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Recently it turned out that the thoughts of a significant part of the population of the capital of the Federation are not occupied by iPhones, but … recipes for homemade cheese. But homemade cheese requires animals that give milk. You can’t settle such animals on the balcony, but you can provide yourself with homemade tomatoes growing right on the window of the apartment without much difficulty. Variety “Balcony Miracle” – tomatoes that are well adapted to growing at home.
Description with photo
This is a determinate standard tomato variety with a height of no more than 0,6 m. The Balcony Miracle tomato is well suited for growing on loggias and balconies. The variety is early. From the appearance of the first true leaves to the harvest of tomatoes, 3 months pass. One bush can bring up to 2 kg of tomatoes weighing 50-60 g each. The fruits of this variety of tomatoes are medium-sized, but such tomatoes have an excellent taste.
The advantages of the Balcony Miracle tomato variety are the ability to grow fresh tomatoes even in winter, if the plant is provided with enough light. The variety is resistant to late blight. Tomato also does not require pinching and tying.
How to grow a variety indoors
Window gardening is gaining popularity in cities, but not all plants can be grown on a windowsill. Caring for Balcony Miracle tomatoes at home is simple, you just need to follow certain conditions:
- the pot must be large enough for the plant;
- the soil in the growing container should be more fertile than the garden;
- sufficient daylight hours;
- compliance with the feeding regimen.
These conditions, which dictate how to grow a Balcony Miracle tomato, are due to the limited space in which the plant’s root system can develop. There are also advantages in growing the Balcony Miracle tomato from seeds on the windowsill: the seeds can be planted immediately in the right container and not worry later whether the seedlings will take root.
So, how to grow a Balcony Miracle tomato on a window:
- calculate the time by which you need to get the harvest;
- buy special soil for tomatoes in the store or make it yourself;
- take a container of a suitable size;
- sow seeds;
- wait for shoots;
- provide the necessary daylight hours;
- during flowering and fruit set, feed the plant with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
With deadlines, everything is quite simple. If the bush begins to bear fruit 3 months after germination, then in order to get fresh tomatoes for the New Year, you need to sow the seeds in early – mid-September. Not later than.
Ordinary soil for tomato flowers will not work. Flower shops sell special mixtures, one of which is called “Tomatoes”. You can also make your own soil. For the manufacture of soil, take 1 part of black soil and 1 part of humus.
According to reviews of the tomato, the balcony miracle when growing a bush in the ground with fresh humus, the plant began to wither due to a lack of magnesium.
In addition to chernozem and humus, ash can be added to the soil to increase the nitrogen content and superphosphate. But with these fertilizers should be careful. Their excess can lead to the death of the sprout. It is better to add fertilizer then little by little in the process of watering.
Next, you need to pick up a pot. A capacity of less than 5 liters does not make sense, since the root system cannot develop to the desired size in it.
From the reviews and photos of the owners of the Balcony Miracle tomato, it is easy to conclude that the bush needs a fairly large volume of the pot. Pictured are 10 liter containers. Those who got a good harvest did not grow tomatoes in pots less than 8 liters.
Sometimes the reviews of those who planted the Balcony Miracle tomato are unflattering, but the photo shows that the matter is most likely in the volume of the flower pot.
After picking up the soil and soil, it’s time to sow tomatoes. There are tricks on how to grow a Balcony Miracle tomato.
Preparation, sowing and cultivation of young sprouts
To activate the soil, it must be moistened a few days before sowing. Since tomato seedlings are not required to be grown in this case, tomato seeds are not soaked for accelerated germination. Dry seeds are sown immediately in moist soil.
After the appearance of sprouts, tomatoes must be provided with sufficient lighting. With a short winter day, this can only be done with the help of electric lamps. Today you can buy special fitolamps that can provide a tomato sprout with the necessary dose of ultraviolet radiation.
Unless the loggia, based on the garden, was glazed with expensive quartz glass, the plants will need an additional dose of UV rays.
But infrared rays pass through home window windows without problems, and placing the tomato bush too close to the glass can lead to leaf burns.
Description and photo of the Balcony Miracle tomato variety recommend placing pots with tomato bushes on window sills. But the problem of growing indoor tomatoes “Balcony Miracle” on the windowsill is that in modern houses there are thin walls and, as a result, small window sills.
Only very small containers can be placed on such window sills. Tomatoes will try to grow and bear fruit even in such conditions, but you can not count on productivity. Reviews about the yield of the Balcony Miracle tomato in containers as in the photo are negative. A few tomatoes, instead of the promised 2 kg, are disappointing. But the tomato variety is not to blame.
If you make drainage holes in them, they quickly soak. If you do not, there is a risk of flooding the roots of tomato bushes with water. In addition, in the future, the proximity of the plant to the glass can play a cruel joke with tomatoes.
After the appearance of tomato seedlings, the container must be positioned so that in the future the plants are not crowded and do not have to reach for the sun. If the window sill is wide, you can put the pot on it. If it is narrow, it is better to put the bushes a little further from the window on a stand that is flush with the window.
In winter, you will have to use fitolamps to provide balcony tomatoes with the required daylight hours.
Sometimes cold air can blow into the gaps between the window sill and the window frame. In this case, the plants begin to hurt. Also, an earthen ball in a pot should not dry out due to the effect of a heating radiator under the windowsill. Heaters dry out the air. To maintain the desired level of humidity, a container of water is placed next to the tomato plants.
To determine the humidity, the easiest way is to buy a hygrometer. Calculating humidity from a table of temperature differences between dry and wet bulbs can be too complicated.
In the summer, it is best to grow tomatoes on an open balcony.
The period of flowering and fruiting of tomato bushes
If during growth the plant needed nitrogen fertilizers, then after the flowering begins, nitrogen must be reduced. At this time, the plant needs more potassium.
Such a bush will “drive out” the green mass. There will be few flowers and low yields. In order not to overfeed the plants with fertilizers of any kind, it is better to buy ready-made ones and use them according to the instructions.
Pitfalls when growing tomatoes at home
There are also factors that are often overlooked.
Too low temperature on the loggia. Tomatoes are thermophilic plants. Comfortable temperature for them + 22 ° during the day and + 16² at night. In winter, on an unheated loggia, the temperature can drop to minus.
Lack of opportunity for pollination. In the windless space of the loggia, pollen cannot get from one flower to another. There are also no insect pollinators. Therefore, during flowering, it is recommended to periodically shake the balcony tomato bushes so that the pollen scatters and pollinates the flowers. You can also use hand pollination.
Phytophthora disease. In the description of the Balcony Miracle tomato variety, one of the characteristics was “resistance to late blight”. In fact, this is not entirely true. More resistant to disease, this variety of tomato bush can get sick if the humidity is too high in the room. When dark spots appear on the leaves of the plant, it is better not to take risks and immediately get rid of the diseased tomato bush. If you start the problem, the bacteria will multiply and infect not only garden plants, but also “ordinary” houseplants.
Not settled water. When growing tomato bushes at home, you can not water them directly from the tap. Although they are now moving to more advanced water purification systems, chlorine is still present in the water in many cities. In addition, the tap water is too cold. It should warm up to room temperature, and chlorine should evaporate from it. It is necessary to defend the water for at least 3 days.
fattening plant. If the tomato bush is too tall, thick and with dark green foliage, it means that it was overfed with nitrogen fertilizers. Such a plant will not bloom and bear fruit. To make it bloom, you need to stop watering for a decade and raise the temperature on the loggia by a few degrees. After the flowers appear, pollination is done by hand.
The appearance of stepchildren. This variety of balcony tomatoes should not produce stepchildren, but sometimes they do. You can immediately cut off the sprout. You can wait until it grows up and then root it separately.
Although the Balcony Miracle tomato variety is well suited for growing in an apartment, it gives a good harvest when planted in open ground, as in the video.
Reviews
Conclusion
The variety of tomatoes “Balcony Miracle” may be of interest to lovers of “own” vegetables who do not have a dacha, and just flower growers. But as an “industrial” variety of tomatoes, it is not suitable because of the low yield, although it grows well in open ground like a regular tomato.