What do tomatoes need for good fruit set?
The main thing when growing tomatoes is not the selection of a productive variety, but compliance with the rules of agricultural technology. Each crop has its own preferences in watering and fertilizing. Excess moisture and nutrients lead to overgrowth of green mass to the detriment of fruits or to the development of diseases. Lack of any nutrition entails poor development and reduced yield.
Attention!
Many gardeners call tomatoes a draft-loving plant. This is because for normal pollination the crop needs periodic “shake-up”.
Most tomato varieties require staking, shaping and removal of excess foliage. The plant is thermophilic, but it does not tolerate extreme heat as well as cold. Gusty winds not only lead to damage to the bush, but also interfere with normal pollination.
How to create favorable conditions for tomatoes:
- In cool regions, only heat-loving, hardy varieties can be planted in open ground; the rest are placed in a greenhouse.
- For tomatoes, select an open, sunny place.
- The soil on the site should be cultivated, loose, light, well permeable to moisture and air. The optimal pH value is from 5.5 to 6.5.
- Tomatoes will set poorly and constantly get sick if they are planted in the same place every year.
- Dense plantings are extremely undesirable, even for low-growing varieties. The distance between bushes should be at least 40 cm.
- In normal weather, tomatoes are watered once a week, in hot weather every 2 days, only warm water is used.
- To determine when and what to feed tomatoes, you need to monitor the bushes and take into account the general condition of the soil. If the leaves have become too fleshy, it means that the tomatoes are fattening; you should stop feeding them with nitrogen. If there is a purple tint to the leaves, this indicates a lack of phosphorus; if they dry around the edges, this indicates a lack of potassium.
- Information about the correct formation of the bush is written on the package with the seeds; it is important to follow the recommendations; extra branches will not help increase the yield; on the contrary, they will greatly weaken the bush.
- Tomatoes do not like being next to weeds; excess grass clogs the crop and attracts harmful insects to the beds.
- Treatments against pests and diseases should be carried out at the first signs of damage; chemicals are used only according to the instructions, observing the recommended interval between treatment and the start of collection.
Tomato is a rather capricious crop that requires attention, especially if the main goal is to obtain the largest possible harvest. Unfortunately, there are very few varieties that can only be cared for on weekends.
What to feed tomatoes at the moment of ovary formation
To grow an excellent crop of tomatoes in a greenhouse, as well as in open ground, you need to know exactly what you can feed these plants at the flowering stage. There are several different ways. Among folk recipes, the following components actively stand out:
- honey;
- yeast;
- iodine;
- wood ash.
In addition, gardeners also use special stimulants for the formation of ovaries, which can be easily purchased at any garden store. As for pests and diseases, in this case insecticides, acaricides or other types of drugs are used.
Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, which you need to know about in order to achieve the desired effect in a particular case. In this case, it is also necessary to clearly select the growth stage in which the plant is located.
Reducing tomato ovaries in a greenhouse: causes and consequences
If you do not adhere to the temperature regime, then tomato flowers may fall off without waiting for pollination. Acceptable daytime temperatures range from +23°C to +29°C, and night temperatures should range from +13°C to 21°C.
The maximum temperature at which tomatoes feel normal is 36°C. If it rises to 40°C, then we can confidently say that there will be no flowers or ovaries. And every night the temperature should drop below +20°C. If you neglect this rule, the tomato yield may fall. And in this case, even the best folk remedies for starting tomatoes in a greenhouse will not help.
Humidity in the greenhouse should range from 40-70%. To achieve the required indicator, you should lightly spray the tomatoes every morning. But it is very difficult to get rid of excess moisture. Therefore, experienced gardeners mulch the bushes, and to maintain moisture, they dig plastic bottles with holes or without a bottom into the soil.
Why the ovary does not form on tomatoes
When tomatoes are grown in protected or open ground, the ovary may not form, although flowering was abundant. Reasons include:
- Insufficiently heated air. Tomatoes are a southern crop; they do not like microclimates where the ambient temperature is below +15 degrees.
- But too high a temperature also negatively affects the development of the plant. This is especially true for greenhouses. When the air is heated above +28 degrees, it is necessary to ventilate the greenhouse.
- If there is an excess of nitrogen in the soil, then the green mass grows intensively. In this case, the root system is depleted, and the buds are not fully formed.
- When the air humidity in the greenhouse is high, the pollen falls off. If there is excessive dryness in the air, pollen does not germinate. That is why, when watering flowering plants in a greenhouse, it is necessary to ventilate the room after irrigation. Optimal air humidity is from 50 to 60%.
- The bush begins to grow too quickly and too much if it is not pinched. All the plant's energy is spent on branching. But the color formation is either too weak or in small quantities.
- If in open ground there are practically no problems with pollination, then in a greenhouse structure it is necessary to pay attention to the pollination of tomatoes. It is necessary to keep the windows open more often to encourage insect pollinators and create a certain air flow in the greenhouse.
The reasons for poor fruit set of tomatoes include the lack of fertilizers in the soil. Therefore, at the stage of flower and ovary formation, emphasis should be placed on potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
What nutrition do tomatoes need at the time of ovary formation? To grow a good harvest of tomatoes, you need to know how to fertilize this crop at the flowering stage.
Experienced vegetable growers recommend several different compositions for feeding. Folk recipes contain the following components:
- honey;
- iodine;
- yeast;
- wood ash.
Stimulants are also actively used for the formation of ovaries. Such preparations can be easily purchased at any garden store. But for the prevention and treatment of diseases and against all kinds of insect pests, acaricides, insecticides and other types of drugs are used.
Reasons for the absence of ovaries
Why don't tomatoes set? In order for as much ovary as possible to appear on the tomatoes, a list of conditions must be observed. If the desired microclimate in the greenhouse is disrupted, the yield of vegetables will be much lower.
Temperature
Tomatoes need to maintain a certain temperature level as they grow. When the temperature is high or low, plant flowers are susceptible to death.
Pollination of vegetables is carried out under the following conditions: 13-21°C at night; up to 28°C during the day. When the air temperature rises above 40 degrees, the flowers of vegetable plants will fall off.
An increase in temperature at night has a negative effect on the appearance of the ovary. During this period of the day, plants need rest. In order to maintain temperature balance, the greenhouse room is systematically opened for ventilation.
To increase the temperature, special covering material is used. Reducing the heat is acceptable after watering the plants in the morning.
Humidity
The humidity level is more difficult to ensure, but it is doable. In order for as many ovaries as possible to appear on tomatoes, air humidity should be up to 70%. When the humidity level in the greenhouse is low, experts recommend spraying tomatoes in the morning.
It would be a good idea to water the passages in the ground with a hose. If there is insufficient moisture, the ovaries may crumble and the leaves may curl into a tube. This figure can be reduced by mulching the soil. An additional method is local watering of vegetable plants.
Top dressing
The formation of the ovary is associated with the penetration of useful elements and substances into the tomatoes. As a rule, the main importance is given to nitrogen. It is he who takes an active part in the formation of buds. Initial fertilizing is carried out after the tomatoes are planted in the ground.
If the vegetables are strong, you can feed them a couple of weeks after transplanting into the greenhouse. Excessive nitrogen feeding can have a negative effect on the plant. One tomato bush will require up to 30 g of this fertilizer.
Pollination
The ovary will not appear if there is no pollination. If tomatoes grow in open space, the pollination process occurs naturally. Pollen dispersal is carried out by the wind. Artificial conditions have been created in the greenhouse.
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Other factors. The reason for the absence of ovaries can also be such reasons as: lack of sun, lack of phosphorus, various diseases and others.
To ensure the ovary for tomatoes, it is necessary to follow the rules of care. To prevent diseases, tomatoes should be treated with any means of disinfection.
Other recommendations
In addition to the chemicals presented above, agricultural techniques will help increase the number of fruits on the bush.
Substrate selection
Soil quality is important for tomatoes
A properly selected substrate will ensure full growth of seedlings and seedlings after planting and abundant fruiting.
Tomatoes prefer to grow in soil enriched with humus and compost (applied in equal quantities). Additionally, the soil is fertilized with potassium sulfate and superphosphate. To make it light and loose, add a little sand to it.
Site preparation
Prepared in the fall.
- The bed is dug up using a spade, the digging is done again in the spring, after which the ground is leveled with a rake.
- Before planting, irrigate with iodine solution to destroy all pathogenic bacteria and microbes.
Tomato seedlings are planted in the first or second half of April, when the outside temperature stabilizes within 16-18°C and the last night frosts have passed.
A loosening procedure is carried out, which ensures full access of moisture, oxygen and nutrients to the roots. Additionally, they are covered with garden soil, which will provide stability to the bushes, improve their growth and increase productivity.
Planting scheme
You should also adhere to the seedling planting scheme, since when the tomatoes are thickened, they grow poorly, bloom and bear little fruit. Planting should be done in the direction from the east to the west.
Rows of plants, if possible, are always placed from north to south so that they are evenly illuminated throughout the day: in the morning - from the east, in the afternoon - from the west.
Thus, the plants will receive a sufficient amount of light in the first half of the day, and during the lunch hours they will receive shading from neighboring crops. This technique allows you to increase the duration of the day, which has a positive effect on the formation of fruits.
- The optimal pattern between the bushes is 0.4 x 0.7 m. Tomatoes can be planted in rows or in a checkerboard pattern.
- Another economical planting option is to plant low-growing varieties and hybrids closer to the walls of the greenhouse at a distance of 40 cm, and tall, late crops near the aisle. This combination will ensure complete pollination of the bushes.
Mulching
Sawdust, straw, grass clippings or compost are used as mulch to enrich the soil.
The bed is sprinkled with a thin layer of nutritional components that nourish the root system during watering and protect against the growth of unnecessary vegetation. Mulch the bushes immediately after planting.
Stepsoning
During growth, most varieties need to be pinched - removal of shoots is necessary so that the plants can devote all their energy to forming as many inflorescences and fruits as possible.
Removal of shoots is especially necessary in regions with short summers, when tomatoes do not always have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather.
Stepchildren up to 5 cm long are removed; they should not be allowed to grow to a larger size because there is a high risk of damage to the main stem.
General recommendations for good tomato ovary
In order for the ovary to successfully form on a tomato bush, you must follow the following recommendations:
- Before tomatoes begin to bloom, they are fed with urea. The solution is prepared in this way: 50 g of fertilizer is dissolved in a bucket (10 l) of settled water. The resulting solution is watered over the tomatoes as with regular water. This composition is applied directly under the root only once. Urea will allow tomato bushes to form strong buds.
- Before the tomato bushes begin to bloom, pay attention to the condition of the leaves. If they are light green in color, this means the plants lack magnesium sulfate. To compensate for the deficiency of magnesium, 1.5 g of the substance is diluted in one liter of water (settled). Tomato bushes are intensively sprayed with the resulting solution.
- When the first inflorescences appear on the bush, potassium and phosphorus are added as additional fertilizer. The fertilizing solution is prepared in this way: 10 grams of these substances are well dissolved in a bucket of settled water. The resulting solution is watered onto the soil.
In addition to the proper application of fertilizing and other biochemical nutrients, it is important to maintain a healthy state of tomato bushes. For this purpose, the prevention of tomato diseases is carried out. After all, it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat a plant later.
As a preventative measure, tomato bushes are treated with copper sulfate.
A solution is prepared in the following concentration: 2 grams of copper sulfate are used per liter of prepared water. The composition is sprayed on all leaves, and the foliage below must also be treated. This solution effectively restores the plant’s own immunity and prevents the appearance of fungal, viral and infectious diseases.
Folk remedies in the fight for the ovary
If you want to support tomatoes, but do not use various simulators or chemical components, you can use folk remedies. Here are the most effective ones that will help tomatoes set fruit:
- Take dry ash and spread it over the ground. But do this carefully, avoiding contact with the plant. It is advisable to sprinkle ash at a distance of 10 cm from the planting. Gradually, with watering, it will penetrate into the soil and saturate the soil mixture with enough potassium and other useful elements for the formation of small tomatoes.
- You can use iodine. Add just one drop to 1 liter of water and then water it.
- You can use a combined recipe. It includes boric acid in the amount of 10 g, a standard bottle of iodine, dry wood ash in the amount of one liter jar. All this is diluted in 10 liters of water, which must first be settled. The mixture must be kept for 24 hours and then 1 liter of the composition must be applied to each bush once at the stage of ovary formation.
- You can also use regular culinary yeast. They are taken in an amount of 100 g, mixed with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Then everything is diluted in 10 liters of settled water. After this, you need to let the yeast act. Activation takes from 48 hours to 1 week. After which the composition can be used for watering, but first it must be diluted even more intensively. The concentration of the final mixture is 1 cup of fermented yeast per 10 liters of clean, settled water.
For all of the above recipes, it is important to follow the basic rule. Do not apply the mixture to dry soil, as this may negatively affect the root system. It is better to first water it with regular water, abundantly enough to saturate the soil to a greater depth. Then wait 2 days or 1 day if the weather is too dry. And then apply one of the above fertilizers. This is usually done once. But, if the composition did not have a clearly expressed effect, then after a week you can repeat it. But, in this case, it is advisable to reduce the amount of fertilizing applied by 2 times or reduce its concentration by half.
A few secrets for better tomato ovary
To avoid a decrease in yield, they resort to folk remedies. But before you spray tomatoes for ovary with folk remedies, you need to follow a few simple recommendations:
- Seedlings in a greenhouse should be planted from east to west. This way, the tomatoes can receive the same amount of sunlight both in the morning and in the afternoon.
- Twice hilling will help strengthen the root system. It is first carried out when small growths appear on the stem. They spud the second time after the shoot has changed color to dark blue.
- Mulching will protect against excess moisture, exposure of roots, and will also slow down the growth of weeds.
- Removing unnecessary shoots (pinching) will help tomatoes not to waste energy on growing green shoots, but to direct all their energy to a rich harvest.
Secrets for growing tomatoes
In order to grow a fairly abundant harvest of tomatoes on your plot, you need to use the following tips from experts:
- When choosing the direction of the rows in the greenhouse, adhere to the basic rule. They should be located from east to west. This is done so that the sun's rays evenly illuminate the planting throughout the day.
- It is very important to plant tomato bushes on time. Otherwise, an excessive number of shoots will be formed and all the strength of the plant will be directed to the formation of green mass. The ovaries and fruits will be of unsatisfactory quality and quantity.
- It is advisable to mulch the top layer of soil. This will protect the soil from drying out in open areas or when the greenhouse becomes too hot and dry. A layer of mulch will also help prevent excess moisture and prevent the root system from being exposed. And, which is important for the gardener himself, it will not allow weeds to germinate intensively.
- During the growth stage in the greenhouse, tomatoes must be hilled several times. Experts recommend doing this 2-3 times until the ovaries form. They spud for the first time at the moment when small growths appear on the stems. The manipulation is repeated during the period when the shade of the shoot becomes dark green.
Favorable time for feeding tomatoes
Start feeding tomatoes early in the morning or in the evening on a clear sunny day. Fertilizers for the root system should not fall on the leaves, as excess moisture cannot be absorbed and sunburn will appear on the leaf.
In cloudy weather, tomatoes are sprayed with folk remedies for ovary at any time of the day. The main condition is that the moisture from the leaves must evaporate before nightfall.
Before spraying tomatoes for ovary with folk remedies, you need to study all the recipes in detail. And only then begin practical application. Thus, every gardener increases the chances of getting a rich harvest with tasty and healthy fruits.
How to spray tomatoes for ovary
When the time has come, and the tomato bushes still do not bloom, you should not wait, but immediately take measures to enhance flowering and strengthen the root system. You can organize foliar feeding or spraying. For this, both organic and synthetic substances are used, but first the cause of poor plant development must be determined.
Methods of fertilizing
Fertilizing the soil is carried out using two main methods:
- Dissolved fertilizers are applied directly to the roots. The manipulation is quite convenient and simple. It is worth considering that the efficiency of this method of irrigation is somewhat reduced, since most of the solution penetrates into the soil and goes inside. It turns out that some part of the fertilizer does not directly enter the root system of tomatoes.
- Another method is spraying. It is done on the ground around the bushes of the plant, along the stems and leaves. In this option, the main part of the nutrients is gradually absorbed and reaches the roots in larger quantities.
Important! Before using water for diluting fertilizers, it must settle.
This is done so that chlorine disintegrates under the influence of the sun, and all the harmful impurities contained in tap water precipitate.
Gardeners often advise using rain or melt water. One “but” – it is not always possible to obtain or extract it.
Before using any of the remedies listed in the article to improve the condition of tomato bushes, it is important to make sure that the tomatoes are not affected by pests or diseases.
After all, the ovary is often missing or falls off when the bush is infected with wireworms, whiteflies, May beetles, mole crickets or cutworms.
An excessive level of humidity leads to damage to tomato bushes by a fungal infection. As a result, the plant dies completely or only part is affected. Therefore, it is important to minimize all negative aspects, and then carry out fertilizing and spraying.
Have a good tomato harvest in the new season!
Why process tomatoes?
A crop growing in a greenhouse is more susceptible to infections and fungi, because In such a design, all conditions are created that are favorable for the development of pathogenic organisms. This is about:
- increased humidity levels;
- constantly high temperature;
- little air circulation.
Timely treatment will help protect tomato seedlings from various diseases. Also, thanks to it, it will be possible to get rid of the invasion of parasites.
Attention!
It is necessary to treat plants not only to increase their resistance to diseases or to cure them. Some products are suitable as top dressing.
Thanks to this manipulation, you can also increase the number of ovaries in seedlings, which will allow you to collect more fruits, speed up the ripening period, and improve the taste and presentation of tomatoes.
How to properly process tomatoes for ovary
In order for the tomato ovaries to form and the pollination process to be restored, it is necessary to follow the processing rules:
- Do not water plants in high humidity.
- If there are sharp transitions from frequent rains to heat, the tomatoes should be additionally treated against late blight.
- When there are temperature changes or in an unstable climate, you need to treat tomatoes with growth stimulants.
- Before spraying, it is better to stand chlorinated water or, if possible, use rainwater.
- It is better to spray in the evening or in the morning so that the solution can be completely absorbed into the plant and not evaporate under the influence of the sun.
- It is better to spray on a windless day, trying to hit the ovary exactly.
On a note!
In all cases, it is better to use warm water for spraying, approximately +20°C.
Rules for spraying tomatoes
For maximum benefit when spraying, a number of conditions will need to be met:
- absence of hot weather and wind;
- Liquid contact should be ensured exclusively on the buds and brushes of plants;
- Processing of tomatoes is carried out exclusively with a fine-dispenser sprayer.
When spraying the ovary, use water at room temperature. Therefore, if, when watering, water is taken from a cold source, it must first be heated in a separate container.
How to spray tomatoes
You can increase the number of ovaries and thereby increase the yield of bushes by using special solutions of industrial production or home preparation.
Boric acid
This is a universal remedy that is used to treat late blight on bushes. In addition, it increases the taste and transportability of tomatoes, and also promotes the abundant formation of ovaries. Boron improves the synthesis and absorption of beneficial elements by plants.
If this fertilizer is used correctly, the first harvest can be harvested in the last ten days of June.
Recipe: 1 tsp. boric acid per bucket of water. 0.5 liters of liquid are consumed per 1 m².
Fruit formation stimulants
Special preparations, which contain natural ingredients - salt, trace elements, acids, increase the productivity of tomatoes, ensuring abundant formation of ovaries.
Available in powder, tablet or liquid form. Before use, dissolve in hot water (50-55°C). For preparation, use a container made of metal that does not oxidize. The solution is thoroughly mixed and applied to the bed at the rate of 10 liters of water per 50 m².
Correct use of stimulants helps accelerate the growth of seedlings, improve the quality of flowering and increase the number of ovaries on tomatoes. Productivity increases by about 25-30%.
Twice treatment is required - a week before the flowers open and during the fruit formation phase.
The modern fertilizer market offers several stimulants for tomatoes:
Fruit formation stimulants are applied locally, i.e. Do not water the entire bush with this substance, and especially do not pour this composition under the root. Fruit formation stimulants are sprayed only on inflorescences at a certain phase of flower opening. You can simply dip the inflorescence in this solution.
Vitalizers
No less popular are vitalizers, which contain a vital component - silicon dioxide. It promotes intensive development of bushes and abundant fruiting.
Treatment will help increase the number of ovaries
Such preparations are made from the sap of cedar, plantain, pine or cypress. They contain protein and various minerals, and they also have a high life expectancy.
Available in granular or liquid form. After application, the number of ovaries increases, the period of fruit ripening is reduced, and their quality improves.
Per 100 m² you will need 20 liters of working solution.
This product is dissolved in water according to the instructions. It is often used when unripe vegetables fall off in order to save the specimens remaining on the bush.
Irrigation frequency is once a week, starting from the flowering period until the development of already formed ovaries.
Such vitalizers include, for example, the drug HB 101, which is produced both as granules for application to the soil and as a solution in a microcapsule for spraying plants.
Gibberellic acid
This is a hormonal drug that significantly increases the productivity of tomatoes. Release form: liquid or powder. This product is combined with seed treatments before sowing, after planting seedlings and at the stage of fruit formation.
The main advantages of fertilizer:
Prepare as follows: 1 g of the substance is dissolved in 100 ml of alcohol.
The shelf life is six months, so you can prepare it ahead of time. Before use, the concentrate is diluted with water - 50 ml per liter of water.
Potassium and phosphorus
Tomatoes experience the greatest need for potassium at the stage of fruit formation. This component promotes high productivity of garden crops, improves the taste of the crop and provides strong immunity against diseases.
Phosphorus increases the resistance of bushes to sudden temperature changes, stimulates the development of the root system and fruit set.
Feeding is carried out in the first ten days of July, subsequent meals are carried out once every 30 days. For feeding, it is better to use a complex composition of superphosphate and potassium sulfate, which you can purchase at any gardening store.
Treatment of tomatoes with folk remedies to increase ovaries
Spare no time and effort in caring for tomatoes, don’t stop at chemical yield stimulants, pay attention to other options. Check out reliable, proven recipes for spraying and fertilizing tomatoes; they are easy to prepare and do not require major financial expenses.
Wood ash
Ash is a source of potassium and phosphorus and helps stimulate flowering and fruiting of tomatoes. A tablespoon of ash is poured into 2 liters of hot water, mixed, covered and left for a day. Before use, filter the liquid, pour half a liter of infusion under one bush. Fertilization with ash can be carried out every 1–2 weeks.
For foliar feeding, the solution is prepared differently - 600 grams of ash are stirred in 6 liters of water, boiled for 30 minutes and left to infuse for 5 hours. The liquid is brought to a volume of 20 liters and 80 grams of laundry soap are added. The resulting solution is filtered and spraying begins.
Eggshell
The product is considered a good comprehensive fertilizer for tomatoes. The crushed shells of 3-4 eggs are poured into 3 liters of water, tightly closed with a lid, and left for 3 days in a dark, warm room. As soon as the infusion darkens and acquires an unpleasant odor, it is ready for use. More often, eggshells are used when growing seedlings, but this infusion can also be used to water bushes during the active growing season. After the main watering, 200 grams of fertilizer is enough for one plant.
Iodine
A mixture of 20 drops of iodine, a liter of whey and a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide (the amount of ingredients is calculated for a bucket of water) will help you get rid of late blight and get the richest possible harvest of tomatoes. You need to fertilize tomatoes with the solution not after watering, but instead, the procedure is carried out 2 times a month. The recipe is also suitable for spraying, which can be repeated every 10 days.
If, while growing seedlings, you water the already strong bushes once with a weak solution of iodine (2 drops per 4 liters of water), then in the future the plants will bloom and set more actively. The brushes will become branched, large and strong.
Attention!
Any fertilizing and spraying should be done in the morning or evening. During the day, procedures are only permissible in cloudy weather, when there is no risk of precipitation. If it rains after surface treatment of the tomatoes, repeat the procedure after 2 or 3 days.
Banana peel
Feeding tomato seedlings with banana peels helps to develop strong immunity in plants and the ability to actively set and form large, tasty fruits. Watering young tomatoes with this solution will contribute to the accumulation of potassium, the lack of which negatively affects the process of nitrogen absorption.
Place the skins of 3 or 4 bananas in a 3-liter jar, add warm water and leave for 3 days. You need to water the bushes until the soil is completely wet, no more than once a week. The infusion can be stored in the refrigerator, but before use it is warmed to room temperature.
Boric acid
The substance is involved in the transport of calcium to all parts of the plant, accelerates the growth of shoots, helps preserve flowers and form fruits.
Some gardeners recommend adding a little powder to the holes a day before planting, but it is better to spray the bushes with the product during the active growing season. 5 grams of boric acid are dissolved in a bucket of water, the plants are irrigated evenly, covering all the stems and the back of the leaves. Remember, the substance dissolves better in hot water. Another version of the mixture - 5 grams of urea, copper sulfate and boric acid are dissolved in 10 liters of water, the treatment is carried out twice with a break of 2 weeks.
Yeast
Yeast feeding of tomatoes can be done only once, before mass flowering begins. Place 100 grams of sugar and live yeast in a three-liter jar, fill it almost to the top with warm water and place it in a warm place for fermentation. During the fermentation process, the mixture is stirred periodically. The resulting liquid is diluted (200 ml of mash per bucket of water) and watered over the tomatoes, at the rate of one liter per bush.
Mineral cocktail
A liter jar of ash is poured into a bucket, filled with 2.5 liters of boiling water, allowed to cool, 5 grams of boric acid and 5 ml of iodine are added, water is added until 10 liters are obtained, and left for 24 hours.
The resulting infusion is diluted with water 1:1, and a liter of the mixture is poured under each tomato bush. Fertilizing can be done once, during the period of mass flowering and formation of ovaries. Experienced gardeners advise growing tomatoes on “your own land.” If the tomatoes are not sick with anything this season and are not affected by pests, the tops can be embedded in the soil in the fall. The next year, plant the crop again in the same place. Such advice contradicts the rules of crop rotation, but numerous experiments by summer residents show really good results - the harvest increases by 50%.
The effect of spraying with boron and iodine
Sometimes they are not limited to just watering or fertilizing the soil. Many experienced gardeners recommend spraying the bush before the flowers begin to form. That is, they do this at the time of bud formation.
Most often, boric acid or certain combinations with iodine are used. The recipes are prepared as follows:
- Take a liter of milk. It is advisable to use one that contains a minimum amount of fat. Add 5-6 drops of iodine into it. Shake everything vigorously to ensure uniform mixing of the components.
- The second recipe uses boric acid. It is necessary to dilute 1 g of this substance in 1 liter of water. But the water must be hot enough. Then, shake everything to dissolve and allow it to gradually cool at room temperature.
The same manipulations are carried out with the two resulting compositions - the plants are sprayed. At the same time, existing flowers are preserved, and the ovaries are formed stronger and healthier. There is no color loss, which allows you to get a fairly intense harvest.
It is best to use this recipe at the moment when the budding stage of tomatoes begins. But it is also effective when mass flowering occurs. Even at the moment when fruiting begins, you can use either a mixture of milk and iodine or a solution of boric acid. This allows you to form fairly strong and strong tomatoes that will gain weight and color well. In addition, this will protect the plant to a certain extent from various diseases and parasites.
Folk remedies for greenhouse tomatoes
Many fertilizers are used both for seedlings in open ground and for greenhouses. However, there are also folk remedies for starting tomatoes in a greenhouse that were not mentioned earlier:
- Coffee beans are the best source of nutrients for greenhouse plants. When ground, they perfectly loosen the soil and provide the root system with access to oxygen.
- Onion peel fills seedlings with useful microelements, disinfects and protects leaves from pests. You need to take 40 g of husk, add 10 liters of water and leave for 96 hours.
- Strengthens the immune system and accelerates the growth of seedlings with a yeast mixture for starting tomatoes. It can change the structure of the soil and speed up the metabolism in it. To prepare the fertilizer, use 2 g of dry or 100 g of fresh yeast and add 2 liters of warm water.
Ovarian stimulants
How to spray tomatoes for ovary? Thanks to stimulants, you can easily increase the number of ovaries and reap a decent harvest. Stimulants include the necessary natural elements responsible for proper metabolism in the plant.
The drugs can be found in the form of tablets, powder or mixture. Before the procedure, the drug must be dissolved in water.
Experts include vitalizers, the component of which is silicon dioxide, as natural stimulants. This substance accelerates cell formation and enhances plant development.
This fertilizer can be found either in liquid or granular form. After application, the number of ovaries increases, the ripening period decreases, and the quality of tomatoes increases. Before use, the vitalizer should be diluted with water, and then it can be sprayed on plants.
Precautionary measures
The pesticide belongs to the third hazard class, which means a low level of toxicity. The instructions for the drug indicate that when working with it you must adhere to the following safety rules:
- do not contact people with an allergic reaction to gibberellins with the working solution and powder;
- before work, you need to cover your eyes, hair, and skin with clothes and accessories;
- It is strongly recommended to wear a gauze bandage on the mouth and nose;
- the drug must not be diluted in containers intended for cooking;
- if the powder or working solution gets on the skin, respiratory system or eyes, you need to wash it off with plenty of clean water;
- If the Ovary is swallowed, induce vomiting and take activated charcoal.
At what temperature and air humidity do tomatoes set well in a greenhouse and open ground?
Optimal temperature for tomatoes
If you carefully read our article, you probably realized that tomatoes are quite finicky plants. In view of this, if you do not create ideal conditions for their growth, then you may not get a good harvest. That is why, as soon as the plant approaches the period of mass flowering and fruiting, you must monitor the temperature and humidity very carefully. These indicators have a direct impact on pollen.
With insufficient humidity and high air temperature, pollen becomes sterile and, as a result, fruits are not formed. If the humidity is high, the pollen becomes very heavy, sticks together and simply does not fall out of the flowers. All this leads to the fact that pollination does not occur. In addition, high humidity provokes fungal diseases of tomatoes, which leads to problems with the ovary and even death of the plants.
Optimal temperature for tomatoes:
- When planting in the ground - 22-24 degrees
- During the flowering period - 24-28 degrees
IMPORTANT: If the temperature rises to 35 degrees or drops below 15 , the ovary on the tomatoes stops forming.
As for humidity, ideally it should be kept at around 60%. But this humidity is easiest to maintain in greenhouses, so for tomatoes that grow in open areas, it can be reduced to 50%. If humidity levels drop even lower, then immediate action must be taken. In the morning, intensively water the roots, and in the evening, spray the plants with ordinary water.
Advice from experienced gardeners
There are many recommendations on what to water tomatoes for ovary. Time-tested folk remedies give good results. Plants react with great gratitude; moreover, the preparations are absolutely harmless to humans and the environment, and, in addition to replenishing the mineral composition of the soil, they also have other important functions, being antiseptics, fungicidal and insecticidal agents, as well as sources of beneficial microflora.
So, the most popular are:
- wood ash solution, which is rich in potassium, calcium and many other trace elements. To prepare, mix 450-500 g of ash with hot water (10 l), leave for 24 hours and pour 0.5 l per bush. Repeat the procedure every six months. If you add laundry soap shavings (75-100 g), then spray the solution over the sheet in dry, warm, cloudy weather.
- eggshells are a source of calcium and other minerals. Having removed all the films, the shells of 4-5 eggs are finely pounded into crumbs in a mortar, poured into a three-liter bottle and filled with water. Infuse in a warm, dark place until the liquid turns brown. Apply 150-200 ml per bush to activate the fruiting phase.
- The infusion from banana peels is prepared in approximately the same way as from the shells: 3-4 peels are crushed and filled with the same amount of water, kept in the dark for 72 hours and used weekly to saturate the tomatoes with potassium. The working solution can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, making sure to warm the liquid before use.
- tincture of iodine in combination with whey from sour milk will protect tomatoes from late blight and other diseases, and will also saturate the soil with beneficial microflora. Add 20-25 drops of a pharmaceutical alcohol solution of iodine and a liter of whey to a bucket of water, stir thoroughly and pour the mixture under the root or spray it on a leaf every 10-14 days.
- A solution of boric acid (5 g per 10 l) is used to irrigate the tomato greens abundantly, which will ensure accelerated absorption of the beneficial mineral and activate the fruiting stage.
- yeast water - used once a season before flowering, which will ensure the active growth of beneficial microflora in the soil and stimulate the formation of ovaries. To prepare, mix 30 g of fresh product with water (1 l) and sugar (1.5-2 tsp), leave for fermentation for 5-7 days. Next, the composition is adjusted to a concentration of 1:15 and applied one liter per bush.
- a powerful mineral cocktail is a multi-component, highly effective remedy that is easy to prepare yourself. Why pour 1 kg of wood ash into 3 liters of boiling water, stir thoroughly and cool. The volume is added to 10 liters, 4 g of boric acid and 5 ml of iodine tincture are added, the mixture is kept warm for a day, diluted with the same amount of cold water and 0.75-1 liter is used per bush.
Timely application of additional fertilizers will significantly increase the fertility of tomatoes. It is important to monitor the condition of the plants and respond to changes, which will allow you to create a rational schedule of watering and fertilizing, and grow a bountiful harvest.
Sources
- https://ogorod-bez-hlopot.ru/kak-uvelich-zavyaz-na-tomatax.html
- https://dr-dez.ru/vyrashchivanie/dlya-zavyazi-pomidor.html
- https://vserastenija.ru/chem-opryskivat-pomidory-vo-vremya-cveteniya-dlya-zavyazi/
- https://da4nik.ru/ogorod/ovoschi/203-chem-mozhno-opryskivat-pomidory-dlja-zavjazi.html
- https://FB.ru/article/343292/luchshie-narodnyie-sredstva-dlya-zavyazi-pomidorov
- https://moyasotka.com/ogorod/ovoshhevodstvo/tomatnye/pomidory/chem-opryskat-pomidory-dlya-zavyazi-v-teplitse.html
- https://voronaz.ru/chem-pobryzgat-pomidory-dlya-zavyazi-v-teplitse/
- https://kakpolivat.ru/vegetables/chem-polit-pomidory-dlya-zavyazi-plodov/
How to fertilize. Rules for applying fertilizers
To feed tomatoes, it is necessary to choose not only the right period, but also the time and weather conditions.
Root feeding to increase yield
Root feeding is often used because it is considered by gardeners to be more effective and convenient. Its implementation is combined with watering.
Note! The water used for feeding should not be chlorinated. It is advisable to use rainwater, but if it is unavailable, you can use tap water that has been pre-settled.
Stages of feeding for the formation of the ovary:
- 10 days after planting the seedlings in a permanent place.
- 2 weeks after the first feeding.
- At the beginning of the flowering period.
Foliar treatments - what is the best way to spray?
One of the most effective means that can be sprayed on plants at this stage of development is ovary stimulants. We talked about them in detail in one of the previous paragraphs.
Foliar feeding of tomatoes is especially necessary in unfavorable conditions.
Stages of foliar feeding for the formation of the ovary:
- Immediately after transplanting the bushes to a permanent place.
- Fully developing bushes need to be fertilized no more than 4 times throughout the entire season.
- Tomatoes lagging behind in development - about 7 times per season.
- Non-developing plants – once every 10 days.
Reasons for decreasing or missing ties
With normal development of peduncles, pollen from the stamens falls on the pistil and fertilizes the flower. But if for some reason pollination does not occur, then such ovaries begin to crumble. The common source of this phenomenon is the stress that the plant experiences.
Therefore, the reasons for the lack of ovary may be:
- Temperature conditions. Tomatoes are heat-loving, so it is important to maintain the correct temperature: at night - within +13...+21 °C, and during the day around +21...29 °C.
- Humidity. Normal humidity is 40–70%. In a dry microclimate, pollen will not develop; in a too humid climate, existing flowers begin to fall off.
- Lack of pollination. Tomatoes are pollinated by the wind, insects, and touching the bush. If pollination does not occur, then you just need to shake the bushes (knock on the trellis) to help the process.
- Insufficient watering. The soil must be kept evenly moist throughout the growing season for the development of a healthy root system, which has a positive effect on the formation of clusters.
- Excess nitrogen. It is observed in the form of too powerful stems, an undeveloped root system and a lack of ovaries.
- Excess of green mass of the bush. If the stepsons are not removed, then energy and nutrients are spent on leaf growth and also form few ovaries.
- Lack of microelements: phosphorus and potassium. With a lack of microelements, ovules are formed in small quantities.
The ovary does not fall off suddenly.
You can notice the problem by the yellowing of the peduncle stem and take action in time. If a plant is constantly exposed to extreme conditions, then it stops developing and focuses on survival. Did you know? To ensure that insects actively pollinate tomatoes, plant honey plants nearby.
Microclimate disturbance
High temperatures during the summer are a common cause of reduced flowering in tomatoes. Tomato flowers often fall off if the air temperature rises to +30 °C and lasts for 24 hours. The pollen will lose its ability to fertilize. And at temperatures below +15 ° C, the plant stops growing and at the same time loses the ability to create pollen.
Tomatoes can also be weakened by fluctuations in day and night temperatures - this is especially true for those grown in open ground. For fruit to set, the plant must be strong and healthy.
Extremely dry or humid air interferes with fertilization. Flowers exposed to dry or very humid air (below 40% or above 70%) cannot be fertilized properly, so they dry out and fall off.
Did you know? The homeland of the tomato is South and North America. Wild tomato is a perennial. Its name translates as “big berry”.
Excess humidity is felt in the greenhouse immediately after watering - the “greenhouse effect”. In this case, the pollen begins to stick together into large lumps and falls off without pollinating the ovary. These conditions are favorable for the development of various fungi and pests. Good ventilation will help reduce humidity. In cases where the weather has been hot for a long time and the air has dried out, water the alleys and they will increase the humidity to acceptable levels.
Lack or excess of nitrogen
We advise you to read
How to feed tomatoes with yeast: the best fertilizer recipes Feeding with organic fertilizers - mullein, bird droppings, adds a large amount of nitrogen to the soil. If there is more of it in the soil than the plant needs, then intensive development of leaves and trunk will become noticeable without the appearance of an ovary.
In this case you need:
- feed the tomatoes with phosphorus;
- reduce watering;
- remove excess leaf mass.
It is also always important to remove stepchildren in a timely manner.
The plant may be deficient in nutrients, such as potassium. In this case, you will need to feed the tomatoes with urea.
Important! Potassium increases soil acidity. To prevent this from happening, consider the initial condition of the soil before applying fertilizer. Excess potassium causes plants to dry out because the ability to absorb nutrients is blocked.
Diseases and pests
Some insects also love to eat tomatoes. The cutworm butterfly gnaws flowers and ovaries of ground plants, and the whitefly prefers greenhouse tomatoes. To detect the appearance of pests in time, insect traps are installed. This allows you to start fighting when the first pests appear on the plants. It is also recommended to spray tomatoes with pest repellents before flowering for preventive purposes. It is not advisable to spray plants directly during flowering.
Among the insects that cause damage to the ovaries, the most common are:
- whitefly - can destroy the future harvest in 2 weeks due to disruption of photosynthesis processes in plants;
- wireworm — eats the roots and stems of tomatoes, stopping the development of the plant;
- mole cricket and cockchafer - they gnaw the roots, destroying the entire bush at once;
- scoop - damages leaves and young stems.
Excessive humidity can be the root cause of fungal damage to the plant. As a result, the entire plant or parts of it die. Fungal diseases are a common cause of poor harvests.
Other reasons
Other reasons for the absence of ovary relate to the conditions in which tomatoes grow:
- Plants that grow in the shade do not develop ovaries well due to slower photosynthesis.
- Improper rapid watering with cold water causes a slowdown in growth processes. It is often found among summer residents who come on the weekend and try to quickly water drooping plants.
- Wrong seeds - collected from hybrid varieties (the letter “F” next to the name of the variety), such seeds most often do not produce a harvest the next year.
- The plant lacks strength (weakened bush) to form an ovary.
- Excessive amount of fruit. If the bush has formed too many fruits, they begin to compete for food, so some of the ovaries fall off.
- Treatment with a chemical that affected the process of pollination or formation of flower stalks.
We advise you to read more about what pests and diseases threaten tomatoes in a greenhouse.
How much ovary should I leave on tomatoes in a greenhouse and open ground?
There should be no more than 8 flower clusters on one stem
. As practice shows, the amount of ovary on the bushes has a direct impact on the quality of the fruit, as well as on their ripening period. The more tomato fruits set, the smaller they will be and the longer they will ripen in the fall. That is why experienced gardeners advise leaving no more than 8 flower clusters on one stem. If you have formed a bush with two main trunks, then the number of flower brushes can be increased to 12-15.
True, these recommendations apply to plants planted in open ground. If your tomatoes grow in a greenhouse and you are not upset by the small size of the fruits, then you can not take any measures and do not remove the formed ovary. In the greenhouse you will be able to maintain optimal humidity and temperature even with the onset of cold weather, which means your harvest will safely ripen even with the arrival of the first frost.
Is it necessary to pick off the first ovaries of tomatoes?
You can only pick off the first ovary from healthy plants.
This controversial issue interests many beginning gardeners. A fairly large number of people involved in growing tomatoes claim that this procedure is mandatory if you ultimately want to get a good harvest. But there are still those who believe that cutting off the first ovary does not at all affect the amount of the future harvest.
They argue that after the ovary is torn off, the plant has to spend energy not on the fruiting process, but on restoring the damaged area. And in some ways they are right. If you do this procedure not quite correctly, the plant may eventually begin to hurt.
In view of this, if you are cutting off the ovary, then be sure to treat the cut site with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. For this reason, it will be better if you decide on your own whether you need to carry out such a procedure, especially since with proper care and timely watering, tomato bushes will in any case please you with a good harvest.
Do I need to fertilize flowering tomatoes?
The main reason why you should not neglect feeding at this time is that lack of nutrition can lead to the formation of a large number of barren flowers in the plant .
They will take nutrients from developing fruits, which will lead to a significant reduction in harvest volume.
This can also have a very bad effect on tomato seeds . Seeds of weakened plants germinate poorly, seedlings from them are weak and often get sick.
So if you prefer to grow tomatoes from your own seeds, pay attention to feeding during this period.
How to fertilize tomatoes after planting in the ground, read the material at our link.
Important : Another possible consequence of lack of nutrition during flowering can be sour-tasting tomatoes and hard cores.
Why tomatoes fatten, grow green and have no ovary: reasons
Reasons why tomatoes become fattened
I would immediately like to say that this problem is more typical of greenhouse tomatoes. As a rule, plants growing in the most comfortable conditions cease to care about the formation of seeds for reproduction and, as a result, tomato fruits do not appear on them.
Most often, such plants spend all their energy on forming additional shoots, leaves and enlarging the main trunk. As a result, such a tomato becomes similar not to a fragile plant, but to a small tree.
Reasons why tomatoes fatten:
- Excess nitrogen in the soil. If for some reason you oversaturate the soil with nitrogen fertilizers, then eventually your tomatoes will begin to fatten. Since nitrogen is a powerful stimulator of green growth, this can provoke the plant to grow side shoots and leaves. If you apply nitrogen fertilizer just before flowering, you can forget about a good harvest.
- Frequent and meager watering. Quite often, novice gardeners start watering their plants every day, and then wonder why the tomatoes don’t set. Due to such watering, the plant cannot form a full-fledged root system and for this reason it does not have enough nutrients to produce fruits. That is why it is best to water tomatoes once every 4-6 days, but generously.
Diseases and pests that threaten the ovary
Septoria of tomatoes
Sometimes the reason for the lack of new fruits is the defeat of tomatoes by diseases and pests.
The most common of them.
- Apical rot . The disease affects the crown of the tomato bush and leads to inhibition of the flower cluster and shoots. To combat the disease, it is necessary to fertilize and saturate the plant with calcium. Therefore, you will need to dissolve 30 g of calcium nitrate in 10 liters of water, then spray and water the plants with the resulting product.
- Spider mite . It is impossible to replace the pest with the naked eye; it can only be recognized by oppressed apical shoots, the absence of a new ovary, yellowing of the leaves along the edge and a thin cobweb. To combat ticks, acaricides should be used, such as Fufanon, Actellik, according to the manufacturer’s attached recommendations.
- Aphid . Tomatoes can be affected by different types of this pest. You can notice them on the back of the leaf or on young shoots. Massive accumulation of aphids leads to oppression of the ovary and lack of full growth of the bush. To combat the pest, it is necessary to spray the tomatoes with an insecticide such as Karate Zeon, Aktara, Akarin, Iskra.
By carrying out timely processing of tomatoes for better ovary, you can reap an impressive harvest.
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Feeding
Mineral fertilizers
The main elements that tomatoes need are phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen.
Nitrogen must be treated at the beginning of the development of flowering bushes, with its help they increase green mass. A lack of substance is easily recognized by thin, frail stems, pale leaves, small bush size and slow growth. Nitrogen is mainly found in organic fertilizers. Of the minerals, it is found in urea, as well as nitrates - potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, etc.
Nitrogen must be applied extremely carefully, since an overdose of it will result in little yield and the fruits will develop poorly. Instead, green mass will begin to grow.
It is necessary to spray tomatoes with phosphorus at the beginning of development; it is needed a little less than nitrogen. The need for it grows over time. Without it, roots and stems will not develop properly, fruits will become worse set and ripen more slowly. Phosphorus deficiency is noticeable by purple leaves.
Fertilizers containing it are phosphates, superphosphate, ammophosphate, nitroammophoska. They are added according to the instructions.
Spraying on the leaf promotes faster absorption of the drug.
The third most important element is potassium. It is produced in the form of potassium sulfate and potassium sulfate (which also contain sulfur needed by tomatoes), potassium chloride, potassium salt, and also as part of complex fertilizers.
Organic fertilizers
Mostly a variety of droppings are used - chicken or cattle manure. It contains nitrogen and some other elements. Other organic substances include:
- peat;
- compost;
- yeast.
Solutions of them in small concentrations, so as not to cause burns, can be sprinkled on or treated with bushes.