Content
- 1 History of selection
- 2 What does a Silver Spruce tomato look like?
- 3 Characteristics of Silver Spruce tomato
- 4 Advantages and disadvantages
- 5 Planting tomato Silver spruce
- 6 Silver spruce tomato care
- 7 Treatment against diseases and pests
- 8 Conclusion
- 9 Reviews from gardeners about the Silver Spruce tomato variety
The Silver Spruce tomato is an ultra-early dwarf variety with small cocktail fruits, the fleshy pulp of which has a slightly sweet taste. It is adapted to a wide temperature range and, with proper agricultural technology, produces a good harvest.
History of selection
There is no detailed information about the origin of the Silver Spruce tomato. Open sources indicate that the variety was bred in the USA, and its author is presumably the Russian emigrant Marina Danilenko.
What does a Silver Spruce tomato look like?
The plant is a compact, low-growing bush of determinate type, stretching up to 40 cm. It is covered with unusual, strongly dissected leaves, colored green with a slight silvery tint.
Silver spruce tomato leaves are often compared to spruce branches or carrot tops
During the fruiting period, the bush is covered with numerous tomatoes, which have a round, slightly flattened shape. Tomatoes weigh 60-80 g and are collected in brushes, each of which can contain up to 25 pieces. The fruits are covered with a thin but durable skin, the color of which depends on the degree of ripeness.
Characteristics of Silver Spruce tomato
Silver spruce is a relatively new variety of American selection, characterized by very early ripening. It attracts attention with its exotic appearance and is valued for its immunity to various diseases.
Ripening and fruiting
The variety belongs to the ultra-early category. Tomatoes ripen 85 days after the mass appearance of sprouts. When grown in areas with low average annual temperatures, the ripening period is extended and amounts to 100 days.
Silver spruce tomato yield
The variety is characterized by good productivity. With proper agricultural technology and favorable growing conditions, up to 5 kilograms of ripe tomatoes are removed from each bush. This yield is considered high for dwarf varieties.
Disease resistance
The Silver Spruce tomato has good immunity. Due to its extremely early ripening period, it is not susceptible to most typical diseases and pests.
Growing regions
The Silver Spruce tomato is successfully grown throughout the Russian Federation. In regions with cold climates, these tomatoes are planted in greenhouses or greenhouses. In the south and in the middle zone, the variety can bear fruit in open ground.
Due to their compact size, dwarf tomatoes are suitable for growing on balconies in spacious pots
Methods of application
Silver spruce tomatoes have a pleasant, slightly sweet taste, devoid of bitterness and acid, and are successfully used in cooking. They are suitable for consumption raw and are suitable for preparing assorted vegetables, fresh salads and snacks.
Advantages and disadvantages
The Silver Spruce tomato is a promising American variety, suitable for growing in greenhouses and unprotected soil. It easily adapts to a wide range of temperatures and begins to bear fruit before the pathogens of typical “tomato” diseases become active.
The Silver Spruce variety is multi-purpose from a culinary point of view and is actively used for cooking, preservation and decoration.
Pros:
- pleasant taste;
- versatility;
- very early maturation;
- high productivity;
- resistance to diseases.
Minuses:
- need for a garter.
Planting tomato Silver spruce
The Silver Spruce tomato is grown using the seedling method. Seeds are sown in the second half of March or early April. Before starting work, they are kept in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then distributed in an even layer in a suitable plastic container filled with a well-moistened, loose, slightly acidic substrate. Tomato seeds are covered with a thin layer of soil, sprayed with settled water at room temperature from a spray bottle and covered with a transparent film or glass to ensure a greenhouse effect.
After about a week, when the first shoots emerge, the box with the seedlings is freed from the glass or film cover and placed on the windowsill.The soil under the seedlings is regularly moistened, loosened to a shallow depth and fertilized.
When the first true leaves appear, the seedlings are picked. Individual cups for transplanting seedlings should be deeper than the previous container, and their diameter should be 10-12 cm.
Before transplanting into unprotected soil, Silver Spruce tomato seedlings must be hardened off
The seedlings are transferred to a permanent place of growth 55-60 days after sprouting. To achieve high yields, planting is carried out so that at 1 m2 there were a maximum of 3-4 bushes. Mineral and organic fertilizers must be thrown into the holes. Tomato seedlings are watered generously with settled water at room temperature and mulched.
Silver spruce tomato care
Although Silver Spruce tomatoes are considered to be non-capricious varieties, they require minimal care, including basic agrotechnical manipulations:
- Regular watering. The soil in the beds with tomatoes is moistened as the top layer dries, using warm, settled water. Watering is carried out in the morning (no later than 21:00) or in the evening (between 17:00 and 20:00). Humidification carried out on a hot afternoon provokes physiological shock in plants due to the difference in temperature of the liquid and the surrounding air. Direct the stream of water directly to the root, making sure that moisture does not fall on the foliage. Before fruiting begins, tomatoes are watered weekly, and during fruit ripening - once every few days. Also, the irrigation schedule is adjusted taking into account weather conditions in a particular region. In the southern regions, beds with tomatoes are moistened more often.
- Weeding and loosening the soil.24-48 hours after a heavy rain or heavy watering, the compressed soil in the beds with tomatoes is loosened to a shallow depth. This simple but mandatory procedure is necessary to ensure the flow of oxygen to the roots and prevent stagnation of moisture, which provokes the development of fungal infections. Typically, loosening is combined with pulling out weeds in the tree trunk circle. To weed the beds less often, they are covered with sawdust, straw or other suitable material.
- Fertilizer application. To obtain the declared productivity, at the stage of active growth, beds with Silver Spruce tomatoes are fertilized with inorganic phosphate or nitrogen compounds. During the fruiting period, organic fertilizers are applied to the tomatoes.
- Garter and bush formation. The Silver Spruce tomato is a compact dwarf variety and does not require shaping.
Treatment against diseases and pests
Although the Silver Spruce tomato is immune to most typical diseases, when the soil is waterlogged and fertilized with fresh manure, it is affected by brown rot. A small brown spot forms around the tomato stalks, rotting from the inside. Affected tomatoes are torn off and burned, and the bushes and soil are treated with Fundazol.
The causative agent of brown rot, better known as late blight, is Phytophtora infestan
Under unfavorable conditions, the Silver Spruce tomato becomes vulnerable to Alternaria. This fungal disease primarily affects branches and foliage, and occasionally the tomatoes themselves.It progresses in stages: first, the lower parts of the bush are covered with dark round spots, gradually merging into large-scale foci. To combat the disease, Ridomil Gold, Skor or Antracol are used.
On tomatoes affected by Alternaria, dark depressed spots form, above which white fluff is visible - fungal spores
Conclusion
The Silver Spruce tomato is a little-known American variety recommended for cultivation throughout Russia. Its fleshy, early-ripening fruits are valued for their pleasant sweetish taste and are actively used for preparing winter preparations.
Reviews from gardeners about the Silver Spruce tomato variety
