Some types of dwarf tomato varieties are available to the consumer, among which many gardeners have received great recognition from the Balcony Miracle hybrid. He, like a cherry, does not take up much space and bears fruit with juicy and appetizing berries. Consider the subtleties of growing varieties, its description and characteristics.
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How to grow tomatoes Balcony miracle
All varieties of tomatoes, including dwarf varieties, for full development requires sunlight, at least 6-8 hours a day.
Growing tomatoes at home
To grow a variety at home and properly care, it is recommended to use unglazed pots. They breathe well, with good drainage holes.
After transplanting seedlings into a stationary container, the tomatoes are fed with phosphate fertilizer (bone meal) and continue to do this every two to three weeks during the entire growing season.
How to grow indoors
In the house is a plant placed in a warm and sunny place. This is usually a window facing south or southwest.In winter, you will have to add artificial lighting so that the plant is guaranteed to receive the necessary portion of light. The preferred air temperature in the room is 18-25 ° C.
It is believed that the “Balcony Miracle” does not need to be tied up, but an effective support structure does not prevent the plant so that it does not bend under its own weight. It will ensure good air circulation in the inner part of the plant.
A metal grid, a simple trellis or an elastic wire, directed vertically from the top down and fixed to the soil surface with a short wooden peg, is used.
Home care
The soil is too heavy for growing tomatoes in pots - overly compact and potentially contains pathogens. Tomatoes are very susceptible to soil pests.
Priming
For best results, the pots are filled with high-quality bio-soil or soil mixture, purchased in a specialty store or cooked by yourself, which provide good air circulation and moisture, so necessary for the plant, will stimulate the energetic development of the roots.
Topsoil should be about 3 cm below the edge of the pot so that you can add mulch to keep moisture. Use traditional mulching materials: straw, crushed bark, leaves or newspaper. The layer is updated as necessary during the growing season.
Watering
Proper watering is the key to success in growing the Balcony Miracle. Soil should be steadily wet but not oversaturated. How much the plant needs water is checked by touch every two days. If the topsoil is dry, then it's time to water.
Under the pot is placed a tray for water flow through the soil and drainage holes, the plant absorbs this additional moisture during the day. When growing several potted tomatoes helps to reduce the time of watering drip irrigation system.
Feedings
Tomatoes grown in containers are fed with organic fertilizers every two weeks. You can do this more often, especially during the flowering period, since with each irrigation nutrients are washed out of the pot.
Outdoor cultivation
Tomatoes are a risky crop for open ground, but the Balcony Miracle variety, ripening faster than many other varieties, is a good option in this respect. It can be cultivated in almost any region, taking into account the climatic features.
Seedling preparation takes six to eight weeks. Before you transplant it in open ground, you need to wait until the threat of frost has passed, and then proceed to hardening, gradually, over 10 days, introducing tomatoes into nature.
Acclimatization of seedlings to external conditions helps it to adapt well. Seedlings put on the street for several hours a day in a windless and shady place. If necessary, over seedlings on the windward side tension covering material.
Each time they are left for some time longer and gradually increase insolation, pushing the plants out of the shade. After five or six days, seedlings are left overnight. and in the following days do not bring into the room (if the danger of frost has passed).
Tomatoes are ready for transplanting in open ground, when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 10.
How to grow in open ground
Culture requires a seat in an open, well-lit area, with 8 hours and more direct sunlight, adequate protection from strong winds.
The ideal soil acidity level for growing Balcony Miracle is between 6 and 6.8. If necessary, adjust the pH, it will take several months, and you need to start early, in the autumn.
With excessive acidity resort to the method of liming (lime application of fertilizers: wood ash, dolomite flour, hydrated lime, etc.). Strong alkalinity, which has an adverse effect on plant development, is neutralized with a weak solution of sulfuric acid.
Temperature conditions
When planted in open ground, the air temperature should be above 10 at night, but the soil always stays colder. The warmer the soil, the faster the tomatoes will grow!
One way to warm it It means that after preparing the beds for several weeks before planting, cover the area with black plastic film. It absorbs the sun's heat during the day and directs it to the soil at night.
In regions of cold climate with a short growing season, the film is left for several weeks after planting the tomatoes, placing the seedlings in the ground through small cuts on it.
Weeds
The soil is cleared of weeds, loosened to a depth of at least 20 centimeters, using a cultivator (or forks). A 5 cm layer of compost is spread on the surface and mixed thoroughly with the soil.
Fertilizer
Composting with the addition of an adequate amount of fertilizer or rotten manure is a must, providing tomatoes a good start for healthy development. Dig a hole a few centimeters deeper than the size of the pot with a seedling and distribute the top dressing.
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- Compost
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- Bone flour
Bone flour high phosphorus content - one of the best means to strengthen the roots. Three weeks after planting, fertilizer is added to the surface with increasednitrogen content (blood meal, fish emulsion) to support vegetative growth.
Landing frequency
It is often tempting to plant tiny seedlings of a dwarf hybrid as close as possible to each other. The recommended interval, providing good air flow between the bushes - 50 centimeters. Overcrowding contributes to the spread of fungal diseases.
We increase drought resistance
Each seedling is removed from the container, gently loosening the roots. Seedlings are planted as deep as possible, leaving only the upper leaves above the surface. Technique that death penalty for many plants, real help for tomatoes largely.
It increases drought resistance, resistance to wind, stimulates the strengthening of the root system. Soil tamped around the seedlings with his hands and watered.
Requirements for care in the open field
In general, the culture has low water demand, and waterlogging stimulates the development of diseases. After the fruits begin to form, they water the tomatoes only when the soil dries 2-3 centimeters below the surface. On hot days, when the leaves become sluggish, you may have to do it daily.
Water the soil around the plant (the leaves and stems do not tolerate getting wet) in the morning, which will allow excess moisture to evaporate during the day, but at the same time deliver the amount they need to the roots.
After three or four weeks of growth beds are mulched with a thick layer of straw or dry leaves to preserve moisture in the soil and prevent infection by fungal spores and weed growth.
Tomatoes - thermophilic culture. Temperatures of 25-30 contribute to better growth and rapid flowering. In the open field, tomatoes are fed with phosphate fertilizer every three weeks.
Tomatoes grow thicker than their immune system can withstand. New shoots growing from the main stems,which derive valuable energy from the developing fruit, it is necessary to cut, helping to form an open and spreading plant form.
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- Companion plants for the variety include basil
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- Garlic
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- Nasturtium
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- Marigold
Seedlings Balcony miracle
It is possible to save seeds from a ripe fruit for future seedlings, but given that the “Balcony Miracle” hybrid variety, like most other varieties of cultivated tomatoes, is unlikely to be able to grow a plant identical to the original.
Easier to buy ready-packaged seeds in the store and drop them indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost.
How to pick up seeds for seedlings
On the bag in small print, as a rule, it is indicated “deterministic”. This is an important aspect for understanding the type of growth. It means that the plant will grow to a genetically determined size and then stop (the size should be indicated on the package).
Indeterminate varieties grow indefinitely until cold temperatures or other natural phenomena stop them.
Proper soil preparation
For seed, prepare any containers that hold the soil well and have drainage holes. Plastic strawberry containers are a good option. or other berries.
They are deep enough, perforated, have covers that will help keep the seeds moist. Convenient use of moistened peat (biodegradable) pots.
Pre-disinfected in a weak manganese solution, the seeds (purchased in the store the seeds have already been processed) are sown in ready or self-made soil mix:
- 1/3 compost;
- 1/3 of vermiculite;
- 1/3 peat moss.
We plant seeds for seedlings
Tomatoes "Balcony miracle" grown throughout the year. Considering planning, the best time for planting seeds to get fruit for the New Year holidays is mid-September. In the spring, fruiting will begin if you prepare seedlings at the beginning of winter.
In each containerfilled with organic soil two seeds are planted (for insurance), to a depth of about 1.5 cm (or three times larger than the size of the seed) and carefully watered.
It is important that they remain wet before germination, but not damp, if they dry out, they will die. The containers are covered with a film (for the greenhouse effect) and placed in a warm place, which is maintained at a temperature of 21-27 ° C.
Care of seedlings
Seeds germinate in one to two weeks, after which they are moved to a warm, at least 18 ° C, and bright place. When four leaves appear on the seedlings, they are carefully transplanted into deeper containers.
At the bottom of the stack 3 cm soil layerPlace the root tip onto the pot and carefully fill the pot with soil, covering most of the plant's stem: the leaves should be just above the soil surface.
Prior to transplanting in stationary containers or in open ground, when seedlings reach a height of 15 cm, new leaves are plucked, leaving no more than three sets.
For optimal growth, seedlings need full lighting, from 12 to 16 hours of light per day. The lack of light leads to the stretching and thinning of the stems. In winter, fluorescent lamps work well as a source.
Possible problems with growing a variety
The dwarf hybrid is resistant to diseases, but in any case, it must be remembered that the causative agents of Alternaria, blight and Septoria are developing in a moist environment.
Watering is carried out about once every ten days with water at room temperature, previously defended. Flowing water saturated with bleach has a detrimental effect on the development of culture.
For grade characteristic folding leaves in the upper part plants throughout the day. But this should not cause concern, by the evening they, as a rule, straighten up.
To increase the yield of tomatoes, the first fruits are removed at the initial stage, leaving them to ripen in a dark place at a temperature of at least 13 ° C with a low level of humidity (in the basement or garage). This measure stimulates the emergence of new fruits.
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- Alternaria
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- Late blight
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- Septoria
Features grade
The “Balcony Miracle” variety, bred by Russian breeders especially for cultivation in compact conditions, on window sills, on balconies, and in open ground.
Characteristic
Pygmy hybrid differs in ultrafast ripeness, with a period of fruit ripening after planting in 85-100 days. Forms a compact bush up to 30-40 centimeters high. Small, round, intensely red-colored berries, weighing about 20-30 g and measuring 3 cm in diameter, are sown in a short time (usually 2-3 weeks).
Description
It is suitable for pots of small size, but the larger the capacity, the better the root system develops and, as a result, fruitfulness and larger berries are more abundant. “Balcony miracle” - the quintessence of sweet-tart tomato flavor, great for salads and snacks, as well as for canning.
It is defined as an active deterministic variety, which means that with careful care, the culture can bear fruit twice a year.
Fruit
“Balcony miracle” is suitable for growing in semi-shaded conditions, but it is better not to forget that all varieties of tomatoes prefer light and heat, which directly affect fruiting.
With proper care each bush is able to bring up to two kilograms of crop.
Is it true that this variety is exactly for growing on a balcony
It is possible to grow up “A balcony miracle” both on a balcony or indoors, and in a kitchen garden. None of the methods is a priority, although the size of the fruit depends on the location. In the open ground, they are formed larger in size than in the room.
Cultivation of tomatoes in the room eliminates the limitations that arise when gardening outdoors. This means no worries in the hard climate zones about landing times.
but most types of tomatoes are tall or bulkyto grow comfortably at home. That is why the balcony miracle is so popular with vegetable growers.