Getting a good crop in a short time is not so easy. This will help specially bred low-growing tomatoes for open ground. Today there is a huge variety of varieties.
Outdoor tomatoes
"Watercolor" . Early variety (3 months), the height of the standard bush is 50 cm, seedlings are not stretched. The fruits are elongated, red (90-110 g) with a dense skin. They have good keeping quality and excellent taste, which are not lost after ripening. The variety is intended for canning and fresh consumption, resistant to apical rot and Septoria.
"Supermodel." Medium early variety with long fruits up to 10-12 cm. Stem bush 60-75 cm high. Raspberry fruits, moderately dense, weighing 120 g. Suitable for pickling and preservation.
"El Dorado". Harvest variety with oval-heart-shaped fruits of yellow-lemon color, weighing 200-250 g. The height of the stem bush is 50-80 cm.
"Hurry up." The height of the bush is 60 cm. The shape of the fruit is flat-round, color red, weight 170-200 g. It is characterized by its unpretentiousness, early return of the crop, excellent fruit setting in conditions of low temperatures.
The Golden Stream. Temperature resistant plant. Very early variety with bright orange, smooth fruits, weighing 100 g, elongated ellipsoidal shape. It has a good yield and resistance to many diseases.
Red Fang. The ultra-ripe variety is simply studded with red shiny finger-shaped fruits, weighing 40 g. Designed for whole-canning and fresh consumption. Bush 90 cm high.
The aforementioned undersized tomatoes that do not require pinching ripen quickly enough, which allows them to avoid late blight disease.
What tomatoes are grown in open ground?
The main difference between undersized and early ripening varieties is the low location of the first flower brush - above 4-5 of this leaf. Neighboring inflorescences can be located one after another. Or split by one sheet. Limited bush growth with a flower brush.
Low-growing tomatoes for open ground have time to yield before the onset of cold rains. Unripe tomatoes are well-ripened in boxes. Superdeterminate undersized tomatoes for open ground have a short fruiting period. Their fruits are not large, weighing up to 100 grams, mostly canned food.
In the same way, determinant varieties can be grown. They are distinguished by a greater height - up to 1 meter and require garters to the support. The first flower brush is located above the 5th leaf. Fruits are larger - up to 200 g. Inflorescences are separated by one or two leaves. These undersized tomatoes for open ground are of limited growth type.
Landing time
In open ground, undersized tomatoes that do not require pinching are planted at different times - depending on the region. So, in the southern regions - on the fifteenth of May, in the middle lane - in early June. In the northern latitudes, landing is performed when the daytime positive temperatures reach 14-15 degrees, and the threat of night frosts passes - June 10-15.
Soil preparation
Low-growing tomatoes that do not require pinching feel good on loamy and sandy loamy soils rich in humus with a neutral reaction.
Ridges are located in well-warmed and sheltered from the wind places. In one place, tomatoes can be grown for no more than 3 years, in order to avoid the accumulation of pests and diseases in the soil. Good previous crops are cabbage, onions, zucchini, carrots. You can not grow tomatoes after peppers, potatoes, eggplant, physalis, as they belong to the nightshade family and have the same pests and the same diseases.
Under early undersized tomatoes, fresh manure is not added, which contains a lot of nitrogen and allows you to build up a large amount of green mass at the expense of fruiting. Therefore, from organic fertilizers, only humus is permissible - a bucket of 2-3 holes. Mineral complex fertilizers (for example, nitrophosphate) are applied in the spring for digging.
Crop undersized tomatoes prefer moderate soils. Therefore, clay and peat are added to the sandy soil. This allows you to make it cohesive and better retaining moisture. In clay soils, on the contrary, sand is added, rotted sawdust or leaves, peat.
Before digging, the soil is shed with copper sulfate (1 tbsp. Per bucket of water) at the rate of 2 liters per square meter. Ridges for tomatoes are made low so that water does not drain from them when watering.
Transplanting
Plants are staggered or ribbons. The nutrition area for early tomatoes needs 30 x 40 cm, mid-season - 50 x 50 cm.
Wells with a diameter of 30 cm after introducing humus are shed with a pink solution of potassium permanganate and planted overgrown seedlings without deepening. For overgrown seedlings, it is permissible up to 10-15 cm with the removal of one or two leaves. With the in-depth method, fruit can be lost from the first brush if it has already gained color.
It is advisable to treat seedlings for prevention with Bordeaux liquid before planting, which is carried out in cloudy weather or in the evening. If the sun suddenly appears, seedlings are covered with a non-woven covering material on top to create a shadow.
The plant should have 30 cm in height, stem thickness 0.8-1 cm, 7-8 leaves and one brush that has gained color. After planting, it is better to mulch the soil - this will protect it from drying out and cracking. For this, humus, rotted sawdust, last year's dry leaves or straw can be used.
For the middle band, the ripening dates of tomatoes in open ground are expected from July 15 (early) and August 5 (mid-season).
Harvested tomatoes
Tomatoes undersized without pinching varieties "rocker", "baskak", "betta", "bonnie m" and others. Give 2-3 kg of fruit per plant. They are distinguished by an early return of the crop and the ripening of tomatoes on the bush.
In addition to varieties with canned fruits, today you can buy large-fruited salad.
For example, low-growing tomatoes without stepson cultivation “Friday F1” reach a weight of 220 g, “tourmaline” - 160-180 g, “Russian tasty ” - 300 g. Productivity, respectively, 5, 4, 6 kg from one bush.
Large-fruited varieties
A common misconception is that early ripe low tomatoes can only have small fruits. But the best varieties of undersized tomatoes prove that this is not so.
Fat Jack. Early powerful variety with a height of 60 cm. Fleshy, sweet, red fruits weighing 250 g have high taste and good keeping quality. Plants are unpretentious to growing conditions.
Low-growing early ripening tomatoes are also represented by the variety "darling . " Plant height 60 cm. Fruits are round, smooth, weighing 150 g, do not crack, salad purpose. Plants tolerate drought and slight cooling. Fruits can be tied in not very favorable conditions.
Mirage Another large-fruited variety with sprawling bushes 60 cm high. Red fruits of a flat-round shape of good taste, weighing 250-270 g.
The Knight . Perhaps the best variety, medium early, unusually productive. Bush height 65 cm. Fleshy fruits weighing 250 g, at the beginning of fruiting reach 300 g.
"Visibly invisible." An early ripe tomato 50 cm high is strewn with homogeneous red fruits weighing 130-150 g. It is resistant to fungal diseases.
"Darling A". Very interesting undersized cherry tomato. It is grown in open ground, and in a pot in the apartment, and on the balcony, and even in a hanging container. He forms a compact shtambovy bush and many bright red, sweet fruits.
Care
All measures are reduced to timely cultivation, watering, top dressing and disease prevention.
If the ridges with tomatoes are mulched, then loosening is not required - only the removal of rare weeds. Watering in this case can also be reduced - the soil does not crack and moisture will evaporate less.
Providing tomatoes with sufficient water is a necessary condition for a high yield. Plants are watered on aisles or under the root every five to seven days. The soil should be moistened to a depth of the main roots - 30-40 cm. It should be remembered that uneven irrigation contribute to cracking of the fruit.
Top dressing
During the growing season, fertilizer will be required in dissolved form. The first top dressing is carried out half a month after transplanting seedlings into the ground. For this, a fertilizer consisting of phosphorus and potassium is used. The second top dressing is done with a complete complex fertilizer (nitrophoska) a month after the first. The third consists of potassium and nitrogen for the early ripening of the fruit and is carried out a month after the second, in mid-August.
To form ovaries during flowering, you can spray the flowers with this solution: 1 g of boric acid and 1 tsp. baking soda per 1 liter of water.
Tomatoes respond well to foliar top dressing with micronutrients twice a season.
Root top dressing is best combined with watering. First, lightly soak the ground with water. Then make a fertilizer solution, and after feeding, water again. Once a month, you can add a little potassium permanganate to the water. Such irrigation is the prevention of late blight, increase the sugar content of fruits and ripening is faster.
Signs of starvation in tomatoes
If the plant lacks nitrogen, then the leaves become light green, pale. The lack of phosphorus is expressed by the appearance of a purple hue of the leaves or the lower part of the stem. If the plant begins to dry, then urgently need to feed potassium. Twisted leaves indicate that you need to add potassium and nitrogen.
How does excess fertilizer affect?
With excessive nitrogen, the plant will increase its green mass intensely (“fatten”), and there will be no flowering. Excess phosphorus fertilizers will lead to the fall of flowers and ovaries, yellowing of leaves. Enumeration of potassium is expressed in the appearance of matte spots.