How to properly form bushes of tall and short tomatoes into two, three stems, or one stem in a greenhouse and open ground: diagram, tips. When is the best time to start shaping tomatoes? If tomatoes are not good

How many trunks and stems is it better to form tomatoes in a greenhouse and open ground?

Gardeners in southern latitudes grow plants such as tomatoes, in addition to other common vegetable crops. The warm climate is ideal for tomatoes: in favorable weather conditions you can get a generous harvest.
With insufficient lighting and low temperatures, which is typical for northern latitudes, tomatoes grow and develop more slowly.

Low varieties of tomatoes

It is better to familiarize yourself with the recommendations for forming tomato bushes in a greenhouse in advance. Spring will come very soon and gardening and gardening topics will become relevant.

To grow in a greenhouse, gardeners advise choosing indeterminate varieties and hybrids.

In greenhouse conditions, indeterminate varieties and hybrids produce a lot of fruit. Tomato bushes of this group continue to grow until the onset of sub-zero temperatures. But such tomato bushes not only grow upward, but also acquire side branches.
Plants have a feature that gardeners have to constantly struggle with: shoots form on the main trunk. They are usually called stepchildren.
One or two stepsons grow from the leaf sinuses within a week.
Overfeeding the bushes can lead to the formation of stepsons not only in the leaf axils, but also in the flower clusters, even on the leaves.
The gardener will have to struggle for a long time with the appearance of stepsons in order to move freely around the greenhouse. Otherwise, by mid-July the tomatoes will occupy the entire greenhouse space, and by August it will simply be impossible to move around the greenhouse.

How to determine where the stepson is and where the leaf is

A novice gardener may decide that such a “forest” of tomato shoots is certainly a big harvest. But tomatoes with such lush foliage will experience a lack of nutrition, and the short summer will not be enough for the stepchildren to develop into full-fledged shoots.
Lack of sunlight and dampness will create real resort conditions for various diseases.
Plants will be forced to direct energy not to ripening fruits, but to growing greenery and a large number of defective peduncles. But the foliage and flowers of tomatoes are not eaten. Is it worth enjoying the beauty of green tops?
Therefore, if your plans do not include breeding several generations of Colorado potato beetles during the summer, then the formation of tomato bushes with 1 or 2 trunks is one of the important stages of proper cultivation.

The formation of tomato bushes in a greenhouse is one of the important stages of their rational cultivation

How to properly grow single-stem tomatoes?

The most accessible method for beginning gardeners is to leave 1 stem per tomato plant. This method is used on indeterminate tomatoes: all side branches are removed. After this, only the main trunk remains. Before the onset of August, 5-6 bunches of fruit have time to ripen on a tomato bush.

The method of forming a tomato bush into one trunk is recommended for beginning gardeners. Tomato fruits of indeterminate varieties can be obtained throughout the summer.
After the appearance of the 10th or 11th leaf, a flower cluster grows; further tomato flowers will appear after 3 leaves.
The packet of tomato seeds usually indicates how the stem will be formed. In the absence of such a mark, it must be indicated that the selected variety belongs to the group of indeterminate varieties.

The packet of tomato seeds usually indicates how the stem will be formed.

When do stepsons appear on a tomato plant?

The tops growing on the sides of the main trunk, which are more correctly called stepchildren, appear after the first flower cluster has blossomed.
Her stepson is growing right under her. The first stepson on the trunk is durable and thick, so experienced gardeners do not tear it off, but pinch it after the flower cluster appears.
Pinching is done in such a way that two leaves remain above the brush. This simple but mandatory manipulation will allow the juice to circulate fully.
Further cultivation, in addition to watering and fertilizing, also involves breaking out the shoots once a week.

Pruning side shoots

With the onset of August, it is worth paying attention again to the formation of the tomato bush:

During this period, it is necessary to pinch the tops of the tomatoes.
Flowers and unripe fruits, the size of which does not exceed the size of a hazelnut, are removed.
If the weather remains warm enough in September, then you don’t have to pinch the tomato plants or pick off the small flower clusters.

Forming a tomato bush into 1 stem

Should I cut off or leave the lower leaves?

The foliage below breaks off when the fruits are fully formed and begin to ripen.
Start picking off leaves 1-3 pieces at a time. once a week is needed in the last days of May - at the beginning of June.
If you pick off more than 3 leaves at a time, the plant will be severely stressed.
This unfavorable period for the tomato bush will affect growth (it will be delayed), and partial loss of formed fruits is also possible.

Growing tomatoes with one stem

How to properly form tomato bushes into 1 stem: diagram, description

The most common way for experienced gardeners to form tomatoes is in one stem. It is used for greenhouse tomatoes or plants that are grown without additional shelter.

Forming tomatoes into one stem:

The first time the side branches are pinched 10-12 days after planting the seedlings. All side leaves are torn off. After this formation, flowers and tomatoes will grow on the main stem.
In the last days of August, when many fruits have already formed on the bush, the top breaks off. This will speed up the ripening process of tomatoes.
Experienced gardeners carry out pinching and pinching tomato bushes in the beds this way: many fruits are formed on one trunk, and no foliage grows on the sides of the stem.

How to create super-determinate tomato varieties

Why is this necessary?

If the stepsons are not removed in time, they will take nutrients from the plant, which must be directed to the growth and ripening of fruits. In addition, overgrown shoots will create shading for the plants, and instead of tomatoes, you are likely to get a large harvest of green vegetative mass.

If you do not carry out the pinching procedure, then the plant will produce a large number of small, long-ripening fruits.

By removing unwanted shoots, not only does the main plant receive more nutrients and light, but it also improves air circulation. Its stagnation can lead to increased humidity and the development of diseases, for example, late blight of tomatoes.

Late blight

So, thanks to stepsoning you can:

get more crops of better quality,
help accelerate the ripening of tomatoes,
increase the duration of fruiting,
carry out disease prevention.
form one or more stems in a plant,

Tall tomatoes especially need this technique.

How to properly form tomato bushes into 2 stems: diagram, description

The method of forming tomato bushes into two trunks can be used for varieties that do not grow very tall.
These are determinate varieties. A small number of flower clusters are formed at the top of each plant.
To get a generous harvest, you need to shape the tomato plant so that several trunks remain. After this, a cluster of flowers will grow on each top of the bush and the tomatoes will ripen.

Formation of tomato bushes into 2 stems:

The shoots do not break off until two leaves appear side by side. The stepson is removed along with the side branches.
There are a decent number of branches and two trunks left on the trunk. This method is used on open ground plants.

Advantages of forming tomatoes into two stems:

The ripening period of the crop is shortened
The number of fruits increases

Methods for forming tomato bushes with 2 or 3 trunks

Late blight (late blight)

Phytophthora - fruits

The first signs of late blight
Late blight (late blight) is perhaps the most common disease of tomatoes. It also affects tomatoes in open ground. Late blight is a fungal disease. And fungal spores, as we know, develop where there is dampness. Sudden changes in air temperature also contribute to the development of this tomato disease. First the leaves turn black and dry, then the fruits.

Watering greenhouse tomatoes through a bottle

But an experienced gardener knows how to delay the onset of this tomato disease as much as possible in order to have time to collect the maximum amount of fruit. I use regular plastic bottles with the bottom cut off for this. I make holes in the side with a nail and insert the bottle, neck down, near the roots of the tomato bush. That is, I will water the tomatoes not on the surface of the soil, but through a bottle. A bottle of water should be covered with something on top, for example, a mayonnaise bucket. In this case, all the moisture will go to the roots, but no moisture will get into the air, and the leaves below will not sweat. That is, with this simple technique we do not create conditions for the proliferation of mushrooms in the greenhouse.

You can prevent the development of late blight in tomatoes growing in open ground or a greenhouse by regularly (once a week) spraying with whey. Lactic acid prevents fungal spores from developing. Also, for the prevention of late blight, drugs such as Fitosporin, Zaslon, Barrier are also used.

What happens if the tomatoes are not shaped?

To get a decent result, you need to organize proper care for tomatoes. Otherwise, tomato plants, in the absence of sufficient heat and light, simply will not have time to ripen to such a state that the gardener will receive fruits of good quality and in sufficient quantity.

Unfortunately, even experienced gardeners do not know methods that help to form tomato bushes correctly. According to most gardeners, the main stage is planting the plants, and the number of fruits obtained will depend on the feeding, sunlight and water that the plant received.
However, by following the instructions for forming tomato bushes in greenhouse conditions or in open ground, the growing process will be more rational, and the tomatoes will be rewarded with a generous harvest and a neat appearance.

Mosaic

Mosaic
is a viral disease. The disease is quite unpleasant because it has virtually no cure. The only remedy is prevention. And then you need to treat the seeds before planting. It is useless to treat diseased plants. The leaves of diseased plants acquire a variegated (mosaic) color - dark and light green areas alternate. Yellow spots sometimes develop on the fruits. If your tomatoes are sick with this disease, it is better to simply remove them. Mosaic disease mainly affects tomatoes in open ground. The first source of infection is infected seeds. For prevention, it is best to treat the seeds before planting.