Grassing tomatoes is a necessary stage in the struggle for the harvest
Finally, spring has come, and all gardeners and truck farmers have taken up their favorite business - planting seeds for seedlings, diving, feeding and so on. But you should not forget about future work either. Many people need to get acquainted or even remember the methods of caring for garden and garden plants for a rich harvest. For example, pinching a tomato is a well-known procedure, but how should it be carried out correctly? Let's remember.
Content:
Some interesting things about tomatoes
Tomatoes are known on the territory of our country not so long ago, only from the middle of the 18th century. They came to us from European countries - Spain, France. In general, the homeland of tomatoes is the warm regions of Central and South America.
Interestingly, in Russia, tomatoes were initially grown as an ornamental plant.
Their bright greenery and bright red fruits attracted attention with their uniqueness. This was also noticed by the Spaniards, who named the new plant brought by the conquistadors from South America, the golden apple - Pomo D'oro. Practically familiar to us - "tomatoes" !. Now scientists who study the life of the ancient Indians, confidently assert that the name of the plant - tomato - has its roots in the ancient Aztec word "tomatl"
According to many, tomato and tomato are one and the same. Yes, in a sense it is. But the tomato is the plant itself, and the tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant. In addition, not many people know, but a tomato is nothing more than a berry. yes, don't be surprised! This is not a vegetable, as we are taught from kindergarten. Tomato is a delicious berry.
When people realized that the fruits of tomatoes can be eaten, then tomatoes have become a common dish. Gradually, they began to use them not only raw, but also learned how to harvest tomatoes for future use - salt, pickle, prepare various hot salads, dressings, and even jam!
Now tomatoes are not grown unless the laziest gardener. And most of those who have a summer cottage or garden plot cannot imagine a harvest without a good portion of tomatoes. In addition, growing a tomato is not so difficult. and what can we say about the variety of varieties that differ from each other in color, shape and fruit size - from tiny cherry tomatoes to huge dark burgundy fruits of the "Bull Heart" variety.
From seed to harvest
Like any plant, tomatoes are grown in several stages:
- seed preparation
- planting seeds for seedlings
- dive
- landing at a permanent place
- pinching tomatoes
- harvesting
This also includes the necessary feeding, watering, preparation for future use.
So, tomato seeds were bought or were obtained from the previous harvest. Before planting them in the ground, it is necessary to check the germination of seeds, so as not to be mistaken with the number of plants that require space on the site, and attention, and care, and care. How to check the germination of tomato seeds? Just. Every experienced gardener can give quite a few tips on how to prepare tomato seeds for planting seedlings. if you combine them, it turns out that the seeds are needed:
- disinfect
- remove hollow,
- feed for better germination.
First, the seeds are checked for hollowness.for this, it is advised to pour water into a cup and lower the tomato seeds there, however, I also check other seeds, for example, cucumbers. The seeds are mixed in water and left for 10-15 minutes. those that float up during this time are considered empty, they are selected and thrown away. The next step in seed preparation will be their disinfection. This is done by heating the seeds in the oven for 20-25 minutes at a temperature not exceeding 52 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is raised or the seeds are kept in the oven for a longer time, they will simply burn. Seed disinfection can be carried out using a solution of potassium permanganate. It should be strong enough, but not black. In this solution, tomato seeds are kept for 17 minutes. Many people recommend saturating the change with vitality for germination by placing them in a cup with aloe juice or special preparations, for example, Zircon. These funds are natural biostimulants that make the seeds "wake up".
For high-quality germination, tomato seeds must be germinated. To do this, they are laid out on a saucer covered with a clean canvas cloth, covered with the same cloth on top, moistened with melt water and placed in a plastic bag, airing future seedlings daily. The seeds that have hatched are planted in the prepared soil, when the sprouts have grown up enough, the plants dive, transplanting them into more spacious containers.
But the tomatoes were transplanted to a permanent place - in a greenhouse or on open beds. What to do with them, besides the fact that you need to regularly water, weed, feed? To obtain a rich harvest from tomatoes, a procedure such as pinching is carried out.
How is tomato pinching carried out?
The word pinning is unusual. As is clear, it comes from the word stepson - a step-son, unnecessary. The same is with those branches that are removed from the plant during pinching - they are pinned. The plant does not need these branches. They will not bear fruit, but will only take away the nutrients and strength of the plant. How to identify stepchildren? Those branches that are located below the first branch with flowers are stepchildren. Usually, such unnecessary branches appear in the axils of branches with flowers. They need to be removed by breaking off or trimming while they are still small. If you remove the stepchildren, who have already grown up enough, then a large wound will remain on the plant, which will require strength to heal.
The difficulty of pinching in some varieties is that the trunk of the plant is, as it were, divided into two and it is not clear which one will be with fruits and which one will be empty. In this case, you will have to wait for the flowers to appear in order to recognize the stepson and remove him. The video plot will tell from om, to and correctly pinch the tomatoes
Many gardeners prefer not to remove unnecessary branches at all, preferring to feed the plant with fertilizers more in order to get a good harvest, many do not remove stepchildren, but only leaves from the branches - this is not right. Grazing brings a lot of benefits - the plant receives more nutrients, more sunlight, more space, and also gets less sick, since in a rarefied environment there is less chance of spreading all kinds of diseases. Consequently, the Grassy plant will bring a greater harvest, because it is more convenient to care for it, you do not need to install supports under many branches.
A rich harvest of tomatoes will be a reward for the gardener for all the work and worries.
Good luck!
Previously, when growing tomatoes, we always did without pinching. Then my mother from somewhere found out about its necessity and performed this procedure with our tomatoes. When her grandmother saw the result of her efforts, she almost had a heart attack. But as it turned out, she was worried in vain. The harvest later was as excellent as ever.
Well, here, Wika, you see, then pinching actually allows you to get a richer harvest from the same plants, if they were not pinned.
We always stepchild tomatoes and tie them up, even if the variety is undersized. This helps to avoid rotting of the fruit after heavy rains and late blight does not affect the leaves so much.
On a bush of tomatoes, two are usually left. or three stems. One main and two remain from stepchildren. The rest of the stepsons are all strictly removed, because if you leave them, the tomatoes will ripen for a long time. Also, they will be small. Patching must be done carefully so as not to damage the branches.