Contents
Cultivation of ampelous tomatoes is carried out in hanging containers. For planting, choose special varieties that branch well and give a rich harvest. To grow ampelous tomatoes at home, you need to provide them with the necessary microclimate, install lighting, and prepare soil for plants.
Variety choice
For growing at home, the following ampelous varieties are used:
- Mascot – one of the most popular representatives of ampelous tomatoes. This is an early maturing variety with a long fruiting period. The weight of the fruit is up to 20 g. The talisman is valued for the taste of the fruit and is a good window decoration.
- Citizen F1 – a variety that gives large raspberry-colored tomatoes. For planting plants, a container with a volume of more than 4 liters is selected. The length of the main shoot reaches 0,8 m. The pinching of the bushes is mandatory. Tomato ripening takes up to 100 days.
- Cascade Red F1 – compact bushes, on which many shoots up to 0,5 m long are formed. The hybrid is easy to care for and does not require pinching. It is enough to remove dry and yellowed leaves of plants. For planting, containers with a volume of 5 liters or more are required.
- Red abundance – tomatoes that can produce a good harvest with proper care. The fruits resemble cherry tomatoes in taste and appearance. The bush grows rapidly and gives shoots up to 0,6 m long without pinching.
- Garden pearl – a stunted plant that is distinguished by numerous shoots and small fruits. The weight of tomatoes does not exceed 20 g. The bush is suitable for growing on a window, since it has a height of up to 40 cm. The variety stands out for its unpretentiousness and abundant fruiting.
Conditioning
Tomatoes require special conditions that contribute to their development and fruiting. At home, you need to monitor indicators such as temperature, humidity, light level.
Temperature and humidity
Growing ampelous tomatoes requires compliance with a certain temperature regime. In the summer, you need to maintain the temperature at 21-26 ° C. In cloudy weather, it can be reduced to 20 ° C.
At night, the temperature for plants is maintained at 16-18°C. If necessary, additional heating is installed in the room where tomatoes are grown.
A short-term cooling of 10°C will not have a negative impact on plantings. If the decrease in temperature outside lasts for several days, then the plants develop more slowly, flowering and pollination stop.
Airing and installing fans for plants will help reduce the temperature. Tomatoes are insensitive to drafts.
Attention is also paid to ground temperature. Its value should be between 20 and 25°C. With an increase in this indicator, an earlier harvest is obtained, however, the fruits grow small. At lower rates, the tomatoes will ripen later, but their number will be greater.
Tomatoes do not tolerate high humidity. Its performance in the cultivation of these plants should remain at the level of 60-70%. You can reduce the performance by ventilation. To increase the humidity of the house, water containers are installed.
High humidity provokes the development of diseases, negatively affects the process of pollination.
Lighting installation
Tomato is a culture that is demanding on light. With a lack of light, the plants stretch out, form a thin stem and shoots. Intense lighting can speed up the ripening of tomatoes by 2 weeks.
Plants prefer direct light, so in cloudy weather or winter, the quality of the fruit may deteriorate. Ampel varieties cope better with the lack of light.
The minimum illumination for tomatoes on a window is 2 lux. For the formation of the ovary, this indicator should be at least 000 – 4 lux. Optimum illumination for plants is 000 lux.
If there is not enough sunlight on the balcony or window, then you need to equip additional lighting. For growing tomatoes, you can use the following types of devices:
- Natrievыe lampы – emit red and orange light, which has a positive effect on plants during flowering and fruit formation. Such lamps do not irritate human vision and can be used at home. The disadvantage of sodium lamps is the complex connection and large dimensions.
- LED lamp – the most common option for organizing the illumination of tomatoes. Their increased cost is compensated by economy, durability, simple repair, low heat, no flicker.
- Phytolamps – devices designed to organize lighting for plants. The simplest option is a bicolor lamp that emits red and blue spectrum. For adult plants or dense plantings, multispectral instruments are used. They are used in cloudy weather to stimulate fruiting.
Soil Preparation
For planting tomatoes, purchased soil is used or the necessary soil mixture is prepared. Plants prefer loam or sandy loamy soil with good air and moisture permeability.
All components are mixed, after which the soil is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This procedure will destroy the harmful bacteria that live in the soil.
Fertilizing will help improve the properties of the soil: 1 tbsp. l. ash, 1 tsp. potassium sulfate and superphosphate per 10 kg of soil. Complex fertilizer for plants contains phosphorus, potassium and calcium, necessary for the full development of tomatoes.
In a container for tomatoes, a drainage layer is first made, consisting of expanded clay chips or coconut substrate. Then soil is poured and plant seeds are planted.
Rules of landing
Planting ampelous tomatoes at home begins in March. The material is placed to a depth of 3 cm. Before planting, they are soaked for 20 minutes in a solution of low concentration potassium permanganate, and then washed with water.
Ampel tomatoes are planted in one of the following ways:
- in an ordinary pot;
- in hanging containers;
- “upside down”.
For growing a tomato, a container with a capacity of 4 liters is selected. You can place ordinary containers on the windowsill, hang on the balcony or loggia. Suspended structures take up less space.
You can first plant the plants in small containers. When the seedlings sprout and get stronger, they are transferred to a permanent place. The procedure is carried out in May. Tomatoes are transplanted along with a clod of earth so as not to damage the root system.
The original way to grow tomatoes in pots is to plant them upside down. To do this, holes are made in the container with a diameter of up to 10 cm, through which the stem of the plant passes. The root system of the tomato remains in the container.
This technology increases the yield of tomatoes, since the shoots experience less stress and are better ventilated. The free top of the pots can be used to grow herbs, lettuce or other plants at home.
Features of care
Caring for ampelous tomatoes includes regular watering, loosening the soil and fertilizing. Organic and mineral components are used for top dressing. Fertilizers are used by watering plantings or spraying on the leaf. Depending on the variety, plants are pinched and excess shoots are removed.
Watering and loosening
Tomatoes need a constant supply of moisture. For irrigation, warm water is used, which should flow under the root of the plants. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening hours.
Tomatoes tolerate short drought well. After a long absence of watering, moisture should be introduced gradually in small portions. Otherwise, it will cause cracking of the fruit.
Watering is done as the soil dries. After planting in pots, the plants are watered abundantly, after which a break is made for 10 days. In the future, it is enough to water the tomatoes once a week. Moisture must penetrate the entire depth of the container. During fruit ripening, watering intensity can be increased to speed up this process.
Additionally, the soil is loosened. The procedure improves the penetration of moisture and nutrients into the soil. The depth of loosening should not exceed 3 cm, so as not to damage the root system of plants.
Application of fertilizers
A mandatory step in caring for ampelous tomatoes at home is fertilization. The first top dressing is made after the appearance of the second leaf in plants. To strengthen the immunity of plants and increase resistance to diseases, treatment with Fitosporin is carried out.
To feed seedlings, a solution based on mullein is prepared (at a concentration of 1 liter of fertilizer per 10 liters of water). Mineral top dressings are no less useful for tomatoes.
They are prepared by mixing the following ingredients:
- ash – 50 g;
- superphosphate – 30 g;
- manganese sulfate – 0,3 g;
- boric acid – 0,3 g;
- water – 10 l.
For each bush you need up to 0,5 liters of solution. The next treatment is carried out after 10 days. Before the appearance of the ovaries, it is better to abandon nitrogen fertilizers, which lead to the active growth of shoots.
During the flowering period, you can feed the ampelous tomatoes with boric acid. The concentration of the substance is 2 g per bucket of water. Boric acid prevents leaves from curling, promotes the formation of new inflorescences in plants.
Foliar treatment helps to ensure the rapid supply of nutrients to plants. It is carried out by spraying the leaves of tomatoes. The solution is prepared from mineral or organic components.
For foliar feeding, double superphosphate (5 g) is diluted in a bucket of water. The tool is especially effective during the fruiting period.
At home, adult tomatoes can be sprayed with low-fat milk in an amount of 1 liter, which is previously diluted in 5 liters of water. If you add 15 drops of iodine to the solution, then it can be used to prevent plant diseases. Processing is carried out every two weeks.
Conclusion
The method of growing ampelous tomatoes is selected based on the free space that is allocated for planting. Landing care includes the arrangement of the lighting system, the regulation of humidity and temperature conditions. Fertilizers are required to help plants form an ovary.