Description of the variety
The tomato is mid-early and ripens within 60 days. Suitable for both greenhouse conditions and open ground. The yield is high, especially if you form the bush yourself. The variety loves mineral and organic fertilizers.
Distinctive features
Chocolate bushes reach a height of about 1.6 m and 1 m in open ground. Despite their compactness, they require obligatory tying to a support and removal of shoots. Before planting, be sure to prepare the seedlings.
Characteristics of tomatoes and yield
The weight of one tomato is from 250 to 400 g. The color is dark red, brown at the base. The shape is round, slightly elongated. The pulp is juicy and sugary, there are few seeds. The skin is smooth and thin, which is why tomatoes cannot be stored for a long time. With proper care, the yield is high; from 1 square meter, gardeners harvest about 6 kg of juicy tomatoes.
Characteristics and description of the tomato Chocolate Miracle
The Chocolate Miracle tomato variety belongs to the determinant type. Planting material planted in open ground can reach a height of 80 cm; in a greenhouse it grows up to 1.5 m. Harvesting can begin 98-100 days after planting the seedlings in a permanent place of growth. As practice shows, from every sq. m it is possible to collect up to 15 kg of ripe tomatoes.
Tomato bushes of the Chocolate Miracle variety have a small number of leaves, as a result of which many summer residents prefer to grow tomatoes in greenhouses, since there are completely no extra ovaries. As a rule, to obtain large fruits, it is necessary to first remove part of the ovaries. Formation is carried out in 2 stems, the bushes should be pinned moderately.
A distinctive feature is a fairly powerful root system and strong stems. The leaf plate is small in size and has a rich green color. As practice shows, the inflorescences are intermediate.
Description of fruits
Chocolate Miracle tomatoes have a round shape, and this variety is characterized by a high level of ribbing. A distinctive feature is the shade of ripe fruits. As a rule, tomatoes after ripening have a light brown color, reminiscent of milk chocolate, which is why they got their name - Chocolate Miracle.
The tomatoes are quite large. The weight of one fruit can vary from 250 to 400 g. If all agrotechnical standards are followed during the growing process, tomatoes can reach a weight of 600 g and even 800 g. Like other dark-colored species, Chocolate Miracle tomatoes have excellent taste.
The tomatoes are quite meaty, dense, and sweet. It is worth noting the fact that the process of sugar accumulation begins in green tomatoes, as a result of which tomatoes with a small amount of greenery can be eaten. The seed chambers are very weakly expressed, the number of seeds is small. Thanks to the high level of yield per square meter. m you can collect up to 15 kg of ripe fruits.
Attention! Although tomatoes are versatile, their large size makes them quite difficult to use whole for canning, resulting in vegetables having to be cut
Fruiting time, yield
After the Chocolate Miracle tomatoes have been planted in open ground, harvesting can begin after 98-100 days. This variety can be grown not only in open ground, but also in a greenhouse. Thanks to the high level of productivity, from each square. m you can collect up to 15 kg of ripe fruits. As a rule, the level of yield directly depends on the conditions in which the crop grows and the care provided. As practice shows, if you follow all the recommendations in the process of planting and replanting, the yield will be high.
Sustainability
According to the characteristics, the Chocolate Miracle tomato has a high level of resistance to many types of diseases and pests. Despite this, experienced gardeners are recommended to support the immune system of the crop through preventive measures. To do this, you must adhere to the following recommendations:
- Watering must be constant and in moderation.
- During the planting process, it is recommended to use a special scheme and leave sufficient distance between the bushes for full growth and development.
- Before planting seeds, it is necessary to first disinfect the planting material and soil. A solution of potassium permanganate, hydrogen peroxide or aloe juice is suitable for these purposes.
- It is not recommended to plant the crop in close proximity to eggplants, bell peppers and physalis.
- If you plan to plant tomatoes in greenhouses, then it must be regularly ventilated.
In addition, the bushes should be inspected daily, which will allow timely identification of the first signs of disease.
Important! When pests appear, tomato bushes must be treated with insecticides
Advantages and disadvantages
Judging by the photos and reviews of those who planted the Chocolate Miracle tomato, it is worth noting the following advantages of the culture:
- the variety is unpretentious in care;
- cultivation is quite easy;
- high level of resistance to pests and diseases;
- unusual appearance;
- large fruits;
- excellent taste;
- high yield.
Many gardeners consider the only drawback to be the fact that ripe fruits cannot be stored for long after harvest.
How to grow seedlings
Let's take a step-by-step look at how to properly prepare and plant the seeds of the Chocolate Miracle.
Seed preparation
You can purchase seeds in two ways: “hands-on” from familiar gardeners or in a store. When purchasing seeds in a store, you are buying high-quality material that has already been disinfected in advance and is protected from various viruses and microbes.
If you take seeds from your hands, things are a little different, since you cannot be completely confident in their quality.
To protect vegetables from possible diseases and problems during cultivation, we recommend:
- soak them in a solution of potassium permanganate;
- dry in a dry, bright place;
- place in the freezer for 10 hours to harden;
- treat the material with Fundazol.
Important ! If you are not sure about the quality of the seeds, use growth stimulants. They will help the first ones to germinate faster and enrich them with vitamins. Succinic acid and the drug “Etin” show excellent results.
Preparing the container and soil
Some people advise purchasing ready-made soil in a store. But you can prepare the land yourself. To do this you will need soil from your garden, humus, peat and sawdust. The main thing is to carry out disinfection after mixing the components.
For example, freeze the soil several times in the freezer. Or use biological products such as Glyokladin. When using it, pay attention to the expiration date and recommendations for use.
Experienced gardeners recommend using peat cells as a container. They are made from environmentally friendly materials, are inexpensive and easy to use. If this is not possible, then you can plant seedlings in flower pots or wooden boxes.
Landing
Make sure the container is dry and clean before planting. Pour the prepared soil into it up to the middle of the pot. Make grooves at a distance of 7-10 cm from each other and place a seed in each. Sprinkle soil on top and compact lightly.
Pour in warm, settled water and cover the container with cling film. Remove it after the first shoots appear.
Growing and care
The most important thing is to follow the watering schedule and maintain the required temperature. Water the seedlings 10 days after planting. For convenience, use a pipette - this way the watering will be spot-on and unnecessary moisture will not fall on the leaves. The ideal temperature should be at least 20 degrees.
To store seedlings, choose the brightest and warmest place in the house. If you place it on a windowsill, avoid drafts. After 20 days, organize the first feeding. A solution based on wood ash is suitable for this. Then feed the seedlings every 10-15 days, alternating organic and mineral fertilizers.
Important ! To prevent plants from stretching and overgrowing, water the seedlings less often and lower the temperature by a couple of degrees. Also use the drug "Athlete", which will make the seedlings stockier and more powerful.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The early-ripening tomato variety Chocolate Miracle compares favorably with other crops with its exotic coloring of ripe fruits and delicious taste.
The juicy pulp is characterized by an amazing sweetish taste with a slight sourness inherent in tomatoes
pros
- early ripeness;
- stable fruiting;
- possibility of growing in different climatic conditions;
- high content of vitamins and sugar;
- excellent taste;
- unique color and large size of fruits;
- resistance to pathogens and pests;
- ease of cultivation and care.
Minuses
- insufficiently high yield;
- not suitable for industrial cultivation;
- short shelf life;
- impossibility of whole-fruit canning due to the large size of the fruit.
How to grow tomatoes
The key to a good harvest is proper planting and following the tips for caring for the crop. Let's look further at what you should pay special attention to.
Landing
In the fall, prepare the soil: dig up the garden, burn all the garbage, add a layer of humus to fertilize the soil.
In the spring, all you have to do is dig up the beds again so that the earth is saturated with oxygen. Tomatoes are planted densely, the distance between the bushes should be about 40-50 cm. Immediately install a wooden peg near each of them, to which you will tie the vegetable in the future . Once all the seedlings are in the beds, water them with warm water. The next watering should be done only after 8-12 days.
Important ! Do not plant Chocolate Miracle after potatoes or tomatoes. There is a high risk of contracting infections. The best predecessors are zucchini or peppers.
Care
Watering should be even and regular. The interval between them is about 7-10 days. Lettuce varieties tend to crack, so be careful with the amount of water. Focus on the weather - if the summer turns out to be rainy, then reduce the amount of watering.
The chocolate miracle forms stepsons that need to be removed periodically. If the shoots are longer than 4 cm, cut them with scissors, and if they are shorter, remove them with your bare hands. Also, do not forget about the weeds that fill the beds. It is recommended to remove weeds every 10 days.
In spring, the variety needs nitrogen fertilizing. For example, in saltpeter or urea. In the future, the emphasis will shift to complex fertilizers: azofoska, Kemira, calcium nitrate. The Chocolate Miracle is fertilized until harvest.
Features of cultivation and possible difficulties
To tie, we recommend driving the stakes in a zigzag pattern and stretching the twine between them. Thus, the first bush is obtained on one side of the twine, the second - on the opposite side. As a result, each bush will be pressed on both sides with twine and will not fall. You can also use a simple garter to stakes, but then you will spend many times more time and effort.
In addition to the garter, pay attention to feeding. Do not allow an excess of nitrogen substances in vegetables, otherwise they will crack and lose their taste. Abuse of chemicals is also contraindicated.
Diseases and pests
Aphids cause serious problems with growing tomatoes. The insect attacks the stems and leaves of bushes, disrupting its metabolism and taking away the plant's nutrients.
For prevention, purchase a soap solution in advance and treat the plants with it. For convenience, use spray bottles.
Important ! In addition to aphids, tomatoes are attacked by whiteflies, Colorado potato beetles, and spider mites. To combat them, use a solution of Bordeaux mixture. Carry out the last treatment at least 2 weeks before harvesting the tomatoes.
Due to improper care and high humidity, the vegetable suffers from late blight or blossom end rot. Late blight is easily recognized by its white coating and brown spots, and black spots on the tips are signs of blossom end rot.
To prevent illness, carry out preventive measures in advance. To do this, periodically spray the beds with ash or garlic solution. Egg shells and onion peels are also excellent products.
Pest and disease control
Original tomatoes with red-chocolate skin are most often susceptible to infection with late blight, gray rot, and mosaic. To prevent diseases, tomato bushes are treated with modern biofungicides, Bordeaux mixture, once every 2 weeks.
Regular inspection of tomato stems and leaves allows you to promptly identify and prevent problems
Chocolate miracle tomatoes are attacked by pests such as wireworms, aphids, and the Colorado potato beetle. Treatment with special solutions (Aktara, Quadris, Fufanon) or folk remedies (decoctions of onion peels, wormwood) is one of the main stages of plant care.
Modern insecticides effectively and quickly get rid of major pests
The nuances of growing in open ground and in a greenhouse
It is not difficult to create favorable conditions for tomatoes in a greenhouse. If the air temperature is more than 29 degrees, ventilate the room and reduce the amount of watering. From the beginning of June, indoors, the Chocolate Miracle is watered once every 3 days, from August to September - once every 6 days. The best time to water is morning or evening.
Important ! Drip irrigation is ideal for greenhouse tomatoes. It is beneficial not only for vegetables, but also for gardeners, because much less water is wasted. The droppers are arranged in a checkerboard pattern.
When growing the variety in open ground, do not forget to remove the lower leaves after the vegetables appear. The latter take juices and nutrients from the bush, which is why the tomatoes do not have enough strength to develop.
If your region gets enough sun, just leave the top few leaves. There will be enough shade for the bushes. By August, pinch the stems off the bushes. This will keep the plant strong enough to form succulent vegetables rather than continue to grow upward.
Errors during cultivation
A healthy bush starts with quality seedlings. The variety exhibits excessive elongation of seedlings when the temperature is too high or there is insufficient sunlight. It is necessary to create conditions for the formation of a strong root system and stop excessive growth of green mass. To do this, containers with tomatoes are placed in a cool place for a week.
Another trick is the watering mode. Plants quickly absorb water, which affects the fruits, whose delicate skin bursts. Therefore, you should not exceed the norm of 3-4 liters of water per bush 2 times a week. In dry and hot weather, you can increase watering to 3 times every 7 days, increasing the consumption for each plant to 5-6 liters.
Harvesting and application
Harvesting begins in early to mid-August. It is not necessary to wait for mature color; you can also pick vegetables at the stage of milky ripeness. Slightly unripe tomatoes will take on a reddish-brown hue within 2-3 days. Vegetables harvested on time allow you to get the maximum harvest.
For faster ripening, they are stored in a bright and warm place. If you want to slow down ripening, place the tomatoes in a cool, dark place.
Chocolate miracle is a salad variety, so it is actively used both for preparing vegetable salad and for more refined recipes. In addition, the variety performs well in fresh form, contains a large amount of sugars and vitamins B, A, C. It serves as a natural antioxidant and improves mood.
The Chocolate Miracle is not suitable for canning due to its thin skin and large size. It is best used as an ingredient for side dishes or soups.
Growing
In many regions of Russia, the weather in spring is quite unstable, sudden frosts, hail, and rain showers are possible. In order to get an earlier harvest and not risk the health of the plants, they begin to be grown by seedlings 2-2.5 months before planting in the ground.
The optimal time for planting plants in the ground is 60-65 days after sowing seeds for seedlings. Therefore, sowing of planting material is carried out at the end of February or beginning of March. The soil mixture includes:
- turf;
- peat;
- sand;
- ash;
- humus.
You can use ready-made mixtures from the store, especially since they already contain the necessary fertilizers for nightshade crops.
The seeds are buried 1-2 cm, the distance between the grooves is at least 3 cm, in a row - 2 cm.
Farmer reviews
Experienced gardeners share different opinions on the Chocolate Miracle tomato on Internet forums.
Elizaveta, Yuryuzan : “I live in the Urals, so I can’t boast of ideal conditions for growing vegetables. However, the tomato really turned out to be a real “miracle”! He gave me a lot of harvest, the taste of the vegetables is simply excellent. Planted it in a greenhouse. The vegetables ripened together.”
Maxim, Bataysk : “I didn’t like the chocolate miracle. There was a lot of rain in the summer, which may be why most of the tomatoes cracked. I bought seeds in a store, the result does not correspond at all to the picture on the package. I doubt I’ll plant more.”
Maria, Samara region: “I love unusual varieties of tomatoes. So I liked the Chocolate Miracle. This is my third year of planting. They are unpretentious in care and form few stepchildren. I like".
Care
Like any other tomato variety, Chocolate Miracle needs proper care and cultivation. According to the description, it is undemanding, but there are some mandatory agricultural works to ensure that the bushes grow strong, healthy, and the yield is stable.
Stepson and garter
Pinching will provide the plant with light
Chocolate miracle is a semi-determinate variety, so it requires the use of agrotechnical techniques such as pinching and staking. When tomatoes begin to bloom, additional branches grow in the leaf axils of the main stem that need to be removed. The stepsons are torn off by hand or cut off with a sharp, disinfected knife. Of the first 2 stepsons, one is left, from which the second stem will be formed. All others are removed as they grow. Stepping is carried out every 2 weeks.
Stepping allows you to achieve the following results:
- thickening is excluded;
- gas exchange improves;
- the bush is not exhausted by a large number of branches;
- the fruits grow large.
This variety of tomatoes requires garter and support. It has a well-developed root system and a powerful stem, but this is not enough to support the weight of leaves and large fruits, so a strong support is placed near each bush and a tomato is attached to it. As the fruit grows, the branches are tied up so that they can support the weight and not break.
Watering and fertilizing
The chocolate miracle requires moderate watering - do not overwater the bushes: this has a detrimental effect on the development of the plant.
Overwatering often causes root rot and promotes the development of fungal diseases. Particular attention is paid to watering during drought and with the beginning of fruit formation. Water tomatoes in the morning or after sunset. They are fertilized 3 times during the growing season: this improves growth and productivity.
The main feeding is carried out at the following stages:
- 2 weeks after planting in the ground;
- at the beginning of flowering;
- at the beginning of fruiting.
The first fertilizing is carried out with nitrogen fertilizers, which stimulates the growth of green leaves and strong stems. Urea, chicken manure, and ash will do. For the second and third fertilizing, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used. Use superphosphate, bone meal or herbal infusion (wormwood, feather grass). To stimulate fruit set during the flowering period, the bushes are sprayed with stimulants (Ovary, Boroplus)
