Foliar top dressing of tomatoes with boric acid – tips

Useful properties for tomatoes

Growing a tomato does not require much effort and expense. However, the plant needs to be fed – this is the main condition for obtaining a large number of juicy fruits. There are various options for help, but the use of boron solution is the most rational of all. Microfertilizer performs the following functions:

• nutrition of the ovaries of the plant;
• saturation of fruits with sugar;
• protects against parasites and various diseases.

Feeds are of two types:

1. root – watering fertilizers under the root of the plant. The main method of supply of nutrients;
2. non-root – the plant receives substances directly through the leaves. An additional delivery method that arrives 5-8 times faster than through the soil. The result is already a couple of days after the procedure, and sometimes even a couple of hours.

It is recommended to carry out foliar feeding of tomatoes with boric acid in situations where it is necessary to accelerate the ovary and ripening of fruits that are already ripe. This method is also used in the fight against phytophthora – the enemy of all nightshade. Competent gardeners know that you need to work with acid carefully. After all, it is very easy to harm a plant! Particular attention should be paid to those plants that grow on the balconies of high-rise buildings, and not on open ground, like their counterparts. Such “domesticated” plants receive little solar energy.

Signs of a Boron Deficiency

So, boron regulates the most important processes in the life of a plant (pollination, fertilization, carbohydrate and protein metabolism), and also forms immunity to diseases. How can we know about his lack? If a tomato bush feels a lack of a substance, this is reflected primarily on its leaves. Young leaves at the top lose their normal color at their base, but the top remains green for some time.

Such affected tissues usually disintegrate quickly. The upper leaves are also distinguished by an unhealthy light green color, they are twisted from the top to the base. The veins of affected leaves turn black or brown. If you try to bend such a leaf, it will immediately break. The stem of the tomato also reacts to the lack of the element – the point of its growth turns black. Young leaves begin to grow from the lower part of the stem, but their petioles become brittle. Brown spots of dead tissue form on the fruits. All these signs indicate a varying degree of lack of acid, for an experienced gardener this is a signal for action: it’s time to feed with boron solution.

How and when to add acid

There are several tactics for using the substance. To begin with, consider the method that is used even before the start of plant growth, long before planting. It takes place in two stages:

1. soak the seeds with boric acid for a day (the proportion can be adjusted according to the data on the package);
2. we duplicate the first action, but on the eve of sowing. Boric acid is also placed in the landing wells.

The foliar method is applied directly to the plant with the resulting tomato fruits. It is easy to make a boron solution: you need to dilute 1 g of acid in 1 liter of hot water (but not in boiling water). We spray with a fine sprayer with a solution that has already cooled down. We pay attention to leaves, flowers, fruits. On young plants, 10 ml of liquid is usually consumed for each bush. It is desirable to carry out the procedure of spraying with a solution of boric acid during the mass flowering of tomatoes. As the plant grows, the dose should be increased by 1,5 times.

To protect the tomato from late blight, it is recommended to start acting in mid-June. The process will take place in three stages:

1. spraying the bushes with a weak solution of manganese;
2. after a week, apply a solution of boric acid diluted in the following proportion: 1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water;
3. a week later, spray with iodine.

Thus, the protection of plants from phytophthora is provided for the rest of the summer.

The most important thing in the process of feeding with acid is to determine the desired proportions. With a slight mistake, you will harm not only the plant, but ultimately yourself.

It is not for nothing that people say: “What is too much is not great.” The judicious use of boron solution can provide a yield of 40 or 50 kilograms per square meter of seedlings, and the first fruits are already at the end of June.

Video “Feeding tomatoes with boric acid”

A record of how to feed tomatoes, how to do it correctly and at what time.