular, tomatoes? We welcome the birth of a novice gardener, but first we suggest getting some information about what tomatoes are, cultivation and care you have to master.
Tomato (tomato) is a herbaceous plant native to South America and part of the nightshade family. As a rule, it is annual, but under conditions of closed ground and under optimal conditions, it is able to grow and bear fruit for several years.
In our country, it is customary to classify tomatoes according to three subspecies: non-standard (ordinary), large-leaved, and standard. We grow plants, mainly of the first variety.
Planting tomatoes, growing and caring for them should be carried out strictly following a certain set of recommendations. Tomatoes are very demanding on light. If it is not enough, then the leaves will begin to turn pale, the buds will fall off, and the stems will stretch out a lot and the overall growth of the plant will slow down, especially this must be taken into account when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse or caring for seedlings in the room.
The need of tomatoes for water is quite large, at the same time, this plant is drought tolerant. When the temperature drops, watering should be stopped completely, even if the soil moisture is insufficient. When mass ripening of fruits occurs, it is recommended to stop watering completely, especially for varieties with limited growth - ripening of the crop in this case will come together and the quality of the fruits will increase.
A distinctive feature of a tomato is that it requires a lowered air humidity, this factor should be taken into account when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, otherwise the risk of plant damage by diseases increases sharply, and pollination of flowers worsens, which will affect the quality and quantity of the crop in the future
If tomatoes are grown in open ground, the chemical composition of which is unknown, it should be remembered that the main mineral elements for plant nutrition are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Nitrogen promotes growth, if it is not enough - the plants grow slowly, and the leaves have a pale green color. If there is an excess of nitrogen, then a process called fatliquoring is observed - the stems become very powerful, the leaves become dark green, the plants begin to bloom late, and the fruits ripen for a long time.
Phosphorus actively affects the development of fruiting organs. Tomatoes are especially sensitive to the deficiency of this mineral in seedlings, then the leaves turn purple.
Potassium is most consumed by tomatoes, it is especially necessary during the period of fruit growth. A sign of its deficiency is leaf curl, which can be mistaken for the onset of late blight.
The main trace elements that have a huge impact on the growth and development of tomatoes are manganese, copper, sulfur and magnesium.
When planning to plant tomatoes on the site, the cultivation and care of which involves the collection of a good harvest, you need to pay due attention to the selection of suitable seeds. It should be decided whether open or covered ground requires seeds, and which is better to choose - varietal or hybrid, since there is a certain difference between these two concepts.
A variety is a plant bred by humans, with defined and uniform morphological and biological traits that are preserved and transmitted during reseeding from generation to generation for many years. A hybrid is obtained as a result of crossbreeding of various plant varieties, purposefully selected. Hybrid plants are more productive, resistant to disease, have the same height, and the fruits, within the inflorescence, are aligned in size and color.
But no matter what tomatoes you plant, growing and caring for them will bring you pleasure and a boost of positive energy, especially during the harvest season. And you can cook a great variety of dishes from these delicious vegetables, make preparations for the winter, and even cook jam.