Chocolate Tomato: reviews, photos, yield

The chocolate color of the tomato attracts not many vegetable growers. Traditionally, everyone is used to seeing a red tomato. However, according to the reviews of gardeners who decided to grow such a miracle, the taste of the vegetable is excellent. You can even make delicious juice from the fruit. The Chocolate tomato was bred by domestic breeders, so the culture is well adapted to our climate.

Characteristics of a variety

We will begin to consider the characteristics and description of the Chocolate variety tomato with the structure of the bush. The plant is considered semi-determinate. The bush is not standard. The stems grow from 1,2 to 1,5 m in height. The foliage on the plant grows a little, but it is wide and tightly covers the fruits. A feature of the Chocolate variety is resistance to diseases. None of the reviews contained information about the defeat of the tomato with root and top rot.

The tomato variety is suitable for indoor and outdoor cultivation. In terms of ripening, the culture is considered medium-early. The fruits are ready for consumption 110 days after sowing the seeds. In cold regions, the Chocolate variety is best grown indoors so that the plant has time to give the entire crop. The ovary of fruits occurs with brushes. The first flower appears above the 8th leaf. Up to 5 tomatoes are tied from the inflorescence in the brush. The variety is considered high-yielding. From 1 m² on average, 10 kg of fruits are harvested. With good care, the yield of a tomato can grow up to 15 kg / m².

Description of fruits

Reviews about the Chocolate tomato variety often begin with a mention of the unusual color of the fruit. And it’s not in vain. When ripe, the tomato becomes a dark red color mixed with a brown tint. The skin of the fruit acquires a chocolate color. The flesh inside the tomato is red, and the walls and seed chambers combine two colors: pale green and brown.

Fruits grow with an average weight of 200 g, but can reach up to 400 g. The shape of a tomato is standard spherical with a flattened top and bottom. There are at least 4 seed chambers in the fetus, but sometimes more.

Most often, brown tomato is used for salads, decoration and cooking. In conservation, the fruits go well. The pulp of the tomato is sweet and juicy, which allows you to process the crop into juice. However, many are afraid of the unusual dark color, and because of this, tomatoes are grown in small quantities for fresh consumption.

On the video you can see what kind of juice is obtained from chocolate tomatoes:

Positive features of the variety

Taking into account such arguments as reviews, photos, the yield of the Chocolate tomato, let’s define the positive features of the variety:

• The variety of tomato perfectly resists many diseases. The high resistance of the Chocolate tomato to various types of rot is noted. Even a rainy summer is unable to harm the plant. However, preventive measures should not be neglected. Strong thickening of tomato bushes in hot weather and high humidity can provoke late blight.
• A high yield of a tomato often forces vegetable growers to overstep their ambitions regarding the color of the fruit. When other varieties are badly disfigured, the Chocolate tomato will always come to the rescue of the hostess.
• Fruits are characterized by running size. Tomatoes are small and rather big, but just good in a jar. Brushes are easy to pluck from the bush, which speeds up harvesting.
• Despite the brown color, the Chocolate tomato is very tasty. The fruit does not look so elegant in a jar or salad, but those who have tried it will remain indifferent to this vegetable.
• A big plus of the variety is ease of care. Tomato Chocolate is unpretentious. Even a novice vegetable grower is able to get a good tomato crop. Especially the variety is suitable for summer residents who do not have the opportunity to travel out of town every day to water the garden.
• The shape gives the fruit a marketable appearance. Tomatoes can be grown not only for their own needs, but also for sale.

You can read as many reviews about the Chocolate tomato variety as you like, but there are practically no negative statements. Only the color of the fruit can be called a minus, although many vegetable growers change their minds about brown tomatoes over time.

Growing and caring for a crop

You can grow a variety of tomatoes Chocolate in an open and closed way. In any case, you need to get strong seedlings. The time for sowing tomato seeds falls on February – March. It all depends on the weather conditions of the region and where the tomatoes are grown. When planting seedlings in open ground, sowing seeds is carried out approximately two months before the designated date. Tomato seeds are sown in greenhouses ten days earlier.

Purchased tomato seeds do not require preparation. All the necessary procedures the seeds passed in production. Here, the main issue for the vegetable grower is soil preparation. Store-bought soil mixture is of high quality, but you need to pay money for it. You can prepare the soil yourself from equal amounts of humus and fertile land. It is better if she is recruited from the garden. Homemade soil mixture is heated in the oven and watered with a solution of manganese to kill harmful bacteria. To increase nutrients per 1 bucket of soil mix, add 1 tbsp. l. wood ash, plus 1 tsp. mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium.

The finished soil mixture is laid out in boxes, slightly moistened, after which grooves are made on the surface with a depth of 1,5 cm and a row spacing of 3 cm. Watering is carried out only with a sprayer. Before the appearance of tomato sprouts, the boxes are in a warm place, covered with glass or plastic wrap.

To obtain good seedlings, the temperature in the room is maintained at least 25^оC. After spitting the sprouts, the shelter from the boxes is removed. The air temperature can be reduced by 5 degrees. Now tomato seedlings need only lighting and regular watering with warm water. After about 10 days, the tomatoes will form two normal leaves. This suggests that it is time to dive seedlings in cups.

When the plants form 6-7 adult leaves and throw out at least 1 inflorescence, the tomatoes can be planted in a permanent place. By this time, the vegetable grower must harden the tomato seedlings. Plants are taken outside for two weeks, constantly increasing the time spent in the fresh air.

Variety Chocolate responds well to light soil with neutral acidity. Before planting tomatoes, the soil in the garden must be prepared:

• The earth, together with humus, is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet. If the soil is heavy, then river sand is added. High acidity is lowered with chalk.
• Based on 3 kg per 1 m² beds make complex fertilizer.
• The prepared area is covered with a black film until the planting of tomato seedlings. This is required to warm the soil to a temperature of at least +15^оC.

Chocolate tomato seedlings are planted in the last days of May. It is advisable to choose a warm and cloudy day. To avoid thickening, Chocolate tomatoes are planted 3 bushes per 1 m².

It is important to pay a lot of attention to plants in the first days, while they take root. Further care for the Chocolate tomato is simple. It is advisable to water plantings of tomatoes regularly. Do not allow the soil to dry out or become very waterlogged. Water is taken only warm and poured directly under the root of the plant. It will be nice to dissolve a little wood ash. The best time to water tomatoes is early morning or evening.

You don’t need a lot of dressing for a Chocolate tomato. During the season, it is enough to apply fertilizer or organic matter three times. For those who wish to speed up the process of ovary and fruit ripening, top dressing can be applied once every two weeks. Young plants cannot do without magnesium. This substance helps to develop culture. Boron is applied with the appearance of inflorescences on plants.

After each watering and fertilizing, the soil around the tomato bushes is loosened so that the roots receive the necessary portion of oxygen. It is important to prevent weeds from overgrowing the beds. Grass draws nutrients from the ground.

Chocolate tomato bush requires a garter to a support. It is not necessary to put trellises for these purposes. You can get by with ordinary wooden stakes. The blanks are cut at least 1 m long and driven into the ground next to the plant immediately after planting the seedlings. As the stem grows, it is tied with a string to a peg. A tomato bush needs a stepchild. To form a normal crown, all excess shoots are removed from the tomato. Pasynkovka is usually performed early in the morning.

Variety Chocolate is resistant to many diseases, however, prevention never hurts. Do not resort directly to chemicals. Ash has good protective properties. It is simply added to the ground. Instead of ash, bone meal is suitable. Bordeaux liquid will help get rid of phytophthora. In the event of the appearance of harmful insects, tomato plantings are treated with a solution of soap or a decoction of wormwood.

Reviews

About Chocolate tomato reviews are not the worst. Let’s find out what vegetable growers say about the culture.