Tomatoes Wither in Greenhouses: Instructions for Beginners

Tomatoes have wilted in the greenhouse: what to do?

Tomatoes are the most valuable vegetable crop, one of the favorites of gardeners. Pests and especially diseases can cause enormous damage, deteriorating the quality of the fruit and reducing the yield. In weakened plants, the leaves curl and wither, and the fruits are affected. To avoid all this, it is necessary to carry out protective, destructive and preventive measures.

Tomato planting scheme.

Tomato seedlings

Tomato seedlings are grown in cups or pots filled with compost for 50-60 days. The mixture for pots must be nutritious and loose, there should be no dense inclusions in it.

A mixture consisting of equal parts of humus, peat, horse manure and turf soil is allowed.

Why is caring for seedlings a very responsible job? Because during the growth of tomatoes they need to create all the optimal conditions: watering and fertilizing the plants, ventilating the room, etc. By the time seedlings are planted in open ground, the plants should be quite strong, unpampered, with a healthy root system and foliage.

Growing in a greenhouse

Tomato planting scheme.

Seedlings are planted in early May. For the soil, prepare a sod-humus mixture consisting of 8-10 g/m2 ammonium nitrate, 40-50 g/m2 superphosphate, 25-30 g/m2 potassium chloride. Peat with a low degree of decomposition is also used: 100 g of dolomite flour or lime, approximately 500 g of superphosphate, approximately 300 g of potassium chloride.

Varieties that ripen early are planted at a distance of 40x40 cm, mid-ripening varieties - at a distance of 40x50 cm. Seedlings should be planted in even rows that can be easily marked along a cord. Make holes along the line, into which 1-2 handfuls of compost or humus should be poured, then mineral fertilizers are added, watered abundantly, mixed and the seedlings are planted.

As soon as the plants have taken root, they begin to be tied to the trellises. Tomatoes in a greenhouse are grown in one stem; to do this, side shoots are regularly removed from the axils of the leaves. Stepchildren need to be broken out in a timely manner, until their length is no more than 3-5 cm. During the day it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature level: 20-25°C, at night - 16-180°C. The greenhouse must be ventilated, especially during the flowering period. For tomatoes in a greenhouse, frequent watering is not needed; they need to be watered generously, preferably before lunch along the grooves. Then, in order to slow down evaporation from the soil, it needs to be loosened.

Scheme of planting tomato seedlings.

Why is plant nutrition important? Without them, the plant will die. It is necessary to feed for better strengthening and fruit formation every two to three weeks. In the period before the mass setting of fruits from the flowering of the first cluster, when preparing a fertilizer solution, take 10 liters of water per 15 g of ammonium nitrate, about 60 g of superphosphate and approximately 40 g of potassium chloride. During fruiting, plants require almost twice as much potassium fertilizer up to 50-60 g, and the concentration in the superphosphate solution can be slightly reduced to 40 g per 10 liters of water.

Foliar feeding of plants is also effective, as it prevents diseases. The following microelements are added to 10 liters of solution: 2 g of potassium permanganate, 1 g of boric acid, 0.5 g of copper sulfate and the same amount of zinc and manganese sulfate. You can spray plants with a spray bottle in the morning.

During the entire time of caring for tomatoes, the plants are hilled, the soil is loosened, and fertile soil is added. The first fruits appear after sowing on day 120-125.

Preventive measures

Creating favorable conditions for growing plants can have a positive impact on their productivity. Why can tomatoes get sick? It is necessary, firstly, to remember that you cannot plant tomatoes in a greenhouse for several years in a row. Their planting must be alternated with cucumbers, after which all soil must be removed from the greenhouse, at least its top layer, and treated with a very hot solution (1 tablespoon of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water).

Scheme of a bed with tomatoes.

It is important to know that it is not advisable to grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse.

If there is no other way out, then it is imperative to make a partition of film in the middle. The greenhouse on the tomato side should be illuminated by sunlight all day.

Secondly, it is necessary to ensure that there is enough light for the plants, since tomatoes are very light-loving. It is imperative to water correctly, without flooding the plants, since an incorrectly selected watering regime will cause the leaves of the plants to wither and the root system may rot. Do not forget to fertilize your plants, as they may die from a lack of mineral fertilizers.

Why do tomatoes wither in a greenhouse, and how to deal with it?

Potato mold (late blight) is a disease of tomatoes that causes great harm. This disease affects leaves and stems, green fruits. The carrier of the disease is potatoes. Prevention of late blight is possible at the initial stage, when seedlings are just being grown, which is why it is necessary to introduce fertilizing with microelements. Under no circumstances should tomatoes be planted next to potatoes. All affected residues must be immediately destroyed and every 10-14 days the tomatoes must be sprayed with zineb, a half-percent solution of copper oxychloride, or a one-percent solution of Bordeaux mixture and copper-soap emulsion (it is necessary to dilute 20 g of copper sulfate and 200 g of soap per 10 liters of water).

Among other fungal diseases, it is necessary to mention verticillium, fusarium, and sclerotinia. The infection penetrates the plant stems, leaves begin to wilt, then entire shoots wither, and the plant eventually dies. It is also necessary to highlight diseases: brown leaf spot - gray rot, cladosporiosis, botrytis; black rot of fruits (from which the fruits become bitter) and wet rot (a foul odor appears, the fruits become soft).

Measures to combat fungal diseases include prevention: disinfection or soil renewal, cleaning up residues, treating seeds with a solution of one percent potassium permanganate, spraying plants with preparations containing copper (one percent Bordeaux mixture, zineb, half percent copper oxychloride), repeating every 10-14 days. It is imperative to ventilate the greenhouse.

Useful tips

You should not plant tomatoes in a place where a similar problem arose last year. In addition, the greenhouse must be disinfected before use for growing tomatoes.

When planting plants, you need to follow their arrangement. After the crowns appear, it is necessary to hill up the tomatoes to a height of 15 cm.

In addition, as part of the prevention of such a problem, you should apply chemical and organic fertilizers in doses, as well as follow the ventilation and watering regime.

If it was not possible to prevent the problem from occurring, you should understand the reason for the wilting of the leaves. Next, you need to focus your efforts on improving the health of the plants.

In reality, such a problem is not always the result of non-compliance with the technology of growing plants in greenhouses

Tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse, why does this happen?

Tomato leaves curl

Quite often it happens that the gardeners’ tomato seedlings turned out well, and their transplantation into the greenhouse was successful. But at some point, gardeners notice that the tomato leaves are curling in the greenhouse.

In an effort to understand the reason for this phenomenon, people read a huge number of magazines and books, look at photos and videos on the Internet that can somehow help in finding the answer to the question of why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse.

There can be many reasons why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse. Let's look at the main reasons that cause such problems in tomatoes.

The main reasons for leaf curling in greenhouse tomatoes

First, we’ll simply list the most common reasons why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse:

1. Damage to the root system of tomatoes during transplantation to a permanent location in a greenhouse.
2. Deficiency or excess of various minerals and trace elements.
3. Overwatering or underwatering tomatoes. (See Drip irrigation)
4. Improper pinching and pinching of tomatoes.
5. Very high temperature in the greenhouse.
6. Various plant diseases.
7. Damage to tomatoes by various pests.

Now let's take a closer look at each of the reasons why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse, as well as what and how to do to correct the situation.

Damage to the root system

Quite often, during the first days after transplanting tomato seedlings into a greenhouse, you can observe how tomato leaves curl, as they say, into a “ram’s horn.”

This can happen due to the fact that during the process of replanting seedlings, especially if the plants are overgrown, some areas of the root system were damaged. Such a violation leads to the fact that plants, over a period of time, restore their roots, and with them the ability to obtain all the necessary nutrients from the soil.

Over time, when the plants adapt and take root, the phenomenon of tomato leaves curling in a greenhouse goes away.

Nutrient deficiency or excess

Deficiency as well as excess of nutrients in the soil can lead to curling of tomato leaves in a greenhouse. Observing the plants will help you figure out in which case you have not “fed” or “overfed” the tomatoes with nutrients, and in which case leaf curling is a symptom of a disease. (See: Feeding tomatoes)

Having carefully prepared the soil in the greenhouse, both in autumn and spring, many vegetable growers strive to feed the planted tomato seedlings with various organic fertilizers. Often such feeding is done too often.

Important: do not fertilize greenhouse beds with poorly rotted manure or slurry. The thing is that not completely rotted manure and slurry contribute to the formation of an excessive amount of ammonia in the soil, which can cause both burns of tomato leaves and necrotic damage to fruits.

• Excess nitrogen in the soil is manifested not only by leaf curling, but also by noticeable thickening of the stem and the formation of very powerful stepsons. In order to cope with excess nitrogen, experienced gardeners recommend adding wood ash, preferably stove ash, to the soil. It is enough to dissolve 1 glass of ash in a bucket of warm water and spray the plants. It contains potassium, phosphorus, and many microelements necessary for tomatoes.

To correct the situation, you can also use a solution of 1 teaspoon of potassium monophosphate or potassium sulfate in 10 liters of water, and sprinkle each plant with this solution.

Excess nitrogen in the soil leads to the fact that the tomato root system cannot absorb in the required quantities potassium, phosphorus and zinc, which are so necessary for plants.

• If a tomato lacks potassium, it signals this by changing the color of the edge of the leaf blade from green to brown, yellowing of the veins of the leaf, and also its curling.
• With phosphorus deficiency, tomato leaves not only curl, but also their veins become red-violet in color, and the leaf blades themselves become grayish-green.

Phosphorus deficiency in tomatoes

In addition to macroelements, curling of tomato leaves can be caused by a deficiency or excess of microelements such as:

• zinc;
• boron;
• sulfur;
• copper;

• A lack of sulfur and boron can be the reason why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse.

A deficiency, like an excess of boron, is manifested by both yellowing of the middle leaves and a change in the color of the leaf veins to purple.

• If tomatoes lack copper, young leaves begin to curl toward the midribs. If you do not foliar or root fertilize tomatoes with preparations containing copper, yellow spots will appear on the leaves, which will turn black over time.

Copper deficiency

• The reason for curling of old tomato leaves can be an excess of zinc in the soil, while the underside of the leaf acquires a purple color that starts from the edges of the leaf and spreads to the center.

You can watch the video about nutrient deficiency in tomatoes and causes of leaf curl to understand the causes of leaf curl in your plants.

Over or under watering

Tomatoes are quite demanding on the watering regime (see How to water tomatoes in a greenhouse and maintain normal air humidity). This vegetable crop does not like either waterlogging or lack of moisture.

Excess moisture causes leaves to curl

If the tomato leaves curl along the central vein, forming a “boat,” then your plants are not getting enough moisture. In this case, tomatoes should not be “flooded” with water; it is better to water the soil well, loosen it and mulch it. In this case, the air humidity will not be too high, and the plants will receive the moisture they need.

Another reason why the leaves of a tomato curl in a greenhouse may be too frequent or abundant watering, which does not allow the root system to develop normally.

Incorrect pinching and pinching of tomatoes

The reason why tomato leaves curl in a greenhouse may be improper pinching and pinching of tomato bushes.

A mistake could be the massive removal of all lower leaves immediately after planting the seedlings in the greenhouse or in the next two weeks.

You can pick off the lower leaves no earlier than 3 weeks after the tomato has been planted in a permanent place. Such actions help improve ventilation of the plant, and therefore reduce humidity. In addition, more light, moisture and nutrients will be directed to the development of ovaries and fruits.

Pests that cause tomatoes to wither and spoil

Tomatoes can die, wither and dry out due to pests that live in or on the soil.

• Medvedka. The pest is bright red, less than cm in length, with small wings. Loves moist soils and reproduces very quickly and prolifically. Specialists are fighting her. means (Thunder). If you find a nest with larvae, you can try filling it with a solution of hot pepper (8 tablespoons), 70% vinegar (200 ml) and water 10.
• Wireworm. The insect larva, orange-yellow in color, with scaly, dense skin, resembles a worm. It affects the root system of the tomato, after which the plant begins to die. You can deal with it with the special poison “Bazudin”.

The wireworm does not like limestone, so after harvesting it is necessary to fertilize the soil and introduce mineral supplements.

Drip watering of tomatoes in a greenhouse

Thanks to modern technologies, drip irrigation of tomatoes in a greenhouse has become available. You can buy a ready-made device for this in the store or purchase the necessary elements and make the device yourself. One drip installation can water up to 50 sq.m. beds. The system allows not only to moisten the soil, but also to spray fertilizers.

Drip irrigation saves water, but not electricity. There are two irrigation systems: automatic and semi-automatic. Before purchasing a device, study the characteristics of each type. This will allow you to find out performance, power consumption and other parameters.

Drip irrigation will allow you to avoid exhausting physical labor, which is especially important for elderly and weakened people!

Improper watering

The most common reason for wilting of tomato seedlings is improper watering. If you flood it too much, the roots gradually rot, as a result, the leaves and stem gradually wither - and the plant falls. Lack of moisture also negatively affects the condition of seedlings. Wilting begins with the lower leaves, which curl into a funnel, turn yellow, and crumble. Then negative processes become even more noticeable. Once the top of a plant falls, it cannot be revived.

If the seedlings wither, first of all you need to find out whether the tomatoes have enough moisture and whether the water is stagnant. To do this, you will have to sacrifice one plant: pull it out of the ground and carefully examine both it and the soil underneath it. If there is water at the bottom, you need to improve the drainage system in the greenhouse or expand the drainage holes in the pot if the seedlings are grown on a windowsill.

If the soil is excessively dry, measures to counteract tomato wilting will be the simplest - increase watering. The regularity of watering depends on the temperature in the greenhouse: the higher it is, the more often the seedlings need to be watered. On average, it is watered once or twice a week, but quite abundantly, trying to ensure that the moisture penetrates as deeply as possible.

How to feed tomatoes in a greenhouse?

• Don't forget about feeding tomatoes in the greenhouse. Fertilizers must be applied from the moment the first ovary is formed. Depending on the growth phase, different means are used: liquid mullein, potassium sulfate, wood ash and superphosphate.
• During the growing season, you need to carry out 4 root feedings. The first is recommended to be done 20 days after planting the seedlings in a permanent place. To do this, take 1 tbsp. l. nitrophoska, 500 ml of liquid mullein and 10 liters of water at the rate of 1 liter of fertilizer for each plant. The second feeding is carried out 10 days after the first. To do this, take 1 tbsp. l. complete fertilizer and 1 tsp. potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water at the rate of 5 liters per 1 sq.m. Carry out the third feeding 12 days after the second. To do this, take 1 tbsp. l. superphosphate and 2 tbsp. l. wood ash per 10 liters of water at the rate of 8 liters per 1 sq.m.
• When the plant begins to bear fruit, it will need to be fertilized with the following composition: 1 tsp. sodium humate, 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate per 10 liters of water. This composition should be watered at the rate of 5 liters per 1 sq.m. This fertilizing accelerates the ripening of fruits.

Excess nitrogen in the soil

The plant must be fed regularly. This is done with the help of various fertilizers and microelements. However, excessive amounts of nitrogen can cause rapid growth of green mass and wilting of the tops of tomatoes.

Excessive watering helps solve this problem, however, due to excess moisture, the plant can become infected with fungus. To prevent this problem, fertilizers must be applied strictly according to the instructions.

Spraying with calcium sulfate (one teaspoon per liter of water) will also help balance out excessive amounts of nitrogen. The use of ash also gives good results (one glass per bucket of water).

Why do tomatoes turn yellow in a greenhouse?

There are several reasons why tomatoes may turn yellow. One of the most common is a lack of nutrients (in particular nitrogen). In this case, the lower leaves turn yellow, not the veins. If only the lower leaves of the plant change color, and new ones grow green and healthy, there is no need to worry.

Also, the leaves of tomatoes in a greenhouse may turn yellow due to seedlings. If the seedlings were good, but overgrown, and when transplanted into the greenhouse there was a lump of roots in the pot that were woven into a dense ball, the tomatoes will begin to turn yellow right up to the top leaves. This happens because the intertwined roots begin to hurt and slowly die; nutrients do not reach the leaves, which is why they turn yellow.

To prevent your tomatoes from having yellow leaves, you need to follow several rules:

• Do not overcook seedlings at home;
• Do not plant seeds earlier than the planting dates;
• Provide each tomato bush with a volume of soil of at least 3 liters;
• Prepare a weak fertilizer solution to provide nutrition to the crop. For 1 liter of water, take 10 g of the product, the maximum concentration of salts of which is not more than 1 percent. If you bought liquid fertilizer, then dilute 10 ml in 1 liter of water. A solution of higher concentration cannot be made, otherwise the plant will receive a severe burn and die. Spray the leaves of tomatoes with the prepared mixture.

The leaves of a tomato in a greenhouse may turn yellow for other reasons: root pests (mole cricket), low soil temperature, insufficient acclimatization of the crop. In these cases, spraying with a light fertilizer solution will also help.

Improper watering

The most common reason for wilting of tomato seedlings is improper watering.
If you flood it too much, the roots gradually rot, as a result, the leaves and stem gradually wither - and the plant falls. Lack of moisture also negatively affects the condition of seedlings. Wilting begins with the lower leaves, which curl into a funnel, turn yellow, and crumble. Then negative processes become even more noticeable. Once the top of a plant falls, it cannot be revived. If the seedlings wither, first of all you need to find out whether the tomatoes have enough moisture and whether the water is stagnant. To do this, you will have to sacrifice one plant: pull it out of the ground and carefully examine both it and the soil underneath it. If there is water at the bottom, you need to improve the drainage system in the greenhouse or expand the drainage holes in the pot if the seedlings are grown on a windowsill.

If the soil is excessively dry, measures to counteract tomato wilting will be the simplest - increase watering. The regularity of watering depends on the temperature in the greenhouse: the higher it is, the more often the seedlings need to be watered. On average, it is watered once or twice a week, but quite abundantly, trying to ensure that the moisture penetrates as deeply as possible.

Why do tomatoes wither in a greenhouse?

One of the most common causes of tomato wilting is fusarium blight, which is a fungal disease that affects this crop in greenhouses. Fusarium develops when plants are constantly planted in the same soil during large changes in temperature and humidity. Damage occurs during planting of seedlings or loosening the soil after watering. Fusarium does not appear immediately, but during fruit formation. It is during this period that tomatoes weaken and become vulnerable.

Signs of fusarium are yellowing and wilting of the lower leaves of the plant. Gradually, the wilting process progresses: the leaves become yellow and curl, the veins become light, and the petioles become deformed. The plant is slowly dying.

To overcome the disease you need to follow the following recommendations:

• Monitor the condition of the bushes. If diseased plants are found, destroy them immediately;
• Ventilate the greenhouse regularly and maintain the required temperature conditions;
• Do not plant tomatoes in the same soil as last year. If this is not possible, steam the soil at a temperature of 90 degrees;
• After harvesting the tomato, remove all plant debris from the greenhouse;
• Disinfect the soil in the greenhouse with a solution of copper sulfate (70 g per 10 liters of water);
• To treat fusarium, buy Previkur, Hom or other similar formulations in the store. Treat tomatoes with them according to the instructions.

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What to do if tomatoes wither?

Fusarium wilt of tomatoes most often affects greenhouse tomatoes, especially if they are grown continuously for many years in one place and the soil inside the greenhouse is not changed every year. But in open ground, ideal conditions for the development of this disease can also form: a hot day and a relatively cool night amid frequent rains. This disease can begin to manifest itself at different phases of plant development, but the pathogen itself becomes active when the fruits begin to form, at which time the plant immunity decreases.

Signs of fusarium wilt of tomatoes

The first symptoms of the disease begin to appear on the lower leaves, and then spread to the top of the bush.

• Leaves become pale green or yellowish.
• The veins become lighter.
• The leaf petioles become deformed, then the leaf blade curls into a tube, and after a while the leaves fall off.
• The top shoots of the tomato wither.
• Over time, the entire plant dies and dries out.
• In advanced cases, in the last stages of the pathological process, the roots die.
• If the weather is humid, they become covered with a light-colored coating.

On a hot day, all these symptoms only intensify. Also a characteristic feature of tomato wilting is the presence of a pink coating in the root collar area; this coating consists of multicellular conidia that have an oblong, slightly bent shape.

All these signs can be observed during the period of flowering and fruit formation; it is during these phases that mass destruction of tomatoes by Fusarium wilt occurs.

The origins of fusarium disease: how the fungus behaves

To protect your crop from this disease, you should know and understand how the fungus that causes tomato leaf wilting behaves, what conditions are necessary for its activity, how it penetrates the plant, what it affects, how it overwinters and how it spreads. All this knowledge will help you draw up an action plan, at what stage what measures to take, so as not to lose the entire harvest after the next rain.

The tops of tomatoes are withering in the greenhouse. Help, tell me what to do!

Elena Chernikova

Maybe cover it with acrylic?

larysa lymar

wither from the sun. and in the evening if there is enough water they come to life

Alexander Rozhko

most likely this is late blight Use any drug that has a stop effect Thanos, Quadris (one package per 5 liters of water) or Infinito + immunocytophyte (2.5 tablets per 5 liters of water) + some kind of systemic insecticide (Decis, Aktara, imidacloprid ) + microelements + urea (150-200 g per 5 liters of water) and spray the tomatoes with all this in 2 days you won’t recognize them

How to save tomato seedlings from wilting. Review of reasons

Tomatoes are a whimsical plant. And the basis for successfully obtaining a future harvest is laid precisely during the formation of the bush, even before it is planted in open or protected ground.

With great diligence, you can grow healthy, productive bushes from weak seedlings, but it is almost impossible to do this from sick seedlings. That's why it's so important to see the first signs of their ill health.

Understanding the causes and taking emergency resuscitation measures can save the future harvest.

Reasons for wilting of tomato seedlings

There can be many of them, and not all of them indicate that the bush is dying irrevocably. To find out the true cause, you may have to sacrifice one seedling, carefully remove it from the ground along with the roots and take a good look at the plant from the root to the very top in good lighting.

The appearance of the plant usually gives a clue as to what exactly caused the wilting. By and large, there can be two of them - care errors and infectious contamination. You should know that diseases are also often the result of errors in living conditions.

Causes associated with improper care

Unsuitable soil

One of the common reasons for poor health of seedlings is increased acidity and excessive soil density. In this case, an urgent transplant to another soil is required, otherwise the plants will die. In addition, any soil, incl.

and ready-made purchased soil requires preliminary disinfection. There are several methods - watering with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate, calcination or freezing. This will reduce the risk of disease infection and pest damage.

Rules for preparing a greenhouse

A polycarbonate greenhouse is prepared for planting as follows:

• thoroughly wipe the walls, remove accumulated cobwebs and debris;
• A very important preparation step is checking the ventilation system.

Options for planting tomatoes.
To ensure optimal temperature conditions in the greenhouse, it should be covered with plastic film in two layers, since day and night air temperatures vary greatly. This may affect the viability of the plants being grown, so a constant temperature is created in the greenhouse. It is recommended to change the coating once a month, as under the influence of temperature it can burst and deteriorate.

Make sure that the greenhouse space is equipped with a good ventilation system. This way you can control air humidity, ventilate the room, and protect seedlings from various diseases. You can equip not only the walls of the greenhouse with vents, but also the roof so that the plants have enough air.

Formation of bushes

A large number of side shoots inhibits the ripening of fruits and thickens the bush. As a result, tomatoes receive less sunlight and nutrition and grow smaller and tasteless. For example, if a large-fruited tomato grows five trunks, you will not get large and sweet tomatoes corresponding to a particular variety.

Therefore, throughout the season, periodically inspect the bushes and remove stepsons in a timely manner. And in August, cut off the tops of tall bushes so that all the plant’s energy goes towards the formation of fruits and not green mass. Those tomatoes that will ripen in September-October will not be as sweet as those that ripen in the summer.

• How many shoots can be left on tomatoes without losing the harvest?

  Find out how to properly form tomato bushes so that there are many fruits and they all have time to ripen.

So, we have come to the conclusion that the taste of a tomato depends not only on the variety, but also on the growing conditions. Care for your tomatoes properly, water and feed them on time, protect them from diseases and pests, and then the plants will thank you with delicious fruits.

Eliminate violations of agricultural technology

With a lack of moisture, over time it is discovered that the plants have wilted . First of all, the ends of the shoots droop, and the stems become soft. It is important to understand what to do in this case - a one-time abundant watering is carried out in the evening.

With excess water, the roots begin to rot, and oxygen absorption deteriorates . In this case, you need to stop watering and loosen the soil twice a day.

Pinching and pinching

This is a must for growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. The health of the plants depends on the correctness of this procedure. The bushes should not be very dense, there should be good ventilation between them, but a large number of leaves does not contribute to this, and they take all the nutrients intended for the fruit.

Many beginners pinch off leaves immediately after transplanting or in the first two weeks, and then wonder why the crop died. It turns out that pinching should absolutely not be done in the first three weeks. Leaves begin to be plucked gradually, starting from the lowest ones and no more than two leaves per week from one bush, otherwise it may get sick.

In addition to pinching, you should also practice pinching. This is a procedure in which unnecessary side shoots are removed. Their length must be at least 10 centimeters.