How to plant tomatoes properly: useful tips

Many amateur summer residents do not even know that tomatoes can be planted, because even without this operation they grow well in greenhouses and in open beds. But how rich are the dense bushes weakened by numerous sprouts? Enough to make a salad and preserve a couple of cans of tomato juice. And if you remove the extra sprouts? How to do this in order not to shock the bush? Why is this procedure so useful?

Stepson or not

Tomatoes have enough light, water and the absence of pests to take root in the garden and please the owners of the plot with ripe fruits. When they receive additional nutrients in the form of mineral fertilizers, small processes are formed in the axils of the leaves extending from the main trunk. Stepsons are actively developing, weakening the mother bush. They suck juices and useful components from the trunk and root system in order to grow their own leaves and small fruits.

Tomatoes due to such processes become too thick and bulky, while productivity decreases, because the plant spends energy on greenery, and not on fruits. Stepsons make the bush susceptible to pests and diseases such as late blight. Sprouts can and should be cut off in order to protect the culture from excessive load, to accelerate the formation and ripening of large fruits.

If you leave stepchildren in place, the tomatoes will yield a crop, but it will be small and meager, and the bushes themselves will have to be constantly treated from insects, rot and more fertilizers used than for processed specimens.

Choosing the right time

Tip: During flowering, the bushes are shaken before removing the stepsons, and only after that they begin the main work. This small procedure will improve the pollination of neighboring bushes.

Weekly, you should inspect the beds and tear down the stepsons that appear, until they become too large. Removing thick shoots is a shock to the mother bush, which reduces yield, and the plant itself can wither or weaken. Stepsons in greenhouse tomatoes are torn off after 6–8 days, and in crops located on an open bed in 10–12 days. The main thing is that the length of the process does not exceed 5 cm.

In order for the tomatoes to turn out to be large, and the crop to be rich, you will have to cut or tear off the extra formations throughout the summer. Stepsons are activated after the first inflorescences appear, therefore during this period it is recommended to carefully examine the plants. How to distinguish a normal leaf from a dangerous sprout? The first originates from the main trunk, and the second crawls out of the sinus of the stalk.

Important: Some summer residents say that you need to pinch tomatoes only until August 1, when the fruits begin to ripen. They believe that further the plant spends all its efforts to nourish the future crop, and the new shoots do not harm the bush. The opinion is controversial and not always true, therefore it is better not to take risks and continue to care for tomatoes until the fall.

About varieties of tomatoes

Varieties are indeterminate and determinant.The first species are tall, so they leave one stem, in rare cases - two. The second grade gives an early harvest and is overgrown with a lot of greenery. Determinant tomatoes sometimes do not need to pinch, because they even produce large berries without removing the shoots. But if you remove the extra education, leaving only 2-3 stems, there will be more tomatoes. The first type of tomato is suitable for growing in open beds, and the second is well established in greenhouse conditions.

Indeterminate tomatoes carefully stepson, otherwise their crown becomes too large, blocking the rest of the plants and berries. It is advisable to lay the stem on the ground, leaving only a fruitful brush.

They work carefully with determinant varieties, because there is a risk of removing the desired shoot, which could turn into a growth top. It is on it that the fruitful brush is formed, and the fruits are tied. In order not to spoil the bush, it is recommended to adhere to several recommendations:

1. To begin work with the definition of the main stepson, which subsequently will turn into a growth shoot.
2. Trim excess formations when they reach 4-5 cm, because then at the ends of the shoots the first signs of a brush appear.
3. If there is no certainty that the stepson needs to be removed, he is left. In the future, pinch the sprout, stopping growth.

There are several schemes for planting tomatoes in a greenhouse, but the most simple and popular is chess. If the choice was made in her favor, only determinant tomatoes should grow in the second row. In the open ground, there is no need to pinch such a variety; it will yield a good harvest even without breaking off the shoots.

Cooking tool

You can remove the extra shoots with your hands, but in this case there is a high probability of infecting the bush with some kind of infectious disease or fungus. Break off the stepsons with gloves, rubber or garden gloves, carefully erasing droplets of juice from the fingers, so it is advisable to bring a clean, dry rag with you.

Sprouts are removed with scissors or secateurs, but then the tool should be:

• well sharpened so that the blade does not “jam” the stem;
• clean, because in the open wound of the plant it is easy to bring dirt or bacteria.

Together with scissors take a bottle or a jar with a disinfectant solution. A preparation is prepared from potassium permanganate or bleach. A 1-2% concentration is sufficient. The tool is rinsed in a solution after each bush so that the juice does not fall onto another tomato.

Remove excess

Take the sprout with your index finger and thumb, squeezing slightly. Swing in opposite directions until it cracks and breaks. Carefully separate it from the mother bush, leaving a small stump 0.5-1.5 cm high to stop the stepson's growth and prevent the appearance of a new one in the old place.

Does scissors seem to be faster? Having identified the unnecessary sprout, with quick sharp movements to separate it from the bush. The main thing is that there is a neat cut without chewed edges, otherwise the wound will heal longer, and the risk of infection of the plant increases.

In one approach, you can remove up to 3 stepchildren and lower sheets. If you cut more, the tomatoes weaken and wilt. Therefore, it is recommended to stretch the work for about 7 to 10 days, starting with the largest shoots and gradually getting to the smallest.

Tip: Plants after the intervention should be “comforted” and maintained. In the morning, tomatoes stepchild, and then watered. In the evening or after 1-2 days, make mineral or natural fertilizers. Suitable diluted wood ash or water made from chicken droppings. Then the cuts will tighten faster, and the bushes will become stronger and begin to form an ovary.

Broken stepsons are immediately put in a basket or bucket and carried away from the garden. You can not leave the trimmed sprouts near the bushes, otherwise decay starts, and the disease spreads in the greenhouse or in the garden.

Recommendations

1. To plant tomatoes in the garden is advised in dry, calm weather, so that a minimum of dust and dirt gets into the wound.
2. It is not necessary to remove extra processes on some determinant or hybrid varieties. Producers made sure that the crop yielded maximum yield with minimal care. Such information must be indicated on a bundle with seeds.
3. Together with the stepsons, you can remove the lower leaves. They receive a minimum of light, so they pull more nutrients from the bush than the top ones. Leaflets are carefully cut as they ripen and collect the fruit. The less greenery, the better the bush is ventilated. Cutting off the lower sheets, the summer resident protects plants from fungus and late blight.

To plant tomatoes is much easier than it seems to novice gardeners. At first, the procedure is time-consuming, but with experience the movements become automatic and fast. It is advised to remove extra sprouts from greenhouse tomatoes, and there is no unequivocal opinion about crops planted in open ground. Although if you want to get a truly royal harvest, they advise you not to be lazy and start forming a bush as soon as the seedlings get stronger, and the first stepsons appear.

Video: pinching tomatoes