Table of contents:

Features Of The Formation Of Determinant And Indeterminate Varieties Of Tomatoes
Features Of The Formation Of Determinant And Indeterminate Varieties Of Tomatoes

Video: Features Of The Formation Of Determinant And Indeterminate Varieties Of Tomatoes

Video: Features Of The Formation Of Determinant And Indeterminate Varieties Of Tomatoes
Video: The Difference between Indeterminate and Determinate Tomato Plants with California Gardener 2024, March
Anonim

Experience in growing tomatoes near St. Petersburg

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

Formation of determinant plants

Figure 13
Figure 13

Figure 13

Most varieties of tomatoes, let alone older varieties, are all determinants. And the range of hybrids of this species is very large. They form 4-6 flower clusters on the central shoot (see Fig. 13) and bend (stop growing themselves). I form most often in two shoots (see fig. 14).

One shoot is the central one, the second is the stepson from under the first flower cluster. On the central shoot, I leave all the brushes, as many as the plant will tie. And on my stepson I leave two flower brushes and his top, i.e. over the second brush I leave 1-2 leaves and cut off the top. In our zone, such a load for the plant is sufficient, the fruits all have time to ripen.

According to science, in determinants, you can cut off the central shoot after the third brush, and let the stepson over the first flower brush. Give two brushes on it and check again. From the stepson, the stepson will again go, on which again leave two brushes, etc. (see fig. 15).

× Gardener's handbook Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

This method of formation is called "in one shoot with a continuation shoot" the whole plant is on one rope, the stepson (continuation shoot) must be twisted on the same rope as the central shoot. This is all well and good in a heated greenhouse with an extended growing season. With this option, the distance between plants is 40x40 cm. I compared three options for the formation of determinants.

1) One escape with a continuation escape. We need more seedlings, more work, on the second-order stepson, the fruits were smaller and did not have time to blush.

2) In one shoot (Fig. 13), ie left only the central shoot, removed all the stepsons, the distance was 40x40 cm. The fruits were large, earlier they began to blush. The yield is 300-400 g per plant lower than on a plant with two shoots.

3) In two shoots (Fig. 14). The central shoot (all the brushes were left by the stepson under the first flower brush, and on it she left two brushes and poured). The fruits were smaller, the yield was 300-400 g higher than in the second variant. The fruits all turned red on the plant. Distance 50x50 cm. The central shoot was tied to the trellis on another rope. I did these variations on the F1 Verliok hybrid. Now I don't grow it anymore - there is Blagovest F1. Earlier, when there were no hybrids, I used the Early-83 variety, which was an excellent variety at that time.

× Notice board Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

Figure 14
Figure 14

Figure 14

And also the Agatha variety, alas, forgotten now. In any summer he could please with the harvest, I formed these varieties according to option No. 3. I do not remember either the Talalikhin variety, or the Siberian early ripening, or the Novinka of Pridnestrovie, since they gave a large leafiness in my greenhouse, in the open field - a small harvest … They were in my greenhouse for a short time.

I consider it a mistake for gardeners when they leave the lowest stepson. It is powerful, bold (see Fig. 16), but while it blooms, the mother plant stagnates in growth, fruiting is greatly delayed.

Formation of indeterminate plants

They do not limit their growth, we have to do them ourselves. When to do this - each gardener must decide for himself. I often meet in publications - it is necessary to top liana-like varieties of tomatoes in early August. Why such specificity? I have a high greenhouse, but no heating. This means I have to check 30-40 days before the cold October nights. The neighbors have a high greenhouse with electric heating, so their tomatoes still harvest all October.

This means they can check plants around mid-September. If there is an unexpected threat of any fungal disease, then I will not wait for mid-August, as usual, but check at the end of July. Of course, in this case, I will not receive the harvest, but the tomatoes will have time to ripen earlier.

Figure 15
Figure 15

Figure 15

In all textbooks, in all lectures, scientists advise to form indeterminate varieties and hybrids into one shoot, i.e. remove all stepchildren. It's very easy, you don't have to count or think. I follow science, I obey it, thanks to scientists, we, gardeners, have learned to get high-grade high yields of any vegetables. But here I am failing in science. I form indeterminate plants into two shoots (see fig. 17).

Many times I compared the yield and ripening period in one shoot and in two shoots. Of course, the plant that is in one shoot begins to blush earlier. But for me, this option has two drawbacks. In one shoot, the distance can be given 60x50 cm or 70x50 cm, but I give plants two shoots 70x100 cm, i.e. in this case, I need less seedlings.

The second minus is that I lose productivity. I will give examples: the hybrid Stresa F1 in one shoot gave five brushes to the trellis. In two shoots (stepson under the first brush), in total, he formed 10 brushes, and all ripened. In the case of two shoots (but the stepson under the third brush) 7 brushes managed to mature.

F1 Typhoon - 7 brushes in one shoot, crop weight 5 kg 40 g, F1 Typhoon in two shoots (stepson under the first brush) gave 11 brushes, yield 7 kg 920 g. Another plant next to it in two shoots (stepson under the third brush) gave 10 brushes, yield - 7 kg 200 g. In 2003 I checked new indeterminate plants.

F1 Titanic gave 6 brushes in one shoot and began to blush from 15 July. In two shoots (stepson under the first brush) gave 11 brushes, began to blush 6 days later. F1 Favorite gave the same result. The fruits were large and tasty. Large-fruited indeterminate tomatoes are usually apex after the fifth brush, but the summer was hot, dry, so I checked it later.

Figure 16
Figure 16

Figure 16

I remind you once again - a tomato is a plastic plant, and no matter how it is formed, the harvest will turn out. But with thickening, you will get a low yield of small green fruits, or even they will fall off. So formation is not an axiom, but a way of knowing plants. I approach each of them individually. They are all different, like children. According to the standard, in determinate or indeterminate tomatoes, we form the second shoot from under the first flower brush, but I am looking at the plant.

For some reason, one is behind in growth, which means I will leave his stepson over the first flower brush. And F1 Blagovest generally turns out a strong stepson over the first flower brush. For many years I have been closely watching tomatoes, counting, writing down. No one will help you to deal with plants, tk. everyone has different growing conditions, different levels of agricultural technology, different requirements for the final result.

As for the formation in the open field, then two factors play the main role - for the soul you grow or for the harvest. The expression "for the soul" means to collect tomatoes in red. The expression "for the harvest" means to collect a lot of green fruits at any cost. Let me give you an example. The summer of 2002 was hot and dry. I planted in open ground after June 10 varieties Ina, Snowdrop, I-3, Garant, F1 Semko-98.

Agrotechnology is usual: once tucked the hole, once watered when planting, distance 30x50 cm, formed two shoots, loosened twice over the summer, and by mid-August, almost all the fruits were red, but not very large. In the open field, I do not tie up tomatoes, they lie on the ground. But my colleague in the open field, too, in 2002 filled the beds well with humus. He gave them food and drink. The fruits turned out to be very large, but he collected the entire crop of tomatoes green in early August, because there was a threat of late blight. Of course, later, during storage, the fruits turned red, but this, I think, will not be "for the soul."

Caring for tomatoes in the greenhouse, greenhouses and in the open field

When planting seedlings, I spill the holes well, planted the plant, water it again, sprinkle it with dry soil on top and leave it for 5-7 days. Then I start watering after about 3-4 days. It all depends on the weather, but I don't indulge tomatoes right away with watering. I land in early May, these days it is sunny. Then, by May 15-16, a cold snap is approaching, I try to water it, even spill it, not only near the holes, but also the whole soil before it gets cold. After each watering, I do not loosen the soil deeply in the morning, I slightly poke it, about 2-3 cm. By the time the temperature drops, the plants will take root and bloom.

Figure 17
Figure 17

Figure 17

When they become large, large leaves shade all the soil around, I stop loosening. It is recommended, and this is true, to pour fresh soil around the plant after watering. One year I fulfilled these recommendations, dragged buckets of earth and realized that this was not for me, and I did not force my husband. Heavy.

The soil must be specially stored. The next year, I poured one ridge, but not the other. I didn't find a big difference in the yield. Since then, I have not been adding fresh soil. At the end of the growing season, the roots are very bare, but they work fine. Maybe I'm losing my harvest, but I usually get 18 kg, or even 20 kg / m², that's enough for me. Watering plants, as well as feeding, cannot be taught. For the entire growing season, irrigation regimes have to be changed.

If it rains, and the groundwater is close to me, I don't water it. The weather is sunny - at least once a week, and sometimes once every five days. I often combine watering with top dressing. If I rarely water, then the fruits will not fill up large, they turn red faster. In the open field, I do not water, so the fruits are smaller, but they turn red faster.

There is an opinion, or rather groundwork, that it is necessary to water tomatoes in greenhouses only when the seedlings take root, bloom, the first fruits are tied, and after that you can not water them. Allegedly, the taproot goes deep and will find water. Maybe this is true. Everyone should check this method for himself. Some gardeners increase the ridge in height, adding something every year. Such ridges in the greenhouse are 40-50 cm above the level of the garden. Most likely, the soil will have to be watered there.

I also cannot do without watering, because I have cut seedlings, there is no taproot, the roots all spread over the surface. And the superdeterminants that I use also have a not very deep root system. We water in the evening, at about 17-18 o'clock, and sometimes we start at 16 o'clock.

After June 10, the gables at the greenhouse are open on both sides until cold nights in August. In addition, we take out the glass from the sides (instead of the vents) and also do not insert them until August. There are two doors open all day, i.e. The airing is good, so I don't need to specially shake the plants during the day for pollination, there is a very good draft. Sometimes it happens that cold rain falls for a week. All the same, the vents and gables are open day and night.

I open the doors early in the morning at 7 o'clock or at half past seven, no later than the sun rises from behind the forest, and the temperature in the greenhouse from + 16 ° С rises sharply by 9 o'clock to + 24 … + 27 ° С. This is a violation that should not be allowed, especially when the temperature rises in small (low) greenhouses. In the evening in the greenhouse I close the doors earlier, at about 18-19 o'clock, in order to keep warm longer. On the day of watering, I close the doors very late - at 21-22 hours. We usually pour water from barrels, where the water heats up in a day.

In 1995 and 2002 the summers were so hot and without rain that the temperature in greenhouses reached + 35 ° C. It was not easy for plants to develop under these conditions, besides, the air humidity was very low, and some hybrids set fruit well at high humidity. And then I decide on a risky business. Early in the morning, until 7 o'clock, I turn on the pump and from the hose I pour well water over all the plants, the lid, the glass, the passage. We must see these plants during the day! They come to life, stand clean, the flowers are large, it is easy to breathe in the greenhouse.

In a dry, hot summer, I do this procedure no more than twice a season. Why not later than 7 am? Because the plants and soil in the greenhouse have cooled down overnight, and there will be no sharp difference in the temperature of the water and soil.

Pruning leaves and stepchildren

I cut off the lower leaves selectively. Sometimes a very large leaf touches the ground, even lies on it, I cut off part of it if it starts to turn yellow or some spots appear. If the leaf is healthy, and water and solutions get on it, I do not cut it out, let it vegetate. Until the first fruit cluster, I do not cut out the lower leaves until the fruits of the first cluster, and sometimes the second, begin to brighten.

I cut out 1-2 leaves from the plant, after a week - the next 1-2 leaves, i.e. gradually, until the first fruit cluster, I remove all the leaves. The lightening (thinning) of the central shoot is carried out as follows: if there are three leaves between the fruit brushes, then I cut out two leaves, I leave one above the brush, and the other I cut out. Thinning between fruit clusters is done only when the next fruit cluster brightens.

Sometimes the brushes are laid through the sheet, then I don't cut out anything. Some plants have very long leaves. In this case, I cut off part of the sheet. I spend my stepson, or rather, I look at my stepsons at least once a week. There are many recommendations for pinching - break out or cut out such and such a size, leave a stump of so many centimeters. I cut with scissors, I don't look at the age of my stepson, but the stump remains the same as the scissors will stop.

In large-fruited varieties and hybrids, the brushes are formed, i.e. I leave four fruits in the brush, sometimes even three. I spend all types of pruning in the morning from 7:00 to 9:00, by the evening the wounds will dry out. On the day of pruning, I do not water or feed.

Top dressing of tomatoes

Above, I have already indicated which formulas for the minimums I use, i.e. the ratio of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium at different stages of the growing season. Let me remind you: NPK = 1: 2: 1 during flowering, NPK = 0.5: 1.5: 2 during fruiting.

This is, as it were, the basis, but indeterminate plants have extended fruiting, or rather ripening, at the same time they ripen, new brushes are tied and others continue to bloom. Therefore, if you strictly obey this formula, then they will not have enough nitrogen. Potassium is also not worth joking, tomatoes will be tasteless, incorrectly colored, fungal diseases begin to cling to them. During this period, potassium nitrate helps me, but it is not always on the market, and I have to use potassium sulfate with urea.

I apply phosphorus in the form of superphosphate at the rate in the spring, not in the holes, but throughout the entire ridge, and I have never had to do superphosphate extracts during the growing season. I also apply full mineral fertilizer (azofoska, Kemira wagon) in spring, so I don't have to feed much in summer.

Here is an example from 2002: June 7 and June 19 I fed "Solution" brand B (Buysky chemical plant) one tablespoon per 10 liters of water. I usually spend this bucket for 1.5 m2. "Solution" B contains nitrogen 18%, phosphorus 6%, potassium 18%, as well as manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum. At first glance, it does not fit the minimum, but in previous years I noticed: the phosphorus that I brought in in the spring was always enough until the end of the growing season.

Solution B contains trace elements, but no magnesium. I carry out magnesium supplements - root and foliar in the form of magnesium sulfate - separately, because most plants are hybrids. In practice, I was convinced that the varieties really like magnesium, although we had not been taught this before. On June 27, I fed with potassium sulfate, because the fruits of the early varieties are already full. July 2 - again sprinkled potassium sulfate and poured another solution of urea - 10 tablespoons per 10 buckets of water.

And then: July 11 - Kemira-lux - foliar feeding; July 18 - potassium magnesium (sprinkled) and poured water on top; July 27 - potassium magnesium (sprinkled) and urea - a solution of 10 tablespoons per 10 buckets of water - I spend on 18 m2; August 10 - magnesium sulfate, foliar feeding. Sprayed indeterminate hybrids, because the rest of the varieties are almost all ripe and harvested. Previously, there was not a wide variety of fertilizers, and varieties were less demanding.

For many years I used Azofoskaya in top dressing, but I carried out foliar dressing with microelements twice a season. "Solution" - a brand that I managed to buy, used for cucumbers, but then tested it on tomatoes. Plants developed excellently, bloomed beautifully, tied 90%. I do not specially feed organics, tk. enough of the soil that I add from borage, there is enough humus. But the tank with slurry or herbs is in the greenhouse all summer long. I'm not fond of potassium permanganate. If I spilled the holes with potassium permanganate, then in the summer I can water the entire soil once, and sometimes I never water it.

Nowadays many gardeners use humates. I use humates of Irkutsk production, but only in the garden - for onion crops, for root crops, for flowers and for berries. The results are great. In the greenhouse, I use humates for cucumbers and peppers. For tomatoes in the greenhouse, a soil with a good humus content was watered on one ridge with Humate + 7, and "trees" grew. So my soil is enough for the tomatoes to feel good and not fatten.

I periodically inspect the plants in the morning when I open the doors, and at 12 in the afternoon. In well-developed tomatoes, the upper leaves curl slightly during the day, and straighten at night, the flowers do not fall off, they are bright yellow, large, there are many of them in the brush. This means that the plants receive everything they need - light, nutrition.

Read the end of the article: Prevention of tomato diseases, harvesting and storage → Every year with red tomatoes:

  • Part 1: Preparing and sowing tomato seeds, growing seedlings
  • Part 2: Growing tomato seedlings in "diapers", forming a bush
  • Part 3: Planting tomatoes in a greenhouse
  • Part 4: Features of the formation of determinant and indeterminate varieties of tomatoes
  • Part 5: Prevention of tomato diseases, harvesting and storage of crops

Recommended: