Tomatoes are a plant with high temperature requirements. But if you seriously approach the issue of care, then it is possible to get a good harvest even in the middle zone. The growing process will be less costly, the yield will be good, and the taste and aroma of the fruit will be pronounced.

Content:

1. Choosing the right varieties
2. How to plant seedlings video
3. Aftercare - how to water tomatoes
4. Mulching Tomato
5. Pinching the tomatoes do the right thing video
6. How to feed tomatoes, optimal timing of fertilizing video  video
7. Do tomatoes spud
8. How to harvest and keep the crop

Choosing the right varieties

Since the success of growing vegetables in the open field is dependent on the weather, when choosing varieties, you should pay attention to those resistant to cold and hardy. If the seeds will be bought, it is best to use the services of trusted stores for gardeners and gardeners.

Vegetable growers with experience prefer to collect seeds on their own, choosing varieties with short growing periods, high-yielding.

How to plant seedlings

Seedlings are planted at the age when the plant reached a height of 20-25 cm and is preparing to throw flower brushes.

Planting tomatoes in open ground should only be sure that the threat of spring frost has passed, usually this period begins in early June.

The soil for tomatoes should be light, the area should be well lit in direct sunlight, swampy or too low-lying areas are not suitable for tomato beds. It is best to choose a non-shaded plot on an elevated plane.

The best predecessors of tomatoes - greens, carrots, beets, legumes - they do not have common diseases and pests. Tomatoes are not very demanding on the nutritional value of the soil, planting in excessively spoiled humus soil threatens excessive growth of the bush to the detriment of the crop. If it is decided to introduce humus, then per 1 sq. m of area will be enough 1 bucket, if chicken droppings will be introduced - should be limited to 2-3 kg in the same area. Fertilizing is recommended in the fall, before digging up the beds.

The planting process itself consists in digging holes, watering them with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Plants in the hole are arranged so that the stem can be covered with soil until the first leaves - in moistened soil, the stems will grow with many roots that can absorb water and nutrients.

Watch a video with recommendations:

Immediately from the north side of the sapling you can drive a peg.

Its height is determined depending on the variety of tomatoes - for tall ones, pegs about a meter high should be used, for undersized 40-50 cm. Tomatoes are tied at the level of the second leaf, then - as the stem grows.

Aftercare - how to water tomatoes

We note right away that the first watering of tomatoes is done no earlier than 2 weeks after planting. Even if the seedlings were not seasoned enough and after planting, they wilted somewhat. The plants will have enough strength to restore their appearance, and wilting is the result of stress that the root system experiences during transplantation.

It is better to transplant tomatoes later in the evening or on a cloudy day. If possible, you should create a shade for them for several days. For example - you can cover each bush with an old bucket without a bottom - there will be enough light in such a house, but the wind and sunlight will not burn the plants.

The bushes are arranged in rows, the distance between them should be at least 0.7 m, the distance between the bushes in a row - from 0.4 to 0.7 m - depending on the variety.

If we talk about how often to water tomatoes in the ground, then it makes sense to stipulate that watering is not often done. For early ripening varieties, 1-2 waterings may be sufficient, if the tomatoes are late and the summers are dry, then watering can be carried out once a decade, i.e. every ten days.

Water for irrigation should be settled, warmed up to air temperature. Water should be poured under the roots; it should not fall onto the stem and leaves. To prevent diseases in the water, you can add wood ash or potassium permanganate.

It is not recommended to moisten the soil too much on tomato beds - the plants will begin to be affected by fungal diseases, and the fruits will become watery, lose their taste and aroma.

Mulching Tomato

Such a technique as mulching is recommended in almost all climatic zones. It consists in sheltering the soil in the beds with planted plants. The process of mulching can hardly be called an innovation - it was invented by nature itself - after all, fallen leaves always cover the soil under the plant, preventing the active evaporation of moisture.

The advantages of mulching are as follows:

• the soil covered with a layer of protective material does not lose its structure, it does not form a crust upon drying,
• during watering, the soil does not erode,
• the covering layer prevents the rapid evaporation of moisture, the soil under it does not overheat even at high temperatures,
• nitrogen contained in the mulch enriches the soil and promotes the growth of stems,
• mulch eliminates the possibility of germination of weeds,
• seeding of mulch plots allows to abandon constant loosening of the soil and reduce the number of irrigations.

In addition, the decomposition of mulch favorably affects the restoration of the fertile layer, supports the vital activity of beneficial soil microorganisms.

Of course, in order to get the effect, you should know which material is better to use for covering the ground and how to lay it. The simplest and most affordable option is to use mowed grass as mulch, you can get it when mowing lawns. You can also apply weeds removed from the beds. The grass should be taken slightly dried, applied with a thick layer - when dried, its thickness will decrease.

Useful advice: do not throw tomato stepsons, they can be used as material for mulching cabbage - the smell will scare away cabbage.

Mulching with straw will be equally useful. It is desirable to lay it in a layer from 10 to 15 cm, the caked layer in this case will be about 5-6 cm and will serve as a barrier to numerous pathogens that can infect the fruit.

Compost mulching besides plant protection will be an ideal source of nutrition. Obtaining compost is not difficult - you will need to put all the organic waste obtained in the course of the household, kitchen waste, paper, weeds, small twigs and leaves from the garden, sawdust into a compost pile throughout the year.

Do not hold an opinion. that needles change the acidity of the soil - experience proves that coniferous mulch does not affect the acidity level.

As a covering material, you can use:

• folded in 4 layers of newspaper,
• fallen leaves,
• crushed tree bark, but you should abandon the use of bark of coniferous trees,
• sawdust and wood chips.

Often, synthetic materials are used as mulch:

• roofing material
• colored plastic wrap,
• lutrasil.

These materials are strong enough, they are laid on the ground, slits are cut, then seedlings are planted.

As mulch you can use:

• cardboard obtained from old boxes,
• burlap
• peat crumbs
• humus,
• reeds
• husk from seeds.

Pinching tomatoes - how to do it right

It is necessary to perform pinching if the plants began to give multiple lateral shoots. Although flowers will appear on such branches over time and it is difficult to get a full-fledged ovary from them - the tomato will be smaller, in addition, problems usually arise with ripening.

So that the plants do not spend energy and nutrients in vain stepchildren should be removed in a timely manner, this will need to be done systematically, if possible - every week. Pruning of shoots is done not at the very base, but at a distance of 1-1.5 cm - in this case they will not grow back.

Timely removal of stepsons is completely painless for the plant, long shoots are recommended just to pinch.

About pinching tomatoes in more detail:

Those who are engaged in the cultivation of extremely early-ripening varieties sometimes manage to do without plant pinching - shoots on such tomatoes either do not appear at all or are not numerous.

Pinching the top of the main stem is carried out in early August - there is no particular sense in further forcing out the bush. A pinched plant will spend more energy on fruit growth.

After the formation of the lower clusters of tomatoes, plucking leaves that are below them is produced, such a procedure:

• prevent the spread of late blight,
• allow the plant to avoid unnecessary costs of nutrient juices.

For the middle band, it will be enough if there are several leaves on the top of the plant on the bush. For the southern regions, it is recommended to leave more leaves - the sun's rays can burn the fruits and stem of the plant. Also in early August, it is recommended to cut off all the flowers.

How to feed tomatoes, optimal timing of fertilizing

The first option is to contact the seller of the store for gardeners and gardeners and use his prompt to buy ready-made complex fertilizer. A cheaper option is to make self-made dressings.

When caring for tomatoes, remember:

• you can fertilize bushes with mullein solution no more than three times per season,
• the introduction of bird droppings into the wells will lead to an increase in green mass, fruiting such actions will not increase,
• a positive effect will be obtained by spraying with a solution of urea at the beginning of the growing season, it is impossible to put urea in the wells.

For normal growth and fruiting, tomatoes will require the presence of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the soil. Moreover, it is phosphorus that stimulates the onset of flowering and accelerates the ripening of fruits, increases the capacity of sugars and dry substances in them. The best option is the introduction of granular superphosphate into the soil, it allows tomatoes to get the maximum possible amount of valuable substance.

In the period from the beginning of budding to the end of fruiting, it is important for the plant to obtain a sufficient amount of potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. But fertilizers should be strictly dosed - an overabundance of minerals can lead to lower growth rates, chopped fruits, and an increased risk of morbidity.

An example scheme for feeding tomatoes can look like this:

1. In June. Micronutrient fertilizers (2 tablets) will need to be dissolved per 10 liters of water, 1 spoonful of nitrofosk, 0.5 teaspoonful of boric acid, half a liter of mullein. Under each bush make 1 liter of the prepared solution.
2. In July. In a 10 liter bucket, a mixture of 2 tablets of micronutrient fertilizers, 1/2 liter of mullein, a tablespoon of potassium sulfate is prepared. Make 1 liter under the bush.
3. Before fruiting, before irrigation, a mixture of 4 g of potassium chloride, 20 g of superphosphate, 5 g of ammonium nitrate is introduced into the soil (for each square meter).
4. With the onset of fruiting - contribute to each square. meter mixture of 10 g of superphosphate and nitrate, do this before watering.

Watch a video about plant nutrition and care:

Experienced vegetable growers also apply foliar top dressing, i.e. spraying leaves with a solution of trace elements. So spraying with boric acid is an excellent stimulator of ovary and fruit growth. Processing with a solution of potassium permanganate accelerates the process of assimilation of carbon dioxide and stimulates an increase in the size of the fruit. The presence of copper and boron trace elements in the complex fertilizer leads to the activation of metabolic processes and reduces the number of dying buds.

Leaf dressing should be carried out in the evening, the applied solution in this case will dry more slowly and the plant will have time to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients that are in it.

If too many tomato bushes are fertilized, they can fatten:

Do tomatoes spud

One of the controversial issues is the hilling of plants. It is proved that a rich crop can be grown by performing hilling, or bypassing this procedure. Some vegetable growers insist on its necessity, others consider it harmful. The meaning of hilling is that falling asleep to the stem with soil leads to the germination of additional roots.

In particular, lower stepchildren can take root, and a more lush bush will form. If stunted varieties grow, the plants acquire additional resistance, i.e. it will be possible to refuse to tie them to pegs.

However, you can get a powerful root system without hilling, for this it is enough to plant seedlings deeper. If mulching is used on the beds, then the plants do not spud.

How to harvest and keep the crop

Tomato ripening in open ground can continue until early September. Therefore, ready-made fruits should be removed systematically, without waiting until they become bright red. Slightly browned or yellowed tomatoes should be plucked and laid in boxes, placing them in a warm room, you can quickly get ripe tomatoes. Their taste and smell will not differ from those ripening in the beds. Harvesting fruits that are not fully ripe will allow you to get a larger crop.

If you pick green fruits, then their ripening will be delayed, eventually they will turn red, but they will lose to taste. If weather conditions force the harvest of green tomatoes, consideration should be given to the possibility of processing them. For example - delicious pickles can be prepared from green or milk-ripened tomatoes seasoned with grated carrots, garlic and chopped herbs.

Please note: in order to accelerate the ripening of ripened half-ripe fruits, it is recommended to place ripe fruits next to them - the volatile substances released by them will stimulate the onset of maturity.

Suitable weather and proper care allow you to grow from 2 to 5 kg of fruit on each bush, of course, a lot depends on the cultivated varieties.

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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