Content
Tomato Honey Salute is a relatively new variety, bred in 2004. Tomatoes are suitable for growing in open beds and under film cover. The two-colored fruits have such a sweet pulp that they are used as dessert and for making fruit salads. Subject to the rules of cultivation from 1 sq. m you can reap a good harvest.
Description of the tomato variety Honey Salute
The Honey Salute tomato is considered an indeterminate variety (a bush with an unlimited growth rate). Variety characteristics:
- late ripening tomatoes, it takes about 4 months from sowing seedlings to harvesting the fruits;
- the plant is tall, reaches a height of up to 180 cm, so the bush needs support;
- medium leaf variety;
- the first ovary is formed under the 10th leaf, all subsequent ones are formed every 3rd leaf;
- To obtain a bountiful harvest, the plant is grown in 2 trunks.
To determine whether the Honey Salute tomato is suitable or not, you need to read the photos and reviews.
Brief description and taste of the fruit
According to reviews from gardeners, the Honey Salute tomato variety is loved for its beautiful appearance and excellent honey-watermelon taste. At the end of August, large, round-ribbed fruits, weighing up to 450 g, ripen on the bush. The juicy, dense pulp is covered with a thin orange-red skin with pink or crimson stripes.
In the cross-section you can see 6 chambers with few, medium-sized seeds. When fully ripe, the tomato pulp acquires a bicolor orange-crimson color.
The fruits are used fresh for making juices and cold sauces. The Honey Salute tomato variety is not suitable for pickling and preservation.
Varietal characteristics
Tomato variety Honey Salute can be grown in open beds and under film cover. The growing method and yield depend on climatic conditions and the duration of warm days:
- in the northern regions - planted in a heated greenhouse;
- in regions with a temperate climate - under film cover;
- in southern cities it is permissible to grow the variety in open beds.
According to the description, the Honey Salute tomato is a late-ripening variety. The first harvest is harvested 150 days after sowing the seeds for seedlings. When grown in 2 trunks from 1 sq. m with timely care you can remove up to 8 kg of sweet, striped fruits.
The Honey Salute tomato variety does not have strong immunity to diseases and pests. Therefore, to get rid of winged insects, bushes are treated with a colloidal solution. To protect tomatoes from fungal diseases, the plant is treated with a copper-containing solution. Crop rotation, regular ventilation and non-thickened planting also play an important role.
Pros and cons of the variety
Tomatoes Honey Salute, like any variety, have their positive and negative sides. The advantages include:
- unusual color;
- honey-watermelon taste;
- fruits weigh up to 450 g;
- medium-yielding variety;
- sliced fruits will decorate the festive table.
The disadvantages include:
- late ripening;
- instability to diseases and pests;
- garter and stepson;
- The variety requires care.
Rules for planting and care
To grow large fruits, you need to plant seeds on time, grow healthy seedlings and perform timely care. Compliance with the rules of care is the key to a generous harvest.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
The duration of ripening is influenced not only by varietal characteristics, but also by timely planting of seeds for seedlings. Since the Honey Salute tomato is a late-ripening variety, seeds for seedlings are sown from the end of February to mid-May, it all depends on the quality of the greenhouse and climatic conditions.
Growing tomatoes begins with preparing the seed. To do this, the seeds are wrapped in gauze and dipped in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 10 minutes. After time, the seeds in a gauze bag are washed under running water. Disinfected seeds can be dried or placed on a damp cloth for germination.
The next stage is soil preparation. Light, nutritious soil prepared from humus and turf soil with the addition of peat or sawdust is suitable for planting tomatoes. Seeds can also be planted in coconut substrate or peat tablets.
After preparing the seed and soil, you can grow seedlings:
- Sowing of seeds is carried out in plastic cups with a drainage hole or in boxes 10 cm high.
- The container is filled with nutritious soil, grooves are made and the seeds are planted to a depth of 1 cm.
- The planting material is covered with polyethylene and placed in a warm, bright room. Comfortable temperature for the appearance of sprouts is +2 5 °C.
- After the sprouts appear, the shelter is removed and the container is placed under a lamp of additional light. Since the tomato is a light-loving plant, the duration of daylight hours should not be less than 12 hours a day.
- As the soil dries, the seedlings are watered with warm, settled water.
- After 2-3 true leaves appear, the seedlings are planted in separate pots. If the seeds were planted in separate containers, picking is carried out in containers of larger volume.
- 10 days before planting in open ground, seedlings are hardened, gradually lowering the temperature from + 20 ° C to + 14 ° C degrees. Under the influence of low temperature, a change in the physiological process occurs, as a result of which the seedlings quickly take root in a new place.
Transplanting seedlings
Before planting in a permanent place, seedlings must meet certain requirements:
- plant height no more than 30 cm;
- presence of 1 flower brush;
- the presence of short internodes.
To protect the plant from diseases, it is necessary to observe crop rotation. Tomatoes are not recommended to be planted after peppers, eggplants and potatoes. Legumes, pumpkin and cruciferous crops are good precursors for tomatoes.
Tomato seedlings Honey Salute are planted lying down or at an acute angle. The holes are covered with earth, compacted and spilled.
Planting care
Tomatoes of the Honey Salute variety require timely care, which consists of feeding, watering, gartering and bush formation.
During the season, Honey Salute tomatoes are fed 3 times:
- 12 days after planting the seedlings. For this purpose, nitrogenous fertilizers are used.
- When forming ovaries with a diameter of 1.5 cm on 2 clusters, complex mineral fertilizers are used.
- During the period of collecting the first fruits. The bushes are fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
Experienced gardeners advise feeding the bushes with ash infusion or green fertilizer. Before applying fertilizer, tomatoes are thoroughly watered.
Tomatoes of the Honey Salute variety are watered strictly at the root. For each bush it is necessary to spend at least 2 liters of warm, settled water. After watering, the soil is carefully loosened and mulched. Mulch will retain moisture, stop the growth of weeds and act as an additional organic fertilizer.
Since Honey Salute tomatoes grow up to 180 cm and bear fruits up to 450 g, the bush must be tied to a support.
To obtain a generous harvest, tomatoes of the Honey Salute variety are grown in 2 trunks. To do this, the stepson formed under the first flower brush is not removed. Later, when 3 fruit clusters appear on it, pinch off the top, leaving a few leaves after the last fruits. The main trunk is pinched after the formation of the fourth fruit cluster.
Additional care:
- In order for nutrients to be directed to the formation of fruits, it is necessary to remove the stepsons once a week, leaving a small stump.
- When the fruits ripen, the lower leaves are carefully cut off with sharp pruning shears. You can cut no more than 3 leaves from a bush per week.You can also shorten the sheet plate by 1/3 of the length.
- To grow large fruits, thin out the flower clusters once a week, removing most of the inflorescences.
- Whole clusters and heavy fruits should be tied to prevent bending and breaking.
- Only those fruits that set before the beginning of August ripen fully. Therefore, 1.5 months before the final harvest, the top is pinched. After this procedure, watering is reduced and fertilizing with potassium fertilizers is increased.
Conclusion
Tomato Honey Salute is one of the most attractive varieties. Gardeners cannot help but like the appearance of the tomato, and the honey taste will not leave anyone indifferent. If you follow the rules of care and carry out disease prevention in a timely manner, the variety, despite the average yield, will become a frequent visitor to greenhouses and open beds.
Reviews of tomato Honey Salute
This is my second year growing tomatoes, last year the first fruits weighed 1.2 kg, there is a photo on my Odnoklassniki page, the fruit lies at the bottom of an inverted 3 liter jar and its size is larger.