Fresh tomatoes can be purchased in stores these days all year round, but it’s much more enjoyable to grow them yourself. And you don’t necessarily need a dacha or a country plot for this. Not long ago, miniature varieties of tomatoes were developed that can be grown on a balcony, veranda, or even in pots on window sills. Cherry tomatoes, containing twice as much nutrients as usual, are distinguished by excellent yield and a delicious sweet taste. They not only look attractive in a salad and decorate any holiday dish, giving it sophistication, but also serve as a decorative decoration for a balcony or home.
Home grown cherry tomatoes.
Conditions for successfully growing Cherry tomatoes
Despite the fact that small tomatoes are high in sugar, they are classified as products with reduced energy value, suitable for people on a diet.
To obtain a generous harvest of delicious gourmet tomatoes, it is necessary to carefully analyze the method of their cultivation, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve a high yield. Only accurate knowledge of the characteristic features of varieties, principles and timing of sowing, moisture and lighting conditions will allow you to obtain a decent result. The choice of seeds, their quality and characteristics also play a significant role.
A serious mistake by gardeners can be an unsuccessful selection of varieties and violation of agricultural practices, one of which is failure to comply with the time of planting and replanting.
The practice of many vegetable growers shows that it is quite possible to grow cherry tomatoes at home if you take it thoroughly and seriously. To do this, you need to wisely choose a warm, dry place with good lighting throughout the day and ventilation.
Growing cherry tomatoes in open ground
These tomatoes are used not only for decoration, but are perfect for any type of preservation, for salads, just as a beautiful and tasty snack, and some varieties are even dried.
In addition to the listed advantages, cherry tomatoes remain fresh longer than other varieties without losing their taste and decorative qualities.
Varieties for open ground
Cherry tomatoes give an excellent harvest when planted in open beds, provided that the variety is chosen correctly and certain features of their cultivation are taken into account.
For open ground, the following low-growing varieties are well suited:
"Arctic"
very low-growing plant, height up to 40 cm, very prolific, small fruits, raspberry color. Early ripening variety, time before harvest - 80 days.
"Citizen"
a low-growing variety, up to fifty centimeters tall, has strong elastic stems and, despite the rather large fruits (up to fifty grams), can be grown as an ampel variety (in hanging baskets).
"Garden Pearl"
a low-growing variety, can be grown as a hanging variety, the length of the stems is up to fifty centimeters with pink fruits, the weight of tomatoes is up to thirty grams.
"Cherry fingers"
stem length up to 70 - 75 centimeters, fruit weight up to twenty-two grams, ampelous variety, bright red fruits, oblong in shape.
"Firework"
the bush grows up to 80 cm, the fruits are yellow, small (up to 20 grams), but very plentiful.
"Honey Drop"
The height of the plant is up to one meter, the fruits are very sweet, bright yellow, weighing up to thirty grams.
"Beads"
the bush is tall, up to one meter, fruits up to twenty grams.
"White Currant"
height up to a meter, tomatoes are light yellow in color, weighing up to thirty grams.
"Cherry"
The height of the bush is about a meter, the weight of the fruit is up to thirty grams, the color is dark.
"Arbat"
The variety is quite early, bushes up to a meter high, tomatoes are cylindrical, red, large (up to 100 grams). It has increased immunity to fungal diseases.
Tall cherry varieties for open ground are more productive, but they definitely require gartering to supports. If this is not done on time, the bush will simply break under the weight of the harvest.
"Red cherry"
early variety with good yield, bright red fruits, up to 35 g.
"Dessert"
early ripening, early, tall tomatoes. The fruits are small, no more than 20 grams, but very tasty, and the high yield compensates for the small size of the fruits.
"Sweet Cherry"
quite a popular hybrid, early ripening and long-bearing, very tasty. The main stem can grow up to 4 meters. The fruits are large, colored red, up to 100g. weight.
Cherries in the beds
In order for the harvest of cherry tomatoes to please the owners, it is best to grow these varieties in open ground, only using the seedling method. The growing season of these tomatoes is 80 - 110 days, so if you plant seeds in open ground, the plants may be subject to frost either in the spring or during the ripening period - in the fall.
The seedling method allows you to plant hardened plants that already have four to five true leaves, at a time when spring frosts are already unlikely and the earth has warmed up.
Cherry seedlings
Before sowing seeds for seedlings, you should properly prepare the soil in which they will grow. Cherry tomatoes love well-fertilized, fertile soil, so you need to either purchase universal soil at a specialty store or prepare it yourself.
To prepare the soil yourself, you need to mix soil from the garden, peat and humus in a 1:1:1 ratio. To stabilize the acidity, add a liter jar of wood ash to a bucket of the mixture.
In a container at least 10 cm deep, prepared soil is poured and germinated seeds are planted to a depth of 3 - 4 mm. During germination, you can saturate the seeds with useful substances by placing them in a solution of aloe juice, honey or ash solution, and also use ready-made nutrient mixtures purchased in the store. Planted seeds should be watered with water at room temperature.
It is necessary to constantly ensure that the soil is moist at all times and does not dry out. The temperature in the room where the seedlings are located should be at least 20 degrees. And in the first days, before the shoots have appeared, 24 - 25 degrees.
As soon as the cherry tomatoes have sprouted, they need to be provided with 12 to 14 hours of daylight. To do this, in conditions of short spring days, it is necessary to install additional light sources. To organize additional lighting, you can use special phytolamps or use LED lighting.
When three to four true leaves appear on the seedlings, you should cut them into separate containers. These can be plastic or peat cups or cut PET bottles. Peat cups are preferable, since when subsequently replanting into a garden bed, there is no need to free the plant from the cup, injuring the roots. The seedlings simply continue their growth, but in a new place, overtaking in their development the one that was in plastic by about a week.
For the correct and rapid development of healthy plants, in addition to picking, it is necessary to carry out such measures as feeding the seedlings with the necessary minerals and trace elements and hardening.
Feeding cherry seedlings
Cherry tomato varieties are very sensitive to a lack of fertilizers, so fertilizing begins from the very emergence of seedlings until the end of the growing season. They are very important because these varieties, while possessing increased fruit quality, in return require additional care and increased nutrition. Feeding these tomatoes at the initial stage of development will initially increase the biological strength of the plant itself, and subsequently develop and bear fruit without lacking the necessary minerals and trace elements. You can feed the seedlings with organic or purchased complex fertilizers. The best result is achieved by the gradual use of both means.
The first feeding is carried out after the first two leaves appear. During this period, seedlings require nitrogen and phosphorus, so the best choice would be an infusion of chicken manure or mullein, diluted 10 times with water or a superphosphate solution.
Plants are fed by watering them at the roots in moist soil. This method is required so as not to cause burns to the roots.
The second time, feeding is also carried out at the root, two weeks after picking the seedlings. If the seedlings look normal, water them with the same composition as during the first feeding. If the plants are very elongated, the amount of nitrogen should be reduced or eliminated altogether. It is also necessary to increase the duration of additional lighting, and at elevated room temperatures, reduce it to 18 degrees.
The next feeding is carried out after another two weeks. It is best to apply organic matter this time in a foliar manner, spraying the solution over the leaves.
The last time they feed is 2 - 3 days before transplanting the seedlings into the ground. At this stage, it is necessary to feed with potassium fertilizers or an ash solution (2 teaspoons of ash per 1 liter of warm water).
Hardening off seedlings
When there is a week left before planting the seedlings, it is necessary to adapt the seedlings to street temperatures - hardening. They begin to take the seedlings outside during the day for several hours, each next time for an hour to an hour and a half, increasing the time they spend in the open air.
Planting cherry tomatoes in open ground
The day before planting, you must stop watering the seedlings. Cherries are transplanted into prepared holes, 10 - 15 cm deep. If the seedlings are slightly stretched, you can plant them a little deeper or lying down. This is even better, the entire stem covered with soil will give additional roots and the plant will be more powerful, and the lying top will reach towards the sun and take a vertical position.
Tall varieties are placed on the bed at a distance of 1 m; for low-growing varieties, the gap between plants can be 70 cm.
To transplant seedlings, if they were in a plastic cup, they must be carefully removed, being careful not to damage the roots, and placed together with a lump of earth in the marked holes (seedlings in a peat cup are simply placed in the hole) and filled with plenty of water. As soon as the water is completely absorbed, fill the hole with soil, carefully compacting the soil at the base of the plants. Once again we do a little watering from above.
Caring for plants in the garden
Cherries do not like dry soil, so caring for them involves periodic watering, not allowing the soil to dry out. It’s also not a good idea to pour too much water - watering should be done in moderation. It is also very important to periodically carry out shallow loosening of the soil to saturate it with oxygen.
As the tomato bushes grow, it is necessary to tie them to supports. This is done even for low-growing cherry varieties.
Two weeks after planting the seedlings, when the tomatoes adapt to the new place, you can feed them with a complex fertilizer with a lower nitrogen content. The following fertilizing should be done as needed (assessing the condition of the plants), but no more than once every two weeks.
Cherries in hanging baskets
Cherry tomatoes can be planted outside not only in a garden bed, but also in a large container, placing it in a decorative basket. The following varieties are suitable for this: “City dweller”, “Cherry fingers”, “Garden pearl”. These varieties of cherry tomatoes have strong stems that can bend down without breaking off under the weight of ripening tomatoes. This method of planting will not only decorate the garden plot, but will also allow you to plant tomatoes earlier than in the beds. In case of cold weather, you can simply bring them indoors for a while or place them in a greenhouse.
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Variety of home growing options
There are plenty of ways to grow cherry tomatoes. Every amateur vegetable grower can choose the most convenient one for himself. You can grow tomatoes in a greenhouse, a greenhouse, or in open ground. Tall bushes mounted on trellises look impressive. They can grow up to two and a half meters.
Plants of smaller height - up to one and a half meters - are placed in tubs or pots on balconies, loggias, and verandas. Experienced amateurs often use tin buckets for planting cherry tomatoes, in which the tomatoes are practically not susceptible to late blight, grow well and bring a generous harvest on the balcony.
In the apartment, miniature tomatoes are placed in tall pots, which are placed on a windowsill on the sunny side or in a glassed-in loggia.
Suitable varieties of cherry tomatoes for planting at home
Low-growing and early-ripening varieties are grown in the apartment. An additional advantage is long-term fruiting. When choosing a type of tomato, pay attention to the color, flavor, shape and weight of the fruit.
The following varieties are suitable:
- "Baby";
- "Pygmy";
- "Thumbelina";
- "Rowan Beads";
- "Minibel" etc.
You can grow “Balcony Miracle” and “Golden Bunch” on your windowsill. When purchasing seeds, look carefully at the packaging. It indicates when it is better to plant in winter or spring, and whether it can be grown indoors.
Varieties for home breeding
Cherry seeds can be freely purchased at any specialty store.
Cherry tomato cultivation has its own specifics. Breeders have developed a large number of varieties of tomato varieties, adapted to a variety of conditions and differing in plant height. Depending on your needs, you can choose tomatoes for planting that grow up to three meters, or you can choose low-growing 30-centimeter bushes that are suitable for any planting method:
- for a heifer;
- for open ground;
- for balconies and loggias;
- for the windowsill.
Their compact roots make it possible to plant them in flowerpots, where they can bear fruit even in winter.
Small-fruited tomatoes are distinguished by a variety of colors, which can be: rich red, yellow, orange, green, pink, cherry brown.
Low-growing compact bushes are most suitable for growing cherry tomatoes on a windowsill. Description of tomato varieties:
- Florida Petite is a low-growing (30 cm) variety of early and medium ripening with bright red fruits weighing up to 40 grams;
- Micron NK is a quickly ripening low-growing (15 cm) variety with red and yellow fruits, weighing about 20 grams, undemanding in terms of lighting duration and excellent tolerance to coolness;
- Balcony miracle is a fast-ripening variety of medium height (45 cm), producing up to 2 kg of tomatoes during the season, which can be used in canning;
- Sugared cranberries are an early-ripening, early-ripening, low-growing variety that is resistant to late blight;
- Orange cap is a short, quickly ripening tomato that looks great in a flower pot and has fruits weighing up to 20 grams;
- Pinocchio is a mid-season determinate variety that produces good yields.
The usual traditional varieties are usually grown on balconies - early and quite compact, producing pleasant-tasting and bright fruits, with the only drawback: cherry tomatoes at home begin to bear fruit early, but also quickly finish it. The recently created hybrids and varieties do not have this imperfection, which, when planted in large containers, can produce a harvest indoors until January. However, such hybrids require garters.
What varieties of cherry can you choose to grow at home?
For city apartments, cherry varieties have been bred that grow up to 0.5-0.6 m (some reach 1-1.5 m). In open ground and greenhouse conditions, taller and stronger bushes are grown, which give a richer harvest. From one indoor bush you can collect approximately 1.5-2 kg of fruit per season.
The following varieties of cherry tomatoes are usually recommended for home cultivation:
- Lycopa F1;
- Maxik F1;
- Kira F1;
- Balcony miracle;
- Orange cap;
- Little Red Riding Hood;
- Yellow cap.
Let's look at them in more detail.
Lycopa F1
A variety of cherry tomatoes, the bushes of which can reach 1.5-2 meters in height. The fruits are juicy, with a thick skin, the pulp has a pleasant slightly sweet taste with a slight sourness. They resemble berries, the weight of each fruit ranges from 10 to 40 g. The taste and benefits of tomatoes of this variety are due to the high content of lycopene (which is why it got its name). The fruits ripen within 90-95 days after emergence.
The Lykopa F1 variety is highly resistant to fungal and some other diseases. Perfect for both fresh consumption and winter storage. The fruits can withstand long-term storage, maintaining their taste.
Maxik F1
A cherry variety recognized as one of the best for canning. Ripens within 90 days after germination. The fruits can lie for a long time, maintaining freshness and beautiful appearance. Bushes of this variety are resistant to viral diseases, nematodes, and verticillium.
Kira F1
The bushes of the variety reach a height of 1.5-1.7 meters. Fruit ripening usually occurs 95-105 days after emergence. On one brush there are 18-20 round pieces, slightly flattened on top. They are orange in color, dense, and do not crack during heat treatment or mechanical stress. This is an unpretentious, easy-to-care variety.
Varieties marked F1 are hybrid. Their seeds cannot be collected for subsequent planting.
Balcony miracle
This is a determinate variety, the bushes of which reach a height of 0.6 m. These tomatoes can be grown even in winter, yielding a harvest approximately three months after the shoots appear. The fruits are excellent for both fresh consumption and canning.
You can read about this variety Tomato Balcony Miracle: description, planting, care, comparison, reviews.
Cherry Cap
The varieties Red, Yellow and Orange Cap differ in the color of the fruit, as is clear from the names. All these plants are very compact, growing up to 0.5-0.6 m. They can be grown in relatively small pots or cache-pots, on a windowsill or balcony. About 85-90 days pass between germination and fruit ripening. Plants are decorative and can be used to decorate your apartment.
Photo gallery
A cherry bush strewn with berries, placed on the table directly in a pot, looks very impressive.
Low-growing varieties of cherry tomatoes such as Bonsai, Strawberry, Zolotaya Grazd, and Rowan Beads have also been developed.
More about tomatoes that are grown at home Tomatoes on the balcony: step-by-step instructions on how to grow.
Window sill equipment
Experienced vegetable growers know how to grow cherry tomatoes at home. Tomatoes are considered rather fastidious plants that require the creation of certain favorable conditions for good development and fruiting. It is worth making every effort to organize a place for them. The choice of position is of great importance: the most illuminated window sill should be adapted for placing containers with tomatoes. A window facing the south, south-east or south-west is best suited, then the tomatoes will be able to receive sufficient light throughout the year. Daylight hours for tomatoes should last at least 12 hours. Growing cherry tomatoes on the balcony also requires compliance with certain rules and taking into account the peculiarities of cultivation and care.
How to care for domestic cherry tomatoes?
Look at the photo - all the tomato bushes on the windowsill are small. To prevent small seedlings from stretching excessively, they need light. Even in low light conditions, you can reduce the stretching.
Interesting to know! You need to periodically gently stroke the tops of the shoots and leaves with a brush. What happens when this happens? The hairs become damaged and the plant begins to actively bush.
Care Tips
- Cherries are self-pollinating, but under some conditions the ovaries form with difficulty, and it is better to help the formation of the ovaries by passing a brush over the flowers. Conditions under which the ability to form ovaries is reduced include high humidity or high temperature, more than 30°C.
- When diving, we pinch the tip of the root so that the root system is better formed.
- We avoid high humidity; in cloudy weather we reduce watering by half. When there is high humidity, the stepsons grow.
It is advisable to immediately decide what you plan to do with your stepchildren. You can leave them, and then the bush will be lush and beautiful - this is important, because on the windowsill we grow not only a food product, but also a plant that is pleasant in appearance. On the stepsons, as well as on the main branches, ovaries and fruits appear.
It should be remembered that feeding stepchildren requires resources - water, nutrients. If the plant pot is small, the soil will deplete quickly.
Therefore, if you plan to leave stepchildren, you need to take care in advance about a more capacious container for growing and you need to feed such plants much more often.
Otherwise, growing cherry tomatoes in general and growing cherry tomatoes on a windowsill in particular is no different from growing standard tomatoes: the same watering, loosening the soil and fertilizing.
If you follow these simple recommendations, cherry tomatoes grown with your own hands on the windowsill will delight you with juicy greens and delicious fruits. Good luck!
Landing
Required containers
Growing tomatoes step by step consists of several stages. After choosing the variety that determines most of the successful cultivation of vegetables, and arranging the windowsill, you need to prepare containers for planting. Choosing the right pot is not very easy; you should take into account the parameters of the container and the properties of the material from which it is made. You need to pay attention:
- per size;
- for the presence of drainage holes;
- on the material;
- for design.
This is what suitable pots look like
For tomatoes, only the volume of the pot and the presence of drainage matter, and other qualities are important for the owner and his desire to organize comfort in the recreation area with the help of decorative bushes. Pots for planting should be taken in a cylindrical shape - it is better filled with roots. It is not recommended to use square and rectangular pots. The depth of the pot should be small to provide the roots with comfortable conditions. For tall varieties, they usually take a pot with a volume of about 10 liters, for low-growing varieties - three and a half liters. The container must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate), the bottom is laid with a layer of drainage. You can use an ordinary iron bucket, which can inhibit the growth of fungi.
Selection of soil and fertilizing
Usually the soil can be purchased at the same place where the seeds were purchased.
The next step is preparing the soil. It happens that cherry tomatoes can die while they are still seedlings. The culprit is poor-quality soil contaminated with pests and fungal spores. It is quite convenient to purchase ready-made soil in specialized stores; it is already steamed.
You can prepare the soil yourself, it’s not difficult at all. Usually, equal quantities of earth, humus, sand and charcoal containing all the required valuable elements are taken, mixed and steamed to destroy microorganisms. It is advisable to add crushed eggshells. It is important that the substrate is loose and includes all the necessary ingredients.
A limited amount of soil will not allow tomatoes to develop unless they are systematically fed. The best option is to use complex fertilizers approximately every two weeks. Alternation of mineral and organic fertilizers is acceptable. The small volume of soil allows you to use ready-made fertilizers purchased in the store according to the instructions.
Preparing seeds and soil
The characteristics of the sprouts and the future harvest are largely determined by the quality of the seeds. To get a rich harvest, you should prepare them for planting at home. The first priority is to disinfect the seeds, for which it is necessary to hold them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and then rinse well under running water.
There is a way to test seeds for germination and reject unsuitable or spoiled ones: they must be dipped in a salt solution. It is recommended to discard the floating seeds - they will not sprout. It is advisable to select the largest seeds and keep them in a warm place until planting.
Sowing seeds in pots
Planting cherry tomatoes at home usually does not depend on the season or weather conditions, which is different from garden work. The timing of sowing is determined only by the desired ripening time: for example, obtaining tomatoes for the New Year holiday requires starting work on growing cherry tomato seedlings in advance - in September. Sowing tomato seeds is possible at different times - from February to April inclusive. This will extend the receipt of delicious vegetables for several months.
Treated tomato seeds for the balcony should be placed on moistened gauze, covered and left there waiting for germination. The hatched seeds are planted in 2-centimeter depressions in small containers (for example, you can use disposable plastic cups) and covered with cellophane to create greenhouse conditions. Don't forget about regular ventilation and watering. As soon as the seedlings have strengthened, two leaves will grow, the edges of the main root of the shoots are pinched so that it branches better, then they need to be planted in prepared pots.
Such sprouts can already be transplanted into a pot.
Only one plant can be planted in one pot
But before you pour the soil into the pot, you need to lay drainage at the bottom so that excess water drains out of the pot better. Expanded clay is well suited for this purpose; it can be bought at any flower shop. The drainage layer should be approximately 3 cm. Crushed brick, small crushed stone and gravel are also suitable as drainage.
This amount of expanded clay is necessary for drainage
How to grow tomatoes on a window
In the middle of winter, every housewife has a desire to enjoy delicious, fresh tomatoes grown without the use of chemicals and large amounts of fertilizers. By carefully following the recommendations of experienced vegetable growers, you can grow a mini-vegetable garden in an apartment or private house.
Soil preparation
The future harvest depends on the composition of the soil; the following mixture is poured into the planting container:
- 1 part of turf land;
- 1 part humus;
- 1 part peat;
- a little sand and wood ash.
Everything is mixed well and placed in planting containers, watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. A drainage layer is laid at the bottom.
Choosing a pot
The container in which the tomato is grown is also important. The pot should be round and deep. Regular flower pots will do. If the variety is ampelous, it requires deep containers with a volume of 5 liters. Preferably hanging and without sharp edges.
Growing seedlings
Tomato seeds are sown in a common container and covered with polyethylene. Place in a warm, dark place. After germination, place it on the windowsill. At first, the emerging plants are sprayed with a spray bottle. Then water it with water. After 14 days, feed with complex fertilizer. After watering, the soil is carefully loosened.
Picking seedlings
After the appearance of 2 true leaves, it is recommended to plant the seedlings in separate containers. This will allow the tomatoes to form a strong root system and a strong, healthy plant. Separate pots are filled with nutritious soil and watered. Each of them should be planted with 1 bush. Afterwards, care for them in the same way as for seedlings, water, loosen and feed. If necessary, tie it to a support.
Specifics of breeding and care
Caring for tomatoes consists of providing them with light, water and nutrients. The rules for keeping low-fruiting tomatoes basically coincide with the principles of caring for other varieties, but they have their own distinctive features. Cherry tomatoes are sensitive to the flow of warm fresh air; the room where they are grown must be systematically ventilated, ideally after the soil has been moistened. The plant is very demanding of a favorable temperature regime; it must be kept within the range from 25 degrees during the day to a night temperature of 18 degrees. On the eve of flowering and fruiting, the air temperature can be reduced by 2-3 degrees. Over-humidification of the air is undesirable.
How to water
Water should be poured onto the soil, not onto the plant itself.
Tomatoes are drought-resistant types of plants; they can independently obtain moisture from the soil. But the small volume of soil in the flowerpot requires an increase in the frequency of watering, mainly in the warm season. Lack of moisture leads to the fall of the ovaries on the shoots. The soil itself will tell you how to water cherry tomatoes on the windowsill: it should not be too dry or too waterlogged.
It should be watered when the top 2 cm layer dries. This usually happens about twice a week. The water should be warm. When compaction forms in the top layer of soil, you need to loosen it so that the liquid is better absorbed. Any excess water remaining in the pan must be removed. Excessive soil moisture can lead to root rot and subsequently to plant disease and death.
How to organize the right lighting
One of the important conditions for growing cherry tomatoes indoors or on the balcony is light. Lack of lighting slows down the process of photosynthesis in plant cells, which affects the development and ripening of fruits. Particular attention should be paid to how to choose the right lighting for growing cherry tomatoes. They are very light-loving plants and suffer discomfort from lack of light - the stems stretch in height and can simply fall. But even direct sunlight does not scare them.
In spring and autumn, tomatoes will need additional lighting; in bad weather they will still not have enough sun, which is why in winter it is worth taking care of an additional light source. The best option would be a short-wave red-blue lamp. Lack of light leads to shedding of the ovaries, which is why it is necessary to show interest in lighting to obtain a rich harvest.
Option for organizing additional lighting.
Top dressing
Feeding tomatoes is important in fruit propagation. The first time it is carried out with organic fertilizers a week and a half after sowing the seeds, you can use ready-made mineral additives, for example, “Humisol”. The second feeding is done when the second tassel blooms on the bush, and a one and a half centimeter ovary appears there. The tomatoes are fed the third time at the stage of removing the first ripened fruits.
Care
For tall varieties, a vertical support is required , to which the whip is tied as it grows. Stepping is carried out if many additional shoots grow. Some varieties require it.
When pinching, do not confuse a real leaf with a shoot. If you cut off the leaves, this will affect the fruiting of the bush.
Like all tomatoes, cherry tomatoes love airing; this helps pollination and prevents moist air from stagnating with unwanted microorganisms.
Watering and fertilizing
Cherry tomatoes like daily moderate watering . If this is not done, brown cracks will appear on the fruits. As a result of excessive watering, they will become watery and may also crack. Watering is done with warm water.
Tomatoes love complex mineral fertilizers containing not only phosphorus and potassium, but also modybdenum, zinc, iron, magranium, selenium and cobalt. It is difficult to make such a mixture on your own.
There is a wide range of such fertilizers on sale. The most commonly used are Agricola and Effecton . Experts recommend the Kemira as the most balanced in composition.
Tomatoes are fed once a week after transplanting into the ground. During the formation of ovaries, ammonium nitrate with the addition of wood ash is added.
If the bushes begin to grow, but the fruits do not ripen, then it is necessary to reduce or temporarily eliminate fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers.
If you see white areas of pulp in the middle of a ripe fruit, it means that the tomatoes do not have enough nutrition.
There is a need to feed them with potassium sulfate .
Fertilizing must be combined with watering.
Working with soil
It is advisable to mulch the soil under cherry bushes with sawdust, straw, manure or agricultural canvas. This will prevent the fruits from coming into contact with the ground and will help avoid their rotting and infection with fungal diseases. In addition, this will protect the soil from overheating.
Cherry tomatoes require regular loosening and weeding.
Gardeners often use a simple technique to prevent tomato diseases. They are grown in metal buckets, which various pests do not like. Buckets can be dug into the ground, or simply placed in a garden bed or greenhouse.
Harvesting
These tomatoes can already be picked.
At home, cherry tomatoes can bear fruit for 5 years, but the maximum result is achieved only in the first two years. Experienced vegetable growers recommend picking them when they are not ripe, then the remaining clusters on the bush will ripen faster. However, in practice it has been proven that tomatoes fully ripened on the stem are much more appetizing.
Harvesting, which begins at the initial moment of ripening of tomatoes, continues regularly 1-2 times every few days until the end of development. Delay in collecting fruits can lead to them falling off at the slightest touch. That is why picking tomatoes must be done promptly and carefully.
Main characteristics and appearance of Cherry tomatoes
Almost all varieties are hybrids. They perfectly tolerate sudden temperature changes and climate change. Plants can retain and use accumulated moisture for a long time, especially if left without watering.
By size, bushes are divided into three main types: low-growing, medium-growing and tall. The fruits are collected in clusters. Up to 22 tomatoes can grow on 1 cyst at once. They ripen at the same time, so the entire crop is cut off.
Cherries do not differ in terms of ripening from ordinary tomatoes; they also come in early, medium and late. Feature - tomatoes are characterized by an extended ripening period, so the first harvest is obtained only in mid-summer.
Plants can be grown both in a greenhouse and in open soil. Everything directly depends on the growing region and the type of cherry. In recent years, scientists have been able to create types of tomatoes that can be grown on your balcony without hassle. The taste of the fruit is excellent, many varieties have a sweet, characteristic taste of tomatoes, some have a bitter aftertaste.
Peculiarity of reproduction
The most common method of propagating cherry tomatoes is to obtain seedlings from seeds, which do not need to be soaked the day before planting; they can be sown directly into the soil.
Although experts have noticed that soaking seeds in growth regulators allows seedlings to grow faster and reduces the likelihood of diseases.
An alternative method of propagation is propagation by stepsoning, in which the broken green stepsons are placed in water with growth stimulants added so that they take root, and then transplanted into the ground. In addition, you can immediately plant these branches in the soil, covering them with a translucent plastic or glass container to create greenhouse conditions. The stepchild method of propagation allows tomatoes to begin bearing fruit just a month after planting the seedlings, and it is easy and quick to grow a young plant with the same varietal qualities by equipping a small garden on a windowsill or balcony.
CHERRY TOMATOES ON THE WINDOWSILL - TASTY, UNUSUAL, BEAUTIFUL
1. Cherries are the sweetest of all tomatoes.
2. If you don’t have a vegetable garden, then your window sill can deservedly receive this status
