Content
For 20 years now, Leopold tomatoes have been delighting gardeners with their fruitful brushes with bright red fruits. This hybrid is forgiving even to novices in agriculture, like a kind cat from a cartoon: the plant has almost perfect genetic data. The bushes of these tomatoes are unpretentious, resistant to weather changes, high-yielding, and the fruits are beautiful and tasty.
Summer residents in reviews share amazing impressions of these plants. It happens that they go into the greenhouse after a week of absence, and there, in the sunset rays of the July sun, like magic lamps, scarlet fruits hang on the bushes of tomatoes.
Persistent garden miracle - tomato Leopold f1 was created by the Russian breeding company "Gavrish" and entered in the register in 1998. Designed for the third light zone, although hobbyists grow these tomatoes in areas with less solar intensity.
Hybrid benefits
According to the reviews of everyone who planted the Leopold tomato, only advantages can be noted near the bush and the fruits. And if someone changed it on their site for some other variety of tomatoes, it was only yielding to the desire to discover something new from the huge and diverse world of tomatoes.
- Tomato bushes are small, compact;
- Plants are cold-resistant;
- High resistance of bushes to diseases;
- Tomato fruits ripen together;
- High plant productivity;
- The fruits are transportable and can be stored indoors for a long time;
- Beautiful appearance of the tomato: a nice round shape and a bright shade of the fruit.
Characteristics
Powerful tomato bushes Leopold - determinant, 70-80 cm, stop growing after the formation of 5-6 flower brushes on the plant. In greenhouses, growing on nutritious soil, tomato bushes can rise up to 1 m. Plants of these tomatoes do not need to be pinned. But when the stepchildren are removed, the yield will be greater.
Plants of this hybrid do not require special care for themselves. The bushes have phenomenal resistance to the main diseases of tomatoes. And if we add to this characteristic property the resistance to lower temperatures above zero, it is quite understandable why the Leopold hybrid is truly a godsend for novice gardeners. Even without adhering to all the rules of agricultural technology, but simply by watering and weeding the beds, you can get a sufficient harvest.
The hybrid of early ripening tomatoes has been tested by gardeners. Leopold tomato bushes grow well in greenhouses, under a film or non-woven shelter in the middle climatic zone and in open gardens. The plant will give a stable harvest of fruits - up to 3-4 kg per bush, which is suitable for fresh consumption and for various preparations. These tomatoes are valued for their early and amicable ripening, high marketability of attractive fruits, and their excellent taste.
Description of the plant
Tomatoes Grades Leopold are erect, low plants of medium branching. The bushes of the hybrid have slightly wrinkled, glossy dark green leaves, the internodes are medium. The laying of the first inflorescence occurs above 6-8 leaves, and then the brushes appear after 1-2 leaves.The inflorescences of this plant are simple, with a weak crease. The brush bears four to six to eight fruits.
Rounded, smooth fruits, with an even base, in the ripening phase are distinguished by a bright red color. The unripe berries of this tomato are light green; as they ripen, the green spot on top becomes less pronounced. A ripe fruit has a juicy pulp - dense, fleshy and sugary. The skin is the same dense, but not coarse. The taste is pleasant, sweet and sour, typical for tomatoes. The fruit contains 3-4 seed chambers. The berries of the hybrid do not suffer from hollowness.
Fruit weight of the Leopold hybrid ranges from 80 to 100 g. With good care, individual fruits can weigh 150 grams. From one square meter get from six to eight kilograms of juicy vitamin products of tomatoes. The fruits of the Leopold tomato hybrid are uniform, neat. Tomatoes are suitable for canning whole.
Growing a hybrid
Like all tomatoes, the Leopold hybrid is grown through seedlings. Tomato seeds of this variety are sown in March. Young plants can be transferred to the greenhouse in May, and outdoors in June. The harvest, respectively, begins to be harvested from the bushes at the end of July and in August.
Seed and soil preparation
Before sowing, purchased tomato seeds are disinfected, unless they have been processed by the manufacturer. The grains are placed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. They can be soaked for two hours in Epin, which stimulates germination.
Seeds are laid out to a depth of 1-1.5 cm in containers or in separate containers, which are widely offered in the trade network. You can also purchase a special soil for seedlings of Leopold tomatoes, where all the necessary trace elements are balanced. The soil is independently prepared from peat and humus - 1: 1, a 1-liter can of sawdust and 1.5 cups of wood ash are added to a bucket of such a mixture. Instead of sawdust, vermiculite or other drainage material is also used.
Seedling care
As soon as tomato sprouts begin to appear, the air temperature is reduced to 160 C so that they do not stretch too quickly. After a week, for strong green young tomatoes, you need to raise the air temperature to 20-230 C and maintain up to one month of age.
- During this period, tomato seedlings need sufficient lighting. If the air temperature is high and there is little light, the stalks of plants will stretch out in search of the sun and weaken. On a light windowsill, the seedlings are comfortable, but it is necessary to turn the container once a day so that the plants stand level and do not lean towards the light;
- Seedlings of tomato Leopold f1 are watered moderately so that the soil is slightly moist;
- When the first two true leaves grow, young tomatoes dive, pinching the central root. Now the plant's root system will develop horizontally, choosing the necessary elements that are in the upper, most nutritious layer of the soil;
- Two weeks after the pick, the plants are fed. For 10 liters of water, take 30 g of double superphosphate and potassium nitrate. The same top dressing is given to tomatoes again after 15 days.
Garden chores
Seasoned seedlings of Leopold tomatoes are planted in open ground at the end of May or in the first decade of June. In greenhouses, these tomatoes can grow from the beginning of May. Conventional film shelters are suitable for the hybrid and in regions where summers are short and cold.
Planting, watering, hilling
If, for some reason, tomato seedlings were not transferred to a permanent place in time and outgrown - the bushes are tall, inflorescences have appeared, it is necessary to plant it in a special way.
- Small plants are planted so that the seedling stands straight and straight. Overgrown tomato bushes in the hole are laid obliquely.Tomatoes have a lot of vitality and they release roots along the entire length of the stem if it comes into contact with the soil. Thus, the plant tries to get more nutrition;
- In the early days, tomato plants are watered every day under the root with warm water. Each bush requires at least half a liter of water. Watering is carried out in the evening so that the moisture does not evaporate too quickly. After the tomato plants get stronger, they are watered 1-2 times a week, taking into account the weather conditions. Tomatoes must be watered before hilling, during flowering, after dressing, during the formation of fruits;
- 10 days after planting, tomato bushes are spud. This agricultural practice promotes the formation of additional roots in the plant. After 15 days, the hilling is repeated.
Plant feeding
The first time, two weeks after planting, Leopold tomatoes are fertilized with organic matter. Water one liter per bush: mullein diluted 1: 5 or bird droppings - 1:15.
When the ovaries begin to form, the hybrid is fed only with mineral fertilizers. They mostly affect the formation of fruits than organic ones, which mainly contribute to the growth of green mass.
Stem formation
In the greenhouse, there is one central stem of Leopold tomatoes, and in the open field you can leave two or three stems for a lush bush. The last brushes remove or cut off excess flowers for a more friendly fruiting. The lower leaves are also removed.
Early ripening bushes of the hybrid leave late blight, are resistant to fusarium, cladosporium, mosaic.
These hybrids produce ovaries in different weather conditions. And the gardener who plants early and undemanding tomato plants will not be mistaken.
