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Sometimes people have a question: is it possible to grow cherry tomatoes on a windowsill and what is required for this? Of course, what is possible. Beginning home gardeners make some mistakes when growing this variety, and in order to avoid them, you should read these helpful tips on growing and caring for tomatoes.
Varieties and hybrids
In flower pots, small tomato varieties look very attractive. A bush grown in a house, apartment or on a balcony can be completely covered with fruits. In order for you to have the opportunity to enjoy the unique taste of cherry at any time, you should be patient, buy some things necessary for growing, and start caring for plants that you can place at home.
The balcony of the apartment can be turned into a real greenhouse, and in order for the harvest to be rich, you need to decide which type or variety of tomato is best suited for home growing. The main rule for a homemade cherry tomato on the windowsill is not very high height, compactness and fertility.
Some hybrid varieties are ideal for these parameters, and can be grown from spring to late autumn. Here are the best of them: Balcony red tomato F1, Balcony Elow, Balcony miracle, Red and yellow pearl, Bonsai and bonsai micro Pinocchio. Each variety has its own characteristics, including precocity, color, size, taste.
Balcony red tomato has a high precocity, and the bush is not very tall. You don’t need to pinch him. Elow balconies are very decorative, they belong to mid-early hybrid varieties. Compactness in cultivation is very important for a home garden, the fruits are round and can be pickled. The most famous balcony tomatoes are a balcony miracle, one bush can produce up to two kilograms of a tomato with amazing taste.
Massively, the plant begins to bear fruit after three months from the moment the gatherings appear. Red and yellow pearls are grown in the garden, in the loggia or on the windowsill. The height of the bush is half a meter. The variety is ornamental, and red tomatoes are sweeter. Bonsai is considered an unpretentious variety, it is early and compact. Each bush gives 500 grams of small but tasty fruits. And micro bonsai can be grown in winter, if you organize the right lighting of the site. These tomatoes are planted in a hanging basket.
What do you need to grow
Cherry means cherry, and most tomatoes really do resemble cherries in size and flavor. The technology of growing cherry tomatoes on the windowsill has its own rules, care techniques and methods. It is best to prepare the soil and carry out care in a certain sequence.
Knowing exactly what you are doing, you can get a good offspring and not endanger the plants from pests and bad weather. Early tomatoes can be obtained by sowing them in March, in extreme cases – in April. What should be done, and where to start growing? The soil must be prepared and brought to a warm place. It is watered with an EM preparation, which will revive the beneficial properties of the earth.
If the soil is not ready, you can purchase nutrient soil at the store. We start sowing seeds in March or April. The soil is poured into a convenient form, further grooves are made in the soil and the seeds are settled in them in a strip. So you can sow different varieties in one form. Seeds are sprinkled with soil no more than 2-4 mm thick. Watering is done with warm water.
Seeds must be in optimal conditions for germination. Such conditions can be called 25-28 degrees Celsius, and daylight hours should last from 10 to 12 hours. Forms are laid out on the windowsill, above the batteries, on the east or south side. The first shoots appear after 5-10 days. After that, the forms can be put in a place cooler, but not less than 20 degrees.
Cherries are watered regularly, it is very important to monitor the drying of the soil, its intensity. Tomatoes do not like drought, as well as an excessive amount of water for irrigation. Therefore, this issue is decided on an individual basis. It is important to know: if the first 3-4 leaves appeared, then you can safely transplant seedlings in cups. The same soil is used. The stem is deepened for the emergence of new roots. The cups are transferred to a warm and bright place.
If it is warm on the balcony, you can take out the seedlings there. How to prepare soil mixture? This can be done on your own, you need to take sod land, humus and peat. Mineral fertilizer is also added to it. For seedlings, you need to take containers measuring 8-10 centimeters deep. They are located near the heating. Before planting, the seeds are processed, placed in potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. There are other growth stimulants, for example, Epin’s solution. Such solutions help the seeds germinate faster. Only low-growing varieties can be planted on the balcony. Seedlings are planted in the manner described above. It is very important to water the plants on time, tie them to the supports. Pest control is also helpful. A balcony or other room with tomatoes should be well ventilated. Having received seedlings, it must be planted in the ground, in which it will grow the rest of the time. Thus, small plants are transplanted into larger containers. They are filled with fertile soil, or you can take a balcony box. Plants in weight are very interesting, they will bear not only fruits, but also serve as a decoration for the balcony.
Care Tips
Tomatoes require care, and there are some features in this type of work.
Dry land is unsuitable for cultivation, so watering should be done every day. The distance between plants should be large enough.
This will allow air and light to be evenly distributed. The greater the distance, the better. It is necessary to monitor the condition of the tomato – it can indicate an excess or lack of moisture. If the fruits crack, then there is little moisture, if they become watery, there is too much of it. Tomatoes must be tied up, and the soil must be mulched. So the tomatoes will not get dirty, and the soil will not overheat.
The crop is harvested only if the tomato is fully ripe. It is then that they acquire their exquisite taste. If you collect them earlier, you can really spoil the impression of the tomato, because they will not be so tasty. Diseases and pests in this variety are the same as in others. Therefore, they must be amenable to prevention and care. Watering tomatoes at home in winter is not necessary often. Tomatoes are also very fond of heat; a south or east window will be the best place for them.
The temperature should also be monitored in the summer, because the window can get quite warm. The air temperature should not exceed 30 degrees. When overheated, internodes between the leaves may appear on the plants, and the bushes begin to stretch. There are no pollinators in the apartment, so you have to do it yourself. When the plant blooms, the flowers should be gently shaken. They can also be sprayed with a special preparation that promotes the formation of offspring. If there are stepchildren on the tomato variety, they must be broken off. Every two weeks during flowering, the soil can be fertilized with ash or mineral fertilizer. If the fruits are ripe, then the ripe ones can be plucked, thereby giving the opportunity to fully develop the rest. The process of growing a tomato on a windowsill is a very exciting process, and anyone can do it. It is not difficult at all, it brings pleasure and benefit. Now you can be confident in your abilities, and after a while get real cherry tomato fruits that were grown by yourself and at your home.
Video “Growing a tomato on a windowsill”
The video tells about the features of growing tomatoes at home. Watch the recording and you can grow tomatoes on your windowsill yourself.