Tomato Nikola: reviews, photos, yield, characteristics, planting and care

Description of Nikola tomatoes

The Nikola tomato is not a hybrid form, so you can collect the seeds for planting yourself - tomatoes grown from them do not lose their varietal qualities, as is often the case with hybrids.

Nikola is a determinate group variety. Tomato bushes are medium branched, with a moderate amount of foliage. Plants reach about 60-65 cm in height when grown in open ground and 70-75 cm in a greenhouse. The leaf blade of tomatoes is small and smooth. The surface of the leaves is light green.

The first inflorescences of the variety are formed under the 7-8 leaves. Subsequently, they form from 5 to 7 fruits.

Description of fruits

The description of tomatoes of the Nikola variety indicates that the shape of the fruit is standard, round, without pronounced irregularities, as can be seen in the photo below. Their weight varies on average from 95 to 120 g. Greenhouse-grown tomatoes are slightly larger - they can grow up to 150 g.

Ripe Nikola tomatoes are colored rich red. They taste sweet, with barely noticeable sourness. The fruits are fleshy and juicy.

What they say

What reviews do gardeners and vegetable growers give about the Nikola variety?
In general, their opinion about tomatoes is only positive; they consider it one of the best varieties for growing in Siberia and the Urals. It tolerates changes in weather well, continues to grow and form fruits even when the night temperature drops, and easily tolerates drought, but in rainy summers the yield is higher in the greenhouse.

Farmers like the taste of the fruit and its smooth ripening, which is especially important if tomatoes are grown in the country and it is not possible to pick them every day. Tomatoes do not require special care; they grow without staking or pinching

Another advantage of the variety is its early ripening; even in a short summer, tomatoes have time to ripen, and make it possible to forget that Siberia is a country of evergreen tomatoes.

Characteristics of tomato Nikola

The Nikola variety is adapted for cultivation in central Russia, as well as in the Northern regions of the country. It safely tolerates hot summers with little precipitation, fairly harsh winters and sudden temperature changes. Nikola tomatoes can be grown both in greenhouse conditions and in open ground.

Productivity and fruiting

The variety is classified as mid-season - tomatoes fully ripen in an average of 120 days. In addition, this variety is characterized by consistently high yields, which makes it possible to grow tomatoes on an industrial scale. According to the description of the Nikola tomato variety, from one bush you can harvest from 3 to 5 kg of fruit, which is confirmed by reviews from gardeners. Tomatoes ripen almost simultaneously.

Area of ​​application of fruits

The variety was bred primarily for sale on an industrial scale - Nikola tomatoes tolerate long-term transportation well and retain an attractive appearance for a long time.

Tomatoes are also used for preparing salads and preparations. Due to their small size, they are often used for whole-fruit canning. Due to their high dry matter content, tomatoes can be used as a base for tomato pastes.

Resistance to diseases and pests

From the reviews of gardeners it follows that the Nikola tomato variety has average resistance to typical tomato diseases. For example, it is vulnerable to:

• late blight;
• crown rot;
• macrosporiosis;
• black spot;
• powdery mildew;
• septoria.

Pests rarely attack the variety.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The advantages of Nikola tomatoes include the following characteristics:

• consistently high productivity;
• no need for stepsoning;
• high frost resistance;
• simultaneous ripening of fruits;
• good transportability;
• long shelf life;
• undemanding to the composition of the soil;
• resistance to temperature changes.

The main disadvantage of the variety is its low resistance to most tomato diseases, however, with proper care, the bushes practically do not get sick.

Advantages and disadvantages

The subspecies has been in demand among farmers for more than 25 years, and all thanks to the following advantages:

• good yield;
• soft taste of fruits with characteristic sourness;
• friendly ripening of tomatoes;
• excellent commercial quality of the crop;
• low maintenance requirements;
• keeping quality and resistance of fruits to transportation.

The Nikola tomato has many benefits.
The disadvantages of Nikola tomatoes include the crop’s weak immunity to spotting, fungal diseases and rot.

Growing rules

Seeds for seedlings are usually planted in the last days of March or the first ten days of April. The exact timing depends on the place of cultivation - in regions with a warm climate, sowing is done earlier, at the end of March. In the north of the country, tomatoes are sown in early April, when the soil warms up.

Since the variety is not a hybrid, seeds for cultivation can either be purchased in a store or prepared independently.

Advice! To better preserve the quality of the variety, it is recommended to use purchased seeds every 2-3 years.

Planting seedlings

Regardless of the origin of the planting material, before planting in the ground it must be treated against typical tomato diseases. For this you can use:

• weak solution of potassium permanganate (processing time - 15-20 minutes);
• hydrogen peroxide solution (concentration – 3%, treatment time – 5-8 minutes);
• Fitosporin solution (processing is carried out according to the instructions).

Important! Disinfected seeds must be washed in running water.

For better development of seedlings, it is also recommended to soak Nikola tomato seeds in any growth stimulant. In particular, the drug “Zircon” has proven itself well.

Instead of etching with industrial means, you can use a traditional processing method:

1. 50 ml of water is diluted with ½ tsp. honey
2. The resulting solution is poured into a shallow container.
3. Planting material is immersed in sweet water for a day.
4. After the specified time, the seeds are taken out and dried thoroughly. After this they are ready for sowing.

Treated planting material can be planted directly in open ground, but only if it was purchased from a reliable supplier and has good germination. When collecting seeds yourself, it is recommended to germinate them before planting them in a permanent place.

The soil for seedlings should have good water and air permeability and be quite loose. When sowing, the seeds are not buried too deep - the depth of the holes should not exceed 2 cm, otherwise the planting material may not sprout. For seedlings to germinate, it is necessary to provide it with greenhouse conditions - for this, the container with the seeds is covered with glass or plastic film. Then the seedlings are moved to a warm place, protected from direct sunlight.

Recommended room temperature is +20-22°C during the day and +18°C at night. As soon as the first shoots appear, the container is moved to the windowsill. If there is a lack of light, it is necessary to organize artificial lighting.

Advice! The degree of development of seedlings can be determined by the shape of the sprouts. Saplings stretched upward will bear fruit poorly. They should be low and strong.

For optimal development of seedlings it is necessary:

1. Regularly water the seedlings with settled water at room temperature. The top layer of soil should not dry out - otherwise the seedlings may wither.
2. Pick up plants after the first 2-3 leaves appear.
3. Feed the seedlings with mineral fertilizers. Before planting in a permanent place, this is done 2 times: a week after planting in separate containers and another 2 weeks after the first feeding.
4. Harden tomatoes 1-2 weeks before planting in open ground or a greenhouse. To do this, the seedlings are taken outside for several hours, gradually increasing the time the container is in the open air. This is done so that the plants get used to new climatic conditions.

Transfer

Before planting tomatoes in a permanent place, you must carefully prepare the area. Preparation begins in the fall - for this, the place chosen for the beds is dug up and organic fertilizers are added to the soil. In the spring, the area is loosened again and the prepared holes are filled with water.

Tomatoes are transplanted when 6-8 true leaves appear. In addition, an inflorescence rudiment should form on the seedling. As a rule, this occurs 40-50 days after sowing the seeds.

Nikola tomatoes are planted in open ground in warm weather. The soil must warm up, otherwise the plants may freeze. The variety is frost-resistant, however, young seedlings are vulnerable to the last spring frosts.

Important! Immediately after planting, it is necessary to cover the tomatoes with film or any other non-woven material. To do this, special arcs are buried in the ground and a covering sheet is fixed to them.

Tomatoes are planted at a distance of 50 cm from each other. The row spacing should be at least 60 cm. It is not recommended to thicken the plantings, since Nikola variety bushes do not form, and overgrown plants will interfere with each other.

Aftercare

Caring for Nikola tomatoes is easy. Subsequent care for them is as follows:

1. The bushes are watered once a week, being careful not to flood the plantings. During the period of fruit ripening, the frequency of watering is increased to 2 times a week.
2. The beds are mulched with sawdust or dry grass for better moisture retention.
3. Every 8-10 days, plantings are fed with complex liquid fertilizers. For the first feedings, a solution of mullein or bird droppings is suitable. Then organic fertilizers are replaced with mineral ones: potassium or phosphorus.

You can learn more about the features of growing Nikola tomatoes from the video below:

Planting and care

Planting and subsequent care of Nikola tomatoes does not require much experience in growing vegetables. It is grown by seedling method. Seeds are sown in the first half of March for subsequent cultivation in greenhouses. And at the end of the first spring month, if you plan to grow the crop in vegetable soil.

Attention! The Nikola tomato is a cultivar. You can harvest its seeds yourself. But before sowing, they must be disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate or phytosporin.

Sow seeds in containers filled with moistened soil. The top is mulched with a layer of peat or soil. They are thoroughly moistened and covered with glass or film and left to germinate. Containers with emerging shoots are transferred to a well-lit place. Water, feed with complex fertilizers for seedlings, and gradually harden off. At the 2-4 leaf stage, seedlings are transplanted into separate cups.

Seedlings are planted in the ground after stable positive night temperatures have established and the soil has warmed up well. Usually this is the end of May or the beginning of July. Seedlings can be planted in greenhouses as early as the second ten days of May.

Useful video

This video talks about standard care for tomatoes:

In the table below you will find links to tomato varieties with different ripening periods:

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History of the variety's creation

Breeders from the Siberian and Ural regions have been working for decades to develop new varieties and hybrids of tomatoes that could be grown in the conditions of these cold regions of our country. In Altai, breeders developed the “Siberian early ripening” variety, which was repeatedly improved, adapting this vegetable crop to the changeable weather conditions of the region, improving productivity and early ripening.

Tomato Nikola, a variety bred on the basis of “Siberian early ripening”, is a new variety of tomatoes with improved characteristics and taste. This tomato is not a hybrid. After testing, the Nikola variety was included in the State Register at the end of the last century.

Tomato Nikola

This tomato was zoned for cultivation in the Middle Volga region and Western Siberia for planting in open and closed ground. Nikola tomatoes are highly resistant to stress and do not reduce the growth and ripening of fruits even in unfavorable weather conditions.

Important! This variety was also tested in the Volga-Vyatka and East Siberian regions, where it showed high technical characteristics and good yield.

Features of agricultural technology

Tomatoes are grown through seedlings. The seeds are sown in such a way that when warm weather arrives, the tomatoes are ready for transplanting into the ground. In cold regions, work is carried out in the last days of March. Tomatoes are planted in a permanent place in June, observing an interval of 50x70.

Attention! Despite its cold resistance, the variety is highly sensitive to frost. To avoid damage, young plants are initially covered with film or agrotex.

There is no need to plant or form bushes. The quality of the soil significantly affects the yield. It is necessary to monitor the regularity of watering and fertilizing. Fertilizer is applied once every 10-14 days. Special mineral complexes are suitable.

Ripening dates and types of tomatoes

The growing season or the time period from full germination to the beginning of ripening of mid-ripening fruits ranges from 111 to 125 days.

Mid-season tomato varieties can be represented by both indeterminate and determinate types:

• Indeterminate tomatoes are tall bushes that do not stop growing and can reach 2 meters or more. When a flower cluster forms on the main stem, it begins to be replaced by a stepson located closer to the top. After the buds appear, this stepson will be replaced by a shoot growing from its top - and so on. Mid-season tomatoes of the indeterminate type include the varieties Required Size, Banana Orange, Marshmallow in Chocolate, Ox Heart and other varieties.
• Determinate tomatoes are low-growing bushes with limited growth. Often stepsons form only in the lower part of the trunk. On each branch, from 2 to 6 flower clusters are formed, depending on the variety, after which the shoot stops growing. Among the many varieties of mid-season tomatoes, low-growing varieties include Alpatieva 905 a, La La Fa, Demidov, Honey-Sugar, Gina TST and others.