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Among gardeners there are many lovers who grow small-fruited tomatoes. To date, the range of such tomatoes is quite wide. This creates certain difficulties in choosing a variety.
Small fruits belong to the cherry group. One of the varieties is Ildi tomato, which managed to win the hearts of gardeners. Small tomatoes are suitable not only for preservation, but can also decorate any dish on the festive table. The article will give a detailed description of the variety, its characteristic features and cultivation rules.
Description of the tomato
Any gardener who decides to take up a new variety of tomatoes studies in detail the description and characteristics given by manufacturers on the packaging. First, we will present the features of the bush and the fruit.
Bush description
- Ildi tomatoes are tall indeterminate varieties. The height of the bush reaches 180 cm. These are trellis plants. The variety is early ripe, the first fruits ripen in 85-100 days from germination.
- Tomato bushes of the Ildi variety are abundantly leafy. The leaves are deep green, medium in size.
- The brushes resemble a fan of complex shape. The first inflorescence appears above the ninth leaf, the rest – every two.
- On long, up to 30 cm inflorescences, a huge number of pale yellow flowers. This is clearly visible in the photo. Almost every flower is tied, many small tomatoes are formed.
Fruit
The Ildi tomato variety is distinguished by a large number of small fruits, weighing no more than 15 grams. There are up to 60 pieces on one brush. And the plant throws out up to 10 flower stalks! The shape of the tomatoes is oval-round, plum-shaped. The fruits are tasty and sweet. Unripe green tomatoes, in technical maturity, the fruits acquire an amber orange color.
Moreover, tomatoes do not ripen at the same time. On one inflorescence you can see green, blanche and orange tomatoes. But that’s not all: on the hands, in addition to fruits, there are always flowers.
The peel of the Ildi tomato variety is not only tender, but also durable. The pulp is juicy with a small content of seeds. Fruits of universal purpose, so that the housewives will find a use for them. Can be preserved whole or eaten fresh. But most often small-fruited Ildi tomatoes are added to assorted vegetables, they look beautiful.
Characteristic of the variety
To have a complete picture of the selected vegetable crops, one description is not enough. The characteristic in this case is important. Let’s look at the positive and negative sides of the Ildi tomato variety.
Advantages
- Early maturity. You can get fresh tomatoes of this variety early. Fruiting is stretched, which can also be called a plus.
- The taste of tomatoes is excellent.
- Due to the large number of fruits, the yield is high, and, as our readers note in the reviews, it is stable. One bush gives up to 3,5 kg of sweet tomatoes.
- The fruits of the variety do not crack, hold securely on the stem, do not fall off the brush even when overripe.
- It is possible to transport tomatoes of the Ildi variety at any distance, while the presentation is not lost.
- The fruits are stored for a long time, the taste is 100% preserved.
- Ildi tomato seeds can be collected independently, as it is not a hybrid.
- Plants are resistant to diseases that other nightshade crops suffer from.
Cons
Among the shortcomings of the Ildi variety, one can, perhaps, single out the need for tying up throughout the season. And not only stems, but also heavy brushes. In addition, you need to constantly remove stepchildren and extra, spent leaves.
Features of cultivation and care
Breeders advise growing Ildi tomatoes in open or protected ground. Many gardeners plant plants on a balcony or loggia. Excellent decoration in both flowering and fruiting state.
We grow seedlings
The Ildi tomato variety is mid-season; for an early harvest, it is better to grow seedlings. Seeds are sown two months before planting in a permanent place in loose fertile soil, to a depth of no more than 4 mm.
There is nothing wrong with that, just the seeds are too small.
According to the description, Ildi tomatoes are distinguished by an excellent harvest. But you can achieve proper results if you start with seedlings. She must be strong and stocky.
Picking is a mandatory procedure. It is carried out two weeks after sowing. Seedlings from the first days need sufficient lighting, otherwise they will stretch out and not get a harvest.
Before planting in the ground, the tomatoes are hardened. When the tomato stems turn a delicate purple color, they can be considered ready for transplanting.
Transplant into the ground
Ildi tomatoes should be planted in a permanent place in warm soil. The air temperature at night should not be lower than +10 degrees. First, plants are planted in a greenhouse at the end of May. In open ground in the first decade of June.
Organics are added to the soil before digging: peat, humus, compost. It is also necessary to add wood ash, which is not only a fertilizer with a full-fledged complex of trace elements, but also saves the tomato root system from black leg disease. If you trust chemistry, you can use mineral fertilizers.
Since the Ildi variety grows strongly, when planting in a greenhouse, choose a place on the edge to make it easier to care for. After planting, the seedlings are immediately tied to a reliable support. Then this procedure is repeated every 10 days. You can pull the trellis, it is also convenient.
No more than three Ildi tomatoes are planted per square meter. I form each bush into 1 or 2 stems. The lower leaves to the first inflorescence are removed already at the stage of planting in the ground.
Fruiting begins after transplantation, after 80 days from germination. The fruits are harvested individually or cut off the entire brush, if the tomatoes are partially technically ripe, partially blanched.
Caring for Ildi in the ground
Caring for tomatoes of the Ildi variety is easy. As we have already noted, the inconvenience lies in tying up and stepsoning. The rest of agricultural technology is traditional:
- watering and fertilizing;
- loosening and removal of weeds;
- soil mulching;
- preventive treatments for diseases.
If Ildi tomatoes are grown in open ground, you will have to pinch the stems after the formation of 4 or 5 brushes. Otherwise, the plant will not have enough strength to form a crop, not all flowers will tie.
Diseases and pests
Tomatoes of the Ildi variety are resistant to many diseases. Phytophthora, as gardeners note in reviews, is never affected. But leaf spot is sometimes observed. Therefore, preventive treatments of the bushes can not be dispensed with.
Today, gardeners are trying to use environmentally friendly materials. Spray tomatoes with wood ash extract, solutions of potassium permanganate, iodine, boric acid. In addition to protecting against diseases, plants receive foliar feeding.
As for pests, most often it is aphids, and, oddly enough, wasps.