Detailed instructions for growing a tomato on a windowsill in winter and summer

Who among us does not dream of fresh vegetables that you can eat not only for the season? Why go to the supermarket in winter for imported tomatoes, which they do not even smell, when you can grow natural tomatoes on the windowsill?! Having pulled room flowers and having released a place for several pots, fragrant and tasty tomatoes are easy to get even at home. How to do it right, in order to pamper your relatives with vitamins all year round, a small selection of practical advice and recommendations will be suggested, with which we suggest to get acquainted today.

Seeding time

Timing when it is time to start sowing tomato seeds for sapwood cultivation does not have such limitations as in the case of obtaining seedlings for open ground. Everything depends on the period for which fruiting is planned: whether it will be year-round "exploitation or whether the crop matures properly in the winter.

To have fresh vegetables throughout the year, not depending on the weather, the seeds can be planted in 4 calls: autumn planting in October and November will provide a winter harvest, and the February and March planting will guarantee the receipt of fruits in the summer period.

Preparation of planting material

Potted tomatoes are grown in the same way as garden crops - through seedlings. Seeds can be used by their own, collected from their own home-made tomatoes, or bought in a store. However, regardless of origin, all seeds must be prepared beforehand for sowing. For this:

1. Sort out the hollow seeds, soaking everything in salted water (those that pop up - not suitable for seedlings).
2. Disinfect, leaving for half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate.

To accelerate the germination of seeds, they can be put in a tissue bag, moisturize it well and leave on a saucer for a few days, so that the seeds swell.

Choosing the soil

Particular attention should be given to the substrate for growing a tomato on the windowsill. It should be loose, nutritious and with neutral acidity. The easiest way is to contact the same store where the seeds were purchased, and purchase ready-made special soil mixtures for seedlings of tomatoes. This is especially true for winter sowing, besides, the store land already contains all the necessary nutrients, and there is no need for additional components.

If there is a desire and an opportunity, the soil for growing a tomato on a window sill can be prepared independently by selecting one of the proposed mix variants, namely:

• 1 share of sand and 2 shares of garden land;
• humus, peat and turf land in equal shares;
• 1 share of vermiculite, as well as 4 shares of sod land and compost.

The earth from the garden or kitchen garden must be disinfected before use, after pouring with boiling water or calcining in the oven.

Seeding and seeding conditions

For the cultivation of tomato seedlings, you can use both a common container, and individual cassettes, cups or peat tablets. In the first case, fill a shallow container with nutritious soil and moisten it well. Seeds should be laid out at a distance from each other (1-2 cm), deepening no more than 2 cm, otherwise they will sprout for a long time. Then sprinkle a thin layer of soil and lightly compact.

Germinate the seeds in a greenhouse, that is, the container must be covered with a lid or a film and put on a light window. Periodically, the greenhouse airs or make a few small holes in the film to avoid condensation. Optimum temperature conditions for seedlings at this stage of growth are from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius in the daytime and below 20 degrees at night.

Care of seedlings of indoor tomatoes is in such events:

• airing;
• removal of the lid after germination of seeds;
• regular watering;
• thinning of too thick crops;
• refreshing with special lamps on cloudy days and shading from direct rays to sunny ones (the length of a light day should be at least 13 hours);
• top dressing with a weak solution of the mineral complex after the formation of 2 leaves (about 20 days after sowing).

Strong grown seedlings can be dived into pots, laying first a drainage layer on the bottom. The choice of containers depends on the type:

• for dwarf tomatoes enough volume of 2 liters;
• for medium-sized plants 4-liter flowerpots are suitable;
• for the ampel varieties of tomatoes need pots of 5 liters.

Further care for the tomatoes in the pot

To make tomatoes on the windowsill develop well and tie fruit, they need to provide good lighting by putting the pots on the southern sills. Every two days the flowerpots must be turned so that the bushes do not grow one-sided, and if the sun is not enough - to lighten up.

It is also important to comply with the irrigation regime, moistening the soil twice a week. It is impossible to allow complete drying of the soil, otherwise the ovary and fruits will fall off, but too much waterlogging threatens putrefactive diseases. To fertilize the bush after transplantation to a permanent place, you can start after 20 days - during this time they adapt. Sufficient 3-fold application of complex mineral fertilizers within a month, otherwise there is a risk the fact that tomatoes will go to the growth of the deciduous mass, which will result in a decrease in yield and shredding fruits.

It is necessary to apply fertilizer on wet soil, preferably the day after watering.

Dwarf varieties of tomatoes do not need pasynkovanie and garter, but in higher species, you should establish a support and form a bush in one or two stems, as well as pinch your stepsons.

There are still some tricks that will increase the yield of tomatoes, namely:

• when the bushes bloom, several times you need to gently shake the plants - this contributes to better pollination and, accordingly, affects the amount of harvest;
• if a lot of ovaries has been formed, no more than 6 brushes should be left on each stalk, squeezing the rest - so you can get less tomatoes, but they will be larger;
• in varieties that ripen unevenly, to harvest better at the stage of half-ripeness - then the bush will have more strength for the tomatoes left on the branches, and the ripped vegetables will quickly reach if they are placed next to the pot on window sill.

We protect tomatoes from diseases

Another point to pay attention to is the protection of tomatoes in pots from diseases, because even room conditions can not guarantee their complete absence. One of the main enemies of solanaceous is the blight. To prevent its manifestation, it is important not to fill the bushes and drain the water from the pan. Another fungus does not tolerate fresh air, so you should often ventilate the room. As a preventive measure, you can spray the plants with a home remedy made from these components:

• 3 liters of water;
• 100 g of garlic (crushed);
• 1 g of dry crystals of potassium permanganate.

Tomato varieties for indoor growing

Choosing a tomato variety for growing on a windowsill, it is worth giving preference to short, early-ripening and yielding species in view of the limited space. They and places will not take much place and at the same time will please the early spring with delicious fruits. Some of the most popular varieties are such tomatoes:

1. Balcony miracle. The height of a dense smooth bush is not more than 60 cm. Small, round, bright red and sweet tomatoes ripen 90 days after sowing. Weight of one tomato is not more than 60 g. One such dwarf can take up to 2 kg of fruit.
2. Oakwood. The variety is not hybrid, early-ripening, weakly branched, with a bush height of 40 to 60 cm. Rounded tomatoes weighing up to 100 g ripen at the same time, the pulp is fleshy, with a slight sourness. Requires artificial pollination in the room growing, but has a high resistance to late blight.
3. Ruby Red. The variety was created specifically for growing on window sills, balconies and terraces. Bushes compact, up to 50 cm in height. Small fruits weighing 20 to 50 g have a sweet taste and a rich red color.
4. White filling. Bushes up to 70 cm tall grow equally well both in the open ground and in a pot. Fruits ripen after 85 days, they are large enough (up to 130 g), round in shape, red with a slight white tint. The flesh is juicy, with sourness, the skin is dense.
5. Little Red Riding Hood. High-yielding variety up to 70 cm high with thick stems. Red-orange fruits weigh 70 g, the pulp is juicy, sweet and sour.
6. Leopold. Ultra-ripened cultivar with a height of 70 cm. Fruits are matte-red, weighing about 100 g.

And to have fresh vegetables not only in the spring, but also until the New Year, you can plant taller (up to 1 m tall) hybrid varieties of cherry tomatoes. On the windowsill, they will occupy more space and require formations and garters, but they will bear fruit until the onset of winter.

One of the new, but already popular hybrids are such varieties of cherry: Ira F1, Lisa F1, Maksik F1, Likopa F1. Small, but very tasty tomatoes of red or yellow color grow whole bunches and quickly ripen.

Pots with cherry for the summer period is better to take out on the street or on the balcony, not forgetting to take the house with a cold snap.

Cultivation of a tomato on a window sill is an exciting activity that will not only allow us to pass long winter days, but also provide a diet with vitamins. Plant and eat on health!

Video recommendations for growing tomatoes on the windowsill