Many gardeners are interested in varieties of early-ripening, large-fruited tomatoes. One of them, the Family F1 tomato, is an excellent option. This hybrid does not require special growing conditions and is easy to care for. So it’s worth purchasing seeds and finding out in practice whether the tomato corresponds to the description and characteristics.
Description of the hybrid
The early-ripening hybrid is a product of Russian selection and is included in the State Register. The maximum ripening period for tomatoes is 115 days from the moment of germination. The originators recommend growing the Family tomato in protected ground, including in polycarbonate greenhouses and in open ground.
A tomato variety from the determinate group, plant height up to 110 cm depending on the place of cultivation. The bush is compact, with dark green wrinkled leaves of the usual tomato shape.
Inflorescences are racemose, with a large number of flowers. They have the ability to set perfectly in any conditions, so there are no barren flowers on the bunches. Each brush produces 5-6 tomatoes.
The fruits are round, large, weighing up to 200 grams. There are also specimens of greater mass.When technically ripe, the fruits are deep red. You can determine that a Family tomato variety is fully ripe by the disappearance of a dark green spot in the area of the stalk.
The pulp of the fruit is dense and sugary. Each tomato consists of many chambers containing many seeds. The fruits of the variety are sweet and sour in taste, with a rich tomato aroma.
Characteristic
The Family tomato is described as a productive variety, but excellent fruiting is possible if you fully adhere to agricultural technology.
Let's look at the positive and negative aspects of these tomatoes.
pros
- Early ripeness. Vitamin products can be obtained at the end of June.
- Productivity. On average, one bush produces about 4 kg of large fruits. With quality care you can get 7 kg of tomatoes. When grown in greenhouse conditions, about 19 kg are collected per square meter. Just look at the photo how delicious the Family variety tomatoes look.
- Sensitivity to the environment. Unfavorable conditions have virtually no effect on productivity. This variety of tomatoes does not experience much discomfort with shading and slight temperature changes.
- Place of cultivation. In private household plots, Family tomatoes can be grown in open and protected ground.
- Fruit set. In place of the flower, ovaries appear, with virtually no barren flowers.
- Harvesting. The fruits are harvested at milky ripeness, they ripen perfectly and do not lose their presentation or taste.
- Storage features. This variety of tomatoes is stored well and does not crack. The fruits can withstand long-term transportation.
- Usage.Hybrid Family has a universal purpose. In addition to fresh consumption, tomatoes can be used for preparing salads, lecho, ketchup and barrel canning. The Family variety is not suitable for preparations in jars due to its large size. You cannot make juice from it either, as they contain little liquid.
- Immunity. Diseases such as tobacco mosaic virus, cladosporiosis, fusarium, and root-knot nematodes are rare.
Cons of a hybrid
Based on the description and characteristics of the Family tomato variety, no negative traits have been identified, according to reviews from gardeners who have been involved in the crop for more than one year. Perhaps the inability to obtain seeds can be considered a disadvantage. After all, according to gardeners, hybrids in the second generation lose their maternal qualities.
Is it possible to collect seeds from hybrids:
Agrotechnics of cultivation
With the correct choice of timing for sowing seeds for seedlings, observing crop rotation, and also observing the standards of care for the Family F1 tomato, a stable harvest is guaranteed. The difference between growing a hybrid and other tomato plants is the mandatory fertilizing at the seedling stage and in the soil with mineral fertilizers.
Growing seedlings
The tomato variety is grown to obtain early vitamin products, therefore it is propagated by seedlings.
Soil preparation
Unlike other tomatoes, the Family hybrid requires a special soil composition, which is prepared 12-14 days before sowing the seeds. During this time, beneficial bacteria will begin to actively work in the soil, beneficially affecting plant growth.
The soil consists of the following components:
- garden soil;
- peat;
- humus or compost;
- rotted sawdust;
- river sand;
- wood ash.
The ingredients are mixed and poured with boiling water with added potassium permanganate crystals.
Seed preparation
The seed material is carefully inspected:
- If the seeds have damage and black spots, they are discarded.
- Then they are filled with saline solution. Specimens unsuitable for planting will float. They are washed in clean water.
- The remaining seeds are washed in a manganese solution. Wash again with water and lightly dry.
Sowing seeds
Family tomato seeds are sown for seedlings 45-55 days before planting in a permanent place. This time is enough to obtain high-quality seedlings.
If necessary, moisten the soil, make grooves every four centimeters and lay out the seeds to a depth of 10 mm in increments of 3 cm. Place glass on top or stretch cellophane to speed up seed germination.
You can immediately sow the seeds of the Family variety in separate cups or cassettes if picking is not planned. In this case, when transplanting seedlings into large containers, the root system is not injured. Only the consumption of seeds will increase, since 2-3 seeds will have to be planted in each cup, followed by the removal of weak seedlings.
Boxes or individual cups are placed on a bright window. At a temperature of 20-23 degrees, seedlings will appear in 5-6 days. When half the seeds hatch, the film is removed. Doing this earlier is not recommended. As gardeners write in reviews, the Family tomato variety sprouts unevenly. And without film or glass, plants will germinate later and will subsequently lag behind in development.
Features of caring for seedlings
- When half of the seedlings appear, it is necessary to reduce the temperature to 18 degrees. This little trick will speed up the formation of first-order flower clusters.
- Three days after all the tomato seeds have hatched, it is necessary to fertilize with calcium nitrate.
- Next time, the seedlings are fed again before planting by combining potassium nitrate and sodium humate.
- Water the Family tomato seedlings as needed and loosen the soil.
Picking up seedlings
When 3-4 leaves appear on the seedlings grown in a common box, the plants are transplanted into separate containers with a volume of at least 700 ml. The composition of the soil should be the same as before sowing the seeds.
The soil in the box is moistened and seedlings are selected with any convenient tool along with a lump of earth. Transplanted Family tomato seedlings are watered and removed from direct sunlight for several days. It is easy to understand that tomatoes have taken root by the turgor of the leaves: they will become elastic and green again. After 7 days, the plants are fed again with potassium fertilizer with sodium humate.
Planting in the ground and care
Seedlings of the Family variety ready for transplanting should be stocky and have more than five leaves. The diameter of the stem is within 7 cm, and the height of the plant is 25-30 cm.
Planting tomatoes in open ground should be planned after stable weather has established, when temperatures will be consistently above zero at night. But you will still have to cover the plants with film to avoid sudden temperature changes.
If the soil has not been prepared in the fall, a few days before planting the tomato, fertilize it, dig it up and sprinkle it well with a hot pink solution of potassium permanganate. A handful of wood ash is added to each hole. It is necessary to saturate the soil with nutrients and as a preventive measure against blackleg.
No more than three plants of the Family variety are planted per square meter. As farmers write in reviews, dense plantings sharply reduce yields, and maintenance becomes more difficult.
After planting, the seedlings are watered for better rooting. Then watering is repeated only after two weeks. The lower leaves before the first inflorescence are torn off so that they do not draw food onto themselves, and the plants themselves are tied up.
Summer care
Bush formation
Form a tomato into 2-3 stems. Caring for the Family F1 tomato variety, as gardeners often write in reviews, is complicated by the presence of a large number of stepchildren. They must be removed throughout the growing season.
Growing leaves are also removed under each formed brush. The result should be a bush on which there will be nothing except trusses with tomatoes. The stems and clusters of tomatoes of this variety must be constantly tied up.
Watering and fertilizing
Tomato varieties need to be watered once a week. If plants are planted in open ground, then irrigation is adjusted depending on the weather. For irrigation use only warm water.
When the fruits begin to set, Family tomatoes need to be fed with a complex of mineral fertilizers, which should contain:
- Ammonium nitrate – 20g;
- Potassium sulfate – 30 g;
- Magnesium sulfate – 10 g;
- 3% potassium humate – 25 g.
As a rule, during the season, tomatoes of the Family variety are fed 4 times at the root. Foliar feeding of plants is carried out in the evening in dry weather. Tomatoes respond well to spraying with a solution of iodine, boric acid, potassium permanganate, and ash extract. In addition to nutrition, such treatments do not allow diseases to develop.
When growing tomatoes indoors, you need to maintain a moisture balance. To prevent condensation from forming, which negatively affects fertilization and provokes diseases, the greenhouse must be ventilated.
