Features of tomato
Although they are very popular today, and there are more than 10,000 varieties of them all over the world, tomatoes became known in Europe only in the 15th century after the discovery of America by Columbus. Until the 19th century, in many places, tomatoes were considered poisonous plants and were cultivated only for decorative purposes.
There are many varieties of tomatoes, and this vegetable can be grown in different ways: in the ground, in pots or in a greenhouse, and even on a balcony. The most popular are red tomatoes, but there are varieties of tomatoes with black or yellow fruits.
Useful properties of tomato
They have a low energy value, but are a rich source of vitamins and mineral salts. Carotenoids, which are provitamin A., are natural pigments that give plants a beautiful bright color. Among them, 83% is red lycopene. It is an active antioxidant, a compound valuable for human health, neutralizes the action of free radicals that cause cell damage. It has anti-cancer properties, protects against a heart attack, has a positive effect on the immune and nervous systems, and improves digestion.
Fruits contain a large amount of vitamins C and B1 and B2, are a good source of mineral salts, especially potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. Vitamin C increases the body’s resistance to infections, and also improves the absorption of iron from food, thereby preventing anemia.
How to sow tomato seedlings
Growing tomatoes begins with seeds or seedlings. Tomatoes germinate at ground temperatures in the range of 21-24 degrees, so they are not sown directly into the ground, but seedlings are produced. If you plan to grow seedlings on your own, then tomato seeds are sown in March in a warm and bright place, preferably in a warm greenhouse or on a windowsill.
Tomato seeds germinate quickly, but they need sunlight most of the day. It is unfavorable to sow tomatoes too early, when the days are still short and they do not have enough sun. Planting tomato seeds is carried out in a properly prepared substrate. This can be a special soil for sowing, bought at a garden store, or a substrate prepared independently from compost soil.
How to sow tomatoes? They should be sown evenly, covering with a layer of soil from about 0.5 to 1 cm. The substrate is slightly moistened and kept at a temperature of 22-25 ° C until the first shoots appear. To maintain high humidity and temperature of the substrate, boxes with sown seeds should be covered with a film, airing it every day. The first shoots will appear in eight to ten days. So that they do not interfere with each other’s growth, it is important to separate them after three weeks.
Tomato seeds are best sown in separate pots.
For those who are ready to grow tomatoes but do not have the time to produce seedlings, it is recommended to buy them from garden shops or local markets.
When buying seedlings of tomatoes, it is desirable that they have at least 5-7 leaves, you must make sure that they are hardened.
If they produce seedlings of tomatoes on their own, then they must carry out the hardening procedure: in accustoming tomatoes to external conditions. To do this, gradually, over several days, they are taken out into the street, with each subsequent day extending the time until the plants are planted in the ground.
Planting tomato seedlings in the ground
Tomatoes need nutrient-rich, well-drained garden soil. The place should be sunny, protected from the wind. It is better to plant tomatoes in a slightly acidic, permeable fertile substrate.
Tomatoes are very sensitive to frost, so it is safe to plant tomato seedlings in the ground after May 15, when the soil warms up well. Planted in pre-prepared beds. Before planting seedlings, the soil must be loosened and fertilized.
Note! It is worth finding a place for them in the garden. You should not plant tomatoes in the place where the potato was or near it. Tomatoes should also not grow next to cucumbers. Tomatoes love the company of parsley, garlic and marigolds, and they do not like the neighborhood with fennel, kohlrabi and radishes.
They should be planted from a distance of at least 50 centimeters, the row spacing should be one meter. About 10 cm from the hole, a stake is driven in, to which tomato bushes will later be tied. Tomatoes should be planted so that the lowest leaves are at ground level, then the plant at the bottom of the stem will put forth new roots, thanks to which it can better absorb water and mineral salts from the ground. Be careful not to cover the lower leaves with earth.
Make sure that the roots are freely straightened in the hole. If they are too long, they can be trimmed a little. Cover the plant with soil, pressing it to the roots. After planting, the tomatoes should be watered abundantly, directing the stream of water at the soil, and not at the plants.
A good solution is to mulch the soil, which will limit excessive evaporation of water from the substrate. When growing tomatoes, constant moisture is important for the correct development of the vegetable, and at the same time, the need for constant watering is reduced. On hot days, this will be a noticeable relief.
How to care for tomatoes?
It is best to water them once a week, abundantly, and on hot days more often – even daily. When watering, do not wet the leaves, which can cause their diseases. It is important to maintain humidity, but over-moisturizing the tomatoes can crack and degrade their flavor.
Tomatoes should definitely be fertilized. They are “heavy consumers”, which means they remove a lot of nutrients from the soil. They need to be replenished regularly. It is best to enrich the bed with ripe compost in the fall so that the foundation for the coming spring has already been laid.
Feed them with fertilizers with a high content of phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen fertilizers lead to an increase in green mass due to fertility. Granular fertilizers can be dissolved in water and applied with regular watering. Organic fertilizers will perfectly support the crop. The nature of the soil should be taken into account. For example, clay soil requires less fertilizer than sandy soil.
Tomato bushes should not be planted too densely. To allow air to circulate freely between them, supports are used. Usually wooden pegs are used.
Additional Information! Tomatoes are pollinated plants. You can shake the tomato flowers yourself to lift the pollen into the air, or transfer it from one plant to another with a brush.
Do not allow plants to grow too densely. Tomatoes are grown on one, maximum two or three shoots, thereby providing better light access to the flowers. Breaking out excess shoots enhances the growth of tomatoes. One main shoot is determined, and all lateral ones growing from the leaf axils are removed. This shoot removal procedure aims to strengthen the main shoot and thus produce larger fruits.
When the fruits of tomatoes are well formed, you can remove the leaves covering them so that they get more sun, without which these vegetables will not acquire their taste and aroma. The plant develops better, the lower fruits receive more light, ripen faster and diseases do not spread as quickly. You can use broken off shoots in early summer as cuttings and thus grow more plants.
In August, it is worth removing the leaves above the highest flowering cluster. This treatment aims to suppress the formation of new flowers and fruits. Only five or a maximum of seven inflorescences can ripen. Therefore, they simply cut too many inflorescences to get ripe fruits by the end of the growing season.
The maximum height of planted plants should be between 150 and 200 cm. When they reach this height, clamp the main stem. Then the plant will put all its strength into the fruit, and not into the stem and leaves.
Tomato diseases
Tomatoes are prone to many diseases, especially fungal ones. Shoots and fruits often suffer from powdery mildew or are affected by late blight, sometimes they are bothered by aphids. In the fight against these problems, you can use natural preparations – nettle extract, garlic.
As a preventive measure, you can spray garlic broth every week (a head of chopped garlic is slowly boiled for about 20 minutes in 1 liter of water), and during the fruiting period – with milk diluted with water (1: 4). Tomatoes love the company of parsley, garlic and marigolds and do not like the neighborhood of dill, kohlrabi and radishes.
Potato mold is a threat to tomatoes. All efforts can be destroyed in just a few days. When found on leaves or stems, greyish-watery spots that grow rapidly and turn brown. Burn infected leaves immediately, and try one of the modern products with a short period of protection.
