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For 20 years now, Leopold tomatoes have been delighting gardeners with their fruitful clusters of bright red fruits. This hybrid is forgiving even to beginners in farming, like a good cat from a cartoon: the plant has almost perfect genetic data. The bushes of these tomatoes are unpretentious, resistant to weather changes, high-yielding, and the fruits are beautiful and tasty.
Summer residents in their reviews share amazing impressions of these plants. It happens that they come into the greenhouse after a week of absence, and there, in the setting rays of the July sun, like magic lamps, scarlet fruits hang on the tomato bushes.
A persistent garden miracle, the Leopold f1 tomato was created by the Russian breeding company Gavrish and entered into the register in 1998. Intended for the third light zone, although amateurs grow these tomatoes in areas with less solar intensity.
Advantages of a hybrid
According to the reviews of everyone who planted the Leopold tomato, only advantages can be noted in the bush itself and in the fruits.And if anyone changed it on their plot for some other variety of tomatoes, it was only by yielding to the desire to discover something new from the huge and diverse world of tomatoes.
- Tomato bushes are small and compact;
- Plants are cold-resistant;
- High resistance of bushes to diseases;
- Tomato fruits ripen together;
- High plant productivity;
- The fruits are transportable and stored indoors for a long time;
- Beautiful appearance of the tomato: nice round shape and bright shade of the fruit.
Characteristics
Powerful Leopold tomato bushes are determinate, 70-80 cm, stop growing after the formation of 5-6 flower clusters on the plant. In greenhouses, growing on nutritious soil, tomato bushes can rise up to 1 m. The plants of these tomatoes do not need to be pinched. But when the stepsons are removed, the yield will be greater.
Plants of this hybrid do not require special care. The bushes have phenomenal resistance to major tomato diseases. And if we add resistance to dropping above-zero temperatures to this characteristic property, it is quite clear why the Leopold hybrid is truly a godsend for beginning gardeners. Even without adhering to all the rules of agricultural technology, but simply by watering and weeding the beds, you can get a sufficient harvest.
The hybrid of early ripening tomatoes has been tested by gardeners. Leopold tomato bushes grow well in greenhouses, under film or non-woven cover in the middle climate zone and in open gardens. The plant will produce a stable harvest of fruits - up to 3-4 kg per bush, which are suitable for fresh consumption and for various preparations. These tomatoes are valued for their early and vigorous ripening, high marketability of attractive fruits, and their wonderful taste.
Description of the plant
Tomatoes of the Leopold variety are erect, low plants with medium branching. The hybrid bushes have slightly wrinkled, glossy dark green leaves, with medium internodes. The formation of the first inflorescence occurs above the 6-8th leaf, and then the brushes appear after 1-2 leaves. The inflorescences of this plant are simple, with a weak crease. The cluster bears from four to six to eight fruits.
The fruits are round, smooth, with a smooth base, and in the ripening phase are distinguished by a bright red color. The unripe berries of this tomato are light green; as they ripen, the green spot on top becomes less pronounced. A ripe fruit has juicy pulp - dense, fleshy and sugary. The skin is just as thick, but not rough. The taste is pleasant, sweet and sour, characteristic of tomatoes. The fruit contains 3-4 seed chambers. The hybrid berries do not suffer from hollowness.
The weight of the Leopold hybrid fruit ranges from 80 to 100 g. With good care, individual fruits can weigh 150 grams. From one square meter you get from six to eight kilograms of juicy vitamin-rich tomatoes. The fruits of the Leopold tomato hybrid are uniform and neat. Whole tomatoes are suitable for canning.
Growing a hybrid
Like all tomatoes, the Leopold hybrid is grown through seedlings. Tomato seeds of this variety are sown in March. Young plants can be transferred to the greenhouse in May, and to open ground in June. Accordingly, the harvest begins to be harvested from the bushes at the end of July and in August.
Preparing seeds and soil
Before sowing, purchased tomato seeds are disinfected, unless they are treated by the manufacturer.The grains are placed in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. They can be soaked for two hours in the preparation "Epin", which stimulates germination.
Seeds are laid out to a depth of 1-1.5 cm in containers or in separate containers, which are widely offered in the retail chain. You can also purchase special soil for seedlings of Leopold tomatoes, where all the necessary microelements are balanced. The soil is prepared independently from peat and humus - 1:1, a 1-liter jar of sawdust and 1.5 cups of wood ash are added to a bucket of this mixture. Instead of sawdust, vermiculite or other drainage material is also used.
Seedling care
As soon as tomato sprouts begin to appear, the air temperature is reduced to 160 C so that they don't stretch out too quickly. After a week, for strong green young tomatoes, you need to raise the air temperature to 20-230 C and maintain until one month of age.
- During this period, tomato seedlings need enough lighting. If the air temperature is high and there is little light, the plant stems will stretch in search of the sun and weaken. Seedlings are comfortable on a bright windowsill, but it is necessary to rotate the container once a day so that the plants stand straight and do not bend towards the light;
- Tomato seedlings Leopold f1 are watered moderately so that the soil is slightly moist;
- When the first two true leaves grow, young tomatoes dive, pinching the central root. Now the plant’s root system will develop horizontally, selecting the necessary elements that are in the upper, most nutritious layer of the soil;
- Two weeks after picking, the plants are fed. For 10 liters of water take 30 g of double superphosphate and potassium nitrate. The same fertilizing is given to the tomatoes again after 15 days.
Garden chores
Hardened Leopold tomato seedlings are planted in open ground at the end of May or the first ten days of June. In greenhouses, these tomatoes can grow from the beginning of May. Conventional film shelters are suitable for hybrids in regions where summers are short and cold.
Planting, watering, hilling
If for some reason the tomato seedlings were not moved to a permanent place in time and have outgrown - the bushes are tall, inflorescences have appeared, they must be planted in a special way.
- Small plants are planted so that the seedling stands straight and level. Overgrown tomato bushes are placed obliquely in the hole. Tomatoes have great vitality and they send out roots along the entire length of the stem if it comes into contact with the ground. In this way, the plant tries to get more nutrition;
- In the first days, tomato plants are watered every day at the root with warm water. Each bush requires at least half a liter of water. Watering is carried out in the evening so that the moisture does not evaporate too quickly. After the tomato plants have become stronger, they are watered 1-2 times a week, taking into account weather conditions. Tomatoes definitely need watering before hilling, during flowering, after fertilizing, and during fruit formation;
- 10 days after planting, the tomato bushes are hilled. This agricultural technique promotes the formation of additional roots in the plant. After 15 days, hilling is repeated.
Plant nutrition
For the first time, two weeks after planting, Leopold tomatoes are fertilized with organic matter. Water one liter per bush: with mullein diluted 1:5 or bird droppings - 1:15.
When the ovaries begin to form, the hybrid is fed only with mineral fertilizers. They mostly affect the formation of fruits than organic ones, which mainly contribute to the growth of green mass.
Stem formation
In the greenhouse there is one central stem of Leopold tomatoes, and in the open ground you can leave two or three stems for a lush bush. The last brushes remove or cut off excess flowers for more friendly fruiting. The lower leaves are also removed.
The early ripening bushes of the hybrid avoid late blight and are resistant to fusarium, cladosporiosis, and mosaic.
These hybrids produce ovaries in different weather conditions. And the gardener who plants early and undemanding tomato plants will not make a mistake.
