Why tomatoes taste sour: what they lack, what to do

How sad it is sometimes to realize that the fruits of your labors ultimately do not live up to your expectations. For example, tomatoes turn out to be so acidic that they are only suitable for preparations. Bad weather, lack of fertilizing, or simply the wrong planting location is often the reason that instead of the sweet vegetables for which the previously planted variety is famous, something tasteless grows. Or maybe you forgot to use useful fertilizers? And so, in order to find out the cause of this unpleasant phenomenon, you need to analyze the planting technology and understand what you are doing wrong.

Causes

There are several main reasons that can lead to a bad result:

1. Unnatural conditions
2. Strong weather influence
3. Wrong place or time for landing
4. Bad soil
5. Failure to comply with agricultural technology
6. Lack of feeding
7. Wrong variety selected.

Growing conditions

Growing conditions are a fairly important factor that greatly influences the result. For example, it is necessary to observe proper watering: the rhizomes of tomatoes penetrate quite deeply, so it makes no sense to water every day and a little at a time. Watering must be of high quality and deep, and the water for it must be warm and pre-settled. Also, during the ovary period, watering should be carried out more often, and also if the temperature in the greenhouse is too high and does not disappear due to the light soil.

Do not forget about sunlight - its lack will certainly have a detrimental effect on the final result, because the sun is the key to the accumulation of dry substances in the fruit, and, consequently, sugars.

An equally important aspect of good tomato growing conditions is excellent humidity. Please note that it should be 60-70% so that biochemical processes take place without delay, and carbohydrates are distributed towards the sweetness and sugar content of the fruit. During flowering, it is advisable to spray with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Why are winter tomatoes tasteless?

Taste qualities of tomato

determines the content of acids and sugars in it.
Less acid means sweeter and tastier fruits. And the acid is contained in the juice, which means that the fleshier the tomato
, the less juice, and the sweeter the fruit.
... Winter
, greenhouse ones are also meaty, but the taste is not the same.

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Wrong place or time for landing

As you know, the sweet taste of a tomato is impossible if the bush has been exposed to sunlight for less than 8 hours a day, so choose areas with high light levels. A greenhouse very often reduces the amount of sunlight, so the material from which it is made must be appropriate. In terms of light transmittance, glass is in first place, and polymers are in second place (absorbs about 15% of sunlight).

Tomatoes can be planted in a greenhouse no earlier than the beginning of May, and in open ground 2-3 weeks later. The temperature should be directly 12-15 degrees Celsius.

Also, the cause of sour tomatoes can be poor row spacing. Remember - there should be no more than 4 tomato bushes per square meter, otherwise they simply will not have enough nutrients.

Step-by-step cooking instructions

At this stage of time, there are a huge number of different recipes for pickled tomatoes, each of which is characterized by a special taste. Read on to know how to ferment tomatoes according to different recipes, this is very useful.

With cabbage

To prepare this recipe, you will need the following components:

• 10 kilograms of cabbage;
• 5 kilograms of brown or red tomatoes;
• 300-400 grams of salt;
• a bunch of celery;
• dill seeds;
• a few currant leaves;
• several cherry leaves;
• hot peppers.

Having selected the indicated ingredients, you can begin cooking:

1. 
   The tomatoes are washed thoroughly and a toothpick is pricked on the side where the stalk is located.

2. The cabbage is thoroughly washed and finely chopped.
3. Cabbage and tomatoes are laid out in layers in a washed and sterilized three-liter jar. They should be laid out quite tightly, with the stems facing up.
4. Each layer is sprinkled with salt, and then a small amount of all the remaining ingredients is added. So, the container is filled to the top, the last layer must be cabbage.
5. The jar is closed with a clean cloth and a weight is placed on top.

The dish should be kept for 10 days in a room at room temperature, and then moved to a cooler place.

Watch the video of pickled tomatoes with cabbage:

In banks

To prepare pickled tomatoes in a jar, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

• dense tomatoes – 2 kilograms;
• dill;
• parsley;
• a few leaves of horseradish;
• one large garlic;
• salt – 3 tablespoons;
• filtered water – 5 liters.

Having selected the indicated ingredients, you need to start cooking:

1. Rinse the tomatoes and herbs thoroughly. Peel the garlic. Sterilize the jar (to do this, put it in the oven for 5 minutes and turn it on at 160°C).
2. Place the greens cut with scissors on the bottom of the jar.
3. Lightly press each clove of garlic with a wide knife. Distribute the garlic evenly.
4. Boil water in a small saucepan. Don't forget to add salt.
5. We wait until the water cools down and pour it into the jar.
6. We carefully arrange medium-sized tomatoes in rows.
7. Add cooled boiled water. Close tightly with a nylon lid.

Our pickled tomatoes are ready, now they need to stand for a couple of days and can be set on the table.

ATTENTION! The jar should be stored in a cool place.

Quick recipe for lightly salted tomatoes

There are a large number of recipes for preparing lightly salted tomatoes. The recipe for lightly salted tomatoes includes the following ingredients:

• 
  tomatoes – 7-8 pieces (the size of a woman’s fist);

• a bunch of dill;
• a bunch of parsley;
• hot pepper – 1 piece (preferably chili);
• mixture of peppercorns - 30 pieces;
• bay leaf – 3 pieces;
• garlic – 4 cloves.

For 1 liter of brine you need the following components:

• boiled hot water – 1 liter;
• salt – 1 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - 2 tbsp.

Having prepared the presented components, you can start preparing the recipe:

1. Wash the tomatoes and herbs, peel the garlic, remove seeds from the pepper and chop finely. Sterilize the jar.
2. Place half the greens, garlic, hot pepper, bay leaf, and a mixture of peppercorns on the bottom of the pan.
3. Place the tomatoes in the pan.
4. Prepare the brine. Add salt and sugar to hot water. Stir.
5. Pour the hot brine into the tomatoes and place the other half of the greens on top.
6. We place pressure on the tomatoes.
7. Let the workpiece stand for 2 days at room temperature.
8. Place the tomatoes in a jar, add brine and cover with a lid.

Now you know how to quickly cook lightly salted tomatoes.

There are thousands of recipes, mostly the same ingredients, the same cooking method. Only the details can change.

Bad soil

Tomatoes often grow sour due to unsuitable soil: its acidity is exceeded. Therefore, if on your territory you observe excessive growth of weeds such as sorrel, plantain or horsetail, then this is definitely worth thinking about.

The acceptable value for tomatoes is 6.5-7Ph. Also, it is necessary to add 150-200 grams of lime per m2 every three years if the soil is sandy. If it is clayey, then add 400-600 grams every 6-9 years. Lime can be replaced with something else, but the ideal option is wood ash. It will not only reduce soil acidity, but also increase potassium content. Ash must be added twice as much as lime.

It should be remembered that by planting bushes in the same place from year to year, you will miss at least 30% of the harvest, and there is no point in thinking about good taste - the tomatoes will most likely be sour. Consequently, crop rotation is simply necessary. The universal mixture for tomatoes looks like this:

1. Soil from the garden - part 1
2. Animal humus - 1 part
3. River sand - 1 part
4. Aged compost - 2 parts

Also, when creating this mixture, you should add one spoon of superphosphate and one glass of stove ash to each bucket. Ideally, it should spend the winter in a frost-free room, and if this is not possible, then stand for two weeks before use. During planting, the old soil is removed from the greenhouse and pre-prepared soil is filled in, and seedlings are planted there. In this situation, tomatoes will definitely delight you with their sugar content and taste.

Failure to comply with agricultural technology

Another reason for sour tomatoes may be improper agricultural practices. So, here are some basic rules for caring for crops:

1. High-quality and deep watering should be done 1-2 times a week. Each bush requires about 7-9 liters of liquid during ripening.
2. Please note that during ripening you also need to apply at least one fertilizer to the bush. It should contain potassium and phosphorus.
3. Carry out timely ventilation of the greenhouse.
4. Don't forget about the collection time. You need to let the tomatoes fully ripen on the bush: the skin should become redder and the flesh softer. When growing in open ground, you should collect tomatoes before frost, and if they take you by surprise and the skin is still green, then you need to give them the opportunity to ripen in a warmer place. Place the tomatoes in a container and cover with a thin cloth. Also, turn them over occasionally. After a few days the taste will be much better and the skin will be redder.
5. Those who grow tomatoes have long understood that the fewer fruits on one bush, the larger and tastier they are. Do not forget to trim off excess shoots and ovaries at the right time.

Varietal features

Among the many varieties of tomatoes, there are sweet, sour, balanced, and even bitter. If the tomatoes grew sour, perhaps they should be so. To have an approximate idea of ​​what to expect from a variety, it is useful to know some patterns:

• Red tomatoes contain the most acids.
• Black and purple ones are less acidic. They have a very rich taste, they are rather sweet and sour.
• The acidity of rose varieties ranges from medium to balanced.
• Orange, yellow, and green tomatoes have a balanced or sweet flavor.
• The sweetest varieties are white and two-colored (the so-called bicolor, also known as striped).

Fruit size as a varietal feature also matters. As a rule, the smaller the tomatoes, the sweeter they are, so cherry and grape are the sweetest. If you dry them, you can eat them like candy. However, this is not a strict rule, and among large-fruited tomatoes there are also sweet ones, for example, Ox's heart.

It is worth paying attention to the purpose of the variety. Salad tomatoes are sweeter, while those intended for canning and processing are more sour.

Many gardeners prefer to grow varietal rather than hybrid tomatoes, explaining this by their unique taste. There is some truth to this. Hybrids were originally intended for cultivation on an industrial scale, so when creating them, more attention was paid not to taste, but to other qualities: yield, beauty and keeping quality of fruits, plant resistance to disease. However, among the hybrids there are also sweet tomatoes.

Tomatoes may be sour if gardeners have prepared seeds for sowing from grown hybrids. The fruits themselves can be very sweet, but it is impossible to predict what will grow from their seeds. If you like some kind of hybrid, you need to buy its seeds every time, while varietal tomatoes pass on their characteristics by inheritance.

When growing tomatoes in regions that are not entirely favorable for this, it is important to choose zoned varieties. They take into account local characteristics and are able to produce tasty fruits even in conditions of predominantly cloudy weather and short, cool summers.

Lack of feeding

One of the important aspects of a successful harvest is fertilizing. Sour tomatoes often become so due to an excess or deficiency of some substance. There are many useful mixtures that will definitely not be superfluous, for example:

1. Potassium monophosphate is an excellent feeding option. It contains not only potassium, but also phosphorus. A 15% solution is used for watering, and a 2% solution for spraying. One fourth of a bucket is introduced under the bush, and in total there can be a maximum of two feedings per season with a break of two weeks.
2. Superphosphate and potassium nitrate. This fertilizer is used no later than a month before harvesting. It is necessary to dilute 20 grams of saltpeter and 2 tablespoons of superphosphate in 10 liters of liquid.
3. Potassium sulfate. For root feeding with this substance, one spoon is dissolved in a bucket of water, and for foliar feeding - 1 gram per liter of water. Remember that it cannot be mixed with available sources of phosphorus (this is superphosphate or wood ash).
4. Sodium humanate. Typically, dissolve 1 gram per 10 liters of water. It will allow the plant not only to be well pollinated, but also to withstand temperature changes, and also to bloom quickly and in a timely manner.

We must not forget about the fertilizing schedule: for example, nitrogen fertilizers can be used only at the beginning of the process of growing tomatoes. Also, during the entire growing season, the amount of fertilizing should not be more than 4-5 times. You should always remember that chemistry is far from the best way to achieve a sweet taste and sugar content, since good agricultural technology and the right variety are much more important.

Benefits and harms

Pickled tomatoes contain the same amount of useful microelements and vitamins as fresh vegetables. The presented product contains a larger amount of the antioxidant lycopene, which has a positive effect on the entire human body.

Pickled tomatoes contain a large amount of vitamins, namely PP, A, B1, B2, C. Among the useful minerals, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron can be distinguished. The calorie content of pickled tomatoes is 13 kcal per 100 grams.

This combination of useful elements helps to reduce the risk of pancreatic and prostate diseases when consuming pickled tomatoes.

Reference! Pickled fruits improve the condition of the heart, blood vessels and cervix.

This product is also useful for weight loss, because it is low-calorie. Such preparations can be consumed in moderation even by patients with diabetes and people with liver and gall bladder problems.

Wrong variety selected

There are a huge variety of different varieties of tomatoes, so you should choose carefully. There is a group of individual varieties, the main qualities of which are increased sugar content and sweet taste. For example: Rosette, Apricot, Khan, Taya, Orange Giant, Black Sea Giant or King of Siberia. If you choose one of them, you definitely won't go wrong.

We hope that after reading this article, sour tomatoes are no longer your problem, and new varieties will always delight you with a pleasant taste and high sugar content. Timely measures are the key to harvesting a good harvest year after year, and an unpleasant taste is a problem that can be easily solved.