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Among gardeners there are many amateurs who grow small-fruited tomatoes. Today the range of such tomatoes is quite wide. This creates certain difficulties when choosing a variety.
Small fruits belong to the cherry group. One of the varieties is the Ildi tomato, which has managed to win the hearts of gardeners. Small tomatoes are suitable not only for canning, but can also decorate any dish on the holiday table. The article will give a detailed description of the variety, its characteristic features and cultivation rules.
Description of 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 fruits.
Description of the bush
- Ildi tomatoes belong to tall indeterminate varieties. The height of the bush reaches 180 cm. These are trellis-type plants. The variety is early ripening, the first fruits ripen 85-100 days after germination.
- Tomato bushes of the Ildi variety are abundantly leafy. The leaves are rich green and 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, there are a huge number of pale yellow flowers. This is clearly visible in the photo.Almost every flower sets, and 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 tomatoes are green; at 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, blue and orange tomatoes. But that’s not all: on the clusters, in addition to fruits, there are always flowers.
The skin of the Ildi tomato variety is not only tender, but also durable. The pulp is juicy with a small content of seeds. The fruits have a universal purpose, so housewives will find a use for them. You can preserve it whole or eat it fresh. But most often, small-fruited Ildi tomatoes are added to assorted vegetables; they look beautiful.
Characteristics of the variety
To have a complete understanding 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
- Precocity. You can get fresh tomatoes of this variety early. Fruiting is extended, which can also be called a plus.
- The taste of tomatoes is excellent.
- The yield due to the large number of fruits is high, and, as our readers note in the reviews, stable. One bush produces up to 3.5 kg of sweet tomatoes.
- The fruits of the variety do not crack, hold securely on the stalk, and do not fall off the bunch even when overripe.
- Ildi tomatoes can be transported over any distance without losing their presentation.
- The fruits are stored for a long time, the taste is preserved 100%.
- Ildi tomato seeds can be collected independently, since it is not a hybrid.
- The plants are resistant to diseases that affect other nightshade crops.
Minuses
One of the disadvantages of the Ildi variety is, perhaps, the need for tying up throughout the season. And not only stems, but also heavy brushes. In addition, you need to constantly remove stepsons and excess, spent leaves.
Features of cultivation and care
Breeders advise growing Ildi tomatoes in open or protected ground. Many gardeners plant plants on the balcony or loggia. An excellent decoration in both flowering and fruiting states.
Growing seedlings
The Ildi tomato variety is mid-season; to obtain 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's nothing wrong with that, it's just that the seeds are too small.
According to the description, Ildi tomatoes have an excellent harvest. But you can achieve proper results if you start with seedlings. She should be strong and stocky.
Picking is a mandatory procedure. It is carried out two weeks after sowing. From the first days, seedlings need sufficient lighting, otherwise they will stretch out and not get a harvest.
Before planting in the ground, tomatoes are hardened off. When the tomato stems acquire a delicate purple color, they can be considered ready for replanting.
Transplantation 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 the greenhouse at the end of May. In open ground in the first ten days of June.
Organic matter is 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 range of microelements, but also saves the tomato root system from blackleg 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 more convenient to care for. After planting, the seedlings are immediately tied to a reliable support. Then this procedure is repeated every 10 days. You can stretch 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 up to the first inflorescence are removed already at the stage of planting in the ground.
Fruiting begins after transplantation, 80 days after germination. The fruits are collected individually or the entire bunch is cut off if the tomatoes are partially ripe and partially bland.
Caring for Ildi in the ground
Caring for Ildi tomatoes is easy. As we have already noted, the inconvenience lies in tying and pinching. The rest of the agricultural technology is traditional:
- watering and fertilizing;
- loosening and removal weed;
- mulching the soil;
- preventive treatments for diseases.
If Ildi tomatoes are grown in open ground, you will have to pinch the stems after 4 or 5 clusters have formed. Otherwise, the plant will not have enough strength to form a harvest, and not all flowers will set.
Diseases and pests
Ildi variety tomatoes are resistant to many diseases. Late blight, as gardeners note in reviews, is never affected. But leaf spotting is sometimes observed. Therefore, it is impossible to do without preventive treatments of bushes.
Today, gardeners are trying to use environmentally friendly materials. Tomatoes are sprayed with wood ash extract, solutions of potassium permanganate, iodine, and boric acid. In addition to protection from diseases, plants receive foliar feeding.
As for pests, most often these are aphids and, oddly enough, wasps.
I have been growing in Siberia, in the Omsk region, for several years. It's a late variety, of course, but it grows and manages
This variety came to me about 10 years ago from China. Relatives brought it. I didn’t know the name (I don’t speak Chinese), so I found it on the Internet. Everything that is written matches exactly. I can only add that I leave 2, max 3 brushes (Tver region) no longer ripen. But that's enough. His children love him very much. It is not afraid of late blight, but is susceptible to clodosporium. There is a harvest in any summer, no matter how hot or damp (in a greenhouse).Only I have never had such large ones, in general they are smaller. This is a delicacy, like candy. I have been planting my own seeds for many years now, they all sprout together, there is no hassle with the seedlings.
Irina, hello. Please tell me, have you tried planting Ildi in open ground?
Hello, no, I haven’t tried it. The weather conditions of the Tver region do not allow this.