How to grow tomatoes at home?

Hello dear readers!

Well? Maybe it's time for us to take a chance and aim at growing tomatoes in our home garden.

Of course, we will not be able to grow so many vegetables at home to collect them in buckets, but you will definitely get a dozen or two red tight fruits in the middle of winter.

In addition, they will become a real decoration of your apartment, and you can feast on sweet tomatoes and admire a cheerful little vegetable garden with bright fruits, thereby satisfying your gardening addictions.

Want to ? So, let's start growing a tomato on the windowsill at home and create a unique, beautiful, home garden full of vitamins.

• Tomatoes on the windowsill have long ceased to be exotic. It is quite easy to grow and care for them, you just need to know the simple conditions of such an original agricultural technique.

Experienced gardeners will be happy to share with you the secrets of growing indoor tomatoes. Creating a home garden will bring you real pleasure!

This is a very pleasant and exciting activity, and your children will be happy to help you arrange your home garden and take care of it.

How to grow tomatoes on a windowsill? How to create the most favorable conditions for the ripening of the tomato crop on the windowsill?

This is what the further conversation will be about.

Choosing a suitable variety

For a mini-garden on the windowsill, of course, varieties of dwarf, undersized tomatoes are needed. Their fruits are small, and the plants themselves willingly inhabit small pots.

There are a great many varieties of tomatoes of such types.

• Experienced gardeners know that choosing a suitable variety of baby tomatoes takes a long time, choosing the best one is possible only by trying and making mistakes. Indeed, each apartment has its own atmosphere, different climatic conditions.

Tomatoes in different dwellings will behave individually, this gives a certain shade of surprise to the upcoming chores.

So, we choose:

♦ For small windowsill. For a windowsill of a small, standard size, tiny dwarf tomatoes will be ideal:

• Minibel. The height of the bush is about 30 cm. Tomatoes weighing 20-40 g are collected in compact bunches of 8-10 pieces.
• Florida Petite. Plant height up to 30 cm, bright red fruits weighing 30-40 g are very sweet. Up to 15-20 tomatoes are collected in one brush.
• Balcony miracle. One of the most popular ultra-early maturing domestic varieties. Pink tomatoes weighing 20-30 g will delight you with a bountiful harvest after 80 days.
• Balcony red. The bright red little tomatoes will be ready to eat 90 to 95 days after planting. The fruits are very sweet and aromatic.
• Bonsai.Each bush about 30 cm high will bring you 500-600 g of bright, tasty little tomatoes.
• Bonsai micro. The smallest tomato variety on the windowsill. The bushes grow up to only 15 cm. They can be grown in a hanging basket, admire the beautiful view and enjoy the fragrant tiny fruits.
• Pinocchio. If you plant small cherry tomatoes in September, a harvest of fragrant fruits will be ready by the New Year holidays. This variety is considered one of the best for creating a garden at home.

♦ For insulated windowsill. If your windowsill is wider, has a good area for placing boxes or flowerpots, a vegetable garden on the windowsill can be created from varieties of tomatoes with larger fruits and a high stem.

• Balconies Elo. With the first harvest of yellow round tomatoes, the variety will delight you after 100-110 days. The taste of a tomato is sweet with a slight sourness, the bush grows to 45-50 cm.
• The pearl is red and yellow. The culture grows up to half a meter and has excellent decorative qualities. Pearl of red has a sweeter taste. Their weight reaches 50 g.
• Hermitage. This fruitful variety is recommended to be grown in the northwest regions. The fruits are large enough, their weight can reach 100 g.
• Native. An early type of tomato. Raspberry-colored fruits, large (up to 180 g). This variety is especially resistant to cold conditions.
• Igranda. An early variety, high-yielding and resistant to sudden changes in temperature conditions. The fruits are fleshy, round and bright red. Their weight can reach 150 g.
• Russian Troika. Tomato bushes are small, they grow up to 60 cm. But the fruits are very large and fragrant, their weight sometimes reaches 300g!

At first, you can try to plant several varieties of tomatoes at once on the windowsill and observe how the tomatoes will behave in order to focus on the types that are ideal for your apartment.

Arrangement of a vegetable garden on the windowsill

♦ What is the best window sill? Tomatoes love light (if it's not enough, flower buds will fall off), so the best lighted windowsills (best on the south side) will be the best home for them.

Growing on a windowsill should be carried out with additional organization of artificial lighting for your garden (use energy-saving fluorescent lamps).

It will be great if you use sources of short-wave radiation of red-blue light (phytolamps).

• Additional lighting must be placed at least 25-30 cm from the top leaves of the seedling. Daylight hours for tomato babies are 13-16 hours.

Lamps should be turned on for tomatoes on the windowsill when cloudy weather reigns outside. They must be used in the early morning before dawn and in the evening after the sun has gone.

♦ When to sow seeds. There are two terms for sowing tomatoes:

1. Summer and autumn. Seedlings are grown in July-August, you will already receive fruits in November-December.
2. Winter-spring. Seedlings should be started in November-December. The first harvest will wait for the owner in March-April.

Growing features

When you purchase seeds, be very careful about the quality of the planting material. Always check the expiration dates.

Expired seeds may remain in the ground, or you will get weak, stunted plants.

♦ Disinfection of seeds. Immediately before planting, we need to disinfect the seeds and prevent them from becoming infected with late blight.

To do this, we soak the seeds for 20 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then, to increase germination and stronger growth, we will use "Epina" or any other growth stimulant - the seeds should be kept in it for about 10-12 hours.

♦ Germination. Having chosen the necessary varieties of tomatoes, we begin the process of germinating seeds. We place them in a small bowl, cover with moistened gauze and leave warm for 3-4 days.

As soon as our tomatoes have small roots, we need to plant them.

♦ Where we plant. For growing tomato seeds, plastic or peat cups with a volume of about 200 ml are best suited.

Shallow pallets can be used. We fill the containers with soil:

• You can use an earthen mixture (in the amount of 45% black soil, 5% sand and 50% humus). Add a little manganese to it for disinfection. Make sure that the soil is not clayey.
• Or use a mixture of soil, humus (5 parts each), sand and peat (1 part each).

Add urea to the finished soil (8-10 g of urea per bucket of soil). Stir in wood ash (1-2 cups), superphosphate (40 g) and potash fertilizer (40 g).

Stir the earthen mixture thoroughly and place in cups.

♦ Disembarkation. Place the tomato seeds in small depressions at a distance of about 2 cm between each seed. They should be placed at a depth of 1-1.5 cm.

Moisten the soil slightly before sowing. Cover the sown seeds with a film or glass, such a coating will retain moisture well in the soil.

We place the containers in a dark and warm place (+ 25-30 ° С) and wait for germination. The soil can sometimes be wetted.

♦ Transfer. After the tomatoes have sprouted the first shoots, we transfer the containers with them to the windowsill and create a daytime temperature regime of + 22-25 ° C, night temperature + 15-17 ° C. We remove the cover.

And when two true leaves appear, the tomatoes must be dived and planted for permanent residence.

• The volume of permanent pots for young tomatoes on the windowsill should be about 7-10 liters.

♦ Leaving. Small tomatoes are afraid of drafts and cold watering. Excessive watering also harms them (they can pick up infectious diseases).

Tomato seedlings can be gently ventilated on very hot days.

• To provide the tomatoes with normal humidity, when airing, place a glass filled with water next to them. After the end of airing, the glass is removed.

With the further care of our tomatoes, water and feed them regularly (in a liter of water, dilute 1 g of potassium and urea sulfate and 5 g of superphosphate). Fertilizers need to be applied every 7-10 days.

Plants can be fertilized with mullein diluted with water (ratio of 5 parts of water to part of mullein), chicken droppings (for part of droppings 15 parts of water).

Use water for irrigation at a comfortable room temperature (+ 20-25 ° C). Plants should be watered as the soil dries up.

We water our tomatoes on the windowsill abundantly, wetting all the ground, while it is advisable to pour water on the soil near the bush, but not at the very root.

After watering, be sure to loosen the ground - this will slow down the evaporation of moisture.

• We begin to apply top dressing as soon as the tomato grows 5-6 true leaves, at the beginning of flowering, also during the formation of ovaries.

Do not forget to loosen the soil near the roots. But do it very delicately - the roots of the tomato are still too tender and may be damaged.

Simultaneously with loosening, carry out hilling of plants - this will contribute to the formation of new roots. If the soil has settled a little, add a portion of fresh (peat or nutrient mixture).

Sometimes stepchildren (additional stems) may appear in some tomato varieties. They must be carefully removed (pinned). Grassing will improve the nutrition of the tomato fruit.

We will also remove dried leaves (especially those located closer to the root of the plant - dry leaves inhibit the access of moisture to the root system).

We are waiting for the harvest

During flowering, our tomatoes can occasionally be shaken slightly and carried over the flowers with a gentle feather - this will improve the pollination process.

Once the fruit is ovary, the top of the stem and inflorescence should be removed to help the fruit form more quickly.

• To protect young tomatoes from late blight (this fungal disease threatens tomatoes even in winter), the leaves and stems of the tomato should be periodically treated with an infusion of manganese and garlic (for 3 liters of water, ½ g of potassium permanganate and half a garlic head).

Experienced gardeners use another technique for faster formation of tomato fruits on the windowsill.

It is called "tearing the roots": take a tomato by the lower region of the stalk and very carefully pull it up, as if you want to pull the plant out of the ground.

During this movement, small roots break off. After the procedure, the plant should be watered and spud.

• During the flowering of tomatoes, experienced gardeners advise additional spraying of the second and third brush of plants so that the fruits are better formed and tied. Tomatoes are sprayed with a solution of boric acid (dilute a gram of substance in a liter of water).

When our tomatoes are already ripe, the branches of the plant should be tied to sticks-pegs. Otherwise, the stems may break under the weight of the fruit.

It is advisable not to wait for the complete ripening of tomatoes on the bushes, but to harvest them brown.

Under indoor conditions, tomatoes will ripen quickly, and the next crop will ripen better and faster on the bushes.

Balcony wonders

As a home greenhouse, you can perfectly use your own loggia. If you have them insulated, you can successfully grow tomatoes on the balcony from early cool spring to gloomy late autumn.

• On insulated balconies / loggias, it is best to sow tomatoes in early March, if your balcony is open, postpone the event to the end of April.

The most ideal loggias and balconies for tomatoes are southern or southeastern. On the northern windowsills, and on the balconies, tomatoes can freeze, and on the southwestern ones it will be too hot in the summer heat (if you grow tomatoes in such places, shade your plantings on hot days and ventilate them).

A balcony or loggia gives the plants more room to grow. Therefore, in such conditions, you can engage in breeding and tall small-fruited cherry (cherry) and cocktail varieties of tomatoes:

• Minibell, Tiny Tim, De Barao, Carlson, Angelica, Zhemchuzhinka, Butterfly, Ballerinka, Romantic, Verlioka, Red Banana, Gina, Max, Cascade Red and many other varieties.

Germinating seeds and replanting tomatoes for permanent residence should be the same as when growing tomatoes on a windowsill. Since you can grow taller tomatoes on the balcony, we will form them into two stems:

• To do this, we will leave one stepson under the very first inflorescence. We tie the stepson to an additional peg or on a trellis. Shorter varieties can be formed into 2-3 stems (in addition to the first stepson, we also leave the second one).

Stepsons tomato on the windowsill, also on the balcony, it is better not to cut it off, but gently break it off with your fingers. Break off carefully, trying not to touch the leaves and the central shoot.

Extra stems should be removed as soon as you can grasp them with your fingers.

At the same time, leave 2-3 cm of a column from the stepson. It is best to hold such an event in the morning.

Tomatoes have long stems and can easily break off. To prevent this, as the tomato seedlings grow, we will tie them to a trellis or pegs.

In the future, tomatoes are tied to the stakes two more times, and when using the trellis, it is necessary to twist the tops of the tomatoes every week around the twine tied to the trellis.

Do not forget to ventilate your pets after each watering by opening the balcony doors. If suddenly your tomatoes begin to curl the leaves during the day - do not worry. This is quite normal for tomato plants.

But if the leaves rush straight up, being located at an acute angle, while not twisting at all, this should alert you.

• The reason for this behavior of tomatoes may be too dry soil, insufficient ventilation or poor lighting.

You should not be zealous with watering and feeding (especially with fertilizers containing nitrogen and organic matter).

At the same time, tomatoes begin to "fatten" - to start up powerful, thick stems, to grow strong stepchildren.

But at the same time, weak flower brushes are formed.

To fix the situation, use the following techniques:

1. Do not water your pets for a week and a half.
2. To retard growth, carry out foliar feeding of tomatoes with superphosphates (for 10 liters of water, 3 tbsp. L).Tomatoes are processed at the rate of a liter of mixture for each plant.
3. Increase the ambient temperature to + 27-28 ° C.
4. The flowers of these plants should be manually pollinated using a soft brush.

Otherwise, the care and maintenance of balcony tomatoes does not differ from our actions when growing a tomato on a windowsill.

Of course, not all vegetables can be grown at home, but still there are quite a few of those that feel great when visiting us.

These are all kinds of greens (dill, parsley, cilantro), and citrus fruits (lemon, tangerine), and vegetables (peppers, cucumbers, etc.). The cultivation of cucumbers at home will be discussed in the next article of the cycle "Garden on the windowsill"

See you soon, dear readers!

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Tags: tomato

Tomatoes all year round are no longer a wonder. But if not from a supermarket package, but from a windowsill in your own apartment, this is exclusive. Juicy, ripe, sweet and, most importantly, environmentally friendly fruits on your table will delight the whole family. At the same time - no expenses, neither money, nor time. This review provides a description and characteristics of the best varieties of potted tomatoes.

Tomatoes on the windowsill: is it real?

Thanks to the efforts of breeders, many different hybrid varieties of tomatoes have appeared, unpretentious, but very productive, which easy to grow on a windowsill at home in an ordinary flower pot... By maintaining a suitable microclimate for tomato growth, you can pamper yourself with the unique taste of homemade tomatoes in winter.

Growing a tomato on a windowsill

As the ripening time of various early ripening varieties varies from 90 to 110 days, it is easy to calculate the date of planting seeds so that fragrant fresh tomatoes ripen to the New Year's table. The main thing is to choose the right variety that meets all your wishes. You will be able to harvest a large crop from a limited area at any time of the year.

The best indoor varieties for a mini-garden at home

For a window bed of tomatoes, standard and ampelous varieties are suitable. They develop in height no more than 35-45 cm, do not branch, which means that they do not need to be tied up. Many hybrids are adaptable to short daylight hours and lack of sunlight, good resistance to the most common diseases (black leg, leaf mold).

From neat small bushes, you will receive 1-2 kg of fruit per season.... If planted in batches in several bushes with an interval of 20-30 days, you can provide yourself with vitamins for the whole winter. In addition, indoor tomatoes have excellent taste and a higher content of sugar and vitamins in the pulp (compared to ordinary ones).

The best standard hybrids for growing on a window at home are:

Balcony miracle

Tomato Balcony Miracle

Forms standard bushes about 0.5 m high, tolerates a lack of light well, fruits are round, red, weighing 70-100 g, with a high sugar content. Tomato Balcony miracle begins to bear fruit within 80 days after germination.

Micron NK

Tomato Micron NK

The smallest of the known varieties, the height of the bush barely reaches 15 cm, sweet fruits of red or bright yellow color, weighing 10-12 g, ripening period 100-110 days. This variety is more decorative and does not depend at all on the length of daylight hours.

Pinocchio

Tomato Pinocchio

Compact bushes, one of the best indoor tomatoes, sweet, round fruits, weight - up to 20 g. You can grow it in the garden in the summer, and in the fall, transplant it into pots, bring it home. And if the seeds are sown after September 20, you will harvest the first harvest by the New Year. Pinocchio is mid-season, ripens in 105-115 days.

Bonsai

Tomato Bonsai

Early ripening variety (ripens in 85 days), unpretentious to light, the yield is not the highest - 0.5 kg, but the fruits are very tasty and sweet;

Bunch of honey

Tomato Honey Bunch

Early maturing standard bush with a dense crown, height - 40 cm, fruits are sweet, juicy, yellow. Differs in high productivity.

There are a lot of indoor and balcony varieties, and they all enjoy well-deserved popularity: Cherripals F1, Balconies Elo, Pearl yellow, Bonsai micro, F1 Balcony red, Indoor surprise, etc. A unique feature is that they can grow for more than one season. Dried bushes can be left in pots, occasionally watered, and after a while green leaves will begin to appear again. Tomatoes can grow like this for up to 5 years, but the yield will decrease. The bushes bear fruit most abundantly in the first 2-3 years.

Proper seed preparation for planting at home

The principle of growing a tomato at home is no different from growing in a garden: first we get seedlings from the seeds, then we dive them into the pots to a permanent place. In advance, you should worry about preparing for planting seeds and soil.

It is better to buy seeds in specialized stores to be sure of the quality and compliance with the variety indicated on the package.

But nevertheless, before planting, it is better to check again and sort out full-fledged grains from empty ones. To do this, dip them in salted water for 10 minutes (1 teaspoon per 200 g of water). Half-dried or empty seeds will float, and healthy, full-fledged seeds will sink to the bottom. They need to be soaked for 20-30 minutes in a manganese solution, to protect future plants from late blight.

Manganese solution preparation

To accelerate the germination of seeds for a couple of days, you can put them in a damp cloth for "pecking". Tomato seeds prepared in this way are sown in a container for seedlings in moistened soil to a depth of 1 cm and at a distance of 3 cm from each other. After that, the soil is lightly tamped, covered with plastic wrap and removed to a warm place until shoots appear. The film must be chopped in several places so that excess moisture does not accumulate under it, as this can cause seedling diseases. It is desirable to maintain the daytime temperature + 22-25 degrees, the nighttime - + 15-17.

After about a week, the first leaves (false) appear, the temperature at this time is lowered to 20 degrees and the room is occasionally ventilated. It is also necessary to monitor the humidity - do not overdry, but also do not overmoisten, so that the seedlings do not get sick with a "black leg".

After 7-10 days, you can observe the first shoots of the tomato

You can prepare the soil yourself or buy a ready-made substrate. For healthy plant growth and a good harvest, the following mixture is most suitable:

• the soil itself should be from 50% humus, 45% black soil, 5% sand;
• to enrich 1 glass of wood ash is added to one bucket of soil, 1 matchbox of superphosphate, potassium sulfate, urea.

Fill containers with this mixture - plastic cups with drainage holes or wooden boxes with pallets 10-12 cm high.

Transplanting tomato seedlings and further care

After 2-3 true leaves appear on the seedlings, it is necessary to pick the seedlings, i.e. you need to choose the strongest and most developed sprouts and plant them in pots or other containers specially prepared for this. The container size should be 8-10 liters, for the smallest decorative varieties of tomatoes, you can take a container of 4-5 liters. In the process of caring for plants, you need to follow the elementary rules and technologies of agricultural technology:

For growing indoor tomatoes in winter, choose containers with a volume of 2 liters (for dwarf varieties), 4 liters (for medium-sized varieties) or 5 liters (for ampelous plants)

• Lighting. Tomato pots are placed on the windowsills on the south side. Once every two days, they are turned 180 degrees so that the plant is even and does not lean towards the sunny side. In cloudy weather, as well as in the mornings and evenings, it is necessary to provide plants with additional lighting - phytolamp or even ordinary electric lamps (except for those varieties whose growth does not depend on the length of daylight hours).

With a lack of sunlight for indoor tomatoes, additional lighting is equipped

• Watering. Indoor tomatoes are very sensitive to watering. Regular soil moisture contributes to good growth, ovary formation and fruit ripening.Lack of moisture will lead to the falling off of the fruit, but the excess of it leads to the spread of various diseases - rot, late blight, fungal infections. You need to water 2 times a week, in moderation and not watering the stems. With the beginning of flowering, watering must be stopped and resumed with the appearance of ovaries.
• Top dressing of tomatoes. Three weeks after the dive of the seedlings and then every 10-15 days, we fertilize the plants with special mineral and organic fertilizers, which we apply to the moist soil on the second day after watering.
• Tying whips. Low standard bushes with a stable trunk usually do not need support. The branches of medium-sized tomatoes are tied to pegs, which are stuck into the ground, trying not to damage the root system.

As they grow, tomato stems are tied to pegs.

• Stealing. It is imperative to carry out pinching, i.e. removal of “stepchildren” shoots in the leaf axils throughout the entire growth of plants for its correct formation. Stepsons thicken the plant, take away nutrients, and reduce the yield of tomatoes.

After the formation of the main ovaries, it is also necessary to rip off the top.

• Pollination. Indoor varieties yield a fairly good harvest without pollination, but if desired, pollination can be carried out with a brush, carefully brushing it over the flowers.

Airing will help improve the self-pollination ability of a tomato.

Growing hybrid varieties of tomatoes on a windowsill in winter - this is not only a benefit, but also a great pleasure, a very interesting activity. With a little attention and free time, you will get a harvest of exclusive varieties of bright, sweet and very healthy tomatoes from your windowsill. It will be easy to care for such a plant even for novice gardeners.

Thanks to the efforts of breeders, tomatoes can be grown on the windowsill, and at any time of the year. There are many varieties that can produce good yields indoors. Growing them is no more difficult than ordinary tomatoes in the garden, moreover, they are not afraid of either drought or the Colorado potato beetle. To enjoy fresh tomatoes in the winter cold, you need to study all the nuances of such cultivation, but the most important thing is to choose the right variety.

Tomatoes on the windowsill in winter

Features of indoor tomatoes

Indoor conditions differ significantly from those in the garden, so not every variety of tomatoes will be able to grow and bear fruit normally indoors. Varieties for growing on a windowsill have the following characteristics:

• short stature. Due to the limited space, only undersized and dwarf tomatoes are able to form a crop. Tall tomatoes require not only a lot of space, but also a large amount of nutrients, and there is too little soil in the flower pot for this;
• stamina. Not everyone knows how to form a bush correctly, but this is an important condition for the yield of a tomato. Standard varieties have a strong central stem and a dense crown; it does not need to be pinned or tied up;
• resistance to lack of lighting and disease. Indoor plants receive less light, especially in winter, and therefore really need additional lighting. But there are varieties of tomatoes that bear fruit normally in a short day, and they only need backlighting on cloudy days. Their genetic feature is short internodes, due to which the stems do not stretch. Of the diseases, tomatoes are most threatened by black leg (during the period of growing seedlings) and leaf mold. The most resistant to them are hybrids, which make up 90% of the total number of potted tomatoes.

Cherry tomatoes on the windowsill

In addition to these features, indoor tomatoes are distinguished by the highest taste qualities, and are rightfully considered the champions among tomatoes in terms of the content of vitamins and sugars in the pulp.But not all of them can boast of productivity, because some varieties are more decorative, and form very small, cherry-sized fruits. Of course, they are also edible, but there are too few of them, and therefore they are most often used to decorate dishes.

Indoor tomatoes

If you need tomatoes for daily consumption, choose large-fruit varieties that are high-yielding. As a rule, the mass of indoor tomatoes varies between 15-130 g, depending on the variety. The best of them form low bushes completely covered with fruits. On average, one bush can produce up to 2 kg of tasty, marketable tomatoes per season.

Potted tomatoes have one more feature - they are perennials. If, after collecting the last fruits, the bush is not thrown away, then after a while new leaves will appear on the stem. Usually such tomatoes grow and bear fruit within 5 years, although the most abundant harvests are given in the first 2 years.

Growing tomatoes on a windowsill

The best varieties of indoor tomatoes

The assortment of indoor tomatoes is smaller than usual, but also impressive. Varieties differ in shape, size and color of fruits, height and shape of the bush, ripening time and other parameters. Every year, new varieties and hybrids from leading breeding companies are added to their list. Below are the most popular windowsill tomatoes.

Balcony miracle	This early ripe variety forms standard bushes up to half a meter high. Its fruits are red, round, with a high sugar content. Unlike most potted tomatoes, this variety grows up to 70-100 g. With good care, the yield per plant is about 2 kg. The balcony miracle adapts well to a lack of light and can bear fruit perfectly in winter
Room surprise	Early ripening, standard. The height of the bushes does not exceed half a meter, and the weight of bright red elongated fruits, collected in bunches, is equal to 25-30 g. The pulp of these tomatoes is very tasty and aromatic, they are great for salads. In winter, the plant needs lighting, otherwise the harvest will be rather weak.
Bonsai	A neat lush bush up to 30 cm high.Tomatoes of this variety have a rounded shape and rich red color, the weight of the fruit is 25 g. With good care, each plant gives 1 kg of tasty commercial tomatoes per season
Micron NK	Today it is considered the smallest type of tomato, the height of its bushes is only 12-15 cm. Round, small fruits (10-12 g) are yellow and red. You should not expect a large harvest from it, but in terms of decorativeness, the variety is ahead of most potted tomatoes. Ideal for winter growing, as it does not depend on the length of daylight hours
Pinocchio	One of the best potted varieties. Plants are not tall, maximum 30 cm, densely leafy, compact. Fruit weight - about 20 g, red color. One bush yields from 1 to 1.5 kg of tomatoes, which are suitable not only for salads, but also for canning. In the summer, it can be grown in the beds, and in the fall, the bushes are transplanted into pots and brought into the house.
Pygmy	Its fruits ripen 85-90 days after germination. Standard variety, universal use, bears fruit well in a short day. His tomatoes are small, weighing 25 g, red, fragrant. The bush itself looks very decorative during the ripening period.
Florida Petite	A popular variety appreciated for its high yield. The bushes have a compact shape, do not exceed 30 cm in height, do not need to be pinned. Its fruits are small (20-40 g), red, with very sweet pulp. The ovaries are collected in long clusters, and during the ripening period of the leaves is almost invisible under the fruits. The variety is resistant to low light and bears fruit well in winter.
Bunch of honey	Yellow-fruited and early ripening variety. Can be grown both on the windowsill and in the open field.The height of the standard bushes does not exceed 40 cm, the crown is dense, does not need to be formed. Tomatoes weigh about 40 g, the yield is very high. The peel of the fruit is thin, orange in color, the pulp is sweet and juicy
Window yellow	A new, still rare variety. The plant is a standard plant, 25 cm tall, during the fruiting period the entire bush is covered with clusters of yellow small round tomatoes. Fruit weight rarely exceeds 30 g, the pulp is very sweet. The variety is neutral to low light, therefore it bears fruit well in winter.
Teeny Tim	Early maturing popular Dutch variety. Bears fruit regardless of the season and the degree of lighting. The height of the bushes is about 30 cm, in the open field it can grow up to 50 cm.The weight of the tomatoes is 12-14 g, the color is red, the pulp is moderately sweet

Ampel varieties

In addition to standard varieties, ampel tomatoes are also in demand among fans of indoor tomato cultivation. They can be planted in hanging pots or in tall pots, from which the shoots will hang beautifully on the windowsill. Caring for them is a little more difficult than for ordinary varieties, and the yield is lower, but all this is offset by the excellent taste of tomatoes and the high decorative effect of the bush. The choice of ampel varieties is still small, and seeds can be purchased only from a few domestic agricultural firms.

Garden Pearl	A spreading bush with shoots up to 50 cm. The plant's stems are thin, but strong, and do not break under the weight of numerous fruits. You do not need to walk the bush. Round tomatoes weighing 15-20 g, when ripe, acquire a raspberry color and become translucent. One plant can have up to three hundred marketable fruits. The variety is very decorative, feels great indoors and outdoors
F1 Citizen	Spectacular early maturing hybrid. It can grow vertically (but then it is necessary to tie up the stems) and as an ampelous plant. His tomatoes are round, red, with a characteristic tomato flavor, weighing about 30 g. The hybrid is specially bred for indoor cultivation, therefore it develops well and bears fruit regardless of the season
Cherry Fingers F1	New yielding hybrid for ampel cultivation. Low-leafed shoots, up to half a meter long, strong. Small red fruits have an elongated shape, are attached to long clusters of 8-10 pieces. Tomatoes are suitable for harvesting for the winter; they do not crack during heat treatment. In good conditions, the yield of one bush is 1.8-2 kg
Toggle switch	One of the new ampelous varieties. Very early, has a cascading bush shape, the mass of tomatoes is 25-30 g. The taste of the fruits is excellent, the average yield is about 2 kg. With a lack of lighting, the number of fruits is slightly less
Mascot	Already a fairly well-known ampelous variety of domestic selection. Refers to medium early, the bush is quite compact, shoots up to 55 cm long. Egg-shaped fruits of red color, average weight about 40 g. When grown in open field, the mass of fruits is almost twice as large. The variety is distinguished by extended fruiting, and very abundant. Tomatoes are juicy, tasty, can be preserved
Red Abundance F1	A very attractive yielding hybrid. Shoots grow up to 60 cm, the plant does not need pinching. The brushes are densely hung with small (20g) sweet red fruits, which are suitable for canning. The bush grows quickly, so it needs a lot of space. In winter, the plant must be highlighted, otherwise the yield will decrease

Agricultural technology for growing indoor tomatoes

As with regular varieties, indoor tomatoes are best grown through seedlings. And at this stage there are no differences, except that the timing of sowing seeds is different. On average, potted tomatoes begin to bear fruit in 90-100 days after germination, and if you want to get the first tomatoes by a certain date, take this factor into account. For example, to harvest the first crop in January, plant the seedlings at the end of September.

Two ways to test seeds for germination

Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected by soaking for 15-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then left in a damp cloth for a couple of days for pecking.

Tomato seed preparation

Sow in a common container with ordinary soil or purchased substrate to a depth of no more than 1 cm. The distance between the seeds should be within 2-3 cm so that the seedlings are not thickened.

Capacity for growing tomatoes

Tomatoes in a box

Seedlings are transplanted into separate containers as soon as 2-3 true leaves are formed in the seedlings. The sizes of pots are selected depending on the variety of tomatoes: for dwarf tomatoes, a volume of 1.5-2 liters is enough, for ordinary room ones 3-4 liters, for ampelous ones - at least 5 liters. All pots must have drainage holes. It is very important to properly prepare the soil, because the development and fruiting of the bush depends on its composition.

Soil preparation

The best option is the following composition:

• 5 parts of garden soil;
• 2 pieces of sand;
• 5 parts of rotted compost;
• 1 part peat.

On a bucket of such a mixture, it is necessary to add a matchbox of urea and potassium sulfate, a handful of sifted wood ash. All this is thoroughly mixed. Now you can start planting seedlings.

Step 1... A drainage layer of fine gravel, pieces of bark, expanded clay or other material is poured onto the bottom of the pots. Fill the containers to the top with soil and make a small depression in the center.

Filling the pot with drainage and soil

Step 2. Pre-watered seedlings are carefully removed one at a time and planted in pots, deepening to the cotyledonous leaves. Water gently.

Planting tomato seedlings in a pot

The soil must be saturated with moisture for the water to get to the roots.

Step 3. They put the pots on the windowsill (preferably on the south side) and regularly turn them on the other side to the light every 2 days. In the mornings and evenings, as well as in cloudy weather, plants should be supplemented with a phytolamp.

Supplementary lighting of tomatoes with phytolamp

After a week, the plants are fed with half the nitrogen fertilizer required for growth. During the flowering period, in order to increase the percentage of pollination, the stems of the plant are very lightly shaken and carried over the flowers with a feather or a soft brush. After the formation of ovaries, potash fertilization is required every two weeks.

In varieties that need to form a bush, remove stepchildren, pinch the top of the main stem, cut off excess inflorescences to increase the size of the fruit. Tall bushes are tied to supports, which are stuck into the ground along the edge of the pot.

Tomato care

If there are signs of fungal infection, all plants are sprayed with phytosporin or another anti-fungal agent. To prolong fruiting, regularly pick ripe fruits, remove dried leaves, do not forget about dressing and watering. The soil in pots should be periodically loosened, being careful not to catch the roots. With this care, your tomatoes will delight you with an abundant harvest of sweet, tasty fruits all winter.

Video - Tomatoes on the windowsill in winter: the best varieties

Video - Tomatoes on the windowsill in winter: the best varieties and order of growing tomatoes at home

Tomatoes are a favorite vegetable on our table with excellent taste and nutritional qualities. The variety of varieties allows it to be widely used both fresh and processed. Fruits of some varieties are preferred to be added to salads, while others - to pickles and marinades.

Growing tomato seedlings at home

To get a good harvest of tomatoes from your garden, you need to know and follow the rules for growing tomato seedlings. First, even in the fall, it is advisable to prepare a nutritious soil. Then you need to carefully select and prepare seeds, which should also be planted in the ground according to certain rules. And the seedlings must be properly monitored and looked after.

Seedlings of tomatoes

It is permissible to plant tomato seeds directly on the beds. And in order to get fresh tomatoes on the table as early as possible, you should use the seedling method of growing tomatoes.

Sowing and transferring seedlings

Depending on how you plan to grow tomatoes in a permanent place, you should select the sowing time.

1. Greenhouse seeds are planted from 15 February to 15 March.
2. Seedlings, the seeds of which were planted in the first two decades of March, are later planted on open beds, for which it is required to build a shelter for the first time.
3. For plants that are planned to be planted in open ground without any shelters, seeds are planted from March 15 to March 31.

Timing of planting tomato seeds for seedlings

In other words, if the seedlings are intended for further cultivation before harvesting from the greenhouse, then the sowing of the seeds should be done approximately one and a half to two months before transplanting. If the seedlings are supposed to be transferred to open ground, then it is advisable to sow the seeds within a period of two to two and a half months from the planned date of planting.

Important! In climatic zones where there is a likelihood of late frosts in the spring, it is better to wait with planting seedlings until the risk of this negative factor is minimal.

Growing seedlings of tomatoes (tomatoes)

Step-by-step instructions for growing tomato seedlings at home

Table. How to grow tomato seedlings at home.

Step 1. Preparing the soil	Prepare the soil and fill the seed boxes with it.
Step 2. Seed preparation	Immerse the seeds in a 5% salt solution for 10 minutes. Then, after rinsing thoroughly, leave in water until it swells. Alternatively, you can simply soak the seeds in water. To do this, they must be wrapped in a damp cotton rag or napkin and placed in a shallow plate. Cover the top with something to prevent moisture evaporation and keep it in a warm room for 24 hours.
Step 3. Planting seeds	One of the methods. Sow seeds in grooves, the distance between which is about 5 cm. Pre-moisten the soil with a slightly warm solution in which the seeds were kept. The sowing depth should be 1 cm, and the distance between the seeds should be no more than 2 cm. Do not water after planting. The top can be covered with foil to speed up the seed germination process.
Step 4. Pick	Transfer the sprouts to separate pots.
Step 5. Lighting arrangement	Tomatoes need a lot of light. After the first shoots appear, special lamps should be installed above them.
Step 6. Watering and hardening	Tomato seedlings are watered in the morning. The water temperature should be + 28 ° C. In sunny weather, you need to do this every day. It is preferable to use soft water such as thawed water. If there is no sun, watering is done when the soil dries up. Seedlings need to start hardening two weeks before transferring them to the beds.
Step 7. Top dressing	To obtain a rich harvest, it is advisable to feed the seedlings with fertilizers. Top dressing is done during watering.

Picking tomato seedlings

Soil preparation. Planting seeds

Some points of our step-by-step instructions need explanation. Let's consider them in more detail.

Soil for tomato seedlings

It is best to use soil prepared in the fall for tomato seedlings. Vermicompost, sand and other additives are mixed into the soil, including peat, sod land and humus. The proportions of the constituent parts are selected depending on the incoming ingredients. Tomatoes love soil that absorbs moisture well, allows air to pass through, is not acidic and is quite nutritious.

Advice! We recommend preparing a mixture of 50% turf, 40% humus and 10% peat.

Sifting the earth through a sieve for tomato seedlings

If the seeds are supposed to be sown in boxes, then in the future it is necessary to dive.In this case, the seed boxes are filled with soil by two-thirds. Before actually sowing, it is recommended to moisten the seed pits. Nutrients can be added to the water.

Planting tomato seedlings

"Zircon"

It is advisable to grow tomato seedlings at home without further diving. The fact is that during the picking, the roots of plants are damaged. It takes about 7 days for tomatoes to settle down in a new place and restore the root system. Therefore, the fruits from such plants can be obtained a week later.

Tomato seedlings in separate paper cups

If you do not plan to grow tomatoes on an industrial scale, then sowing seeds is best done immediately in separate plastic or peat pots. In this case, when transferred to open ground or a greenhouse, the plants will immediately begin to grow and develop rapidly.

Sowing early tomatoes should be done only in cups or pots with a volume of at least 500 ml.

You can grow tomato seedlings at home using special seedling boxes if you plan to plant them in a greenhouse in the future. Then you can do without picking or sowing directly into pots. Seedlings grown in a similar way are transferred directly to the greenhouse.

Growing tomato seedlings

Sowing rules

1. Sowing in boxes is carried out with an interval of 5 cm between seeds. It is also necessary to make indents of 10 cm between the rows. Such measures are needed in order to avoid thinning the seedlings.
2. It is advisable to deepen the seeds by no more than 1.5 cm. Otherwise, you can get rare and weakened seedlings.
3. After sowing, the container must be covered with a film, after moistening the air under it with a spray bottle. Keep in a dark, warm room until sprouts appear. Seedlings can begin to appear after 3 days. When sowing in open ground or a greenhouse, it takes longer to wait for seedlings.

   Covering seedlings with foil

4. When the sprouts appear, the film must be removed and the boxes with the seedlings should be placed in the light. For example, on a well-lit windowsill.
5. After the cotyledon leaves open, it is necessary to reject not good enough sprouts, as well as those that have not gotten rid of the seed box.

   First tomato sprouts from seed

How to care for seedlings

In the first two weeks after sowing the seeds, the night temperature in the room where the boxes are installed should not exceed + 15 ° C. During the day, it should be no more than + 20 ° C.

Care of tomato seedlings

After two weeks, hardening is carried out, in which the temperature is maintained at no more than + 10 ° C at night, and no more than + 15 ° C during the day.

The air in the room should be humidified to 65%.

When the plants have two true leaves, it is recommended to thin out the seedlings. For further growth, it is required to maintain strong plants with a thick stem and bright leaves, removing all weak seedlings 5 ​​centimeters in diameter from them.

Seedlings in a box after the third thinning

A pick is made when the third true leaf begins to appear in the seedlings. To support the root system, which will inevitably suffer during this procedure, the plants are watered the night before with a solution of water and superphosphate at the rate of 2 granules per 1 sprout. When diving, the soil is taken the same that was used for sowing.

Pickling tomato seedlings

If you are late with the dive, then the yield indicators will decrease by about a quarter. When diving directly into the greenhouse, it is necessary to maintain an interval between plants of about 10 cm.

How to care for seedlings

Young seedlings require daily morning watering, as well as strict adherence to the permissible temperature regime. The room in which it will grow must be regularly ventilated to prevent disease.

At this time, the plants will develop very intensively, so the seedlings require additional lighting.With a lack of light, it can stretch. We recommend purchasing phytolamps for the organization of illumination. When using them, it must be borne in mind that seedlings should not be illuminated for more than 12 hours a day. If the seedlings are grown without additional lighting, the flow of natural light can be increased. To do this, the container with plants is installed at an angle to the window, the reverse side of which is covered with a light reflecting canvas. For these purposes, a mirror or a layer of foil may be suitable.

Illumination of tomato seedlings

Tomato seedlings under fluorescent lights

Advice! When the plants have 5 leaves, split off the first 2. In this case, the seedlings will grow more slowly upward.

When the daytime temperature reaches + 14 ° C and above outside the window, it is recommended to start taking the seedlings out into the fresh air. This is done so that she gets used to the sun. At first, leave it in the shade for half an hour, gradually increasing the time interval.

Seedlings of tomatoes on the loggia

In the morning, when watering, it is recommended to feed tomato seedlings. This significantly increases its quality and the volume of future harvests. Fertilize as follows.

1. The first feeding is carried out 10 days after the dive. For fertilization, a solution of 5 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of potassium sulfate, mixed with 15 g of superphosphate and diluted in 5 liters of water is taken. Watering with a lukewarm solution.
2. 7 days before transferring seedlings to open ground, they should be fed again. For seedlings of good quality with bright green leaves, a solution of 20 g of superphosphate and 12 g of potassium sulfate per 5 liters of water is prepared for fertilization.

Top dressing of seedlings

If there is a lack of nutrients, the seedlings will look bad. Their greens will be pale, and a purple tint may be noticeable on the stems.

In these circumstances, seedlings should be fed differently:

• for fertilization for the first time, you need to take 250 g of dung or cow dung, mix with 35 g of ash and dissolve in 5 liters of water;
• do the second feeding with the same solution;
• for the third, keep 500 g of droppings in 2 liters of water for 24 hours, then add 50 g of ash to the mixture. The proportion is based on 1 bush.

Why do tomatoes crack in a greenhouse

Large and aromatic tomatoes grown in our own greenhouse are a good source of vitamins and minerals for the home table, as well as an opportunity to earn additional income. However, quite often the appearance of a tomato is spoiled by deep cracks. Read more here.

Planting tomato seedlings in greenhouse soil

Video - Growing tomato seedlings at home