Content
Many gardeners dream most of all about ultra-early harvests, try to plant the most ultra-ripening varieties of vegetables in order to enjoy fresh vitamins as early as possible and show off to neighbors, or even sell surplus on the market when the price of vegetables is still high. Others do not need all this haste, they are firmly convinced that the earliest are never the tastiest or the most fruitful, which, of course, has a large grain of truth. And these others are patiently waiting for the ripening of late varieties, which, as a rule, are distinguished by the highest yield, and the richest taste, and the largest sizes. And sometimes all these characteristics combined.
All of the above applies, of course, to tomatoes. Here are just the cultivation of late-ripening varieties of tomatoes in the open ground of the middle lane and more northern regions is fraught with a high probability that the harvest may not be expected at all. Therefore, some varieties were specially created mainly for the southern regions of Russia, where a warm autumn allows you to extend the growing season of tomatoes and get large harvests of tomatoes in September and even sometimes in October in open field conditions. The Titan tomato, the characteristics and description of the variety of which are presented in this article, belongs to just such tomatoes.
Description of the variety
It is a rather old variety of tomatoes, which was obtained back in the early 80s of the last century by breeders of an experimental selection station in the city of Krymsk, Krasnodar Territory, which is a branch of the North Caucasus Research Institute of Viticulture and Horticulture.
Where is it better to grow
In 1986, the tomato variety Titan was entered into the State Register of Russia with recommendations for growing in the open field of the North Caucasus region. Since the variety is designed for growing primarily outdoors, it hardly makes sense to recommend growing it in greenhouse conditions in more northern regions. Indeed, in greenhouses, the lighting conditions are always somewhat lower than in open ground, and the feeding area there is less than that required for this variety.
For indoor conditions, a large number of special varieties have been created today, which are able to withstand some lack of illumination and may well develop well and give good yields in a limited soil volume. While these conditions are completely unacceptable for Titan tomatoes.
Tomato bushes
Plants of these varieties of tomatoes are really characterized by a small height, about 40-50 cm. Tomato Titan is determinant and even standard. This means that the development of the bush is completed after the formation of a certain number of fruit clusters, and at the top there is always a cluster with fruits, and not a green shoot.
The bushes themselves are strong, with a thick central stem and large green leaves. The number of shoots and leaves formed is average, therefore, the variety does not need pinching, especially when grown in open ground. The first flower cluster is formed after 5 or 7 leaves. The next brushes are laid every 2 sheets.
Ripening time and yield
Variety Titan is distinguished by late ripening of fruits - they begin to ripen only 120-135 days after full shoots appear.
For old varieties, the yield of the Titan tomato could be called not only good, but even a record one. On average, from one bush you can get from 2 to 3 kg of fruits, and with good care, you can achieve and get 4 kg of tomatoes.
Even if you look at the number of marketable fruits, it comes out from 5.5 to 8 kg per square meter. Very good indicators for a variety bred in the 80s of the last century.
Disease resistance
But in terms of resistance to adverse environmental factors, the Titan tomatoes are not up to par. They are highly susceptible to late blight and tend to be affected by stolbur. In addition to the almost lignified, fibrous pulp, which is characterized by fruits infected with a virus called stolbur, the stalk of this variety often hardens. They differ in average resistance to macrosporiosis and septoria.
In addition, Titan tomatoes do not like low temperatures, and are often exposed to pest infestations. However, many old varieties of tomatoes sin with all these characteristics, as well as the tendency to cracking fruits. It is for these reasons that in recent decades, breeders have done a lot of work to develop improved varieties that will be spared many of the previous shortcomings.
Brief description of the new variety
Tomato Titan was also seriously worked and achieved significant improvements in many characteristics. True, this has already turned out to be a new variety and it was named Pink titanium.
It was bred at the same experimental selection station in the city of Krymsk in the Krasnodar Territory already in 2000, but in this case the authors of this tomato novelty are well known: Yegisheva E.M., Goryainova O.D. and Lukyanenko O.A.
It was registered in the State Register in 2006 and the range of areas recommended for growing this tomato in the open field has expanded due to the inclusion of the Lower Volga region.
The characteristics of the tomato bushes themselves remained similar to the Titan variety - standard, determinant, low. But the waiting time for the harvest has been reduced - Pink titanium can be safely attributed to mid-season and even mid-early varieties. From germination to the first ripe fruits, it takes about 100-115 days.
The breeders managed to achieve from the pink titanium tomatoes and an increase in yield compared to the previous variety. On average, from one square meter of plantings, you can collect 8-10, and up to a maximum of 12.5 kg of tomatoes.
And most importantly, it was possible to increase the resistance of tomatoes to adverse conditions and diseases. Tomato Pink titanium is no longer prone to stolbur damage, and resistance to other diseases has increased significantly. Tomatoes of this variety have a high yield of marketable fruits - up to 95%. Tomatoes are not prone to cracking and top rot.
Fruit characteristics
Since the Pink Titan variety is, to some extent, an improved copy of the Titan tomato, the characteristics of tomatoes of both varieties are given below, for convenience, in one table.
Characteristics of tomatoes | Titanium grade | Grade Pink Titanium |
The form | rounded | Round, correct |
Color | red | pink |
Pulp | Quite dense | juicy |
Skin | smooth | Smooth, thin |
Size, weight | 77-141 grams | 91-168 (up to 214) |
Taste characteristics | excellent | excellent |
Number of seed nests | 3-8 | More than 4 |
Dry matter content | 5% | 4,0 – 6,2% |
Total sugar content | 2,0-3,0% | 2,0 -3,4% |
Appointment | For tomato blanks | For tomato blanks |
Transportability | excellent | excellent |
It can also be noted that tomatoes of both varieties are distinguished by sufficient uniformity of fruits, as well as their good preservation, which is convenient for industrial cultivation and canned products.
Growing features
It is advisable to grow tomatoes of both varieties through seedlings, although Pink Titan, due to its early maturity, can be tried to be sown directly in the greenhouse, in order to later transplant the tomato bushes to permanent beds.
For the Titan, it is necessary to take many additional measures to protect it from disease from the very first days of landing in the open ground. It is easiest to use Fitosporin treatment. This biological agent is absolutely harmless to humans, but it is quite effective against most nightshade diseases.
Since the bushes of both varieties are small in size, they do not require a garter or pinching. They are planted in the beds, observing the density of no more than 4-5 plants per square meter, otherwise the tomatoes may not have enough food and light.
Reviews of gardeners
Tomatoes of these varieties are not very popular with gardeners, although the Pink Titanium is receiving some positive reviews.
Conclusion
Perhaps for the last century, the Titan tomato variety was very attractive, but now, with an abundance of available tomatoes, it makes more sense to grow the Pink Titan variety. It is more resistant and even more productive.
