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The chocolate color of tomatoes does not attract many vegetable growers. Traditionally, everyone is accustomed to seeing red tomatoes. However, according to reviews from gardeners who decided to grow such a miracle, the taste of the vegetable is excellent. You can even make delicious juice from the fruits. The Chocolate tomato was bred by domestic breeders, so the crop is well adapted to our climate.
Characteristics of the variety
Let's start looking at the characteristics and description of the Chocolate variety tomato with the structure of the bush. The plant is considered semi-determinate. The bush is not standard. The stems grow from 1.2 to 1.5 m in height. The plant grows little foliage, but it is wide and tightly covers the fruits. A feature of the Chocolate variety is resistance to diseases. None of the reviews contained information about tomatoes being affected by root and blossom end rot.
The tomato variety is suitable for indoor and outdoor growing methods. In terms of ripening time, the crop is considered medium-early. The fruits are ready for consumption 110 days after sowing the seeds. In cold regions, the Chocolate variety is best grown indoors so that the plant has time to produce its entire harvest. Fruit ovary occurs in clusters. The first flower appears above the 8th leaf. Up to 5 tomatoes are tied from an inflorescence into a brush. The variety is considered high-yielding. From 1 m2 On average, 10 kg of fruits are harvested. With good care, tomato yield can grow up to 15 kg/m2.
Description of fruits
Reviews about the Chocolate variety of tomato often begin with a mention of the unusual color of the fruit. And this is not in vain. When ripe, the tomato turns dark red mixed with a brown tint. The skin of the fruit takes on a chocolate color. The flesh inside the tomato is red, and the walls and seed chambers combine two colors: pale green and brown.
The fruits grow weighing an average of 200 g, but can reach up to 400 g. The tomato has a standard spherical shape with a flattened top and bottom. There are at least 4 seed chambers in the fruit, but there can be more.
Most often, brown tomato is used for salads, decoration and cooking. The fruits go well in canning. The tomato pulp is sweet and juicy, which allows the crop to be processed into juice. However, many are scared by the unusual dark color and because of this, tomatoes are grown in small quantities for fresh consumption.
In the video you can see what kind of juice is obtained from chocolate tomatoes:
Positive features of the variety
Taking into account such arguments as reviews, photos, and the productivity of the Chocolate tomato, let's determine the positive features of the variety:
- The tomato variety is excellent at resisting many diseases. The Chocolate tomato is noted to be highly resistant to various types of rot. Even a rainy summer is unable to harm the plant. However, preventive measures cannot be neglected. Strong thickening of tomato bushes in hot weather and high humidity can provoke the appearance of late blight.
- A high tomato yield often forces vegetable growers to overstep their ambitions regarding the color of the fruit. When other varieties have not produced well, the Chocolate tomato will always come to the rescue of the housewife.
- The fruits are characterized by their running size. The tomatoes are small and rather large, but just right for the jar. The brushes are easy to pick from the bush, which speeds up the harvest.
- Despite its brown color, the Chocolate tomato is very tasty. The fruit does not look so elegant in a jar or salad, but those who try it will remain partial to this vegetable.
- A big plus of this variety is its ease of care. The Chocolate Tomato is unpretentious. Even a novice vegetable grower can get a good tomato harvest. The variety is especially suitable for summer residents who do not have the opportunity to travel out of town every day to water the garden.
- The shape gives the fruit a marketable appearance. Tomatoes can be grown not only for your own needs, but also for sale.
You can read as many reviews as you like about the Chocolate tomato variety, but there are practically no negative statements. The only downside is the color of the fruit, although many vegetable growers change their minds about brown tomatoes over time.
Growing and caring for crops
You can grow the Chocolate tomato variety in open and closed ways. In any case, you need to get strong seedlings. The time for sowing tomato seeds falls in February - March. It all depends on the weather conditions of the region and the place where the tomatoes are grown. When planting seedlings in open ground, seeds are sown approximately two months before the designated date. Tomato grains are sown in greenhouses ten days earlier.
Purchased tomato seeds do not require preparation. The seeds went through all the necessary procedures in production. Here the main issue for the vegetable grower is soil preparation. Store-bought soil mixture is of high quality, but you have to pay money for it. You can prepare the soil yourself from equal amounts of humus and fertile soil. It is better if it is collected from the garden. The homemade soil mixture is heated in the oven and watered with a manganese solution to kill harmful bacteria. To increase nutrients, add 1 tbsp to 1 bucket of soil mixture. l. wood ash, plus 1 tsp. mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium.
The finished soil mixture is laid out in boxes, slightly moistened, after which grooves 1.5 cm deep and with a row spacing of 3 cm are made on the surface. Tomato seeds are laid out, keeping a distance of at least 2 cm from each other. Loose soil is sprinkled on top of the tomato grains. Watering is carried out only with a sprayer. Before the tomato sprouts appear, the boxes are kept in a warm place, covered with glass or plastic wrap.
To obtain good shoots, maintain a room temperature of at least 25OC. After the sprouts peck, the cover is removed from the boxes. The air temperature can be reduced by 5 degrees. Now tomato seedlings only need lighting and regular watering with warm water. After about 10 days, the tomatoes will form two normal leaves. This suggests that it is time to plant the seedlings into cups.
When the plants form 6-7 adult leaves and throw out at least 1 inflorescence, the tomatoes can be planted in a permanent place.By this time, the vegetable grower should harden off the tomato seedlings. The plants are taken outside for two weeks, constantly increasing the time spent in the fresh air.
The Chocolate variety responds well to light soil with neutral acidity. Before planting tomatoes, the soil in the garden bed needs to be prepared:
- The earth along with the humus is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet. If the soil is heavy, then add river sand. High acidity is reduced with chalk.
- Based on 3 kg per 1 m2 complex fertilizer is applied to the beds.
- The prepared area is covered with black film until the tomato seedlings are planted. This is required to warm the soil to a temperature of at least +15OWITH.
Chocolate tomato seedlings are planted in late May. It is advisable to choose a warm and cloudy day. To avoid thickening, Chocolate variety tomatoes are planted 3 bushes per 1 m2.
It is important to pay a lot of attention to the plants in the first days while they take root. Further care for the Chocolate tomato is simple. It is advisable to water the tomato plantings regularly. Do not allow the soil to dry out or become too waterlogged. Take only warm water and pour it directly under the root of the plant. It would be a good idea to dissolve some wood ash. The best time to water tomatoes is early morning or evening.
Chocolate tomatoes don’t need a lot of fertilizing. During the season, it is enough to apply fertilizer or organic matter three times. For those who want to speed up the process of fruit set and ripening, fertilizing can be applied once every two weeks. Young plants cannot do without magnesium. This substance helps the culture develop. Boron is added with the appearance of inflorescences on plants.
After each watering and fertilizing, the soil around the tomato bushes is loosened so that the roots receive the necessary portion of oxygen. It is important to prevent the bed from becoming overgrown weeds. Grass draws nutrients from the ground.
The Chocolate tomato bush requires staking to a support. It is not necessary to install trellises for these purposes. You can get by with ordinary wooden stakes. The blanks are cut to a length of at least 1.5 m and driven into the ground next to the plant immediately after planting the seedlings. As the stem grows, it is tied with a string to a peg. The tomato bush needs a stepson. To form a normal crown, all excess shoots are removed from the tomato. Pasynkovka is usually performed early in the morning.
The Chocolate variety is resistant to many diseases, however, prevention never hurts. You should not immediately resort to chemicals. Ash has good protective properties. It is simply added to the ground. Bone meal can be used instead of ash. Bordeaux mixture will help get rid of late blight. If harmful insects appear, the tomato plantings are treated with a soap solution or wormwood decoction.
Reviews
The reviews about the Chocolate Tomato are not the worst. Let's find out what vegetable growers say about the crop.
This was my first time planting this tomato variety. I really liked this variety. Firstly, there are a lot of fruits on each bush, and secondly, they are very sweet and tasty. Delicious salad made from them. They were eaten fresh, like “seeds”. I will definitely plant it next year. Another strange point: in the greenhouse there were few fruits on the bushes, but in the open ground there were a lot.