February 13, 2023, 12:49 pm – BLiTZ – News Sometimes experienced summer residents, who during the season observed all the rules for growing tomatoes, wonder why the neighbor in the dacha has a richer harvest, although he appeared less often on the site. The public news service has unearthed the little-known secrets of a good tomato crop.
We will not dwell on the generally accepted rules for caring for tomatoes, they are known to every gardener. We will reveal some secrets at different stages of growing tomatoes, which even summer residents with many years of experience might not know about.
Seedling
Tips for growing seedlings:
Don’t get hung up on one variety of tomato and don’t expect to grow the same crop as the year before. Two years in a row, seeds from the same package can produce a different yield. In this regard, combine different varieties and change the set every season. Use your favorite variety every other season and supplement it with new varieties every year for observation. There are some secrets of seed quality control that are worth using to ensure the germination of planting material. Here is one of them: 2-3 weeks before sowing, put a couple of seeds in a linen cloth. Dip the bundle in warm water for a day. Take the flap out and put it in a warm place for 3-4 days. Plant the seeds and observe: the sprouts that appear indicate the good quality of the seeds, their absence indicates the unsuitability of the seeds for cultivation. After picking, the sprout will stretch upward. As it grows, gradually pour soil into the pot. For convenience, use halves of a liter milk box as a container for dived seedlings, cut the corners when planting and bend the walls. As the earth is poured, the sides need to be bent again, and then put the top of the box on top. On the part of the stem that is underground, new roots will begin to grow.
Transfer
When transplanting seedlings into open ground or a greenhouse, there are also a few secrets that will positively affect the richness of the crop:
Tomatoes grow well in a warm garden. To create it, you can lay a ridge around the perimeter with boards or slate, or bury it in a deep trench. Even at the stage of preparing the ridge in the fall, lay out plant residues, compost and humus in layers, alternating them with layers of earth 15–20 cm and watering with a solution of microbiological agents. Mineral dressings laid out under the top layer will have a positive effect on future plants. Sometimes the summer resident gets into a stupor when he has an elongated seedling in front of him, which needs to be planted on the site. If the seedlings have overgrown, then when transplanting, they dig a long hole 5–7 cm deep for it. In this case, the stem is placed on the ridge in a supine position. If the seedlings were grown in a pot and have a voluminous earthen clod, then an additional recess is dug out for it so as not to pinch the stem at the base.
Care
In addition to watering, tying and airing, tomatoes at the care stage will require some more procedures:
At the care stage, one of the secrets is to remove excess leaves. Often summer residents neglect this procedure out of pity and fear that they will only harm the plant. In fact, cleaning done on time will be an excellent prevention of “tomato” diseases. In order for sunlight to penetrate to the bush without obstacles, from the beginning of the formation of fruits, remove 1-2 leaves per week. Be sure to free the lower fruit trees from foliage, gradually lighten the crown higher up the trunk. Few people know that nettle can be used as an effective and budgetary top dressing for tomatoes. The plant is soaked in water for two weeks until the fermentation process begins. The smell that appeared at the same time can be hidden with a drop of valerian. If the solution turns green in 14 days, then it is ready for use. It is diluted with water in proportions of 1:10 and watered tomato bushes under the root. Photo: freepik.com
Harvesting
Do not wait for the tomatoes to reach full maturity, and do not leave ripe vegetables, otherwise, by the time the first frost arrives, all the ovaries may not have time to ripen. It is recommended to remove slightly unripe tomatoes so that they have time to ripen on their own. Be sure to remove them together with the stalk in dry weather, in the morning.
