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Early maturing tomatoes all belong to the group of determinant varieties. Due to the limited growth of the stems, the ovaries on them are formed almost simultaneously and the ripening of the fruits takes place amicably and in a short time.
Determinate tomatoes can be superdeterminate and determinate without the prefix “super”.
The former are characterized by very low growth and super-early ripening of the crop. They do not need pinching, since the fruits are tied precisely on the stepchildren. Tying is required in the case of growing a high-yielding variety of tomatoes, the branches of which may not support the weight of the fruit, or a harvest year when many tomatoes are produced even on not very productive varieties.
Determinants grow taller than superdeterminants and usually need a garter. Among them there are early-ripening and mid-ripening varieties. Determinants stepchildren, usually growing a bush in two stems. The second stem is obtained from the stepson that grew under the first brush of flower buds. For some varieties, cultivation in three stems is optimal.
There is another group of determinant varieties, called standard. These are usually low stocky bushes with a strong trunk similar to miniature trees. They do not require shaping and tying. There are standard varieties of tomatoes up to 1 m high. In this case, support may be required.
The height of determinant varieties varies from 40 to 100 cm. Such tomatoes are planted, depending on the manufacturer’s recommendations, at an average distance of 0,5 m with row spacing of 0,6-0,7 m. Sometimes the variety allows a closer planting.
When choosing varieties of tomatoes of any type for your site, it is very important to pay attention to the zoning of the variety. In the north of the country, it is possible to grow only determinant varieties, indeterminate ones will not have time to ripen there. In the south, indeterminate can be planted in greenhouses.
The best varieties of determinant tomatoes
“Turbojet”
Indeed, the best variety of tomatoes from all the new products that appeared on sale in the 2017 season. True, it has a serious drawback: gardeners who tried to plant it in the summer cannot find Turbojet seeds on sale this year. Either they haven’t delivered it yet, or they liked it so much that the gardeners who managed to catch it bought seeds in huge quantities and the supply did not keep up with demand.
This is a super determinant, very compact bush 0,4 m high, completely strewn with fruits. Stepchildren are not required, and this is impossible, since tomatoes are formed precisely on stepchildren.
Tomatoes are small, 70 g, but there are a lot of them, so a garter is desirable. According to the reviews of those who tried to plant a tomato last year, the variety is “ultra-super early”. Sowed it for seedlings in March. After planting under the open sky, in the first days of July, ripe tomatoes were removed. At the same time, the variety is not afraid of cold weather and grows well in open beds of the Middle Strip and beyond the Urals, gives good yields in cold summers. Tomato is not very suitable for cultivation in the south due to the too small area of foliage that does not cover the fruits from the sun. For cultivation in the south, the tomato is not very suitable because of the too small area of foliage that does not cover the fruits from the sun.
Tomatoes of universal purpose with a pleasant taste.
Bushes of tomato “Turbojet” are planted at a distance of 40 cm with a row spacing of 50 cm.
“Alpha”
Determinate super early stem-type variety, perfectly suitable for cultivation in cold regions of Our Country. Bush height up to 55 cm.
With a seedless method of cultivation, fruit ripening begins already on the 85th day after sowing. In the Middle lane, the variety is grown in open beds, in a more severe climate in film shelters.
In the south, the variety bears fruit already in early summer, in the north in mid-July. It was entered into the state register in 2004.
The tomato has thick straight stems, the leaves are similar to potato ones. To form a strong stem, the stepchildren are removed from the lower part.
The bush brings bright red tomatoes of small size, weighing about 55 g, rounded. Recommended for use in cooking or fresh.
The variety, despite the low growth, is productive. Up to 7 kg of fruits are harvested per unit area.
The variety is resistant to diseases, the most dangerous for tomatoes. In addition, he manages to give the entire crop before the appearance of late blight and other fungal diseases.
Peculiarities of growing
For “Alpha”, which is an actively growing variety of tomatoes, they select areas with fertile soil, well lit by the sun and without the possibility of stagnant water. To form more roots, the soil under the tomatoes must be periodically loosened and the bushes slightly spud.
“Valentina”
Bred at the Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov Institute and recommended for outdoor cultivation.
The tomato is intended for cultivation on personal subsidiary plots and private farms. Determinate early ripe variety, non-standard bush with a small amount of foliage, which indicates its regionalization in the northern regions of Our Country. Bush height up to 0,6 m. Tomatoes ripen 105 days after sowing. The variety requires pinching and tying.
Experienced gardeners say that stepchildren should be removed only when growing bushes of this variety of tomatoes in a greenhouse. In open ground, the removal of stepchildren reduces the yield of the bush.
Inflorescences are simple, laid through 1-2 leaves.
When mature, the fruits are orange-red in color. The shape of the tomatoes is plum-shaped, weight up to 90 g. Purpose of the variety: whole-fruit conservation and culinary processing.
Tomatoes contain up to 4,5% saccharides and up to 21 mg/100 g of vitamin C dry matter.
The yield of “Valentina” is average. When planting 6-7 bushes per m², up to 12 kg of tomatoes are obtained. The yield of one bush can be up to 3 kg.
The advantages of the variety include:
- good keeping quality and transportability of tomatoes;
- ability to tolerate a slight drought;
- resistance to major diseases;
- unpretentiousness in cultivation.
The gardeners attributed the need to tie bushes to the disadvantages.
At the competition of tomatoes, held in 2000 by gardeners, “Valentina” came out on top in terms of the combination of positive qualities.
“Explosion”
Hybrid. A superdeterminant non-standard tomato variety, which is a modernization of the White Filling variety. It differs from its progenitor in the possibility of growing in a seedless way, cold resistance, moisture and drought resistance, calm attitude to temperature changes and dislike for greenhouses. A very small number of gardeners manage to get good yields of this variety in greenhouse conditions. Tomatoes also do not need a large amount of fertilizer.
The height of the bush is the same as the “White filling” and does not exceed 65 cm. 105 days after sowing, the “Explosion” tomato brings round, slightly ribbed tomatoes weighing 250 g. One bush gives up to 3 kg of delicious tomatoes.
Use the variety “Explosion” for conservation, cooking and making salads.
The advantages of the variety include:
- friendly return of the harvest;
- disease resistance;
- good taste of tomatoes;
- high yield even under adverse weather conditions and unpretentiousness;
- excellent keeping quality and transportability.
There are no shortcomings.
Peculiarities of growing
This tomato variety has a very high seed germination and ripening rate, so it can be grown both in seedlings and in seedlings.
Standard terms for sowing seeds of this variety of tomatoes: March – April.
Before sowing, the seeds are kept for 6 hours in melt water, which is a growth stimulator. At will and the presence of juice, you can additionally soak the seeds in aloe juice. Further, the seeds are dried and sown in warm soil.
Tomatoes are planted according to the scheme 50×40 cm. When seedlings appear, they are watered at the rate of half a glass of water per week per sprout. After the leaves appear, plants need a glass of water.
During the vegetative period, the tomato is fertilized 4 times using mineral and organic fertilizers.
How to stepchild correctly:
There is an interesting trick to increase the yield. The work is piece, manual and suitable, rather, for amateur experimenters.
Growing tomatoes on two roots (ablactation)
A plant with a strong root system, being able to get more nutrients from the soil, will set more fruits and be able to grow them larger. You can increase the root system by additionally sprinkling the tomato stem or lower stepchildren with earth, or you can grow a tomato bush “on two roots” and learn how to vaccinate at the same time. Experts call this method ablactation.
It is simply inconvenient to carry out ablation on young tomatoes growing in the ground.
Seeds of tomatoes are planted in separate pots, two pieces each. The seeds are planted no further than a centimeter from each other.
When the tomato seedlings reach the required size: the stalk at the grafting site must be at least 4 mm, you can start ablacking.
Carrying out ablactation
With a very sharp razor, you need to remove the bark from the stems of tomatoes in the place where the plants will touch. The length of the area with the removed bark is 10-15 mm. The cambium cannot be damaged.
If you have a firm hand and you are sure that you will not cut off the entire stalk, you can make oblique cuts 6 mm long at the point of contact and no more than half the stalk in depth. At the rootstock, the incision is made from top to bottom, at the scion, on the contrary. After that, the tongues of the incisions are combined with each other by the inner sides and fixed. A similar method is suitable if you have already decided in advance which of the plants you will remove or are going to grow a tomato bush in two stems.
If it is not yet clear which of the sprouts is better, you can, without making cuts, tightly wrap the cuts with a bare cambium to each other with a fixing tape. Immediately before planting tomatoes in the soil, it will be possible to finally decide which of the sprouts is weaker and remove it. Or pinch the tops of both shoots and grow a bush into two stems.
It is better to wrap the stems with some kind of “breathable” material, such as a strip of non-woven material or a bandage. It is better not to use “non-breathing” material. A tomato is a vine, and in this case, under the bandage, the stems will take root. The stems grow together for two weeks.
The tomato bush grows much more powerful and prolific, so that during further work the support should not be damaged by the plant at the same time as the tomato seedlings are planted.
Ablactation on the ground
A similar operation can be carried out on tomatoes already planted in the ground. But in this case, tomato varieties are used that give stepchildren, since in fact, under such conditions, it is not the stems of seedlings that are spliced, but the stepchildren of neighboring bushes.
The scheme is basically the same. It is distinguished by the need to immediately put up supports, attaching stepchildren to them below and above the scion site. Below the vaccinations, the stepchildren are attached separately for ease of use. Above together. For insurance, both stems are also fixed just below the splicing point, so that the branches do not disperse and efforts are not in vain.
In the splicing area, it is better to remove the leaves for better ventilation and ease of manipulation.
As with splicing two bushes, if spliced stepchildren are planned to grow into one stem, the stock or weaker stem is removed. If in two, then both stepchildren pinch the top.
Videos of ablactation
Not all determinant varieties of tomatoes have stepchildren for the second variant of ablactation, so it is better to do it by splicing the main stems of two young tomatoes.
Good harvest!