Tomatoes are widely used in canning, salads and other dishes. Growing tomatoes on your own personal plot will allow you to enjoy juicy fruits throughout the year.
Germinating seeds
Growing tomatoes in Russia involves germinating seeds and transplanting sufficiently mature seedlings into the ground. Tomato seeds are treated with a solution of boric acid or baking soda prepared from 2 g of a substance and 200 ml of water, as well as a solution of potassium permanganate (0.02 g of a substance per 200 ml of water). In each solution, the seeds are kept for 2 hours.
The seeds are then washed in clean water and placed on a piece of felt. The fabric is pre-soaked with water, in which the ash was infused for 2 days. Take 2 teaspoons of ash in 200 ml of water. After 3 days, the seeds germinate.
Small paper cups or plastic containers are suitable for growing seedlings. It is best to fill the containers with a mixture consisting of humus, turf and garden soil in equal proportions.
The quality of seedlings depends significantly on the temperature regime. During the first 2-3 weeks after germination, it is recommended to maintain the temperature in the range of 20-25 degrees during the day and 8-10 degrees at night. At a lower temperature, the development of tomatoes is much slower. Growing tomatoes later requires maintaining 16-20 degrees during the day.
Seedlings should be watered every other day using snow or rain water. It is advisable to settle tap water until the chlorine disappears completely. From the second half of May, the plants are taken outside on warm days, for accustoming to direct sunlight.
How to grow tomatoes: transplantation and care
If the seedlings were grown in paper cups, you do not need to remove the plants from them when transplanting them into the ground. Seedlings should be removed from plastic containers with the utmost care so as not to damage the fragile root system.
The earth must be well-drilled. For better air penetration, the bottom of the hole is lined with hay, branches and leaves before planting. It is advisable to make a watering system by digging a small groove in the middle of the tomato beds. It is filled with water and all plants receive water at the same time. In addition, with such watering, there is no need to constantly loosen the tough crust on the surface of the holes, which is formed during the top watering of each plant separately.
To protect against waterlogging of the soil as a result of rain, tomatoes are recommended to be grown in a closed greenhouse or under a transparent awning. Water the tomatoes with warm, settled water.
During pinching, all small flowers should be cut off. In this case, it is possible to get larger fruits. It is undesirable to plant tomatoes next to potatoes, since they are susceptible to almost the same diseases.
Top dressing of tomatoes
During the growing season, 4-5 root dressings are performed. The first is done 2 weeks after transplanting. Use "Signor Tomato", for 10 liters 1 tablespoon of fertilizer, infusion of bird droppings.
The use of mineral fertilizers is recommended in the absence of organic fertilizers. You can feed with nitrophos. 1 tablespoon dissolves in a bucket of water. 10 days after the formation of ovaries with a diameter of 1, 5 cm, the second feeding is carried out with "Chimer-universal" or "Solution".
The third dressing is shown at the first harvest of ripe fruits. Use the same means as for the second feeding. In the absence of fruits and rapid growth of green mass, nitrogen fertilizers are not used. The fourth feeding is carried out 2 weeks after the third with the help of Agricola-3, as well as superphosphate.
