If you ask gardeners about your favorite tomato variety, many will say that it is a bull’s heart tomato. Reviews with photos, characteristics of this amazing fruit are of interest to most summer residents, and everyone at least once tried to grow it on their site. It is not surprising that most crops simply do not live up to canning, because tomatoes are eaten in a "live" form. It’s impossible not to taste these tomatoes: juicy, large, incredibly aromatic and tasty - real tomatoes that we miss all winter.
This variety is grown in order to eat plenty in the summer, and smaller representatives will fit on the "banks". Today we offer a closer look at the bull’s heart tomatoes. Reviews with photos of tomato varieties will be presented in this article. In addition, here you can find the advice of experienced gardeners on the selection of seeds, growing a tomato and some secrets of canning.
Bull heart tomatoes: reviews with photos and description
Distinctive features of the variety are the large size of the fruits. It is one thing to grow these tomatoes, another to achieve a truly large-fruited and high yield. Champions in weight on the site can be seen from afar. They do not leave anyone indifferent and are the pride of a gardener-master who has raised such a miracle. As a rule, the very first fruits are the largest. The average weight of one is 300-400 grams, and there are half a kilogram each. The shape of the fruit is slightly elongated, resembles the shape of a real anatomical heart, the surface is slightly ribbed. Subsequent smaller tomatoes - 100-200 grams each.
Another feature of the variety is the unevenness of the fruit. According to reviews from the photo about tomatoes, the bull’s heart is noticeable that on the lower branches the tomatoes are larger, and toward the crown they begin to fade. Productivity will delight everyone, it is from ten to twelve kilograms from one bush, if it grows in a greenhouse. If the tomato is planted in open ground, then less - from seven to nine kilograms, and the fruits themselves will also be smaller. Reviews with photos about tomatoes "bovine heart" confirm this fact.
The bush itself is tall - from 1.5 to 1.7 in height, sprawling, grows very quickly. He needs a garter. The leaves are large, dark green, their appearance is the same as other varieties.
Taste qualities
One has only to cut the tomato, and it will spread its unusual aroma to many meters. The pulp of a tomato is fleshy, very sweet, and all because this variety draws less water than others. The taste and aroma cannot be confused with anything, they are sugar on the break and stand out from other tomatoes. The peel is tender, thin, very often it happens that the fruits crack, and this can spoil their appearance, but not taste! Variety tomato "bull heart", photos and reviews of which are presented in this article, is grown in order to eat fresh precisely because of the ideal taste.
The variety is mid-season; its fruiting occurs on average on the 130th day after seedling emergence.
Variety varieties
We gave a general description of the bull’s heart tomato. In fact, there are several varieties of the variety. Features of agricultural technology do not differ, but they vary greatly in appearance and size. We offer you to get acquainted with each individually.
- A favorite type of many are pink bull heart tomatoes. According to the reviews from the photo it is clear that they are larger than all their counterparts of other colors, one fruit on the lower brush can grow up to 900 grams! The color of the tomatoes is pink. Reviews about the variety are the most enthusiastic. They write that they are ideal for making fresh summer salads and for tomato juice. Feature - later ripening than other species. Pink tomato is unpretentious, has immunity to many diseases, including late blight.
- The red "bull heart" is distinguished by a very strong branching. In size, the fruits are rarely inferior to the previous species.
- Orange - has excellent taste, not similar to any of the varieties.
- Black - is an individual recognizable by the color of maroon fruits. The latest of all "hearts."
And for its variety, many bull-hearted tomatoes also fell in love. Reviews with photos from summer residents show how beautiful salads for the winter can be rolled up in cans of colorful tomatoes! Also, no one will refuse to try a fresh salad of several types of tomatoes - the taste of each supplement each other, and such a dish looks very appetizing!
Grade Advantages
On the pluses, the bull-hearted tomato is very easy to judge from reviews with photos. The positive characteristics include:
- palatability of tomatoes, their meatiness;
- a large number and size of fruits, when compared with other varieties of tomatoes, whose bushes are the same in size;
- the brushes are tied almost at the same time, so the crop ripens together each time until the end of the season;
- early ripening of fruits allows you to enjoy tomatoes as soon as possible;
- the most delicious tomato juice is made from a bull’s heart.
It is these factors that influence the choice of a variety by many summer residents. What can disappoint in this amazing variety and create additional efforts?
disadvantages
Some gardeners write that the variety has its own characteristics, which can not be attributed to shortcomings, because it all depends on the care. So, what problems can a beginner grower face?
- Bushes can be attacked by diseases, as they have a huge number of ovaries.
- Harvest will not be large, and the fruits can be much less than expected. To prevent this from happening, increased feeding with mineral fertilizers is necessary.
- Improper care can cause early completion of the bushes, and they will stop forming new ovaries, and this will affect the amount of harvest.
Now we propose moving to the rules for planting and caring for a bull’s heart tomato. Reviews with photos of tomatoes will help us with this.
Perfect seeds
There are many gardeners who were disappointed with growing a bull’s heart. They write that there are few ovaries, the shape of the fruit does not resemble an organ, tomatoes burst and do not reach characteristic sizes. There are also comments in which it is said that the variety is most often affected by late blight.
In defense, I want to say that not everything is so tasty when unpretentious. "Bull's heart" is the result of breeding amateur gardeners, and for a long time no one was engaged in maintaining the variety. Taking advantage of the popularity of tomatoes, amateurs-seed growers actively launched the sale of seeds. This is not bad if the planting material was not made from everything that grows on their beds. Usually this attitude towards the variety leads to its degeneration.
Many gardeners recommend purchasing seeds from Aelita for a noble bovine heart crop. They write that their germination is good, if you form a bush from one stem, there will be at least eight brushes. The size of a tomato is an average of half a kilo, and with proper care more. Compared with tomatoes of the same variety from other companies, tomatoes with a small number of seeds grow from Aelita seeds. The taste in the fruit is excellent.
How to prepare seeds from grown tomatoes?
If you were arranged with tomatoes from seeds that were bought, then you can prepare your own for the next season. Experienced gardeners still recommend at least once every four years to re-purchase store seeds in order to slightly upgrade the variety. So, in order to get seeds from tomatoes from your site, you need to pay attention to the second brush from the bottom. Choose from there the largest of the tomatoes, wait for it to fully ripen until the green stain at the peduncle disappears. After that, pick the tomato, put it at home in a warm dark place for three days, so that the fruit becomes soft. Seeds must be removed, dried and stored in a paper envelope, which is placed in a dark box with room temperature.
We are preparing a site for planting
It is necessary to take care of the soil in the fall. Dig it well, fertilize: compost, manure. Dig up again, loosen well. Large lumps can not be crushed, since this procedure will again be required in the spring. All weed roots must be removed.
Seedlings
The optimal time for preparing seedlings is the beginning of March. Take plastic jars for planting seeds, make holes in them from the sides and at the bottom. Self-soluble peat cups will not work, since it will be necessary to dive when three true leaves appear.
Seeds are planted to a depth of three centimeters in half-filled containers. As the plant grows, it will be necessary to add soil. Before planting, planting material must be washed and soaked in a solution of manganese for disinfection. Only after this the seeds are planted. During growth, the seedlings should be fed a couple of times, and a couple of weeks before planting, temper, taking out for a day (in good weather with an air temperature of at least +18) "breathe air" to the balcony or courtyard.
Bull heart tomatoes: reviews with photos, growing
Planting in open ground or in greenhouses is recommended in late May or early June, when there is no longer a risk of frost. One or two stems are formed, the extra stepsons and sprouts must be constantly removed. No more than 2 bushes should grow on one square meter, they need to be tied to trellises.
Gardeners recommend helping in pollination by spraying plants with water, stable top dressing is also necessary:
- Phosphorus-containing mineral fertilizers are used during flowering twice with an interval of one and a half weeks.
- During fruit loading, potassium and nitrogen are required. Top dressing is done twice at the same interval.
- Again phosphoric fertilizers during the flowering of the fifth and sixth brushes.
- Every ten days during the formation and ripening of fruits, top-dressing with foliar calcium fertilizers is necessary.
Getting ready for winter
You can still create beautiful “jars” of pickled tomatoes from a bull’s heart tomato. To do this, cook them in the microwave. In a 1.5-liter jar, you need to put three peas of allspice and two bay leaves, cut the tomatoes into quarters and put them well, trying not to crush. Pour boiling water in which a tablespoon of salt and four sugars are dissolved so that the tomatoes hide a little. Put the jar in the microwave, set the maximum mode and time 2 minutes. If the brine does not boil, add time and immediately remove the can after boiling. Pour half a teaspoon of acetic acid, roll up, put upside down to let the air out.