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Many gardeners prefer to grow varieties of large-fruited tomatoes. One of them is the Eagle Heart tomato. Pink tomatoes, distinguished by their excellent taste and large fruits, are winning more and more hearts. One tomato is enough for a whole family's salad. The fruits are most often used for these purposes.
Rosy-cheeked tomatoes can be canned, you just need a wide-necked container. And what an amazingly thick and tasty tomato juice comes from Eagle Heart tomatoes! Any housewife will find a use for large and fragrant fruits.
Description of the variety
To understand what an Eagle Heart tomato is, a characteristic and description of the variety is needed. We will share this information with our readers.
Description of the bush
Tomato is a mid-season indeterminate variety with unlimited growth. The height of plants in greenhouse conditions reaches 180 cm. When grown outside, it is slightly lower.
The Eagle Heart tomato, as can be seen in the photo, has a powerful, thick stem with a large number of medium-sized light green leaf blades.
The tomato throws out flower stalks with whitish-yellow inconspicuous flowers.A simple tassel usually has up to 7 flowers. The first tassel on tomatoes of this variety appears above the seventh leaf, then every two. Moreover, not all flowers will become fruits. It's all about the large size of the Eagle Heart tomato. Most often there are 3-4 tomatoes hanging on the bunches. There is a little more on the first brushes (see photo).
Features of the fruit
The fruits are large in size, sometimes up to 800-1000 grams (on the lower inflorescences). Tomatoes resemble a round heart in shape, which is why they got their name. The tip of the pink-scarlet fruit is slightly elongated.
According to the description and reviews of gardeners and consumers, the Eagle Heart tomato is distinguished by its fleshy pulp, sugary at the break. The fruits are juicy, there are few seed chambers.
Although tomatoes have a thick skin that prevents cracking, it is not rough. Tomatoes of the Eagle Heart variety have a rich, truly tomato-like taste; the fruits contain more sugar than acid.
Characteristics
To appreciate the Eagle Heart tomatoes, let’s look at the characteristics. Like any plant, this variety has its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- The tomatoes are mid-season, fruiting is extended, which is very convenient. The first fruits ripen in the greenhouse earlier than other varieties.
- Judging by the description, reviews from gardeners, and photos posted, the yield of the Eagle Heart tomato is excellent. As a rule, from 8 to 13 kg of tasty large fruits are collected per square meter. It should be taken into account that only 2 bushes are planted per square. If all agricultural standards are observed and proper care is taken, the tomato yield can be higher.
- The fruits are easily transported and do not crack due to their thick skin.
- Tomatoes retain their presentation and taste for more than 3 months.
- The variety is resistant to many diseases of nightshade crops, in particular late blight, gray and brown rot, mosaics and alternaria.
- Tomatoes tolerate temperature fluctuations well, with virtually no yield loss.
- Since this is a variety and not a hybrid, you can get your own seeds.
Flaws
Not to say that the Eagle Heart tomato variety has some disadvantages would be dishonest to gardeners. Although there are not so many of them, we will not keep silent:
- Growing tomatoes of this variety requires nutritious soil.
- Tall and heavily leafy tomatoes must be pinched and tied during the entire growing season.
Most likely, it is difficult for beginners to grow this variety of tomatoes if they do not have enough knowledge of agricultural technology and caring for nightshade crops.
Growing and care
Tomatoes Eagle Heart, judging by the description and characteristics, have a mid-season ripening period. That is why to get a decent harvest you will need to get good seedlings.
How to grow seedlings
Obtaining tomato seedlings is a long-term and labor-intensive process. The fact is that the seeds need to be sown 60 days before planting in a permanent place in a greenhouse or open ground. Experienced gardeners sow seeds in the last ten days of March or the first week of April. From the first days of life, tomatoes must grow in special conditions.
Sowing containers and soil
The Eagle Heart tomato prefers fertile, light, breathable soil. You can use ready-made soils designed specifically for growing vegetable crops for sowing.But many gardeners prepare the soil themselves. In this case, in addition to turf soil, humus or compost (peat), you need to add wood ash. This is not only nutrition, but also the prevention of tomato blackleg disease.
Boxes with sides of at least 6 cm or containers are used as planting containers. They, like the soil, need to be treated with boiling water, dissolving several crystals of potassium permanganate. Boric acid can also be used.
Preparing the seeds
- Often they sell substandard tomato seeds, so germination is poor. In order not to waste time, it is advisable to check the seed material. To do this, dilute a 5% salt solution and dip the seeds into it. Weak, immature specimens will float to the surface. The remaining seeds (at the bottom) are washed in clean water.
- They can then be processed in fresh aloe juice or a pink solution of potassium permanganate. If you have growth stimulants, then you need to soak the seed for half a day in this solution.
- The treated seeds are dried until they flow.
Sowing and caring for seedlings
- Furrows are made in the soil at a distance of 3 cm, into which tomato seeds are laid in increments of 2 to 3 cm. Seal to a depth of no more than 1 cm. The containers should be placed in a light and warm place, up to +25 degrees.
- With the appearance of the first shoots, the air temperature is slightly reduced so that small tomatoes do not stretch out. At night up to 10 degrees, during the day - no more than 15 degrees. But the lighting must be excellent throughout the entire period of growing seedlings. Tomato seedlings of this variety should be watered sparingly as the top lump of soil dries out.
- When 2-3 true leaves appear on the Eagle Heart tomatoes, picking is carried out. It is necessary for tomatoes to develop a powerful root system. Nutrient soil is poured into separate containers and treated in the same way as before sowing seeds.
Care in permanent soil
Tomatoes are transplanted to a permanent location at the end of May or beginning of June, depending on the climatic characteristics of the region. The soil is prepared in advance in a greenhouse or open ground. The holes are filled with boiling water and potassium permanganate, and complex fertilizers are added.
Form tomatoes into 1 or 2 stems. Immediately after planting, tie it to a reliable support. In the future, the procedure is repeated many times as the bush grows. Subsequently, you will have to tie up heavy brushes.
Further care for the variety consists of watering and feeding. As a rule, complex mineral fertilizers are used to feed tomatoes, as well as an infusion of mullein, chicken manure or green fertilizer from mowed grass.
Tomatoes of the Eagle Heart variety need to be watered with warm water so that the plants do not slow down their growth and drop their ovaries. Tomato fruits are collected as they ripen. It is not necessary to wait for complete redness: brown fruits ripen well.
Diseases
As follows from the characteristics and descriptions of the Eagle Heart variety of tomatoes, the plants are resistant to many diseases. But preventive measures should not be neglected.Work should begin already in the pre-sowing period when cultivating the soil and seeds.
At the seedling stage and during further care, tomato bushes are sprayed with Fitosporin, a light solution of potassium permanganate, iodine or preparations containing copper. Such measures prevent the appearance of late blight, fusarium wilt and other diseases characteristic of nightshade crops.
Not only Eagle Heart tomatoes attract gardeners, but also the variety Eagle beak:
