Tomato pickling: terms, rules and benefits
To grow tomatoes and not everyone can harvest a good harvest. The agricultural technology of this culture requires constant care. And this is not only the cultivation of seedlings, watering and feeding, but also the pinching procedure. Beginners often give up, few people understand why the formation of bushes is being carried out and why it is needed. Many generally ignore this technique, which is fundamentally wrong.
Content:
- What is pinning
- Benefits of the procedure
- What varieties need to be pinned
- Rules of procedure and timing
- Tomato pinching schemes
What is pinning
Grasshopping comes down to a simple action - the removal of lateral shoots emerging from the leaf axils tomato... The crop releases one main stem. Leaves appear on it on rather long petioles. A shoot or stepson is formed in the axils of the leaves. So it should be removed.
The fact is that most varieties of tomato grow strongly. Without forming, the plant will spend its strength and all the nutrients from the soil on building up green mass, and not fruits. This is fine, of course, but only if the gardener's goal is to plant the garden rather than picking tomatoes.
A bountiful harvest will be able to be harvested only if such a technique is observed in agricultural technology as pinching a tomato.
Without this procedure, real thickets are formed, in which there are two or three small tomatoes. The question of whether pinching is necessary is eliminated, it is mandatory. However, breeders did their best in their time and created varieties that do not need to be shaped at all, for example, standard tomatoes. But more on that below.
Benefits of the procedure
Grazing is carried out not only in order to grow larger fruits, but also to prevent the appearance diseases... This point is especially important for greenhouse crops. Overgrown tomato bushes, thickened plantings are the number one cause of late blight. It will be very difficult to preserve the culture. In open ground, the situation is different, but here, too, good aeration must be ensured.
The advantages of the pinching procedure include:
- Abundant harvest, large fruits.
- Crops are less sick - the risk of developing fungal and viral diseases is reduced.
- Plant care is simplified - the fruits are in sight, it is possible to control the development of the plant.
- With the help of stepchildren, rare varieties of tomatoes are propagated.
The procedure for removing side shoots is not as difficult as many people think. It will not be difficult for beginners to master it. Before proceeding with pinching, you should study the variety. It may so happen that he does not need to remove shoots.
What varieties need to be pinned
Tomatoes are usually divided into three types: standard, determinant and indeterminate... The former form a neat bush up to 50 cm high, which does not need to be pinned due to the very late development of lateral shoots. Such plants do not bend under the weight of the fruit and do not require a garter.
Determinant varieties are limited in growth. That is, it stops with the appearance of a brush at the central upper shoot. Further, the lower stepsons begin to grow. Indeterminate varieties are not limited by anything - they can develop indefinitely.
Determinant and indeterminate varieties of tomatoes need pinching, standard varieties can be left alone.
The latter are considered the most unpretentious crops. They are usually grown for sale. When buying seeds, pay attention to the packaging. Features should be spelled out on it agrotechnics.
Rules of procedure and timing
Grasshopping begins as soon as shoots appear in the leaf axils. After planting seedlings in open ground or a greenhouse, stepchildren appear in about two weeks.
The main rule of the procedure is timeliness.
The shoot is removed immediately after it appears. Do not wait for it to grow more than 3-4 cm in length. The procedure is carried out constantly until August. There are several rules for pinning:
- Shoots are removed either by hand or with scissors about once a week. They break easily if the bush is healthy.
- First, strong and healthy plants are stepson, then weak bushes or those that have been affected by diseases. The time difference is one day. That is, possible spores of fungal diseases from weak plants should not get to the wounds of healthy bushes.
- The procedure is carried out in an early, sunny morning. So in a day the wounds will dry out and heal.
- If the plant is affected by late blight or other viral disease, the cut site must be processed wood ash.
- The lower shoots that form next to the main trunk are removed or left for propagation.
- The central tops of indeterminate varieties must be pinched, otherwise they will stretch upward indefinitely. Usually pinching is done when the plant reaches 1 - 1.5 m in height, and there are already 5-6 brushes on the stem.
- Low-growing determinant tomato species, many do not stepchild. These plants stop growing immediately after ejection of the brush on the central upper stem. Lateral shoots grow very slowly and not often. However, these crops can also be pinned; this will not greatly affect the abundance of the crop. That is, it will not increase much.
- The pinching procedure for determinate varieties grown outdoors can be omitted. Plants will have enough space for the growth and development of full-fledged fruits.
Tomato pinching schemes
Greenhouses usually grow tomatoes in one stem. That is, all side shoots are removed and only one is left - the main one. Indoors, it is important to prevent thickening of the plantings, otherwise the appearance of fungal diseases and pests cannot be avoided. Also in greenhouses, the top of the crops is often pinched so that they do not stretch to the roof of the building.
There is much more space, sun and air outdoors. Here, gardeners prefer to form 2-3 stems of tomatoes. Leave the main stem and two strong stepsons from the first 2-3 leaves from below. The rest of the stepsons are removed. If indeterminate varieties are grown, the top of the central stem must be pinched.
Tomatoes, in addition to standard varieties, are tied to pegs or special trellises. So it is easy to care for them and remove unnecessary side shoots in time. In August, you don't have to worry about the growth of new stepchildren, since the fruits have already been formed. However, it is advisable to remove them from time to time. It is impossible to abandon the procedure for removing shoots. In this case, the fruits will not have time to ripen, the summer in the middle lane is short. They will be small and tasteless, since the culture will spend all its energy on the growth of shoots, and not on the formation of ovaries and fruits, respectively.
In addition to pinching, tomatoes require the constant removal of diseased, yellowed leaves.
They, like lateral shoots, consume a lot of nutrients, and do not participate in the formation of fruits. Therefore, such leaves are removed without fail. Also, this measure will help to avoid the appearance of diseases.
Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse or outdoors is not an easy job. Plants require constant care and maintenance.Timely pinching, watering and feeding is the key to a good harvest of delicious, healthy and everyone's favorite tomatoes!
More information can be found in the video:
We always try to pinch tomato bushes, but tall plants have never been pinched. In addition to the main stem, one or two stepsons were left on the bush, but not from the lower leaves, but from the upper ones. It turns out that this is not correct.