Tomato: description of the crossed variety and its cultivation with a photo

To save space in the beds and increase the yield, breeders are constantly experimenting with crossing different crops. Agronomists from the UK and New Zealand have jointly invented a hybrid called Pomidofel. The plant has ordinary potato tubers, and instead of tops, tomatoes ripen on the bush.

Variety description

Features of any hybrid variety do not allow for an accurate description of the plant, since its characteristics depend on the crossed seedlings. The general properties include the appearance of the plant, which is a bush with rich green leaves.Tomatoes growing on bushes can weigh from 300 to 800 g.

Potato tubers weighing about 100 g are hidden in the soil. One seedling of the plant brings 8-12 potato fruits. Keeping quality, starch content and pulp condition depend on the specific variety used for crossing.

Growing

It is not possible to plant Pomidofel with seeds on the site, since the hybrid is grown only by grafting. When the stems of potatoes and tomato seedlings reach a thickness of 0.5 cm, grafting can be carried out. The length of the cuts should exceed the thickness of the stems by more than 4 times. You need to graft each shoot, making splits on the sections of the stems, and connecting them to each other, preventing temporary drying. Then the shoots must be tied at the junctions with a bactericidal plaster and left in a dark place for several days.

Before planting seedlings, you must first moisten the soil and the plants themselves. After 7-9 days after grafting the stems, you need to plant the culture in the ground under covering material or bags. After another week, you can remove the bandage from the junction of the stems. If the seedlings have not grown together well, the strapping material should be left for a few more days.

Features of care

The bushes of the plant begin to bloom a few days after planting. The first fruits grow in a couple of months. To get a good harvest, you must follow the list of standard rules for caring for a crop. During the growth of the hybrid, it is necessary:

1. Periodically loosen the ground.
2. Visually inspect the beds and remove any weeds found.
3. Water the crop, avoiding drought. The frequency and abundance of watering depends on climatic conditions.
4. Apply fertilizer suitable for potatoes and tomatoes.
5. If rot is found on the leaves of the bushes, treat their surface with disinfectant fertilizers.

When planting a plant in the ground in the spring, do not immediately water it, as the soil will be saturated with moisture. An excess of moisture or stagnant meltwater can lead to root rot and seedlings withering.

Pros and cons

Due to the specifics of the plant and the characteristics of cultivation, a number of both pluses and minuses of the hybrid can be distinguished. Benefits include:

• Saving space at their summer cottage. From each planted bush, you can harvest two crops at once.
• Original. Tomato has not yet had time to get a big distribution and is an exclusive variety.
• Yield. Despite the cross-breeding of crops, no quantitative yield is lost during the cultivation process.
• Safety. Vegetables growing on a hybrid plant are subject to long-term storage, which allows you to grow a large number of fruits and leave them for several seasons.
• Benefit and taste. Grown fruits retain their useful characteristics, and hybridity has a positive effect on taste.

The disadvantages of growing this variety include the following:

• High price. The cost of one seedling is too high due to the complexity of crossing and the uniqueness of the hybrid.
• Demanding for fertilizers. Since the hybrid combines two crops at once, fertilizers will be required for both potatoes and tomatoes.
• Difficulty of landing. The only way to grow a plant is by grafting stems of different varieties.
• Specific care. Since fertilizers and nutrients come from the bottom up, it is difficult to evenly distribute nutrition to the fruits.

Observing all the features of growing this crop, you can get a big harvest that will pay off the cost of plants and nutrients. The fruitfulness of the Pomidofel variety exceeds that of conventional potato and tomato varieties.

Pests and diseases

When developing a hybrid, breeders feared that the poisonous enzyme corned beef contained in potato tops could adversely affect tomato fruits. In practice, the content of this component does not exceed the standard.

In addition, the plant is resilient and does not harm even the common late blight disease.

The persistent aroma of tomatoes repels Colorado potato beetle hybrids and similar pests, but with improper care, plant bushes can infect insects such as aphids, nematodes, spider mites and thrips. To repel the listed pests, any insecticidal components are suitable.As an additional measure to fertilize and increase fruiting, compost and soil improvers can be applied to the soil.

Harvest and storage of crops

The first tomatoes on the bushes of the variety grow a few months after planting. The appearance of young tubers can be tracked on your own if you carefully loosen the soil. Experienced gardeners advise harvesting Pomidofel with the onset of autumn. One plant bush can produce about 3 kg of potatoes and 5-6 kg of tomatoes.

Growed fruits are suitable for long-term storage due to good keeping quality and attractive presentation. You can store vegetables in the refrigerator, drawers or on racks. The main thing is that the storage should have a cool temperature and minimal lighting.

Reviews of gardeners

Marina, Tomsk:

“I took the risk of planting Pomidofel in the country, for the experiment I took only a couple of bushes. Surprisingly, the seedlings took root well and gave a large harvest. Next season I will try to plant more hybrids.”

Oksana, Ivanovo:

“I heard a lot about hybrid varieties, but I only encountered Pomidofel last year. I would like to note the great profitability of the variety - I grew several tons of vegetables on a small plot. ”

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