In this article we will tell you how to grow tomatoes. Consider the methods of obtaining the crop not only in greenhouse conditions, but also at home - on the windowsill and balcony. It is worth following the recommendations, and you can grow tomatoes yourself - juicy, ripe and healthy!
How to grow good seedlings of tomatoes?
Seedlings can be grown only in a warm room or in a heated greenhouse. The timing of sowing tomatoes should be as follows: 60-75 days before the planned planting in the ground at a permanent place. Usually this is done from mid-February to the first of March.
Peat pots, boxes, kefir boxes, plastic cups or plastic bottles will fit tomato seedlings. For sowing seeds, you need to purchase a ready-made soil mixture or make it yourself by mixing in equal parts black soil, humus and wood ash.
Processing of tomato seeds before planting is a mandatory procedure that will subsequently help the bushes and fruits survive the temperature drops, overcome diseases that destroy the culture. First of all, the seeds need to be hardened by removing for a couple of days on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Then put it for five minutes in a glass of water heated to 50 degrees, and then for the same time in the cold.
Disinfect the seeds will help a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Dilute it so that the water is only slightly pink. Put the seeds in the solution for five minutes, then rinse with cooled boiled water.
When the time for planting tomatoes approaches, only the strongest and strongest specimens will need to be selected. Choose large seeds, put them for five minutes in a 5% solution of salt or ammonium nitrate. During this time, full specimens will drown, and empty specimens will remain on the surface - there will be no harvest from such, so you can safely get rid of them.
Seeds that have passed all tests, hardening and disinfection, place in a gauze bag. Wet it and put it in a warm place for 2-3 days. Keep the bag always wet. In this way, it will be possible to quickly germinate the seed.
Sowing seeds
If seedlings will be grown in containers such as glasses, bottle halves, boxes or boxes, you need to fill them up to the middle. Now almost all varieties do not need picking, so we will just add land as the bushes grow, and not transplant them into more spacious pots.
Create holes with a depth of 1.5-2 centimeters, place in each one grain, sprinkle with earth. Pour with warm water, cover with polyethylene and put it in a warm, lit place. Maintain in this greenhouse a temperature of 20-25 degrees and humidity. After 10-12 days, the first sprouts should appear, after which the polyethylene is removed.
When the polyethylene was removed, you need to put the seedlings for a week in a place where the temperature does not exceed 15 degrees. This is done so that the bushes do not go up prematurely and their stems are not thinned. After 7-10 days, you can put pots and boxes on the windowsill, where the sun will help the bushes grow and gain strength.
Watering seedlings is necessary only with defended water at room temperature. Do not overfill, but make sure that the soil does not dry out. Watering is allowed only under the bush, you can not water from a watering can, so as not to wet the stem and foliage.
Once a week, loosen the earth a little to get more oxygen into it. But loosening should be done carefully so as not to damage the roots.
As soon as the bushes grow to 10 centimeters, add the first portion of the new earth, thus deepening the planting. Next time, add ground when the bushes reach a height of 20-25 centimeters, deepen the stem by a third. Adding earth and deepening the stem will help form a strong root system. Additional roots will go straight from the stem, they will help the plant receive more oxygen and nutrients.
Dates of planting seedlings in the ground
To begin, consider the question of how to grow tomatoes in the open ground. Next, we talk about greenhouse care and maintenance on the balcony.
Beds for tomatoes must be prepared in advance, in the fall. Dig, spread manure, humus, superphosphate. If the soil is acidified, neutralize the acidity with lime.
Tomatoes do not like to grow in the shade, so take a sunny place for them, where the sun will shine for at least 8 hours a day. But at the same time, the territory should be protected from the north wind, yet tomatoes are a heat-loving culture!
Planting tomatoes on an open garden stands only when there is no threat of frost. Be guided by your region, usually these are the dates from mid-May to the end of the first decade of June.
Planting seedlings in open ground
Prepare the holes, preferably not too deep, longitudinal. Well spill the ground - first with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then with clean water. Carefully remove the bushes from the drawers and glasses. If the root is slightly damaged, it’s okay, tomatoes will quickly restore them.
Put a bush in the hole so that it is slightly inclined, and not only the root, but also part of the stem is in the ground. An additional root will begin to form from the stem, and the whole system will become stronger, thanks to this, tomatoes will receive more oxygen and the nutrients necessary for the growth.
Plant bushes observing the distance. If the variety is undersized, then leave 30 centimeters between plantings, if tall, then at least 50 centimeters.
Watering tomatoes in open field
After planting seedlings, you can not water it for several days. Next, focus on weather conditions. If the summer is too hot, then water the tomatoes once or twice a week with plenty of water. If the season is rainy and cool, then you can’t irrigate at all.
Add water only under the bush, do not allow drops to fall on the stem and foliage.
As soon as the fruits begin to be tied, it will be necessary to strengthen watering. Add the same amount of water once a week, but in a larger volume.
Tomatoes indoors
How to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse to get a plentiful harvest? It seems to many that it is easier to do this than in the open ground, but it wasn’t there!
The first thing to consider is the possibility of ventilating the greenhouse. Window leaves must be placed not only on the sides, but also on top. Every morning you need to open these windows, and close at night. If you forget to open, or if there are no windows, then tomatoes can die from the heat. If you forget to open stably, then tomatoes will become more susceptible to various diseases, and you will not have to talk about a good harvest.
The greenhouse should be located in a sunny area. Beds in it are prepared deliberately. Add peat, sawdust or ash, humus to the soil.
Planting tomatoes in a greenhouse: timing, features
Greenhouse is a favorite tool of vegetable growers when growing various thermophilic crops.
The timing of planting a tomato can be completely different. If the greenhouse is the most ordinary, then the bushes will need to be planted from mid-May until the first days of June. Be guided by the weather, there should not be a threat of freezing, as an ordinary greenhouse, whether glass or polyethylene, can let the frost in and the tomatoes will die.
How to grow early tomatoes? This is one of the gardeners' favorite questions. If the greenhouse is equipped with heating and additional lighting, then you can plant tomatoes even in winter! Usually seedlings are placed in such greenhouses from February to March.
Before landing, it is necessary to disinfect the ground. To do this, in each hole you need to pour a liter of potassium permanganate solution (1 gram per 10 liters of water). Also, the preparation "Barrier" disinfects the soil well. One 0.25 liter vial must be diluted in a bucket of water.
Plant bushes with a slope, digging in the soil part of the stem along with the root. Do not water the tomatoes for the first 5 days. If it is too hot and the land is dry, then start watering earlier.
How to water tomatoes in a greenhouse?
The first rule: it is unacceptable for the earth to completely dry out, but it should not be too wet either. In a greenhouse, it is quite difficult to keep track of the state of the soil, since there is a lot of moisture in such conditions.
Be guided by the condition of the bushes. If the foliage begins to wrinkle, then it is time to introduce water. Watering only in the evening, under a bush.
During fruit setting, water the bushes in a larger volume.
Tomatoes on the windowsill
Many are interested in the question of how to grow tomatoes at home. To do this, you need to know some tricks.
Firstly, the sunny side is the ideal place for growth - window sills are on the south side. But still, lighting for tomatoes will not be enough if you want to get a crop in winter or early spring. It will be necessary to install additional lighting - agro-lamps.
Secondly, you need to choose the right variety of tomatoes. Tall people will not grow at home, as they need more soil. Low-growing varieties will grow well at home, for example, Balcony Miracle, Little Florida, Oak. The fruits of these tomatoes are not large, but they have a wonderful taste, as evidenced by the many positive reviews of apartment gardeners.
Ampel varieties of tomatoes that feel perfect in hanging pots also grow well at home. Fertile varieties: Citizen F1, Red Cornucopia, Talisman and others.
Immediately sowing seeds in pots is not recommended, use the seedling method. Plant the seeds in small cups, and then the bushes, grown up to 20 centimeters in length, transplant into flower pots. Follow the rules of irrigation in the same way as with conventional cultivation. Do not allow the earth to completely dry out, but do not overfill.
Tomatoes on the balcony
There is nothing easier than growing tomatoes in buckets on the balcony. You can choose not only undersized, but also high varieties of tomatoes.
In buckets, you can grow tomatoes both on the open and on the glazed balcony, as well as in the garden. A convenient way is that on a good summer day the culture is in the air, and in bad weather the bushes can be carried away and hidden indoors.
Seedling method of planting recommended. Seeds should also be sown 65-75 days before the planned transplantation to a permanent place.
Planting tomatoes in buckets is no different from other methods. But the bushes need to be arranged not lying down, having instilled a part of the stem, but vertically, deepening only the root. This is done so that the additional root system does not go from the stem, since there will be more soil needed, and there is no possibility to create such conditions in the bucket.
Two Stem Tomatoes
Growing different crops, we carefully study the recommendations on seed packaging, where there are terms that are not clear to beginner gardeners.
For example, all beginner gardeners are interested in how to grow tomatoes in two stems. This is nothing complicated, but mistakes cannot be made, as this will lead to a decrease in yield and an increase in the ripening period of the fruit.
Under the first brush of ovaries, the second stem will begin to grow, it will be as strong as the main one. You can’t delete it, because it will have as many tomatoes on it as on the main one.
The bush will end up bifurcated, this is called growing in two stems.
So that the whole bush does not go into growth, reducing productivity, it is necessary to pinch off the tops of the two main stems, as soon as the plant reaches its maximum size.
It is necessary to consistently pinch a tomato, removing all unnecessary shoots that begin to grow from the axils of the leaves. As soon as the extra shoots grow to 8 centimeters, they must be carefully plucked. If this is not done, the plant will devote all its strength to their growth, and not to the formation of the fruits. Do not spare these shoots, there will be no harvest on them, only plentiful foliage.
Bushes garter
How to grow tomatoes without tying? This is possible only in the case of planting low-growing varieties, the length of which does not exceed 50 centimeters. The remaining bushes need a garter, without which they will break and die.
You can install trellises, you can put just sticks the size of a bush, and stretch the threads between them. Digging sticks at the bushes is necessary even at the time of planting seedlings in the main place, so as not to damage the developed root in the future.
If the sticks are wooden, they should be bark-free and treated with parasites with a drug that can be bought at the store.
Tie the bushes when the first brush with ovaries appears. Gently wrap the stem, pull it to a stick and tie it so that the bush holds well, but could not be damaged on the thread.
Produce further garters as the plants grow, with each new ovary.
Hilling Tomatoes
Hilling bushes is necessary to saturate the soil with oxygen. Using a chopper or spatula, scoop up the ground to the stem of the plant so that a heap forms around it.
Hilling is necessary for bushes that grow in a greenhouse or open ground.
It is difficult to perform such an operation if tomatoes grow in pots or buckets. Simple loosening will help. Take a small stick and carefully, in order not to damage the roots, make holes in the ground.
Pollination of tomatoes
Pollination is usually done by bees. But how to grow tomatoes on a windowsill or in a greenhouse, where insects can not get? You will have to pollinate yourself, and there is nothing complicated about it.
In fine, sunny weather, walk from bush to bush. Gently take a brush with flowers and shake it lightly. Do the same with each brush.
Some mistakenly believe that it is possible to pollinate a culture by spraying brushes with water from a spray bottle. This cannot be done, as pollen, along with drops of water, will fall into the soil.
Tomato Fertilizers
How to grow a good tomato crop? No matter how high-yielding variety you acquire, many tomatoes cannot be grown without proper and timely top dressing. We suggest going through this important point.
Seedling top dressing:
- The first feeding should be done when 2-3 real leaflets appear on the sprout. To do this, you need to prepare a urea solution: a tablespoon is diluted in a bucket of water.
- The second feeding is carried out a week after the first. To do this, dilute a spoon of nitrophoska in a liter of water. This solution is enough to feed 30 bushes of tomatoes.
- Further feeding is done every 12 days until the bushes are planted in the ground. It is recommended to use "Agricole No. 3" or "Effekton O".
If the plant lacks nitrogen, the foliage will begin to turn yellow and fall off. If phosphorus is needed, then the stem of the bush will turn purple. The pallor of the bush and green veins indicate the need for iron.
Top dressing in the ground:
- The first top dressing is done when transplanting seedlings into the ground. Put a spoonful of humus and wood ash in each well.
- The second top dressing should be done 2-3 weeks after planting. To do this, you need to prepare a liquid solution of mineral fertilizers: for 10 liters of water, take 40 grams of phosphorus, 15 grams of potash and 25 grams of nitrogen fertilizers.
- With abundant flowering, a third feeding of bird droppings, mullein and a tablespoon of potassium sulfate will be required. Dissolve a bucket of water and water the bushes.
- To speed up the ripening of the fruits, feed the bushes with a solution prepared from a spoonful of sodium humate and two tablespoons of superphosphate, diluted in a bucket of water.
In this article, we talked about how to grow tomatoes. You just need to make a little effort, follow the recommendations - and you can achieve a high yield!