Proper cultivation of tomatoes on the windowsill in winter

Thanks to the efforts of breeders a variety of different hybrid varieties of tomatoes appeared, unpretentious but very productive, which can easily grow on the windowsill of a house in an ordinary flower pot .By maintaining a microclimate that is suitable for the growth of the tomato, you can pamper yourself in the winter with the unique taste of homemade tomatoes.

Growing Tomatoes on

Windowsill Since , the ripening time of various early-ripening varieties varies from 90 to 110 days, easily calculate the seed planting date so that fragrant fresh tomatoes ripen to the New Year's table. The main thing - to choose the right variety that meets all your wishes. You will get the opportunity to harvest a large crop from a limited area at any time of the year.

The best indoor varieties for a mini-vegetable garden at home

Standard and ampel variety varieties are suitable for a window bed of tomatoes. They develop in height by no more than 35-45 cm, do not fork, which means they do not need to be tied up. Many hybrids have adaptability to a short day of light and lack of sunlight, good resistance to the most common diseases( black leg, leaf mold).

With neat little bushes you get 1-2 kg of fruit for the season .If you plant in batches in several bushes with an interval of 20-30 days, you can provide yourself with vitamins for the whole winter. In addition, indoor tomatoes have excellent taste and high content of sugar and vitamins in the pulp( compared with the usual).

best stam hybrids for cultivation on a window in the home are:

balcony miracle

Tomato balcony miracle

Generates stam bushes height of about 0.5 m, tolerates a lack of light, fruit round, red, weighing 70- 100 g , withhigh sugar content. Tomato Balcony miracle begins to bear fruit after 80 days after germination.

Micron NK

Tomato Micron NK

The smallest of the known varieties, the height of the bush barely reaches 15 cm, sweet fruits of red or bright yellow color weighing 10-12 g , ripening period 100-110 days. This variety is more decorative and is completely independent of the length of daylight.

Pinocchio

Pinocchio tomato

Compact bushes, one of the best indoor tomatoes, sweet, round fruits, weight - up to 20 , You can grow in the summer in the garden, and in the fall, transplant in pots, bring it home. And if you sow the seeds after September 20, by the New Year you will harvest the first harvest. Pinocchio - mid-season, matures in 105-115 days.

Bonsai

Tomato Bonsai

Early variety( ripens in 85 days), unpretentious to light, yield is not very high - 0.5 kg, but the fruits are very tasty and sweet;

Honey Cluster

Tomato Honey Cluster

Early shtambovy shrub with a dense crown, height - 40 cm , fruits are sweet, juicy, yellow in color. Differs in high productivity.

There are a lot of room and balcony varieties, and all of them are deservedly popular: F1 Syrushalchiki, Balconi Yellow, Pearl Yellow, Bonsai Micro, F1 Balcony Red, Room Surprise, etc. A unique feature is that they can grow more than one season. Dried bushes can be left in pots, occasionally watered, and after a while green leaves will begin to appear again. Tomatoes are able to grow until 5 years, but the yield will decline. The bushes most abundantly bear fruit during the first 2-3 years.

balcony Elou Bonsai micro F1 balcony red Pearl yellow Cherripalchiki F1

Proper preparation of seeds for planting at home

principle of growing tomatoes at home is no different from growing in the garden: first seed obtain seedlings, and then swooping her into potsto a permanent place. In advance, you should worry about preparing for planting seeds and soil.

But still, before planting, it is better to check and sort the full-fledged kernels from empty ones again. To do this, for 10 minutes, put them in salted water( 1 teaspoon per 200g of water).Semi-dried or empty seeds will float, and healthy, full-grown seeds will sink to the bottom. They need to be soaked for 20-30 minutes in a solution of manganese, to protect future plants from late blight.

Preparation of

manganese solution To speed seed germination for a couple of days, you can put them in a damp cloth for pecking. Tomato seeds prepared in this way are sown in a container for seedlings in moist soil to a depth of 1 cm and at a distance of 3 cm from each other. After this, the soil is lightly tamped down, covered with plastic wrap and cleaned in a warm place until germination. The film needs to be punctured in several places so that excess moisture does not accumulate under it, as this may cause diseases of the seedlings. Daytime temperature is desirable to withstand + 22-25 degrees, night - + 15-17.

After about a week, the first leaves appear( false), the temperature at this time is reduced to 20 degrees and the room is occasionally ventilated. It is also necessary to monitor the humidity - not to overdry, but not to overwet, so that the seedlings do not get sick with a “black leg”.

After 7-10 days you can observe the first seedlings of tomato

The soil can be prepared independently or you can buy a ready substrate. The following mixture is most suitable for healthy plant growth and good yield:

• The soil itself should consist of 50% of humus, 45% of black soil, and 5% of sand; ;
• for enrichment of on one bucket of soil make 1 cup of wood ash , 1 matchbox of superphosphate, potassium sulfate, urea.

Fill the containers with this mixture - plastic cups with drainage holes or wooden boxes with pallets 10-12cm high.

Transplanting tomato seedlings and further care

After the appearance of 2-3 true leaves, it is necessary to pick the seedlings, i.e.you need to choose the strongest and most developed sprouts and plant them in pots or other containers specially prepared for this. The size of the container should be 8-10 liters, for the smallest decorative varieties of tomatoes, you can take a container with a size of 4-5 liters. In the process of caring for plants, you must follow the basic rules and technology of agricultural engineering:

For growing indoor tomatoes in winter, choose containers of 2 liters( for dwarf varieties), 4 liters( for medium varieties) or 5 liters( for ampelous plants)

• Lighting. Pots with tomatoes are placed on window sills on the south side. Once every two days they are turned 180 degrees so that the plant is level and does not lean in the sunny direction. In case of cloudy weather, as well as in the mornings and evenings, it is necessary to provide the plants with additional illumination - phytolamp or even ordinary electric bulbs( except for those varieties whose growth does not depend on the length of the daylight hours).

With a lack of sunlight for indoor tomatoes, additional lighting

• is being installed. Watering. Room tomatoes are very sensitive to watering. Regular soil moistening promotes good growth, formation of ovaries and ripening of fruits. The lack of moisture will lead to the fall of the fruit, but its excess leads to the spread of various diseases - rot, late blight, fungal infections. You need to water 2 times a week, moderately and not irrigating the stems. With the beginning of flowering, watering should be stopped and resumed with the appearance of ovaries.
• Feeding tomatoes. Three weeks after diving seedlings and then every 10-15 days we fertilize the plants with special mineral and organic fertilizers, which we apply to the wet soil on the second day after watering.
• Lashing. Low shtambovy bushes with a steady trunk usually do not need a support. The branches of medium-sized tomatoes are tied to pegs, which are stuck into the ground, trying not to damage the root system.

As growth grows, tomato stalks are tied to

• pegs. Pastage. Be sure to carry out a pasynkovanie, ieremoval of shoots, "stepchildren" in the axils of the leaves throughout the growth of plants for its proper formation. Pasynki zagushchayut plant pick up nutrients, reduce the yield of tomatoes.

• Pollination. Potted varieties produce a good enough crop without pollination, but if you wish, you can carry out pollination with a brush, carefully drawing it through the flowers.

Airing of

will help improve the ability of a tomato to self-pollinating. Growing hybrid varieties of tomatoes on the windowsill in the winter - is not only good, but also a great pleasure, a very interesting exercise. Paying a little attention and free time, you get a harvest of exclusive varieties of bright, sweet and very healthy tomatoes from your window sill. To care for such a plant will be easy even for novice gardeners.