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Growing tomatoes on your own is a pleasure. In addition, there is always confidence that the vegetable was not fed with harmful fertilizers. But what about a person who lives in an apartment? Of course, grow a tomato on a balcony or windowsill. We will now talk about when balcony tomatoes are planted and how they are cared for.
Are all varieties of tomatoes suitable for balcony growing?
Before considering the agricultural technology of culture, it should immediately be noted that not all varieties of tomatoes are able to bear fruit in room conditions. First of all, if you want to plant tomatoes on the balcony, you need to pay attention to low-growing varieties. Usually indoor plants are characterized by a compact structure of the bush. The fruits will be small, and you should not even count on large tomatoes.
Ordinary varieties of tall tomatoes cannot be grown on a balcony for two reasons: the plant requires a special bush formation, and there will not be enough space for a large root system to develop in a flower pot.
Many tomatoes have been bred that can be grown on the balcony. Let’s look at some of them:
- The balcony greatly limits the space for the development of culture. Under such conditions, varieties have proven themselves well. Tiny Tim, Florida Petit and Minibell. All these tomatoes are undersized, one might say, dwarf. The fruits ripen together and quite early. The first flower is formed over 6 leaves, all subsequent ones go through 1 leaf. Usually one shoot forms no more than three flowers, and stops growing. His stepson follows right behind him. A maximum of 7 small spherical tomatoes are tied from the inflorescence, weighing up to 20 g. When ripe, the fruits become red.
- A popular balcony variety is the tomato. “Angelica”. The culture is very early, it allows you to feast on ripe fruits after 80 days. Tomatoes ripen together, all at once. The first flower is laid over the 7th leaf, and all subsequent ones after 2 sheets. Shoot growth stops after the formation of three flowers. From him comes the stepson. Each inflorescence can produce up to 10 tomatoes. For a room variety, the fruits are quite large, weighing up to 70 g. An ovoid vegetable with a sharp nose turns red when ripe.
- small balcony tomato plant “Pearl” grows only 40 cm in height. Up to 7 small tomatoes weighing 20 g are tied from the inflorescence. The spherical-elongated fruits become pink in color when ripe. An unripe vegetable is almost white with a faint green tint. The variety gained popularity due to the unpretentiousness of care, and delicious sweet fruits.
- Good early hybrid “Balcony Red F1”. As soon as the first sprouts appear from the soil, ripe tomatoes can be expected after 90 days. A small 30 cm tall shrub so compact that it grows easily in a flower pot. Balcony tomatoes grow small, but very sweet and tasty.
- Pretty popular hybrid. “Balconies Elou F1” has a short bush, a maximum height of 45 cm. Fruit ripening early. A bush with small lemon-colored tomatoes will decorate the windowsill. An indoor-grown tomato even goes for conservation.
In addition to the considered tomatoes, there are many more indoor varieties. Each owner can choose a suitable balcony culture for himself in a seed store.
The video tells how to plant tomatoes compactly on the balcony:
We prepare the soil with seeds and perform the sowing correctly
In order for tomato seedlings to grow well on the balcony and bring a bountiful harvest in the future, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil. It is best to buy ready-made soil. It already contains the whole complex of mineral supplements. If you want to save money, you can independently collect soddy land and mix it with humus. Flexibility is important here. If the soil is dense, add peat or sawdust. The nutrition of the soil will provide the introduction of superphosphate, potassium, wood ash, ammonium nitrate.
To grow good tomatoes on the balcony, it is optimal to sow the seeds before the end of February. Each vegetable grower has his own secrets of processing and immersing the grains in the ground, but usually this is one of two ways:
- The first method involves sowing dry tomato seeds directly from the pack.. To do this, prepare a container with a volume of about 200 ml. It can be any plastic cup, cut PET bottle, flower pot, etc. The main thing is that the walls of the container are not too thin. Drainage holes in the bottom are not needed. There is little soil, and the plant itself is able to absorb all the moisture. The glass is filled with soil, poured with boiling water, after which everything is left to cool completely. When the soil reaches room temperature, 3 holes are made 15 mm deep and 1 seed is placed, covered with earth on top. The seeded cups are tightly covered with PET film and placed in a warm place for germination. The film is removed only after the appearance of all shoots. It is important not to immediately lower the ambient temperature. When, after 4 days, the tomato sprouts get stronger, the cups are taken out to a cooler place. If all 3 seeds have sprouted in each container, the strongest tomato sprout is left, and the rest are removed.
- The second method involves sowing already germinated balcony tomato seeds in cups.. To do this, the grains are disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. A damp cotton cloth or gauze is spread on a saucer, spread on top with one layer of tomato grains, and then covered with the same wet piece of cloth. Tomato seeds stand in this form until they germinate. It is important to keep the cloth moist and the seeds warm. As the grains peck, they are planted one at a time in the soil of each cup. Further actions are identical, as for the first method. The containers are covered with a film, waiting for the emergence of seedlings. You won’t have to remove only extra plants, since only one tomato seed was sown in each cup.
A cool place where strengthened tomato shoots will be taken out is a balcony or window sill. Plants need to provide good lighting, plus regular watering with warm water.
Optimal conditions for the growth of balcony tomatoes
To get stronger tomato plants from tender sprouts, it is necessary to create optimal growing conditions for the culture. Daylight is usually sufficient for the plant. However, a window located on the shaded side of the house is not able to optimally provide tomato seedlings with light. Here you have to take care of artificial lighting with a lamp. It is enough to turn it on for 3 hours over tomatoes in the early morning and at dusk.
Coolness usually comes from the window. If at night the temperature drops below +15оC, above the tomato seedlings, arcs are made of wire, on which a film is placed. Take it off again in the morning. Water the plants only with warm water. And make sure that the soil around the stem of the tomato is slightly moist. Do not allow excess moisture. From this, the roots of the tomatoes will begin to rot.
Above, we examined two optimal ways of sowing tomato seeds in cups. Sometimes housewives like to sow grains of balcony tomatoes in boxes with soil. In this case, further care for tomato seedlings involves picking. After the appearance of two full-fledged leaves, the plants are carefully pry with a spatula, removing from the box along with a clod of earth. Nearby should be an already prepared pot of soil. The dived tomato is buried in the soil 20 mm lower than it grew in the box. A tomato seedling is plentifully watered with warm water, and transferred to a warm, shaded place. The plant will get stronger in about a week. Then the tomato can be taken out to the balcony or put on the windowsill closer to sunlight.
Watering and fertilizing tomato seedlings
The frequency of watering plants depends on the humidity of the air. Usually, tomato seedlings are watered under the root twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. 40 days after sowing tomato seeds, the plants are fed with humus. Moreover, this is done 3 times before transplanting to their permanent place of growth. Humus is bought at any specialized store. It is enough to pour a layer 20 mm thick under the root of each plant. Top dressing will strengthen the root system of the tomato, and saturate the soil with useful substances.
We transplant tomatoes to a permanent place of growth
Small cups are not the containers where the balcony tomato will grow all the time. After about 1 month, the tomato root system will become large and it needs a large area for further development. It should be noted right away that further tomatoes on the balcony will grow and bear fruit at a distance of at least 250 mm from each other. It is impossible to put pots with tomatoes closer because of the thickening of the plants.
Before transplanting seedlings of balcony tomatoes, a drainage layer is placed on the bottom of the flower pot. Any stones or broken tiles will do. A third of the container is filled with soil purchased or self-enriched with fertilizers. A growing tomato is removed from the glass along with a lump of soil, after which it is placed in a pot. If the capacity is large and the tomatoes are undersized, it is allowed to plant 2 or 3 plants. Further, it remains to fill the voids between the roots of the tomato and the walls of the flower pot with earth, but its level should only reach the third upper part of the container. The transplanted tomato is abundantly watered with water, after which it is sent to a permanent place of growth.
Further care for balcony tomatoes requires the formation of a bush, but this depends on the variety. On many cultures, only 2 shoots are left above the first tomato brush, all the rest are removed. Dry, as well as diseased foliage from the plant must be cut off. It is allowed after the appearance of the first ovary of tomatoes from the top of the plant to cut off the flowers. This will allow the fruits to receive more nutrients. Balcony tomato varieties are self-pollinating. If desired, you can still help pollinate by alternately brushing the inflorescences with a brush.
The video talks about growing balcony tomatoes:
In such a simple way, even a city dweller is able to grow fresh tomatoes on the balcony. You just need to make a little effort, and fresh tomatoes will be on the table.