🚊 🚦 🙎🏻 How to grow tomatoes on the balcony: tips and instructions 🎛️ 🤐 ⛅️

Maybe for some people a balcony is a place to store unnecessary things, but some owners of extra meters to the apartment manage to create a real garden on it. Growing cucumbers and tomatoes on the balcony is a very real thing, not to mention healthy greens - dill, parsley and onions.

As practice shows, this can be done using even plastic bottles, which are usually discarded as unnecessary. So where do you start?

Which loggia fits the "garden"

Alas, not every balcony is suitable for gardening. It is important not only how it is equipped, but where it is located. So that growing tomatoes on the balcony does not become a costly hobby, instead of bringing, if not profit, then at least saving, it should be well lit by the sun for most of the day.

Do not think that tomatoes can only be grown on a glazed balcony. This is not so, just if it is open to all the elements, then the process will have to be limited to the exceptionally warm season, and in order to protect the delicate seedlings from showers and winds, you will have to equip a screen or protective curtains.

On the insulated and glazed balcony, you can grow tomatoes at least year-round, provided that the technology is followed, the varieties are correctly selected and the temperature and light conditions are observed.

Before wondering how to grow tomatoes on the balcony, you should decide on the place itself. As the owners of "balcony beds" say, if the room is located on the north side, it is better to leave this venture right away. An ideal location is when the loggia "looks" to the southeast or southwest. In this case, it will be easy to grow tomatoes on the balcony, as the plants are not threatened by the scorching summer sun or the complete absence thereof throughout the day.

"Right" varieties of tomatoes

Do not be upset for those who have a loggia facing the north side or none at all. Everything related to growing tomatoes on the balcony, with the same success applies to the "beds" on the windowsill.

To harvest a good crop, you should adhere to some rules when choosing seed. Among them:

It is necessary to take into account the size of the bushes. As a rule, tomatoes for the balcony and windowsill do not have high stems, otherwise it will be difficult to care for them, and much more space will be required. The best option is a bush height of 50 cm. In this case, it will not be necessary to install trellises to tie branches.
The ripening speed should be maximum, so you should choose early ripening varieties that give a harvest after 85-90 days. These include "balcony red F1", a hybrid "balcony yellow", "bonsai". The latter is especially good for window sills, as it has a stem of no more than 30 cm in length, while up to 500 g of fruit can be collected from each bush.
Productivity is a factor for which balcony gardeners get down to business. The most prolific varieties suitable for growing in pots include (per 1 m ² ): “balcony miracle” (up to 2 kg), “red caramel” (2.5 kg), “yellow caramel” (2.8 kg), indeterminate variety “golden drop” (4 kg), “yellow date” (2.8 kg). These are the most popular varieties of tomatoes for the balcony. If you want to eat small fruits or preserve them, then you can choose varieties specially created for home growing. Among them are cherry tomatoes. On the balcony or window sill they look very impressive, hanging in bright clusters. The most popular varieties are “garden pearl” (2.5 kg), “cherry fingers” (3 kg), “cranberries in sugar” (2.6 kg).

Resistance to diseases and drafts. As a rule, hybrid varieties are resistant enough not to worry about their possible infection, but it is better to check the information with the seller or on a bag of seeds.
The versatility of varieties also plays an important role. As a rule, tomatoes are selected that are suitable for both canning and eating raw.

Indoor and large varieties

Many amateur gardeners are not stopped by the small area of the balcony. For growing tomatoes, varieties are taken not only from undersized bushes, but also such traditionally field ones as “bull heart”, “white filling” and others. The only difference is that when caring for the latter, you will have to build trellises or make supports.

Choose a variety of tomatoes for growing on the balcony is not difficult, as well as for the beds on the windowsill. There are hybrids that are called - indoor. Among them are “Pinocchio”, “Angelica”, “Ballerina”, “Oak”, “Baby” and others.

Sowing preparation

As a rule, this process will not be difficult, since the finished soil can be purchased at flower shops. This is the best option, since the soil mixture in this case is already enriched with the necessary minerals and fertilizers, disinfected. The main thing is that there is a mark “for tomatoes” on the packaging.

If there is an opportunity and desire to independently prepare the soil, then this will require:

In an equal ratio humus, peat and turf land.
You can apply a different composition: for 2 parts of leafy land, take one portion of peat and sand.

It is important to know: if the soil mixture was prepared on its own, then it should be decontaminated by calcination (10 minutes in the oven at 200 ° C or 2-3 minutes in the microwave) or by pouring boiling water or a potassium permanganate solution.

Preparatory work

The difference is how to grow tomatoes on the balcony at home and on the garden bed, only the size of the plot. To make it easier to navigate in the process, you need to follow a simple step-by-step technology, which is as follows:

Seed preparation. If the seed is from an agricultural company, then it must have undergone treatment that increases its resistance to diseases and pests. If the seeds were bought by hand, then it is enough to soak them for 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1 g per 100 g of water) to protect future seedlings. It is important to know: when soaking, you should remove the seeds remaining float on the surface, as they will not sprout. Hold them in a wet cloth or gauze until the sprouts hatch. Sprouted give healthier and stronger shoots.
If on this site you need to choose the right place for landing, then in the case of a balcony - these are containers. As a rule, balcony gardeners use wooden or plastic boxes that are pre-walled with foil. Flower pots and plastic bottles of at least 3 liters are also suitable.
If the soil was prepared independently, then fertilize it in advance, and also prepare the drainage. As a feed, wood ash, superphosphate (in granules) or nitrate are best suited.
Germinated seeds are sown one at a time in a seedling container (disposable glasses can be used), ordinary ones - 2-4 pieces in one container.
The next step is seedling care and picking.

Consider the stages of growing tomatoes on the balcony.

Sowing seeds

So, knowing which tomatoes to grow on the balcony, picking up the necessary containers and “arming” with soil mixtures, you can start sowing seeds. To do this, each tomato seed (it is better if it is hatching) should be placed in a glass with soil, pour and cover with a film. Every day you need to open the future sprout for 10-15 minutes, check the moisture content of the soil and, if necessary, water it. The optimum temperature during the day should be 22-24 ˚, at night 16-18 ,, and the sowing time is the end of February - the beginning of March.

First pick

When the seedlings grow (usually after 7 days), you need to create the optimal lighting for it. If there is a lot of sun on the balcony, you will have to make shading so that its rays do not burn the delicate leaves. In the event that it is not enough, you need to install lamps, otherwise the plants will stretch in length.

When the first leaves go, fertilizing will be required, for which complex mineral fertilizers are suitable. When 3-4 leaves appear, the seedlings can be transplanted into other containers, large in size. The final transplant for permanent residence is carried out after the plants are finally strong (3-4 weeks after the first leaves).

Plant care

To get strong bushes with a plentiful harvest from seedlings, you need to properly care for it:

Watering is done once every 4-6 days, provided that the window is still cool, in the warm season - every 3 days.
Fertilizers are applied every 10 days. This will allow the plants to grow stronger and properly develop both the root system and the stem (nitrogen-containing products are suitable, but until the first ovaries appear). During the formation of flowers, you can use superphosphate or sodium sulfate in the form of an aqueous solution (no more than 3 times per season).
As it grows in the tank, add soil and install trims to tie the bushes. You need to do this, even if the variety is undersized, since the brushes with fruits will bend the stem.

These are the basic rules for caring for seedlings.

How to form a bush

Pasynkovka is an indispensable process for increasing the yield. Excess shoots should be removed for several reasons:

This allows the light that tomatoes love so much to penetrate even to the lower leaves, and also ventilates the entire bush, preventing infections from developing in the shade of the crown.
Fruits increase in size, since excess green mass does not take part of the nutrients.
The bush looks more well-groomed.

Below is a diagram of which stepsons to remove when forming a bush.

Bottled vegetable garden

Is it any wonder that domestic craftsmen adapted to grow tomatoes on the balcony in plastic bottles in limbo? It turns out that this method has been practiced for many years and has proved to be convenient, practical, productive and unusual.

The technology of the bottled garden is quite simple:

A bottle of 3-3.5 liters needs to cut the bottom. From it you can make a device for drip irrigation, previously punctured several holes in it.
In the prepared container, two holes for the ropes should be made so that the whole structure can be suspended from the ceiling of the balcony or to some kind of vertical support.

Seedlings, together with an earthen lump, need to be inserted into the container down with leaves, threading the latter with the stem into the neck of the bottle.
Cover the remaining space with earth, leaving room for the prepared bottom. It must be turned over and inserted into the bottle so that the holes come into contact with the ground.

A container with an inverted plant is ready for growth, and gravity will do the rest, because such an approach frees the owner from the construction of supports.

Summarize

Increasingly, the hostesses on the windowsills and balconies can see not decorative flowers, but flowerpots with cherry, cucumbers, garden greens. Such a hobby not only pleases the eye, but also the stomach, since delicious fruits can be harvested right in the apartment all year round. The technology for growing tomatoes is quite simple. The main thing is to pick up containers, suitable varieties and prepare the soil mixture, and the harvest will not take long.

How to grow tomatoes on the balcony: tips and instructions