How to grow tomatoes "Cherry" on the windowsill?

The lack of a cottage or garden is not an obstacle to the cultivation of its own crop of berries and vegetables.Today there are many varieties of crops intended for cultivation on the windowsill or balcony of a city apartment. One of the options - small cherry tomatoes, green bushes which also perform a decorative function.

Cherry is a type of tomato. They are smaller, have a more pronounced flavor, and a delicate, sweetish flavor. Some argue that this vegetable has fruit flavors, which makes it delicate.

Miniature bushes can be grown in greenhouses, as well as in ordinary flower pots on the windowsill or balcony of a city apartment. Despite the small height of the bush compared to the bush of ground tomatoes, cherry demonstrates high yield. From a bush collect up to 25 fruits. Conveniently, they ripen almost simultaneously, so you can harvest the crop with whole branches. With proper care for the season, one cherry tomato bush produces up to 1.5 kg of crop.

The fruits of tomatoes have different sizes and shapes, the differences also apply to colors (from bright red, scarlet to yellow-orange) and taste characteristics. All this is possible thanks to the crossing of different varieties and the breeding of new ones.

Tomatoes must be self-pollinated. They can tolerate shade, and also do not grow more than 1-1.5 m. Of course, it is important for a gardener to get a big harvest.

Among the varieties that are suitable for growing at home, usually there are several.

• "Lycopa F1". The name of the fruit is due to the high content of lycopene in them. Ripens within 90 days, tomatoes are bright red, sweet and sour, suitable for canning and fresh consumption.

• "Maksik F1". Bushes of this variety are compact due to the reduced distance between the nodes. Fruits are smaller compared to the variety discussed above, have a more pronounced sweet taste. The ripening period is also 90 days. Suitable for conservation.

• "Cyrus F1". Bright yellow fruits, taste sweet, more like a fruit. Fruiting at 90-95 days after shoot. They can be consumed fresh and stored in a dry cool place for up to 2-3 months.

• "Balcony miracle." One of the favorite gardeners for their unpretentiousness and high yield variety. During the season it is possible to collect up to 2 kg of fruits from the bush, and the bushes themselves are low - up to 45-50 cm tall. Despite the fact that this variety is precocious, tomatoes can not only be eaten fresh, but also canned.

• "Orange cap". From the title it is clear that the fruits have a red-orange tint. Differs small height (40-45 cm), looks great in pots. Fruits are small, literally strewing bush.

For cultivation on the windowsill, select the windows facing the sunny side. Plant seeds in high pots. It is also necessary to prepare sticks or special supports for the garter of grown bushes.

Tomatoes can be grown at home by planting seeds or rooting stepchildren of adult plants. Seeds are usually sown in early August, then (subject to the necessary conditions), the crop can be harvested until December. There is one more time for planting: November - the beginning of December, in which case the bushes will bear fruit until March - April.

Step by step, this process involves the preparation of seeds and soil, planting seeds and hiding them, the emergence of green shoots and their dive.

Before planting, the seeds should be prepared. First, they need to sort out, removing the empty and unsuitable for planting. It is further recommended to place the seeds in a growth stimulator solution for up to 12 hours. This will stimulate the sowing of seeds. After a specified time, the seed should be washed in clean water and wrap in wet gauze before swelling.

At this time, you can prepare the ground. It is better to abandon the ready-made earth mixtures, since their composition is extremely poor. The best option is a mixture of garden soil, sand, peat and humus. The ratio of sand and black soil is chosen as 1: 3, 1: 4. If you use such a composition, do not forget to pre-disinfect it. The easiest way to do this is to moisten the soil with a solution of copper sulphate.

Prepared seeds are placed in the soil and sprinkled with 1 cm of soil. The surface is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or simply moistened with water and covered with plastic wrap or clear glass.

In this form, the seeds are left in a warm dark place until germination. When the first green shoots appear, the film and glass should sometimes be removed (shoots should be hardened), and the pots should be exposed to light.

When the second leaf appears, it is recommended to make a picking by pinching the root tip. This contributes to the strengthening and growth of the root system. After the dive, the tomatoes should be poured with a warm solution of potassium permanganate, and the ground should be covered with calcined sand.

You can not do a pick, and grow seedlings in small cups, sowing each with 2 grains. When the seeds sprout, and the seedlings will have 3 leaves each, the weaker sprout is removed.

Another option for growing cherry tomatoes is pasoning. To do this, a sprig of an adult plant should be placed for several days (usually about 5-7 days) in water. As soon as the root appears, you can transfer it to the ground. This method is usually used to update the bushes or in case of obtaining a larger crop of the variety that you like.

You should be prepared to take care of the tomatoes is not easy. It is important to observe the light and temperature conditions, to ensure regular watering, but to avoid overwetting the soil and stagnant moisture. Equally important is the size of the capacity for growing, as well as the nature and frequency of staging.

Caring for seedlings after a dive involves the observance of a certain temperature regime - during the day it should be at least 22C, at night - 18C. Tomatoes need a long light day. In this regard, in the dark, it is recommended to include additional lighting.

When growing tomato tomatoes at home, you should choose high cylindrical pots with a volume of at least 5 liters. In small containers or boxes, tomatoes will not produce a good harvest. Using low tare is fraught with its turning under the weight of the bush and damage to the plant.

For small ampel varieties, it is better to use hanging pots. It is important to ensure that the edges of the latter are not sharp, otherwise the hanging branches of the tomatoes will be cut off. It is necessary to place pots in well lit places where there are no drafts.

If at night the temperature on the balcony drops below 18 ° C, bring tomatoes at night. Periodically it is necessary to loosen the soil using a wooden stick. When exposed roots are found, they should be sprinkled with humus.

The stagnation of moisture in the soil adversely affects the condition of the tomatoes. Bushes can stop growing and then rot. To avoid this, to some extent, allows a layer of drainage at the bottom of the pot. It is better to take for this expanded clay of small or medium fraction.To reduce the frequency of irrigation and prevent the drying of the ground while allowing a layer of hydrogel, which also fits in each container.

Although tomatoes do not tolerate stagnant water, they should be watered quite often. On warm sunny days, this should be done 2-3 times a week. When it is overcast and humid outside the window, 1-2 times during the same period is enough. Soft water at room temperature is suitable for irrigation. As a rule, it is enough to pour water from the tap and let it stand for 1-2 days. Watering is better in the evening or early in the morning, after the sun reduces its activity.

When growing a crop on a windowsill, periodically sprinkle it with warm water, and also arrange for airing. It is better to air after watering, but only if there are no drafts and cold air flows.

Cherry tomatoes are sensitive to the mineral content of the soil. The best feeding for them are ash, superphosphate, humus, previously rotted. They can be made every 2 weeks before watering during the formation of ovaries and ripening of tomatoes. But the use of nitrogen-containing feedings during this period should be moderate. Such fertilizer will only contribute to the increase in greenery on the bushes, which inhibits the formation of ovaries.

Do not abuse fertilizers, because it will affect the benefits of the fruit. If we talk about ready-made mineral complexes, then Plantafid, Plantafol and Aqua Drop are recommended. For spraying a bush, you can use the anti-stress composition "Megafol".

Pasoning tomatoes (both home and ground) it is necessary that the culture does not waste forces on the formation of an excessively large amount of green mass. Home-grown cherries are required to stepchild a little less. In this case, the culture gets an attractive hat, looks like a miniature tree and serves as an interior decoration.

It should be remembered that rounded green bushes produce a slightly smaller crop than those that stepchildren more often. The choice of a particular option depends on the owner of the balcony mini-garden.

In any case, the lower stepchildren should be preserved, and at the time of formation of the ovaries on each stem, no more than 4-5 hands remain. In the same period, you need to pinch the growth point by 3-4 cm. Regularly remove diseased or dried, yellowed leaves.

Pasynka can be planted in water by adding a drop of flower dressing to the same place. Once the root is formed on the stepson, you can plant it in the ground and grow a new bush.

Some varieties of balcony tomatoes do not need to be staved. These include “Bonsai Micro” and “Balcony Red”.

Cherry tomatoes grown at home are susceptible to pest attacks, as a rule, they are affected by aphids or spider mites. With a slight impact often enough to spray and ventilate the culture. If this does not help, and the defeat is stronger, you can use insecticides for this culture. To prevent the defeat of bushes by pests and their diseases allows their preventive spraying. At the stage of spitting up the seedlings for this purpose, you can use Bordeaux liquid 1%, after setting the fruit - an infusion of garlic.

It is prepared from 100 g of minced garlic, which is poured ½ liter of pure water and insist day. After that, the composition is filtered, diluted with 5 liters of water, where rubbed 20 g of soap. The mixture should be stirred to dissolve the soap, after which it is considered ready for use. To process this composition can be monthly.

Balcony cultures are self-pollinating, however, for their pollination, movement of air flows is necessary - this is another one of the reasons why frequent airing is necessary. You can put a fan with warm air near the bushes or, as mentioned above, carry out the pollination manually using a cotton swab. The fact that the plant has become pollinated is indicated by a certain bending of the petals of the inflorescences back. Pollen ripens at night, which means that the pollination process should be planned for the morning.

Gather the fruits ripe. It is believed that when ripe on a branch, tomatoes are tastier. For winter preparations by canning, you can collect the fruits brown and put them in a dark warm place before ripening. Similarly, should be picked fruits that are planned to be stored fresh.

If you need to slow down the growth of plants, you can use the following method - with a brush you need to carefully damage the hairs of the tips of the shoots. It is necessary to gently iron the tops, then the vegetable will spend forces on the restoration of damaged areas, and not grow up. Naturally, these manipulations should be carried out with moderate force, without causing great damage to the bushes.

Experienced gardeners prefer to grow cherry in iron buckets. It is believed that this material prevents the appearance of a parasitic fungus, so the leaves are not affected by blight.

How to grow cherry tomatoes on the windowsill, see the following video.