All summer residents try to plant tomatoes on the site. Useful vegetables are always present on the plots of farmers.
But sometimes certain conditions require extraordinary solutions. The problem with time in the spring planting period can be solved using a seedless method of growing tomatoes.
Growing tomatoes without seedlings is easy. In addition, you will get rid of a lot of the usual hassle with the usual tomato seedlings:
- preparation of pots;
- steaming and disinfection of the soil mixture;
- daily watering tomato seedlings;
- compliance with temperature parameters and humidity;
- additional lighting and nutrition of tomato seedlings.
Another factor is that the grown seedling is not always of high quality. Confirmation that tomatoes without seedlings can grow even in the northern regions is the unexpected appearance of a tomato in the garden. It occurs among the beds of other crops, and proper care allows you to get fruits. Of course, this can only happen if the tomato variety is early, capable of producing a crop in a short time. In order for the cultivation of tomatoes without seedlings to be successful, you need to know some of the nuances. After all, the short and cold northern summer does not provide enough time for the full ripening of many varieties. But if you have never tried growing tomatoes without seedlings, then the listed advantages of this method will help you make a decision:
- Tomatoes develop better and faster. This is due to the absence of such transient traumatic actions for seedlings as diving and transplanting. Seedlings do not need to take root, they are accustomed to sunlight and ambient temperature.
- The root system is much more powerful and goes deeper into the ground. Watering such bushes is required less often and in smaller quantities. This is a very valuable parameter for summer residents who rarely visit the site.
In any case, choose varieties with good stress tolerance.
What you need to know when growing a tomato without the usual seedlings
First, a competent choice of seeds. It is good to take an early proven variety of tomato adapted in your area. Then the bed will be the same in terms of the formation and height of the bushes. Use your own seeds, collected from the best fruits of the previous harvest. The second nuance is the preparation of shelters for tomato ridges. Better if it is double. In the first half of the season, non-woven material is suitable, later – plastic wrap. Arcs are used to tension the coating. Before their installation, the beds are dug up and compost or humus is added. To warm the ridge, it is good to make wooden boards along the edges. In the same way, ridges are made in a greenhouse. Here you can insulate the ridges from the inside with a layer of manure.
Before you start preparing the land for planting a tomato, be sure to spill the selected area with hot water. It is good to add potassium permanganate for disinfection.
Further, be sure to meet the deadlines and scheme for planting a tomato. Sowing is carried out at the end of April (if the weather is favorable) and until mid-May. The nesting method has proven itself well, in which up to 5 seeds are sown in one hole. This makes it possible to leave the strongest seedling in the future. It looks strong, the leaves are dark green in color, the internodes are short, the tap root is deeply buried in the ground. How to grow seedlings of tomatoes without problems? Getting Started:
- we thin out seedlings;
- we mulch the holes with compost;
- we pinch the stepchildren after two weeks to maintain a single-stem shape;
- we remove growth points after making 3-4 brushes for pouring fruits;
- we remove the fruits from the lower brush unripe for ripening;
- remove the lower leaves and skeletons of the brushes with pruners;
- we remove a good harvest from the upper brushes of the tomato bush.
Growing tomatoes without seedlings is practiced both in open ground and in a greenhouse. The second option is very successful during a long cold spring. A tomato grown in a greenhouse is more reliably protected, especially during the absence of the owner on the site. In addition, it is convenient to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse until warming, and then transplant them under the open sky. A greenhouse tomato should not be tall and sprawling, so it is important to pay attention to the choice of variety. Tomato bushes grown in a greenhouse are planted in open ridges, and at first they are covered with non-woven material. This will speed up the ripening period of the fruit and protect the tomatoes from the vagaries of the weather. Cultivation of tomatoes in open ground without seedlings will require preventive measures to combat fungal diseases. To do this, use folk remedies (garlic, pine needles) or Bordeaux liquid (0,7%). Be sure to feed the bushes during the period of budding, fruit set. It is optimal to use complex formulations, where all the nutritional components are balanced. By providing simple care for your tomatoes, you will get a harvest in the middle of summer. These plants are ahead in the development of their counterparts grown in seedlings. Do not forget to harvest the entire crop in August. It is better to put tomatoes on ripening than to lose a valuable crop due to bad weather.
Growing tomatoes without seedlings is a valuable experience and an exciting process. Choose “your” varieties, experiment with beds and shelter. Your work will definitely be rewarded.
