Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Advantages of the Ox Heart variety:
- large-fruited fruits, especially on the lower clusters;
- very tender, sweet and fleshy pulp;
- there are various subspecies;
- has a high germination rate of planting material;
- the fruits set together;
- good yield indicators;
- can be grown both in a greenhouse and in open ground;
- plants are drought resistant;
- immunity to most diseases, in particular late blight.
Flaws:
- the need for stepson, formation and garter of bushes;
- If not properly cared for, it can be affected by certain types of diseases.
Botanical description of the variety Bull's Heart
The determinate tomato has limited growth, but manages to please summer residents with a high yield; the variety is not cultivated on an industrial scale. In open beds, Ox's Heart bears fruit in Ukraine, Moldova, and the southern regions of Russia. In mid-latitudes, Siberia, tomatoes ripen in a greenhouse.
Spreading tomato bushes grow up to one and a half meters in height, in closed ground - up to 170-180 cm. The first fruits are picked 130 days after emergence. One tomato will produce tomatoes of different shapes and different weights.
The strong roots of the plant are located deep, on powerful stems there are few green leaves, but they are large and covered with fine fluff.
The first bunch contains 4-5 tomatoes, pointed at the end; in the next bunches round fruits are formed, which differ when ripe:
- sweet and sour taste,
- fleshy pulp
- thin glossy skin,
- smooth or ribbed surface.
When forming a bush into one stem, leave up to 9 brushes, the first one above the 8th leaf. This method of cultivation allows you to pick tomatoes weighing 600-900 g from the lower branches of the tomato, but fruits weighing no more than 200 g ripen on the upper clusters.
Productivity
- When grown in open ground, you can collect up to 5 kg from one bush.
- When growing tomatoes in greenhouse conditions, the yield can be increased to 12 kg per bush.
You can harvest such a harvest only if you choose good seeds and also adhere to all the rules for caring for plants of this variety.
The fruits can be collected both at the technical stage of ripeness (greenish tomatoes) and at the biological stage (red tomatoes). But while the tomatoes are still unripe, it will be difficult to understand whether they have reached their size or will continue to grow.
Therefore, if there is a need to remove unripe tomatoes, then you should focus on changing the color. As soon as a yellow or brown tint appears, you can pick it.
Tomatoes ripen well on a windowsill, in a box or in a basket. Just lay out the fruits in 1 or 2 layers.
How to plant tomatoes for seedlings
Since tomatoes require transplanting and picking, you can use small plastic containers to get started. Spread the soil in the container for seedlings. Press it down and pour warm water over it to make it moist. It's best to soak the tomato seeds before planting, but if you don't, that's okay.
There is nothing complicated about how to plant tomatoes. The most convenient way to sow tomato seeds is with tweezers. Spread out their compacted soil every 1 cm. Then sprinkle 0.5 - 1 cm of soil, pour water from a spray bottle, cover the crops with plastic film or glass. Place the seedling container in a warm place, maybe even in the dark.
As soon as the shoots appear, remove the film and place the tomato seedlings closer to the window. Growing tomato seedlings at home requires good lighting. Therefore, if your window sills do not face the south and southeast sides, then additional lighting for the seedlings is necessary.
Good lighting is especially necessary for tomato seedlings at the moment of unfolding of the cotyledons, so that at the growth point of the plant the correct development program provided for by the given variety or hybrid is laid. if there is insufficient lighting at the growing point, flowers will form rather than buds. In this way, fruiting will be delayed, because the next leaf will appear in about 5 - 6 days, and the appearance of each extra leaf delays the appearance of buds.
Another way to plant tomatoes is in coconut or peat tablets. The method is undoubtedly convenient and modern.
Variety varieties
Golden Bull's Heart
The difference between Bull's Heart and other varieties is that the variety has several subspecies that differ in color. In addition to traditional red tomatoes (red ox heart), there are the following varieties:
- Golden Bull's Heart. The fruits of this subspecies are cone-shaped and golden-yellow in color. The weight of tomatoes is 400-750 grams. The skin is dense. The taste is sweet. The yield is average, lower than that of the “red heart”.
- Pink Ox heart. The tomatoes are bright pink. The weight of the fruit reaches 1 kilogram. The skin is thin but dense. Maturation occurs a little later than other species. The fruits are very well stored. Plants have increased resistance to various diseases. Easy care and many advantages make this variety of Ox's Heart quite popular among gardeners.
- White Bull's Heart. The fruits of this variety are white. The weight of a tomato can reach up to 800-900 grams. Fruits for a long time. Fruiting stops immediately after the onset of the first cold weather.
White Bull's Heart - Orange Bull's Heart. The fruits are orange in color. The weight of a tomato reaches 1 kilogram. The plant is resistant to dry weather and is rarely susceptible to disease. Requires very frequent pinching.
- Black Bull Heart. The fruits are burgundy-brown. The weight of the fruit is about 600-700 grams, but ripening is very long. They have tender pulp with almost no seeds. The variety is distinguished by good yield. Often the fruits ripen simultaneously on all clusters.
Black Bull Heart
Pests and diseases of tomatoes
The most common diseases of tomatoes are late blight (regular and southern), from which tomatoes dry out, spotting (brown, brown, black and white), rot (white, stem, gray and apical), mosaic, from which tomatoes crumble, verticillium, tracheomycosis, streak and bacterial cancer. We will tell you about the symptoms of diseases, how to deal with these diseases, how to process tomatoes in order to save the harvest, what processing means can be used to rid tomatoes of diseases, and which ones are undesirable to use in a separate article. Now we would like to remind you that if you follow the agricultural practices of the crop, you can almost certainly avoid its infection with all these diseases.
Tomato diseases and how to treat them, as well as prevention
The most common tomato pests you have to deal with are cutworms, thrips, wireworms, germ flies, slugs, mole crickets and root-knot nematodes. You can read in detail about pest control in the article, which is devoted specifically to this topic. Let’s just say that in any case, it is preferable to use natural, time-tested folk remedies to get rid of pests - decoctions, infusions of herbs that have insecticidal, fungicidal and antifeedant effects.
Features of cultivation and care
The variety has a long growing season, so it is recommended to grow it only through seedlings. The optimal age for planting tomatoes in a permanent place of growth is 50-70 days.
- Before planting, the seeds must be scalded with boiling water to kill all fungi on their surface. It is also recommended to disinfect the soil by pouring boiling water over it.
- The seeds are sown in the prepared soil to a depth of no more than 2 cm. The distance between the seeds is at least 1.5-2 cm. The plantings are covered with film and taken out to a dark, warm place.
- When the sprouts hatch, the film is removed and the containers are transferred to a windowsill or under a fluorescent lamp.
- In the phase of 2-3 leaves, seedlings are planted in separate containers. Seedlings are fertilized once every 14 days. Use complex fertilizers for tomato seedlings.
- 7-10 days before planting in a permanent place, the seedlings are hardened, that is, taken out into the fresh air. First for 1–2 hours, and then the time is increased to the whole day.
Planting in a greenhouse
When the seedlings grow to 20-25 cm in height, they need to be transplanted into a greenhouse. As a rule, this is done in mid-April. The greenhouse should be well heated and well lit.
Seedlings are planted at a distance of one meter from each other. I make holes 15 cm deep and add humus. After planting, the plants are watered well with warm water.
Greenhouse care
The air temperature in the greenhouse is maintained at 20-22 °C during the day and 16-18 °C at night. Water the plants once every 7 days. For 1 sq. meter uses about 7 liters of water. During the period of fruit formation, the amount of water is increased to 15 liters per 1 square meter. meter.
The greenhouse is ventilated every day for 30 minutes. Tomatoes are pollinated by hand. The bush must be formed and the stepsons removed. Organic fertilizers are applied every two weeks.
Growing tomatoes in open ground
The bed has been prepared since the fall. All weeds are removed, rotted manure is added, and the soil is dug well. Seedlings are planted in early May.
Care
Plants are fed 2 weeks after planting with organic fertilizers.
- After the first feeding, a layer of mulch no more than 5 cm thick is poured onto the ground. Pine needles, sawdust or straw are used.
- The plants are fed a second time ten days after the first ovaries appear. 2 liters of manure solution are poured under one tomato bush.
- The plants are fed the third time during the ripening period. Pour 2.5 liters of manure solution under each tomato bush.
Water the plants strictly at the roots, twice a week. If the weather is hot - 3-4 times a week. Also, the bushes are formed, tied to a trellis and the stepsons are cut off.
Growing seedlings
To obtain high-quality planting material, a number of measures should be carried out, paying attention to temperature conditions, watering, and the quality of the soil mixture
Sowing
To grow seedlings, work begins at the end of January. Sowing seeds to obtain seedlings for greenhouses is planned for mid-January - early February, this applies to the southern regions. If tomatoes are planned to be grown indoors, then sowing the seeds is carried out no earlier than March.
When preparing the earthen mixture, attention should be paid to the following nuances:
- acidity index from 5.5-6.5;
- when preparing it yourself, use light turf soil as a basis, with the addition of sand, peat and rotted humus;
- disinfection is required by watering with a slightly pink solution of manganese;
- permissible temperature of the soil mixture is from 15 to 20°C.
Seeds are sown in rows in trays 1/3 filled with soil. The depth of the “hole” is 0.5 -1 cm. The distance between the rows is at least 10 cm. After sowing, the soil is moistened, covered with film and placed in a dark place. Adhering to a temperature regime of 24 to 26 ° C, the first shoots can be seen on days 5-7.
Picking
After 15-20 days, at the stage of development of the first two true leaves, a dive is carried out. The purpose of the technique is to stimulate the development of a fibrous root system and plant seedlings in individual containers. Tomatoes are planted in glasses or cassettes.
The height of the glass is at least 10-12 cm, with a diameter of 7-10 cm. The plant is transplanted into a container, deepening the stem along the cotyledon. Afterwards, the soil is moistened with a weak solution of manganese, this will help avoid the occurrence of diseases in the early stages of seedling development. For better survival, the temperature in the greenhouse is raised to 22-25°C.
Basic requirements for growing seedlings
To obtain high-quality material with a well-developed leaf apparatus, a strong stem and a powerful root system, attention should be paid to the following factors:
Light mode. The length of daylight hours is at least 14-16 hours a day. Lack of light has a negative effect on young plants: the stems become thinner and elongated, the leaves acquire a pale yellowish tint. For additional illumination, phytolamps with a power of 200 to 450 watts are used.
Air temperature. As soon as the tomatoes have rooted after picking, the temperature is lowered by five degrees. Temperatures at night can range from 12 to 14°C.
Watering
During the seedling stage, it is important to avoid overwatering. Moistening is carried out as the soil dries
Excess moisture provokes the development of fungal diseases, rot and “black leg”. If the plant wilts in sunny weather and the mixture remains wet, no additional watering should be done. An effective way to reduce the temperature in a greenhouse is to spray water over the plants. It should be remembered that overdrying the soil, especially at the stage of laying buds, is unacceptable and leads to drying out of the planted brush.
Read everything about growing tomato seedlings from A to Z here.
Reviews from gardeners who planted the variety
Angelina
I really liked the variety - productive, disease-free, tasty fruits. Mid-season, tall, ind. variety. Sets fruit under unfavorable conditions, does not shed the ovary. When the plant is formed into one stem, there may be giant fruits. The taste is excellent, sweet, sugary.
Lana_s_Kavkaza, Pyatigorsk
Large bull's heart from Sivukha. I liked the variety, all the fruits are large, heart-shaped, the flesh is dense and fleshy. Mid-season, tall, 1.6-1.8 m in the western part. Quite large fruits, rich, balanced taste.
Fairy
I had it from the Russian Vegetable Garden and planted it in 2022. The shape was somehow not heart-shaped, but otherwise it was good! Large-fruited, tasty, meaty. Despite the thin skin, it lay there and was eaten in the last rows.
Ninulia, southeast of the Nizhny Novgorod region
I really liked the variety. The tomatoes were large and very tasty! And they didn’t hurt us with the harvest!
Let's sum it up
For many years now, the taste qualities of the “ox heart” tomato variety have been the main reason for planting this variety by almost every Russian gardener. However, in addition to taste, this plant still has quite a few advantages, such as, for example:
- big choice;
- abundant fruiting;
- unpretentiousness;
- ease of cultivation, etc.
Both traditional (red and pink) varieties and rarer (for example, yellow or black) varieties equally delight gardeners with the number of fruits, with tight skin and dense pulp, despite the fact that no extraordinary care is required for them. The main thing is to prepare the conditions for cultivation and plant the seedlings according to the rules. Rest assured that even though you will miss some things the first few times, over time you will gain experience and begin to get a much larger harvest.
