It’s rare to find a dacha or part of a private house that is actively being cultivated without vegetable beds. The most popular and commonly found crop is tomatoes. One cannot call it unpretentious; the culture is quite demanding. To get a large, tasty and good harvest of tomatoes, you need to properly care for the plants in the summer, regardless of whether the cultivation is carried out in a greenhouse or in open ground. In this case, this must be done from the moment the seedlings are planted in a permanent place until the end of fruiting.
Cultivation care
The required care for tomatoes includes: watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, tying up tall varieties, re-tying them if necessary, minor hilling, pulling out weeds, and, if necessary, protecting them from pests and diseases.
Next we will talk about caring for tomatoes in open ground from planting to harvest.
Soil preparation
Tomatoes need to be planted in places where there is a lot of sun, so you need to choose a well-lit area. If water stagnates at the site for planting tomatoes, you need to arrange drainage for the soil or plant beds on a hill. The vegetable should not be planted in the same place for two years in a row, as it will get sick.
Tomatoes are not planted after other nightshades: eggplants, peppers, potatoes.
Chernozem is an excellent soil for planting tomatoes. All other lands will need to be improved by introducing various additional elements into them.
If the soil of the site is located where loam, sandy loam or clay composition predominates, then you need to add compost, humus, peat - weighing 5-7 kg. per 1 m2. In heavy soil consisting of clay, loam, sawdust and river sand are added to create loose soil.
It is not recommended to apply bird droppings or manure before planting, as fragile plant roots may be damaged.
In October, the soil is dug up to a depth of 25-30 cm and the necessary fertilizers are applied. Then the soil overwinters. With the onset of spring, the soil is loosened, disinfected and enriched with mineral fertilizer, for example ammonium sulfate.
Cleaning and storage
Tomatoes are harvested as they ripen. If frost is approaching, then you can collect all the brown and milky ones from the area. Their ripening times are slightly different. Brown ones turn red in 7 days, while milky ones will need up to 12 days. The shelf life of tomatoes is also different:
- dairy products can be stored for up to a month at a temperature of about 10 degrees;
- brown tomatoes have the same period, but the air temperature should be lower - up to six degrees.
You can also store red tomatoes for a whole month. But they must have thick skin, without any blemishes. And the desired temperature is about one degree Celsius.
Read about storing fresh cucumbers at home by following the link.
Tomatoes will not keep well in a tightly sealed plastic bag.
Planting tomatoes
Specialist agronomists have developed schemes on how to grow tomatoes that are worth using:
- Tape-cluster method. It involves planting in two rows, located at a distance of 45 cm from each other, after which a 75 cm wide path is left for passage. Tomatoes are planted in rows at intervals of 45 cm.
- In rows. Thanks to this planning, the bushes are illuminated from different sides and are well ventilated. This type of planting requires a large area. This method is good for planting low-growing, medium-sized tomatoes or tall plants in one stem.
- Square nest method. This planting method turned out to be the most effective in terms of crop yield, but caring for plants is not the most convenient task.
To protect tomatoes from frost, polyethylene coverings are used, which are stretched over plastic or metal arcs. Bricks, earth, and boards are thrown along the edges of the structure, pressing down the covering to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
Transferring seedlings to open ground
The best time for planting tomato seedlings is the second half of May. By this time, morning frosts, which are destructive for plants, should have already subsided. It is best to plant tomatoes in the evening or on a cloudy day.
When transplanting seedlings, you should act as carefully as possible so as not to damage the roots. Plants should be placed in the holes strictly vertically, after which the soil should be lightly compacted, watered and covered with a small layer of mulch on top. Usually after 3-5 days the plants take root and begin to grow.
Watering tomatoes
Caring for tomatoes in open ground includes proper watering. Tomatoes do not like either drought or excess moisture. They should be watered based on the drying of the soil, without allowing it to dry out thoroughly.
Water a lot, but not often, on average once every 7 days, if there is no rain. It is important that the tomatoes have enough water between the appearance of the ovary and the appearance of full fruit, otherwise the ovaries will dry out and fall off.
During the fruiting period, lack of water will cause cracks in the tomatoes. It is recommended to water at the root, and not on the leaves, to prevent the appearance of early late blight. When taking care of tomatoes in the open ground, in order to have a good harvest, you need to use drip irrigation, due to which a larger tomato yield is observed.
Watering with this method, as well as at the root or along the beds in the evening, will prevent blossom end rot of the fruit. Also, better plant growth and protection from diseases is provided by adding two pinches of ash to the water per 10 liter bucket of water. When a crust forms on the ground, it needs to be loosened around the plants.
Diseases
Among the most common diseases that can destroy the entire crop:
- Late blight. Occurs at high relative humidity and cool temperatures. The fungus multiplies intensively, affecting leaves and fruits. They become stained and the tomatoes begin to rot. You can spray the plantings with Bordeaux mixture. Or better yet, Fitosporin or Gamarin. Severely affected bushes are removed.
Manifestation of tomato late blight
Before treating plants with pesticides, you need to tear off all leaves affected by the disease from the bush and burn them.
- Black bacterial spot. Appears after prolonged rains and heat. Dark spots form on the leaves.
- Cladosporiosis. An olive-tinged coating appears on the leaves. The bush begins to fade. The reason is high humidity and high air temperature.
Cladosporiosis of tomato leaves
Feeding tomatoes
Tomatoes are fed three times per season, but it is better to do this regularly, after two weeks. Various fertilizers and microelements are used, the main thing is to contain less nitrogen than potassium and phosphorus.
The calculation of the proportion is as follows: 15 g of ammonium nitrate, 50-60 g of superphosphate, 30-40 g of potassium chloride per 10 liters. water. From organic matter, the plant responds well to dissolved bird droppings. To prevent the ovary from falling off during flowering, take 1 g of boric acid per 1 liter. water and spray the leaves in the afternoon.
Formation of bushes
Skillful formation of tomatoes increases their productivity. This is not required by low-growing varieties.
Forming a bush allows you to get more large fruits. Not all varieties form bushes. Basically, one stem is left, and varieties with large stems with small, but many fruits should be formed into two or three stems.
If the growing area is in the south, then it is better to leave more stems, on which many small fruits will have time to set during the long southern summer. When one stem is needed, all the stepsons located in the axils should be removed when they appear, without allowing them to develop to a length of 3-4 cm.
It is imperative to remove all the stepsons that have formed under the trusses so that the tomato does not drop its flowers and ovaries. If the bush is formed into two stems, you should leave a side shoot that will appear near the first brush, and if there are three, then in addition to it, the largest of those that will arise under the second stem. The sprouts should not be pulled out, but carefully broken out, doing it sideways. If they have grown large, then you can cut them off with a sharp knife or razor.
Tomatoes need to be planted all the time, regardless of the number of stems left. But you should not do this during extreme heat. Also, during rains, you need to tear off the lower leaves - this will allow the leaves to be well ventilated and prevent diseases.
Garter without delay
Many people grow tomatoes without garter. If you're a fan of natural growth and don't mind letting the shoots and fruits spread freely on the mulch, feel free to skip this step. It is for those gardeners who like to open their fruits to the sun.
The easiest way to tie tomatoes is to stakes slightly higher than the height of the bush itself - from 50 to 80 cm or more (depending on the variety). Try to install the supports on the north side and not close to the stem - 10 cm or a little further. Tall, large-fruited varieties, if you decide to plant them in the garden, can be formed on trellises with horizontal rows of rope or wire every 20-25 cm.
Tomatoes need to be tied as the stem grows, not allowing it to bend or bend, the first time - when it seems that the stem is about to lose stability. You can’t limit yourself to one garter: when the ovaries are formed, the shoots will have to be reattached, making up to four garters per season.
The location of the garter is easy to determine: you need to attach the shoot under the cluster of fruit. You need loose loops, a soft garter with twine, or even better, a long strip of soft fabric.
Tomatoes need to be tied as the stem grows, without letting it bend
