When to plant tall tomatoes for seedlings: the best varieties, yield

Tomatoes are frequent guests in country gardens. The tomato is not inferior to citrus fruits in its beneficial properties, especially in terms of the content of vitamin C. Therefore, summer residents often call it “country orange”. Growing tomatoes is a tricky job that requires a lot of preparation in order to grow a large, he althy crop of tomatoes. Increasingly, tall tomato varieties can be found in garden beds. They significantly outperform other tomato varieties in the growth rate of the main stem, and it can only be stopped if the top of the bush is pinched in time.

Some varieties of tall tomatoes can grow 5 m in just six months. Accordingly, a huge amount of harvest can be obtained from them. The main thing is to know when to plant tall tomatoes for seedlings and how to do it right.

Seedling growing technology

You need to sow productive varieties of tomatoes in seedling boxes at the end of winter. And preparation for the next season should begin in the fall. The plot of land on which the beds of high tomatoes will be located and the sowing will take place should be well dug up and fertilized with manure. The same procedure should be carried out in the spring, when the snow melts. Only to organic, you need to add 1 tbsp. l. potash fertilizer and 5 tbsp. l. phosphates.

When to sow tall tomatoes for seedlings, the seed producer will tell you. He must indicate the exact dates on the packaging. Usually, a tomato is planted about 2 and a half months before planting in open beds. The end of February is the best time for this. Plants will be able to grow and get stronger.

If you have already grown tall tomatoes on your plot, or your neighbors have shared some particularly successful fruits, you can independently collect tomato seeds for seedlings for the next harvest.Only the best varieties and the he althiest and most beautiful specimens are suitable for this.

A few of the best fruits should be put on the windowsill and wait until they are fully ripe and soft. With a spoon, you need to get the juice with seeds and place it in a glass jar.

After they stand for a couple of days at a temperature of 22 ° C, the juice will acquire a light shade, and the seeds will be ready for further processing. They need to be washed and dried on a flat, smooth surface, such as a piece of paper or glass.

But the preparation of seeds for planting does not end there. To strengthen and harden the planting material, it is necessary to soak the seeds in a warm solution using liquid fertilizers or wood ash. And after 24 hours have passed, you need to wrap them in plastic bags and put them in a cold place for a couple of days. This will help the seeds survive possible temperature changes.

Tomatoes for seedlings should be planted in previously prepared soil. To prepare it, you need to take humus, peat and turf in equal parts, saturate it with superphosphate, potassium sulfate and urea in the proportions indicated on the packages. The resulting mixture must be calcined in the oven at a temperature of one hundred degrees for 20 minutes. The soil layer should not exceed 5 cm.

The soil prepared for cultivation should be poured into wooden or plastic boxes in an even layer.

When to sow seeds for seedlings, you can calculate yourself or follow the summer resident's lunar calendar. Usually we sow seeds from February 20 to March 10. If the plants are planned to be transplanted into a greenhouse, then the planting dates may be slightly different. When the planting site is ready, it should be well watered, and you can start sowing seeds of tall tomatoes and growing them according to time-tested technology.

In the soil it is necessary to make grooves at a distance of 5 cm from each other, and no more than 1 cm deep.Seeds should be sown one at a time, in 2 cm increments, and then sprinkled with earth. This completes the planting of seeds of tall tomatoes. Watering from above should not be, you only need to cover with glass or plastic wrap to create a greenhouse effect. Boxes with seedlings need to be placed in a bright, warm place - on the windowsill of the south window. This is just the beginning of growing strong seedlings.

As the seedlings grow, it must be periodically fed with copper oxychloride in the proportions indicated on the package. Watering should be moderate, so as not to ruin the plants at the seedling stage. From an excess of moisture, the root system may die off, the soil will turn sour and a black fruit fly will appear, which feeds on rot.

When the first two true leaves appear, it is necessary to dive the plant. This happens at about the age of 20 days, then the plants need to be transplanted into a larger container.Separate jars or even plastic cups are perfect for this. Seedlings should be transplanted with a native clod of earth so that the process of getting used to a new place passes quickly and imperceptibly.

Good strong seedlings will only grow if they have enough room to grow and sunlight.

Planting seedlings in open ground and care

Crop varieties need to be planted in a checkerboard pattern. For this, long rows are prepared with wide and deep holes, approximately on the bayonet of a shovel, 15x15 cm in size. One bush should be planted in each recess to ensure good ventilation of the plants.

Fertilizer

The best yields are observed in plants that lacked mineral and organic substances. For the entire period of tomato growth, experienced agronomists recommend at least 3 top dressings. The very first will be 10 days after transplanting the seedlings to the garden.Best suited for this is bird droppings or manure, from which a 1:10 solution is prepared. It is best to combine it with watering. It is also possible to use ready-made mixtures for fertilizer, for example, Humisol. For better absorption, the soil for cultivation should be immediately mulched with sawdust or pine needles under the base of the stem of the bush. This will also prevent weeds.

When the second brush with ovaries appears on the bush, you need to wait 10 days and carry out the next top dressing. To do this, it is necessary to prepare a special solution, which includes manure, 3 g of potassium permanganate, 3 g of copper sulfate, 1 tbsp. l. ready-made fertilizer "Mortar" - for 10 liters of water. Under each plant, 2 liters are poured. The third feeding procedure is carried out when the first fruits ripen. The same solution is being prepared and 2.5 liters are added under each bush.

Irrigation

Tall tomatoes should be watered abundantly, up to 1 liter per 1 bush. But it is not necessary to wet the fruits and leaves, but it is worth watering only under the root of the plant. However, if the weather is cloudy, not sunny for a long time, watering should be reduced to 2 times a week.

Tall tomatoes love when watering is done in the morning. The water temperature should not be too low. Ideally - 24-26 ° C. Therefore, it is best to paint a container with water in dark colors and put it in a sunny place, then you do not have to preheat the liquid before watering.

In too hot and dry weather, the ground between the bushes must be pierced with a pitchfork, and after watering, loosen well. In this case, you need to try not to damage the roots of the plant. And with the advent of autumn, when only a few brushes with fruits remain, the tomatoes should be freed from the leash and carefully laid on the ground. After that, watering should be completely canceled.

Garter

Without support, such tall plants can simply break. They need good support, which will allow the bushes to grow not only in breadth, but also up. Experienced gardeners use three types of garter - with rope, pegs or net.

Dig in 2 high stakes along the edges of the bed, which can rise 3m above the ground. Between them it is necessary to stretch a nylon cord, from which ropes stretch to all plants. Synthetic materials that are not exposed to germs are best.

As the plant grows, the ropes need to be tightened so that the bush does not fall to the ground. When the tomatoes grow to 2.2 m, they can no longer be stretched, but left to hang arbitrarily with the fruits down.

If it is possible to tie up each bush separately, then use individual pegs that are dug in near the bush. It should also be tied up in several places, as the tomatoes grow, with a synthetic or nylon rope. By the same principle, a grid is used, to which plants are tied in the necessary places. The higher the bush, the more often it needs to be tied up.

Staging

After 1.5-2 months, from the moment the seedlings were planted, you should begin to stepson the growing leaves and shoots located closest to the ground.They interfere with air circulation, and contribute to the occurrence of all kinds of diseases. In addition, too dense thickets attract parasites that can damage the fruits.

Remove shoots from the bush should be at least 1 time per week. In this case, you can immediately pick off only 3 sheets. After carrying out this operation, in a day you need to shed the plant well. As the bush grows, you need to remove excess shoots, and even new ovaries. To do this, you just need to follow the plant. It should have at least 15 leaves and no more than 8 brushes with fruits. Only in this case will a good yield be achieved.

Varieties of tall tomatoes

The timing of the ripening of tomatoes will depend entirely on the choice of variety. All productive varieties will be early or mid-season. This is what allows you to grow large crops from good gardeners.

• "Alyonushka" - an early variety, the fruits of which can reach up to 1 kg each. It is sown 100 days before the expected harvest, while the yield will be high.
• "Miracle of the Earth" - also an early variety. Its fruits have a mass of up to 500 g. It must be planted 90 days before harvest.
• "Midas" - medium-late variety. Seedlings sown and planted in open ground will bear the first fruits in 120 days. Each tomato will weigh up to 100 g.
• "De Barao" - mid-season variety. It should be planted 130 days before harvest, while the yield is high. As gardeners say, this variety bears fruit for 3 months, before the first frost, and each fruit weighs up to 70 g each.

All these high-yielding varieties of tall tomatoes have visible advantages over other tomatoes. Sowing these vegetables requires less area and can be planted on a small piece of land. They give many times more yield compared to undersized counterparts, while on one plant there can be up to ten full-fledged brushes with fruits.

In addition, their unusual appearance allows you to decorate the appearance of the garden. In addition, some high-yielding varieties, if properly planted, can bear fruit until late autumn, before the first frost.

Each gardener chooses which varieties of tomatoes to plant on his plot. Some are chasing high yields, others are trying to grow the biggest fruits, and still others are just loving home grown tomatoes.

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