Growing tomatoes for seeds as a business
BUSINESS FOR EMPLOYING TOMATOES ON SEEDS
It all starts harmlessly: think about it, grow 10-30 bushes for the family.
But then ... Then the disease begins, called tomatomania. So many varieties! Such beautiful fruits! Such nuances of taste! In a word, year after year, grade after grade, and it turns out that there will be "not enough" greenhouses. This is how new collections are born. And here is one step to the seed business.
About what difficulties await along this path, we found out with O. SIDORKIN.
- Oleg Alexandrovich, how many varieties does your collection have now?
- While it has 350 varieties. Of course, in one season it is impossible to grow them all. And in order not to lose varieties, it is necessary to sow about 150 items annually. Practice shows that the stock of seeds is sold completely in 2 years. Immediately make a reservation that growing 50 bushes for yourself and almost 1000 bushes for the sale of seeds are very different things.
- Perhaps the nuances in the details?
- It all starts with seeds, more precisely, from the moment of sowing them in boxes for seedlings. We do this on March 8-12 (the phases of the moon, women's days and other “remnants” are not taken into account). Sow in boxes of 25 × 50 cm in size - 7 rows (varieties) of 10 seeds each. Pick-up - after about a month, in the phase no less than 2-3 real leaves. We also leave 4 rows, but not 10 sprouted tomatoes remain in the row, but 5 of the best. The result is 22-23 boxes with seedlings.
A very important point: when diving, we deepen the plants as deep as possible - to the first true leaf.
- And what substrate are you using? Many of our readers have encountered problems trying to grow seedlings in purchased soil. Did you find your favorite brand that fails?
- We do not experiment with purchased land and for many years we have been doing soil mixing in advance, since the fall. Every year we buy a humus machine and a peat machine. We mix the components about 50:50, mix and leave in bags until March in the ground.
When the ground thaws, we disinfect the soil. Pour it into a box at 1 / 2 heights and pour boiling water. So we get rid of all living creatures, as well as part of pathogenic fungi and bacteria. And before sowing the seeds, we simply spill it with warm water with potassium permanganate.
- To grow such an amount of seedlings requires a solid area. Have you somehow insulated the greenhouse?
- We grow our seedlings in a glazed loggia. They made a special design in two floors (see photo). Here, the temperature in March ranges from 25 ° during the day to 10 ° at night. You can harden seedlings by simply closing the door to the apartment - the temperature drops to almost zero. We do not feed seedlings, the soil is quite fertile. And we water from an ordinary watering can.
Our greenhouses are ordinary, not insulated, so we plant tomatoes in a constant place from May 5 to 10. True, at this time night frosts are not uncommon. On cold nights, you have to burn a couple of poles in the bucket closer to the morning, so we raise the temperature by about 10 °. It is necessary to hold out for 2-3 hours - and there is already a dawn. Our greenhouses are located far from electricity, of course, it was possible to solve the problem with the help of heaters, but is it worth it to pull the cable and buy 1 heaters for 2-8 nights?
- Discussing the topic of tomato planting patterns, gardeners broke a lot of copies. What pattern do you follow?
- In the greenhouse we plant seedlings in furrows so that 2 plants can be tied to one peg. It turns out that in each row there are 2 pegs and, accordingly, 4 roots, collected in two bushes.
When planting seedlings, we deepen about half, sometimes even more, laying the roots and stem at an angle in the furrow. This allows tomatoes to form an additional root system.
In total, an 8-meter greenhouse (and we have 8 of them) includes about 100 tomatoes. Water abundantly when planting, and then - once every 4-5 days for 3 weeks. Watering a simple watering can from barrels, on 2 bushes 1 watering can. It takes 3-4 hours. Later, the plants receive water once a week, and in August - once every 2 weeks. In summer, we do not close greenhouses until the August fogs appear.
- Do you feed anything during the season?
- We give nitrogen fertilizers once, in the middle of June. We make them ourselves - we pour 2 buckets of cow manure into a barrel of water, put nettles there and insist for a week. Then dilute with water in a ratio of 1: 4. This allows the bushes to gain power. Next, when the first flowers appear, we spray with boric acid. Consumption - 2 bags per 20 liters of water, this amount is enough for all 8 greenhouses.
During July, once a week we spray plants with a stimulator of fruit formation. For all greenhouses for each treatment you need 5 sachets per 20 liters of water. In early August, we once treat a biological product with the active substance Bacillus subtilis 26 D - from diseases.
We are not fond of potash fertilizers, in principle, and so everything is growing normally and will not get sick until September 1.
See also: Their seeds of tomatoes and cucumbers - readers' advice
- Do you somehow protect plants from diseases?
- We try to harvest tomatoes as early as possible, and almost 90% of the fruits have time to ripen in the bushes before September 10. Phytophthora in our area is rare (a plot with greenhouses removed from other horticultural plots), and to prevent the occurrence of this disease, we use a biological product.
- And how do you form plants?
- Here there is a huge difference between a seed producer and a private trader growing products for himself. Private traders, as a rule, suffer from gigantomania. So the tomato drives in 1-2 stems in order to get the largest possible tomatoes. I will clarify that we are talking mainly about indeterminate varieties.
The seller of seeds is useless - he needs strong middle peasants. And the more they will be, the greater the yield of seeds. Therefore, on each plant, we leave 4-5 lower stepsons. As a result, 8-10 trunks are pulled to each support, because we have 2 tomatoes on one peg.
“But the plants are very thickened!” In such conditions they are not aired. Why are there no diseases?
- We remove excess leaves. In July, in two stages we remove all the leaves to the middle of the trunk, where most of the fruits are located. The bush is well ventilated, the fruits bask in the sun.
In mid-August, we mercilessly cut the flowering tops - we will not have any sense with them in Siberia, we are actively fighting the extra stepsons. The remaining foliage (above) do not touch. Depending on the variety, the fruits begin to ripen from mid-July, the last one is removed on September 10. And all this time we are slowly distilling the seeds, we are throwing the cake. Well, plenty of tomatoes can always be eaten with such a quantity.
- How do you harvest seeds?
- We take one variety: all the fruits on it must be collected in two stages. That is, we wait until about half of the tomatoes ripen, later we collect the remaining half.
We cut each tomato across, then, squeezing it over a glass, squeeze out the seeds along with the juice. Approximately 80% of the seeds come out. The remaining 20% is removed with a knife. We put glasses of dark plastic on the windowsill for 2-3 days. The fluid must ferment. Then the seeds are easily washed in a strainer under running water. We lay them out on baking paper - they do not stick to it - and dry them for a couple of days.
- Where and how to store seeds?
- In zip packages. We try immediately, in the first two months, pack the entire batch of 10 seeds in each bag. Keep the seeds in a room in a dark place. As practice shows, this technology allows for germination of at least 90%.
- How many people help you look after the greenhouses?
- We have a family business. Specifically, two are engaged in tomatoes. However, we grow not only tomatoes.
- How profitable is it to grow tomatoes for seeds?
- This business is still good. Judge for yourself: 350 varieties of 4 bushes - this is 1400 bushes. Suppose you picked 10 tomatoes from each, 30 seeds in each. A total of 14000 x 30 = 420 thousand seeds, or 42000 packages of 50 rubles each. for packing. The total amount, if you sell everything, is 2 million 100 thousand rubles. Of course, you need to consider the costs - this is about 10-15%, and some losses. But in any situation, about 700000 rubles. in your season. True, there is one thing but - implementation. In the seed business it is especially important to ensure sales, because the shelf life of seeds is not infinite.
As for the future, it is very foggy. I believe that major players will squeeze a "trifle" from the Internet market within 3-5 years. However, until then - why not? This is a very good increase in retirement. And to grow such a quantity of rare and exotic varieties of tomatoes is a great pleasure!
See also: How to prepare and preserve the seeds of your vegetables - tips for \ s \ x sciences
WHAT TOMATOES TO TAKE SEEDS - VIDEO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- How to accelerate tomato ripening and other tips
- Giant tomatoes - tomatoes giants without a greenhouse in the open ground
- Growing of lian tall tomatoes
- Growing tomatoes in the Bryansk region - varieties, planting and care of seedlings
- Unusual tomato varieties
- Tomato Surprise Heart - my reviews
- Top dressing of indeterminate tomatoes (tomato-indetes)
- What to do with broken tomatoes?
- How to accelerate the maturation of tomatoes - tips
- Tomato varieties Siberian Miracle and Siberian Troika - photos, descriptions, reviews from an agronomist
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