Multistage tomatoes are the secrets of forming
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How to form multistage tomatoes
More than three decades of growing tomatoes and during this time has accumulated experience in the formation of multistage bushes. This applies to indeterminate hybrids, which I appreciate for high yields.
Among them - The Octopus and the Titanic, giving pink fruit with high taste qualities. I also cultivate the Dutch variety Martha: the plants produce a consistently high yield and do not get sick. In recent years I have experienced a hybrid Fatalist, which is characterized by rapid growth, and its bushes are always higher than all other 8 my greenhouse. The fruits are red, the taste is good. It was this hybrid that I used when forming multistage bushes.
Growing seedlings begin 13-15 February, I plant it on a permanent place 20 April at the age of 60 days. Seeds are etched in manganese and processed by a growth stimulant.
In instructions, it is recommended to rinse seeds after dressing and stimulation. And I think that it is not necessary to do this: the drug remaining on the shell, further promotes the germination of the future seedling, especially it helps if the seeds are old. In this case, plants are more resilient.
See also: Growing tomatoes - planting and leaving from A to Z
Further during the whole vegetation period, tomatoes are not sprayed. Cultivation of these hybrids and varieties resistant to phytophthora and other diseases, allows me to dispense with fungicides.
Note
Greenhouses are different - film, polycarbonate and glazed. In the latter - wet, in polycarbonate - land. The construction is also important: in arched structures, condensate flows down the roof and does not fall on the leaves of the bushes. All this is essential for the prevention of late blight, which, as you know, develops in conditions of high humidity.
Refusal from the classical scheme
In the spring of 2015, when the seedlings grew and acquired 6-7 leaves (about a month after the picking), I pinched the growth points of the two Fatalist plants. This was the beginning of the formation of bushes. And the control seedlings did not touch.
By the time of planting, the stepsons of stepsons appeared on the plants, which I did not begin to remove. This turned tomatoes into multi-stemmed bushes. In this state - with 5-6 stepsons - I planted two bushes in the deep holes on April 20. I always lay the leaves on the bottom with a layer of about 10 cm, this serves as thermal insulation from the cold lower soil. Fatalista cultivated two more bushes according to the classical scheme: one main stem and the second from under the first brush.
When the stepson on the newly formed bushes began to grow, the upper three chose as the main stems, tied them with ropes to the trellis. Roots along with three stepchildren of each bush fell asleep ground in two steps to the ground level, and subsequently even planted plants. This method makes the roots work at all levels.
After filling, the stepsons acquire their own roots and do not take food from the mother's bush, do not oppress it, being, in fact, independent plants. All this is shown in the figure.
When filling the holes, I necessarily add humus to the excavated earth in a ratio of 1: 1. At the end of June, I pour humus on the ground between the bushes for the roots formed in the upper soil layer. After that, first mulch the earth with hay, and on top with moss so that the air in the greenhouse is dry. Mulch thickness - up to 10 cm.
Thanks to the addition of humus, I do not feed the bushes, I only put a tank with manure to saturate the air with carbon dioxide, which is also necessary for plants. After mulching, there are no weeds under the bushes, the soil does not condense during irrigation, and worms, the breadwinners, are planted under the hay. Those become powerful and tall - up to 3 m! If there is no moss, then chopped lawn grass can be used instead.
However, it must be dried, otherwise it will rot, which is undesirable.
Formation of a multi-stem tomato bush
I - sheet filling; II - the first backfill; III - the second backfill; IV - hilling the bush; 1 - potted roots; 2 - the main stem of the seedling; 3 - radical stepchildren (3 pcs); 4 - side stems (3 pcs).
Thinness of multistage tomato formation
I form the tied stems like that. All the flower brushes that appear on the stalks to the trellis, I leave (usually 5-6 pcs.). Since plants form in three stems, there are 15-18 brushes on each bush. On each of them, when the crop is ripening, the fruits are “pulled” for 400-450 g. Thus, I collect 7 kg of tomatoes from these stems.
But additional stepchildren necessarily grow on the bushes. I usually leave 3-4 of them. I clean the stepson from the leaves to the brush, and above it I leave 1-2 sheets. I also suspend these stepsons either by the trellis (poles) or by a vertically stretched rope, otherwise the shoot may break. Each such brush on the stepson on average weighs 350 g, which gives an increase in yield of about 1.5 kg.
Reference by topic: Formation of tomatoes - indeterminate and deterministic
But I still have three root stepson growing up. On them, each brush gives 500 g of fruit, providing an increase of 1,5 kg. If you summarize everything, it turns out that the total yield from the bush is 10 kg. And from 1 m2- 30 kg. This result suits me perfectly, because the upper limit of the productivity of the Fatalist hybrid is -35 kg / mg. But such an indicator is achieved in the most favorable conditions, which can not be said about our northern climate. Indeed, sometimes at the end of April the temperature rises to 20 degrees Celsius, and in May it can be minus and stay for a week.
What if the planted seedlings fall under prolonged frost? It happens that almost all the aboveground part of tomatoes turns black, except for a few leaves. In such a situation, it is necessary to trim the stem, powder the sections with coal. Over time, from the remaining leaves, stepchildren grow up, which can be used to form bushes. Sometimes it is possible to run two or even three stems. Although such plants begin to bear fruit later, the harvest is not bad.
Last season, to find out the fruiting possibilities, I did not specifically limit the formation of brushes, and there were 24 on one bush and 25 on the second. The tops of the stems reached a height of 3 m, and I just laid them on the poles. I made a pinch late on August 12th, although it had to be done earlier - at the very beginning of the month, otherwise the pods of the upper hands become smaller.
Conclusions
The harvest on these two control bushes was also not bad, but less than on the experimental bushes formed by the method described above - only 7,3 kg per plant.
From the experience I have drawn the following conclusions:
1. despite the increase in time and a little delay with the beginning of fruiting, the formation of multistage tomatoes in the conditions of country and homestead plots can well be used;
2. increase of yield on 30-40% is economically profitable, since it does not require any additional costs.
See also: Inoculation of tomatoes by convergence of shoots (ablactivation)
Who "saw through" the zeolite?
In addition to agrotechnical techniques in the cultivation of tomatoes, some gardeners also use various minerals that increase the yield of vegetable plants and simplify the technology of their cultivation.
Among them, for example, is zeolite. Its use in vegetable growing increases productivity, in particular, tomatoes at 30-40%, increases the resistance of crops to diseases. This is stated in some publications. I have not applied anything like this yet, but I would like to see how it all corresponds to reality.
Therefore, I appeal to fellow farmers: if someone has experience with zeolite, share it, tell us about the results of using this technology in our favorite publication. I think it's interesting not only to me, but to many other vegetable growers. After all, with regard to increasing the productivity of plants, it will only benefit us.
© Author: Valery G. GORLANOV, Karelia, Petrozavodsk
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Reviews of the tomato tree and other tomato varieties at the end of the year (Saratov region)
- My method of transshipment of tomatoes + soil + seed preparation (Ryazan)
- Tomato variety "Paradise" photo and my reviews
- Tomato cultivation - planting and care (Perm Territory)
- Tomatoes (Tomatoes) - Varieties and selection for the last 100 years
- Transplanting tomato seedlings in open ground in Siberia - secrets and tips
- Cuttings of F1 tomato hybrids
- Dwarf dwarf tomatoes in the greenhouse - growing, planting and care
- Falling asleep of tomato stems when planting with earth (Maslov's method) my reviews
- Store-bought tomato seed tomatoes - my reviews
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How many leaves should I remove on tomatoes?
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An excess of leaves retards ripening, and too few of them prevent the plant from forming large fruits. I begin to remove the lowest leaves in the midst of pouring the second brush. Since the fruit is poured at the expense of the leaves located above the brush, it is impossible to remove them categorically until the fruit begins to acquire the color characteristic of the variety or hybrid.
How many leaves will be above the brush depends on the variety or hybrid. In determinant varieties, they can be 1–2, in in- determinant varieties, 3-4. However, practice has shown that it is undesirable to leave less than 25-30 leaves on the plant - this greatly delays the ripening of the fruits.
I. NERESTOV, amateur vegetable grower
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Is it possible to enlarge brushes on tomatoes?
Z. Oreshkina Moscow region
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First of all, it is necessary to provide 100% (or close to that) fruit set. In the period of mass flowering of plants, I spray them with boron-containing preparations. It is very important to apply them strictly according to the instructions, not allowing overdose. Ordinary boric acid can be used. It dissolves quite easily in warm water (concentration of 1 g / l). Since, unlike nitrogen, boron is not redistributed in the plant, spraying I spend 2-3 times through 1,5-2 weeks.
The size of the brushes and, in fact, the total yield directly depend on whether the plant has enough nutrition. In the loading phase of 1-3 brushes, it is important to properly feed the plantings. Than? The plant itself will tell about this. So, for example, very often in varieties with predominantly generative development (they actively tie fruit, often to the detriment of the leaf apparatus), thin stems can be seen. Therefore, when the fruits are actively poured on the 1-2nd brush, I use “enhanced dressing”. First, I water the plantings with calcium nitrate (20 g / 10 l of water per 20 plants) - 0,5 l of water at the root, after which I water with ordinary water so that the nutrients spread over a large area. This fertilizer contains only about 15% nitrogen (in contrast to ammonium nitrate, which contains about 34% nitrogen) and calcium, which protects the fruits from vertex rot. And after a day or two I add potassium sulfate (potassium sulfate) in the amount of 1 g per plant to water for irrigation. And then I water it. After one and after 2 weeks I repeat a similar series of top dressings. Tomatoes do not fatten and form an excellent crop.
If the plants are well developed, they do not need nitrogen, and only potassium should be used. It contributes to the filling of larger fruits, without unripe "shoulders."
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- Ablation (or inoculation by approaching) is used to connect the stems of plants growing nearby. In the place of their contact, the bark is cut down to wood, the surfaces are combined, pressed tightly to each other and tied (see fig.).
This method is also used for the treatment of fruit trees, when it is necessary to plant a growing root, basal or stem growth in the healthy part of the trunk over the damaged area, or to fasten different parts of the crown together. Ablaze is best done from May to September.
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What is an ablate?