Tips for farmers: How to get a healthy and abundant harvest of tomatoes
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan informs that specialists of the branch of the Rosselkhoznadzor for the Republic of Tatarstan have prepared information about the peculiarities of growing tomatoes.
In comparison with many other vegetable crops, tomato is a relatively new crop in Russia. Tomatoes are distinguished by high nutritional, taste and dietary qualities. The caloric content of ripe fruits is 19 kcal. They contain up to 8% dry matter, in which half are sugars, mainly glucose and fructose, as well as organic acids and fiber. Fruits also contain proteins, pectin substances, starch and minerals. Tomato fruits have a high content of carotenoids, B vitamins, folic and ascorbic acid, organic (citric, malic, oxalic, tartaric, succinic, glycolic), high-molecular fatty (palmitic, stearic, linoleic) and phenol-carboxylic (p-coumaric, coffee, ferulic) acids.
The choline available in tomatoes lowers the cholesterol content in the blood, prevents fatty degeneration of the liver, increases the immune properties, promotes the formation of hemoglobin. The flavonoid naringenin, which has an anti-inflammatory effect, was found in the skin of tomatoes.
1 kg of tomatoes contains quite a lot of different trace elements: sodium-40 mg, potassium-2680 mg, calcium-110 mg, magnesium-120 mg, iron-6 mg, copper-0.97 mg, phosphorus-270 mg, sulfur-140 mg, chlorine-400 mg and manganese-1.89 mg.
Prepare the soil for planting tomatoes in the fall. To do this, when digging, you need to add manure, potassium chloride and superphosphate of 40 g/1 m2 to a depth of 30 cm.
If the soil has not been fertilized with manure, then in early spring, add ammonium nitrate 20 g/1 m2 + nitrophosk 60 g/1 m2 to a depth of 15 cm or a mixture of compost and ash at the rate of 1.5 cups of ash per bucket of compost and this mixture spills holes or furrows.
Precocious low-growing varieties are placed with a distance between rows of 60 cm and between plants in rows of 30 cm, taller ones - according to the scheme of 70×30 or 70×50 cm. It is better to plant seedlings on a cloudy day in the afternoon, and on a sunny day – only in the evening. The holes need to be watered before and after planting. Immediately place the pegs (preferably wooden) and tie the bushes with twine "eight". The soil near the bushes should be mulched with humus, compost and peat. In hot weather, seedlings after planting should be shaded with paper or branches, sticking them around the bushes with a hut.
It is necessary to water tomatoes regularly, once a week, in the afternoon. It is necessary to water the bushes at the root, avoiding water getting on the leaves. The aisles are loosened after watering. It is worth taking the time to hoe tomatoes at least two or three times a season.
Deputy head of the Rosselkhoznadzor for the Republic of Tatarstan Lyubov Zanina notes that for the entire period of tomato growth, it is necessary to carry out four fertilizing. The first is carried out two to three weeks after the seedlings are planted, the second – after the second flower brush begins to bloom, the third - when the third brush blooms. The fourth feeding is usually carried out three weeks after the third feeding.
Top dressing is prepared according to the following proportion: 40 g of superphosphate +10 g of ammonium nitrate per 10 liters of water. They are also fed with an infusion of organic fertilizers (mullein, bird droppings), as well as an infusion of herbs.
If the plant has grown and has become more massive, and the process of ovary formation is very slow, then all nitrogen-containing fertilizers should be excluded from fertilizing.
Usually, the culture is formed in two stems, leaving the stepson under the first flower brush. The rest of the stepsons pinch, leaving stumps of 0.5-1 cm in size. If you leave the stepsons located above and under the first inflorescence, then the bush will turn out to have three stems. No more than eight inflorescences are left on them and the growth point is necessarily pinched. If you are late and the stepsons have grown big, then you should not break them out, but just pinch the top.
To speed up maturation, at the end of July, it is necessary to break out all the remaining small stepsons and pinch the growth points on the shoots, leaving two or three leaves over the inflorescences with already established fruits.
Tomatoes should be placed away from potato plantings. During the entire growing season, they are susceptible to diseases such as late blight, alternariosis, septoria, fusarium wilt, etc.
In greenhouses, whitefly, aphids, spider mites, nightshade miner, etc. are frequent guests on tomatoes. To protect, it is necessary to conduct regular inspections of plants and treatments.
When growing seedlings, it is mandatory to etch seeds with biofungicides Rhizoplan, Pseudobacterin-2, Trichodermin, Phytosporin-M, Sporobacterin, etc. Under the digging of the earth, apply the biofungicide Trichodermin.
It is necessary to observe the planting scheme when planting seedlings. Immediately destroy plants infected with the virus.
During the growing season, spray and water under the root: the first spraying is two weeks after planting the seedlings, followed by 10-14 days.
Against diseases, use biofungicides Rhizoplan, Pseudobacterin-2, Trichodermin, Fitosporin-M, Sporobacterin, etc., chemical fungicides-Raek, Rhesus, Oxychom, Proton Extra, Bordeaux mixture-F, Hom, etc., adding microbiobacteria (Azolene, UniFos, etc.) and micro-fertilizer (Humate "Healthy Harvest", etc.).
Against pests, use bioinsecticides Biostop, Bitoxibacillin, Lepidocide, Phytoverm, etc., from chemical insecticides – Confidor Extra, Iskra zolotaya, Kalash, Tanrek, etc., also adding microbial fertilizer and micro-fertilizer.
Care and attention to tomatoes will allow you to get a healthy and abundant harvest.