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It's nice to grow tomatoes on your own on your site. In addition, there is always a certainty that the vegetable was not fed with harmful fertilizers. And what should a person living in an apartment do? Of course, grow a tomato on the balcony or windowsill. About when they plant balcony tomatoes, and how they are looked after, we will now talk.
Are all varieties of tomatoes suitable for balcony growing
Before considering the agricultural technology of culture, it should be noted right away that not all varieties of tomatoes are capable of bearing fruit in indoor conditions. First of all, if you want to plant tomatoes on the balcony, you need to pay attention to undersized varieties. Usually indoor plants are characterized by a compact bush structure. The fruits will be small, and you should not even count on large tomatoes.
Regular varieties of tall tomatoes cannot be grown on the balcony for two reasons: the plant requires a special shaping of the bush, and there will not be enough room for a large root system to develop in a flower pot.
Many tomatoes have been bred that can be grown on the balcony. Let's take a look at some of them:
- The balcony severely limits the space for the development of culture. Under such conditions, varieties have proven themselves well Tiny Tim, Florida Petite and Minibell... All these tomatoes are undersized, one might say, dwarf. The fruits ripen together and quite early. The first flower is formed over 6 leaves, all subsequent ones go through 1 leaf. Usually one shoot forms no more than three flowers and stops growing. His stepson immediately follows him. A maximum of 7 small spherical tomatoes are tied from the inflorescence, weighing up to 20 g. When ripe, the fruits turn red.
- A popular balcony variety is tomato. "Angelica"... The culture is very early, it allows you to feast on ripe fruits after 80 days. Tomatoes ripen together, all at once. The first flower is laid over 7 leaves, and all subsequent ones through 2 leaves. Shoot growth stops after the formation of three flowers. Next comes the stepson. Each inflorescence is capable of producing up to 10 tomatoes. For an indoor variety, the fruits are rather large, weighing up to 70 g. An egg-shaped vegetable with a sharp nose turns red when ripe.
- Small balcony tomato plant "Pearl" grows only 40 cm in height. From the inflorescence up to 7 small tomatoes weighing 20 g are tied. The spherical-elongated shape of the fruit, when ripe, acquire a pink color of the pulp. The unripe vegetable is almost white with a faint green tint. The variety gained popularity due to its unpretentious care, and delicious sweet fruits.
- Early hybrid has proven itself well. "Balcony Red F1"... As soon as the first shoots have appeared from the soil, ripe tomatoes can be expected after 90 days. A small shrub with a height of 30 cm is so compact that it grows easily in a flower pot. Balcony tomatoes grow small, but very sweet and tasty.
- Quite a popular hybrid "Balconies Elo F1" has a low-growing bush, maximum 45 cm high. Early ripening of fruits. A bush with small lemon-colored tomatoes will decorate the windowsill. A tomato grown indoors is even used for conservation.
In addition to the considered tomatoes, there are many more indoor varieties. Each owner can choose a suitable balcony culture in the seed shop.
The video tells how to compactly plant tomatoes on the balcony:
Prepare soil with seeds and carry out sowing correctly
In order for tomato seedlings to grow well on the balcony and bring a bountiful harvest in the future, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil. It is best to buy ready-made soil. It already contains the entire range of mineral supplements. If you want to save money, you can independently collect sod land and mix it with humus. Looseness is important here. If the soil is dense, add peat or sawdust. The nutrient value of the soil will be provided by the introduction of superphosphate, potassium, wood ash, ammonium nitrate.
To grow good tomatoes on the balcony, it is optimal to sow the seeds before the end of February. Each vegetable grower has his own secrets of processing and immersing the grains in the soil, but usually this is one of two ways:
- The first method involves sowing dry tomato seeds directly from the pack... For this, a container with a volume of about 200 ml is prepared. It can be any plastic cup, cut PET bottle, flower pot, etc. The main thing is that the walls of the container are not too thin. Drainage holes in the bottom are not required. There is little soil, and the plant itself is able to absorb all the moisture. A glass is filled with soil, poured with boiling water, after which everything is left to cool completely. When the soil reaches room temperature, make 3 holes 15 mm deep and put 1 seed each, cover it with earth on top. The seeded cups are tightly covered with PET foil and placed in a warm place for germination. The film is removed only after the emergence of all shoots. It is important not to lower the ambient temperature directly. When after 4 days the tomato sprouts get stronger, the cups are taken out to a cooler place. If all 3 seeds have sprouted in each container, the strongest tomato sprout is left, and the rest are removed.
- The second method involves sowing already sprouted seeds of a balcony tomato in cups... For this, the grains are disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. A damp cotton cloth or gauze is spread on a saucer, the tomato grains are spread with one layer on top, and then covered with the same wet piece of cloth. Tomato seeds stand in this form until they germinate. It is important to keep the tissue moist and keep the seeds warm. As the grains are pecked, they are seated one by one in the ground of each cup. Further steps are identical as for the first method. The containers are covered with foil, waiting for the emergence of seedlings. It is not necessary to remove only extra plants, since only one tomato grain was sown in each glass.
A balcony or windowsill is considered a cool place where the strengthened tomato seedlings will be taken out. Plants need good lighting, plus regular watering with warm water.
Optimal conditions for the growth of balcony tomatoes
To get mature tomato plants from tender sprouts, it is necessary to create optimal growing conditions for the culture. Daylight is usually enough for the plant. However, the window located on the shaded side of the house is not able to optimally provide the tomato seedlings with light. Here you will have to take care of the artificial illumination with a lamp. It is enough to turn it on for 3 hours over tomatoes in the early morning and at dusk.
The window usually radiates coolness. If the temperature drops below +15 at nightaboutC, over the seedlings, the tomato is adapted from the wire of the arc, on which the film is laid. In the morning they take it off again. Water the plants only with warm water. Moreover, they make sure that the soil around the tomato stem is slightly moist. Excess moisture must not be allowed. From this, the roots of the tomatoes will begin to rot.
Above, we discussed two optimal ways of sowing tomato seeds in cups. Sometimes housewives like to sow the seeds of balcony tomatoes in boxes with soil. In this case, further care for tomato seedlings involves picking. After the appearance of two full-fledged leaves, the plants are gently pry up with a spatula, removing them from the box along with a lump of earth. There should be a prepared pot of soil next to it. A dived tomato is buried in the soil 20 mm lower than it grew in a box. A tomato seedling is watered abundantly with warm water, and transferred to a warm, shaded place. The plant will get stronger in about a week. Then the tomato can be taken out on the balcony or placed on the windowsill closer to the sunlight.
Watering and feeding tomato seedlings
The frequency of watering the plants depends on the humidity of the air. Usually, tomato seedlings are watered at the root twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. 40 days after sowing the seeds of tomatoes, the plants are fed with humus. Moreover, this is done 3 times before transplanting to their permanent place of growth. Humus is bought at any specialty store. It is enough to put a layer 20 mm thick under the root of each plant. Top dressing will strengthen the tomato root system and saturate the soil with useful substances.
We transplant tomatoes to a permanent place of growth
Small cups are not the containers where the balcony tomato will grow all the time. After about 1 month, the tomato root system will become large and need a large area for further development. It should be noted right away that further the tomatoes on the balcony will grow and bear fruit at a distance of at least 250 mm from each other. It is impossible to put pots of tomatoes closer because of the appearance of thickening of the plants.
Before transplanting seedlings of balcony tomatoes a drainage layer is placed on the bottom of the flower pot. Any stones or broken tiles will do. The soil purchased or independently enriched with fertilizers is filled with a third of the container. The growing tomato is removed from the glass along with a lump of soil, after which it is placed in a pot. If the capacity is large, and the tomatoes are undersized, it is allowed to plant 2 or 3 plants. Further, the voids left between the roots of the tomato and the walls of the flower pot are filled with earth, but its level should only reach the third upper part of the container. The transplanted tomato is watered abundantly with water, after which it is sent to a permanent place of growth.
Further care for balcony tomatoes requires the formation of a bush, but this depends on the variety. On many crops, only 2 shoots are left above the first tomato cluster, all the rest are removed. Dry, as well as diseased foliage from the plant must be cut off. It is allowed after the appearance of the first ovary of tomatoes from the top of the plant to cut the flowers. This will allow the fruit to receive more nutrients. Balcony tomato varieties are self-pollinating. If desired, you can still help pollinate by alternately brushing over the inflorescences.
The video talks about growing balcony tomatoes:
In such a simple way, even a city dweller is able to grow fresh tomatoes on the balcony. You just need to make a little effort, and fresh tomatoes will be on the table.
