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Tomatoes are plants that require a lot of effort from the gardener when growing. This is the preparation of seedlings, and the preparation of the greenhouse, watering and, of course, feeding. Tomato belongs to the third group of plants in terms of nutrient intake, namely, it has average needs. During the growing season, the nutritional needs of the tomato vary. Most of all the various substances are needed by plants during flowering, fruit setting and filling. therefore Top dressing of tomatoes during the fruiting period - an important event without which you cannot get a good harvest.
The diet of tomatoes consists of macro and micronutrients. The first group consists of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium... Each of them plays a role in the life cycle of tomatoes.
The role of macronutrients in the development of tomatoes
- Nitrogen is very important for all plants. It is a constituent element of all plant tissues. For tomatoes, both a deficiency and an excess of this food element are harmful. The deficiency slows down the growth of plants, and the excess causes the rapid growth of green mass to the detriment of fruiting.
- Phosphorus. Without it, the root system grows slowly, the growth of plants slows down and their transition to fruiting.
- Potassium. Tomatoes are very demanding on the potassium content in the soil, especially during the fruiting period. Potassium not only actively participates in the metabolism of tomatoes, but also stimulates their immunity and resistance to diseases.
For successful growth and fruiting, tomatoes need magnesium, boron, molybdenum, calcium, zinc, copper and iron.
To diagnose the state of the plant and the lack of basic nutrients in it, the following table will be useful.
All plants get their nutrition from the soil. Its supply with fertilizers is an important component of their successful development. For tomatoes, it is very important to have all the nutrients in full. Only then will the tomatoes take those nutrients that they need in each period of development. But if we want to get not green mass, but a harvest of fruits, we need certain restrictions on the content of nitrogen in fertilizing, and in the soil of organic matter.
If tomato seedlings are planted, as it should be with the first flowering brush, subsequent feeding should be aimed at ensuring fruit set, accelerating their filling and improving the quality of tomatoes.
It is then that the first flower cluster is laid in a small plant. Top dressing is carried out with potassium sulfate. To carry it out, you need to dilute a quarter of a tablespoon of potassium sulfate in 2.5 liters of water.
The first feeding of tomatoes
For the rapid growth of planted plants and successful flowering, it is very good to carry out the first feeding with green fertilizer. It is prepared as follows.
- A fifty-liter plastic, but not metal, tank is filled one third with green grass with a predominance of nettles.
- Add half a bucket of fresh mullein.
- Pour a liter can of wood ash.
- Add a half-liter jar of fermented jam.
- Add half a kilogram of compressed yeast.
This mixture should be infused for at least a week. Better not to expose the tank to the sun. You need to mix the contents daily. When fermentation is complete, one liter of the liquid fraction is added to a ten-liter bucket of water and poured under the root by a liter for each tomato bush.This fertilizer will enrich the plants with both organic and mineral substances. It will allow him to build up the root mass and set fruit on the first brush.
Boric acid feeding
At the flowering stage, it is very important that the tomato does not have a boron deficiency, which is responsible for ensuring that each tomato flower becomes a full-fledged ovary. Boron is a sedentary element, so it cannot reach the stem and leaves of the plant from the roots. Therefore, foliar feeding with this element will be required.
This is quite simple to do. You will need to dilute a tablespoon of the drug in a ten-liter bucket of water and sprinkle tomato plants from a spray bottle. This amount of solution should be enough for the rest of the foliar dressing, which must be carried out during the formation of each flower cluster of tomatoes: the second and third. You can add 10-15 drops of iodine to the bucket of solution. This will make up for the deficiency of this element in tomatoes.
Top dressing of tomatoes during the period of fruit filling
Top dressing of tomatoes during fruiting must necessarily include potassium, since at this time the need of plants for it is maximum. Even if feeding is carried out with a full complex fertilizer, it is necessary to additionally add 20 grams of potassium sulfate per ten-liter bucket to the basic solution.
If there are signs of potassium starvation, foliar top dressing with a 1% potassium sulfate solution should be carried out to quickly pour the fruits.
Instead of potassium sulfate, you can also use tree dressing Ash... It contains not only a lot of potassium, but also a variety of trace elements are also necessary for the growth of fruits. Ash can be sprinkled on the soil under the tomatoes and then gently loosen it. But then the beneficial potassium will slowly flow to the plants.
Feeding with an ash extract is much more effective. How to do it correctly, you can watch the video:
For quick pouring of fruits, tomatoes require nitrogen, and also magnesium on sandy and sandy loam soils. Therefore, it will be useful at this time to feed with a complete complex fertilizer with microelements. Consumption rate 40 grams per one ten-liter bucket. Such dressings should be carried out every decade during the period of active flowering of tomatoes and pouring fruits on them. Each plant will require about 700 milliliters of solution. For tall plants, the watering rate is increased.
The role of humate for fertilizing tomatoes
With each top dressing, it is necessary to add humates in dissolved or dry form to the working solution. Dry humate requires one teaspoon per bucket of working solution, and liquid humate 25 milliliters. Humate promotes root growth, which actually feed the tomatoes. In addition, humic preparations are produced with the addition of microelements, so they can eliminate the lack of various microelements in tomatoes.
At root and foliar dressing of tomatoes it must be remembered that the plant will still take all the necessary elements from the soil, of course, if they are in it. The gardener's task is to closely observe the tomatoes and provide them with a complete diet.
The Meatlider method, followed by many gardeners, involves the use of massive doses of mineral fertilizers. And at the same time, the fruits grown by this method do not contain any harmful substances, including nitrates. Under natural conditions, wild tomatoes are not programmed for a large harvest, it is enough if at least one fruit is ripe to continue the genus.Therefore, wild tomatoes use nitrogen to grow green mass. For gardeners, the main thing is to get the maximum yield, and they do not need extra leaves and even more so stepchildren. Therefore, for the development of a tomato, an excess of any fertilizer, except for nitrogen, is not terrible.
Feed tomatoes during flowering and fruiting is correct, and a rich harvest will not keep you waiting.
