Content
Growing hanging tomatoes are produced in hanging containers. For planting, choose special varieties that branch well and give a rich harvest. To grow hanging tomatoes at home, you need to provide them with the necessary microclimate, install lighting, and prepare the soil for the plants.
Variety selection
The following ampelous varieties are used for growing at home:
- Mascot – one of the most popular representatives of ampelous tomatoes. This is an early ripening variety with a long fruiting period. The weight of the fruit is up to 20 g. The talisman is valued for the taste of the fruit and is a good decoration for windows.
- City dweller F1 - a variety that produces large raspberry-colored tomatoes. For planting plants, select a container with a volume of more than 4 liters. The length of the main shoot reaches 0.8 m. The bushes must be pinched. Tomato ripening takes up to 100 days.
- Cascade Red F1 - compact bushes that produce many shoots up to 0.5 m long. The hybrid is easy to care for and does not require pinching. It is enough to remove dry and yellowed plant leaves. For planting, containers with a volume of 5 liters or more are required.
- Red abundance - tomatoes that can produce a good harvest with proper care.The fruits resemble cherry tomatoes in taste and external characteristics. The bush grows quickly and produces shoots up to 0.6 m long without pinching.
- Garden pearl - a low-growing plant that is distinguished by numerous shoots and small fruits. The weight of tomatoes does not exceed 20 g. The bush is suitable for growing on a window, since it has a height of up to 40 cm. The variety is distinguished by its unpretentiousness and abundant fruiting.
Creating conditions
Tomatoes require special conditions that promote their development and fruiting. At home, you need to monitor indicators such as temperature, humidity, and light levels.
Temperature and humidity
Growing ampelous tomatoes requires compliance with a certain temperature regime. In summer, you need to maintain the temperature at 21-26°C. In cloudy weather, it is allowed to reduce it to 20°C.
At night, the temperature for plants is maintained at 16-18°C. If necessary, additional heating is installed in the room where tomatoes are grown.
A short-term cooling of 10°C will not have a negative impact on plantings. If the temperature drop outside lasts for several days, the plants develop more slowly, flowering and pollination stop.
Ventilation and installation of fans for plants will help reduce the temperature. Tomatoes are not sensitive to drafts.
Attention is also paid to soil temperature. Its value should be from 20 to 25°C. When this indicator increases, an earlier harvest is obtained, however, the fruits grow small.At lower rates, tomatoes will ripen later, but their quantity will be greater.
Tomatoes do not tolerate high humidity. Its indicators when growing these plants should remain at the level of 60-70%. The indicators can be reduced through ventilation. To increase the humidity of the house, water containers are installed.
High humidity provokes the development of diseases and negatively affects the pollination process.
Lighting installation
Tomato is a crop that requires light. With a lack of light, plants stretch out and form thin stems and shoots. Intense lighting can speed up the ripening of tomatoes by 2 weeks.
Plants prefer direct light, so in cloudy weather or winter the quality of the fruit may deteriorate. Ampelous varieties cope better with lack of light.
The minimum illumination for tomatoes on the window is 2,000 lux. For the formation of the ovary, this indicator must be at least 4,000 - 6,000 lux. Optimal illumination for plants is 20,000 lux.
If on the balcony or the window does not have enough sunlight, then you need to arrange additional lighting. The following types of equipment can be used for growing tomatoes:
- Sodium lamps – emit red and orange light, which has a positive effect on plants during flowering and fruit formation. Such lamps do not irritate human vision and can be used at home. The disadvantage of sodium lamps is the complex connection and large dimensions.
- LED bulbs – the most common option for organizing illumination of tomatoes.Their increased cost is compensated by efficiency, durability, easy repairs, low heating, and lack of flicker.
- Phytolamps — devices designed to organize lighting for plants. The simplest option is bicolor lampemitting red and blue spectrum colors. For mature plants or dense plantings, multispectrum instruments are used. They are used in cloudy weather to stimulate fruiting.
Soil preparation
To plant tomatoes, purchase soil is used or the necessary soil mixture is prepared. Plants prefer loam or sandy loam soil with good air and moisture permeability.
All components are mixed, after which the soil is watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This procedure will destroy harmful bacteria living in the soil.
Fertilizing will help improve the properties of the soil: 1 tbsp. l. ash, 1 tsp. potassium sulfate and superphosphate per 10 kg of soil. Complex fertilizer for plants contains phosphorus, potassium and calcium necessary for the full development of tomatoes.
In a container for tomatoes, a drainage layer is first made, consisting of expanded clay chips or coconut substrate. Then soil is poured and plant seeds are planted.
Landing rules
Planting hanging tomatoes at home begins in March. The material is placed to a depth of 3 cm. Before planting, they are soaked for 20 minutes in a low concentration solution of potassium permanganate, and then washed with water.
Ampelous tomatoes are planted in one of the following ways:
- in a regular pot;
- in hanging containers;
- "upside down"
To grow tomatoes, select a container with a capacity of 4 liters.You can place ordinary containers on a windowsill or hang them on a balcony or loggia. Suspended structures take up less space.
You can first plant the plants in small containers. When the seedlings sprout and grow stronger, they are transferred to a permanent place. The procedure is carried out in May. Tomatoes are replanted together with a clod of earth so as not to damage the root system.
The original way to grow tomatoes in pots is to plant them upside down. To do this, holes with a diameter of up to 10 cm are made in the container through which the plant stem passes. The tomato root system remains in the container.
This technology increases the yield of tomatoes, since the shoots experience less stress and are better ventilated. The free top part of the pots can be used to grow herbs, lettuce or other plants at home.
Features of care
Caring for hanging tomatoes includes regular watering, loosening the soil and applying fertilizers. Organic and mineral components are used for feeding. Fertilizers are used by watering the plantings or spraying on the leaves. Depending on the variety, plants are pinched and excess shoots are removed.
Watering and loosening
Tomatoes require a constant supply of moisture. For irrigation, warm water is used, which should flow under the roots of the plants. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening hours.
Tomatoes tolerate short-term drought well. After a long absence of watering, moisture should be added gradually in small portions. Otherwise, it will cause the fruit to crack.
Watering is done as the soil dries out.After planting in pots, the plants are watered abundantly, after which a break is taken for 10 days. In the future, it is enough to water the tomatoes once a week. Moisture must penetrate the entire depth of the container. During the period of fruit ripening, the intensity of watering can be increased to speed up this process.
Additionally, loosening of the soil is carried out. The procedure improves the penetration of moisture and nutrients into the soil. The depth of loosening should not exceed 3 cm so as not to damage the root system of plants.
Fertilizer application
A mandatory step in caring for hanging tomatoes at home is the application of fertilizers. The first feeding is done after the second leaf appears on the plants. To strengthen the immunity of plants and increase resistance to diseases, treatment with the drug “Fitosporin” is carried out.
To feed seedlings, prepare a solution based on mullein (at a concentration of 1 liter of fertilizer per 10 liters of water). Mineral fertilizers are no less useful for tomatoes.
They are prepared by mixing the following components:
- ash – 50 g;
- superphosphate – 30 g;
- manganese sulfate – 0.3 g;
- boric acid – 0.3 g;
- water – 10 l.
Each bush requires up to 0.5 liters of solution. The next treatment is carried out after 10 days. Before the ovaries appear, it is better to abandon nitrogen fertilizers, which lead to active shoot growth.
During the flowering period, you can feed hanging tomatoes with boric acid. The concentration of the substance is 2 g per bucket of water. Boric acid prevents leaves from curling and promotes the formation of new inflorescences in plants.
Foliar treatment helps ensure a quick supply of nutrients to plants. It is carried out by spraying tomato leaves.The solution is prepared from mineral or organic components.
For foliar feeding, double superphosphate (5 g) is diluted in a bucket of water. The product is especially effective during the fruiting period.
At home, adult tomatoes can be sprayed with 1 liter of low-fat milk, which is first diluted in 5 liters of water. If you add 15 drops of iodine to the solution, it can be used to prevent plant diseases. Treatment is carried out every two weeks.
Conclusion
The method of growing hanging tomatoes is selected based on the free space allocated for planting. Caring for plantings includes arranging a lighting system, regulating humidity and temperature conditions. Fertilizers are required to help the plants form an ovary.
