A unique tomato for harsh conditions: Altai masterpiece

Aelita Altai masterpiece is a tomato for cultivation in all regions. Large-fruited, tall and mid-ripening, it provides maximum yield per unit of usable area. Experts recommend growing this variety in garden plots, carefully shaping it and tying it to a trellis.

Tomatoes Altai masterpiece: variety description

This powerful indeterminate plant is not a hybrid, i.e. there is no need to buy seeds annually (you can collect your own). It is often confused with Altai Red or Pink, but they are all different species. The bush is not standard, it grows up to 1.8-2 m and higher. The variety is mid-season, 110-115 days pass from the appearance of the first shoots to the ripening of the fruits.

It is not demanding in terms of care, but requires proper shaping, pinching and gartering. The leaves are large, light green, the inflorescence is simple. It is better to form a bush into 1 stem. The first inflorescence begins to grow above the 10-11th leaf, and the next ones - after 3 leaves.

The Altai masterpiece is resistant to many diseases of tomatoes in greenhouses and can withstand temperature changes well. Due to its tallness, it is better suited for growing in a greenhouse, but it can also grow in open ground.

The tomatoes are quite large, have a bright red color and a flat-round shape with large, well-defined ribs. The average weight is 400-500 g, and in greenhouse conditions it can even reach 1 kg . The pulp is very tasty, fleshy, sweet, medium dense. The number of chambers is 6 or more, the dry matter content is about 5-6%. When ripe, the fruits do not crack. Tomatoes tolerate long-term transportation well and are stored well.

You can compare the weight of the fruits of this variety with other varieties in the table below:

We bring to your attention several more useful and informative articles about growing tomatoes. Read all about indeterminate and determinate varieties, as well as tomatoes that are resistant to the most common nightshade diseases.

Useful secrets

• Altai Masterpiece tomato bushes must be pinched, tied up or supported;
• When topping plants, it is necessary to leave 4-6 leaves above the topmost inflorescence;
• Many gardeners grow bushes of these tomatoes in one stem. Although the plants bear fruit quite well if they are formed into two or even three stems. To get the second stem, leave the stepson that grows under the first brush;
• On plants below the first cluster, leaves are removed to improve air exchange and greater access of sunlight to the fruits;
• To form larger fruits, gardeners tear off small or ugly flowers on the clusters.

Along with this famous variety, a real masterpiece, Barnaul agro also offered the varieties Altai Red, Altai Pink, and Altai Orange. They are similar in agricultural technology and qualities, but there are also distinctive features.

Characteristics

The Altai masterpiece was developed in Siberia relatively recently. Excellent for growing in unfavorable weather conditions. It was included in the State Register of the Russian Federation in 2007 for cultivation in open ground and film greenhouses. The originator of the variety is Barnaul Agro.

The masterpiece is intended for the regions of Siberia and central Russia. But, according to reviews from experienced gardeners, it showed excellent results when grown in Belarus and Ukraine. These tomatoes grow just as well in open ground as in a greenhouse. Help The tomato is very hardy and cold-resistant, but in closed ground the yield will be higher.

A salad variety, used for making juices, sauces, pastes, can be used for lecho, winter salads and fresh consumption. Due to its large size, it is not suitable for whole-fruit canning. With proper bush formation, timely watering and fertilizing, you can get up to 10 kg per square meter. m. In a greenhouse, the yield can be 2-3 kg higher .

You can compare the yield of this variety with others in the table below:

Farmer reviews

The Altai masterpiece tomato is gaining more and more popularity among vegetable growers. Summer residents prefer this variety for its impressive list of positive characteristics. Here are just some of the opinions of gardeners.

Svetlana, Rostov: “I’ve been growing tomatoes for about 10 years. One of my favorite tomato varieties is Altai masterpiece. The bushes grow to the ceiling of the greenhouse. Culture does not require much attention. During the entire growing season, the plants never got sick, but I carried out preventive measures against insects several times. There was a lot of harvest. One tomato weighs on average 300–400 g. The fruits are beautiful, as in the photo, and most importantly, delicious.”

Sergey, Odintsovo: “The Altai masterpiece tomato variety was grown through seedlings, then transplanted into a greenhouse. The first fruits appeared at the end of July. There were a lot of vegetables, I didn’t know what to do with them. I gave some of it to the children, and from the rest I made tomato juice for the winter. The whole family liked the variety. Next year I will plant the Altai Masterpiece tomato again.”

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any variety, Altai Masterpiece has its pros and cons.

The advantages include:

• excellent taste;
• transportability;
• productivity;
• resistance to most diseases;
• long fruiting;
• do not crack when ripe.

It has very few disadvantages:

• Mandatory pinching and gartering are required;
• not suitable for conservation;
• needs regular feeding.

Features of cultivation

It is better to grow Masterpiece using seedlings. Seeds for the greenhouse are planted in a prepared container in early March, and for open ground - later. Seedlings are placed in a permanent location in early or mid-May. Planting pattern approximately 50*40 cm. Per sq. m there are no more than 3 plants. It is important to promptly remove excess shoots from the bush . To do this, pinch all the shoots below the first inflorescence. This procedure is carried out simultaneously with the first tying of the bush to the support.

Stepchildren cannot be removed completely, “at the root.” It is better to leave shoots about 1 cm long. The top of the bush is also pinched as it grows. During the season, be sure to do 2-3 fertilizing with mineral complex fertilizers.

There are a huge number of ways to grow tomato seedlings. We bring to your attention a series of articles on how to do this:

• in twists;
• in two roots;
• in peat tablets;
• without picking;
• using Chinese technology;
• in bottles;
• in peat pots;
• without land.

Transplanting seedlings into the ground

To grow an Altai masterpiece yourself, you must first take care of the seedlings: let’s take a closer look at the stages of its cultivation.

Sowing seeds for seedlings must be done 60–65 days before they need to be planted in the ground. Usually, the seeds of the Altai masterpiece are sown in March in order to plant the bushes in a permanent place in late spring - early summer.

Did you know? More than 60 million tons of tomatoes are produced worldwide every year.

You should prepare in advance a container for growing (boxes, pots, peat tablets, glasses) and nutrient soil for tomatoes.

It is best to use ready-made substrates for seedlings, which must contain:

• humus;
• peat;
• rotted leaves;
• mineral supplements.

The prepared soil must be disinfected before planting seeds in it. The best way to do this is to use freezing.

This method is as follows:

1. In winter, the soil must be taken out into the cold and kept there for a week.
2. Place the mixture in a warm room for a week.
3. Repeat the procedure twice more.
4. Fill the soil with potassium permanganate in a ratio of 3 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water.
5. Leave for two weeks.

After this, the soil will be ready for planting seeds.

Seed preparation

Before planting, seeds require mandatory treatment. The first step is to select the most viable specimens: to do this, they need to be placed in a container with water. The floating seeds are incomplete and do not need to be planted.

Seeds that remain at the bottom are suitable material for sowing, but before sowing them, you must:

• disinfection. To do this, you need to place them in a warm solution of potassium permanganate (the powder is taken at the tip of a knife so that the water is slightly tinted);
• soaking in growth stimulants. Usually, aloe juice, ash infusion or preparations “Zircon”, “Epin” are used for this.

Sowing seeds

Prepared seeds must be planted in boxes to a depth of 3 cm at a distance of 1–2 cm from each other.

Important! To speed up the growth of tomatoes, boxes with seedlings should be placed in a warm place with a temperature of 24... 26°C and covered with plastic film, which should be removed after the first shoots appear.

Seedling care

After the seedlings appear, containers with seedlings should be placed on the windowsill on the south side of the house and watered with warm water. The temperature in this room should be at least 15... 16°C, and at night - at least 8°C. Daylight hours for these tomatoes should be at least 14 hours.

There is no need to fill the sprouts with water - it is enough to water them once every 5-7 days and fertilize them 2-3 times with Kemira or Agricola. When 2-3 leaves appear, the bushes need to be picked into separate pots. It is best to take containers with a volume of at least 1 liter.

2 weeks before the intended planting in the ground, seedlings need hardening. To do this, it must be taken out into the fresh air for a while, gradually increasing the period of stay there.

2 months after planting the seeds, you can plant the bushes in the ground. For the Altai masterpiece, it is necessary to choose a well-lit place, protected from drafts. The soil should have a light structure and be rich in nutrients.

The transplant is done after the air temperature is less than 15°C and the soil is well warmed up. The planting pattern is 50x40 centimeters, there should be no more than 4 plants per 1 m². The plant is buried in the ground by 1/3 of the stem. It is better to form a bush in 2 stems.

The Altai masterpiece tomato variety is grown through seedlings. The seeds are sown at the end of February, after about 60 days the grown and hardened plants are planted in a permanent place of growth. In order for the crop to grow well and bear fruit, vegetable growers follow the rules of agricultural technology.

Seed preparation

Seed material must be fresh. The grains are purchased in a specialized store or collected independently from your own harvest.

Before sowing, the seeds are placed in a container with salt water for 5–10 minutes (10 g of salt per 1 liter of water). During this time, low-quality grains will float to the surface and are thrown away. Next, suitable seed material is rinsed in clean water and placed for 20–30 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, then washed again and sprayed with a growth stimulant, for example, “Kornevin”, “Epin” or “Heteroauxin”.

To make the seeds hatch faster, two days before sowing they are laid out on a damp cotton cloth and covered with it. Place in a dark, cool place. The tissue with seed material is kept moist.

Container and soil

Seeds are planted in wooden boxes or special containers. You can use cut-off juice or milk cartons, but most vegetable growers grow seedlings in peat pellets or cups. To drain excess liquid, several holes are made at the bottom of the containers.

Peat products simplify the process of plant picking. The glass along with the seedlings is transplanted into large containers. The peat gradually becomes limp and dissolves in the soil, and young plants are not damaged or stressed.

To grow strong seedlings, use high-quality soil:

• most vegetable growers buy ready-made soil mixture for seedlings;
• some prepare the soil themselves by mixing garden soil, humus, sand (sawdust) and wood ash in a ratio of 2:1:1:1.

Before use, the finished soil is disinfected - poured generously with boiling water or a 1% solution of potassium permanganate. This will destroy harmful bacteria and pest larvae.

The seeds are sown in furrows according to a 3x5 cm pattern. If disposable cups are used, no more than 1-2 grains are planted in one container. The seeds are embedded in the soil to a depth of 1–1.5 cm, sprinkled with a thin layer of earth and sand mixed in equal parts.

In order not to wash away the soil, the soil is carefully sprayed with a sprayer. For humidification, use settled water at room temperature. Next, the container with the seeds is covered with film or transparent glass and placed in a warm, bright place.

Growing and care

When the first shoots appear, the cover is removed and the container is placed on the windowsill on the south side of the house. In order not to injure young shoots, the air temperature and humidity are maintained at the same level.

When the plants grow 3-4 true leaves, they begin to harden the seedlings. Two weeks before transplanting to a permanent place, take it outside or onto a balcony for 2 hours. The time the plants spend in the fresh air is gradually increased. This procedure is carried out so that young plants do not get sick and quickly get used to new conditions.

The quality of the seedlings determines whether you will be able to reap a rich harvest. When choosing seed material, pay attention to the manufacturer’s brand.

Russian companies such as Aelita, Seeds of Altai, Gavrish and Ural Summer Resident have proven themselves to be excellent.

Seed preparation

Select only whole and healthy seeds. Treat the seed with a weak manganese solution. Disinfected seeds will not suffer from fungal diseases, which will ensure rapid germination of sprouts.

You can use drugs that activate the growth of seedlings: Vermistim, Symbiont-universal.

It is important to decide in advance where to grow the seedlings - in separate plastic cups or in one large container, followed by mandatory picking of the sprouts.

The most suitable time for sowing seeds is February. The seedlings are transplanted into the soil 2.5-3 months after the sprouts sprout.

Sowing tomatoes too early is not necessary. Standard seedlings should be no more than 55-60 days old at the time of planting in the ground. But seedlings take root best at the age of 40-45 days. Sixty-day-old seedlings are already overgrown. You can sow in February if good additional lighting is provided for the seedlings and they are planted in the greenhouse in April.

In order for seedlings to successfully take root in open ground, by this time they must have grown to 30-35 cm and have 5-7 well-formed leaves.

Plants need sunlight

Anyone who has already planted the Altai masterpiece advises using soil consisting of equal parts of garden soil, peat and humus. Moisten it before planting.

Try to plant the seeds not too deep into the soil (2 cm). Cover the containers with polyethylene and place in a warm place. As soon as the sprouts hatch, the film must be removed and the containers with seedlings taken out into the light.

Monitor the temperature. The temperature in the room should not be less than 15-16 °C, gradually increase to 22-25 °C. Tomato seedlings need regular watering and mineral fertilizers (use organic matter).

At the age of 15-20 days, when 2 true leaves appear, the seedlings are planted in separate containers with a cell diameter of 6-8 cm.

14-18 days before transplanting the sprouts into the garden bed, begin to harden off the plants.

For these purposes, containers with seedlings must be taken out into the open air every day, gradually extending the time from 30 minutes to several hours. This will help the seedlings quickly get used to the weather conditions of your region.

After the seedlings have reached the desired size and formed a strong root system, they are transplanted to a permanent location.

Seedlings are planted under film in May, in open ground - in early June. The main thing is that by this time the weather has settled down and there are no sub-zero temperatures.

Selecting a location

It is important to choose the right area in the garden for planting tomatoes. The most successful predecessors for nightshade crops are beans, carrots, cabbage and potatoes.

It is necessary to prepare the soil in advance for planting seedlings. With the onset of warm weather, dig up the soil and fertilize it with useful substances. Use organic substances: wood ash, humus, manure, compost.

The soil for planting vegetables is prepared in the fall. Organic and mineral fertilizers are applied during digging. In spring, the soil is loosened with a rake and planting areas (beds) are prepared.

Landing technology

Tomatoes love light soil. It is important that the acidity and alkalinity of the soil are not elevated.

Diseases and pests

The variety is very resistant to diseases and is not affected by late blight, TMV and root rot. Almost does not suffer from pest attacks. If you plant the bush in time, do not forget about watering, loosening and fertilizing, then additional treatment with chemicals will not be required.

Among the huge number of tomatoes, the Altai masterpiece can be especially highlighted. It has excellent characteristics: endurance, productivity, wonderful taste and disease resistance.

Care

This variety of tomatoes has a small number of stepsons, but they must be removed in a timely manner. It is not recommended to completely break off the stepson, as it can grow back, so you should leave a small “stump”. The shoots are pinched from the bottom of the plants before the first flowers appear. At the same time, it is necessary to tie up the bushes. As they grow, this procedure must be repeated several times a season. Also, don’t forget to pinch off the tops when the plants stop growing.

“Altai Masterpiece” is not very picky, including the composition of the soil. However, like any plant, it needs minerals for the full development of the ovaries. Tomatoes without fertilizing become weak and painful, and the ovary disappears in the first stages of formation.

Fertilizers must be applied not only to the holes before planting, but throughout the entire growing season of the plants. It is necessary to repeat fertilizing two weeks after planting the seedlings. The next stage of fertilization is carried out at the beginning of flowering, and then during the formation of tomatoes. A guarantee of rapid fruit ripening will be feeding tomatoes with complex mineral fertilizers several times during the entire growth period.

The fruits of this type of tomato are not prone to cracking, and the bush itself is insensitive to late blight. For this reason, the bushes are allowed to be watered well, but not too often. This fact pleases gardeners who do not have enough time to constantly be on their plot.

Plants need to be watered at the root. There is no need to do this during the hottest time of the day; it is better to wait until the evening or early morning. This is necessary so that evaporating water from the soil surface cannot “cook” the tomatoes.

The variety does not particularly need disease prevention, since it has high endurance and resistance to a large number of diseases. But, as with growing other types of plants, you need to follow simple tips:

remove plants from the beds after fruiting is completed; promptly eliminate affected fruits and shoots; pay attention to crop rotation.