I have been growing tomatoes for many years. I communicate with neighbors, listen to advice from older relatives. Plus, I watch videos, read articles online and in print.
The topic of vegetables of all kinds is close and interesting, so I can give practical advice on all issues.
Anastasia Kovrizhnykh , an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", an agronomist and landscape designer, spoke about growing tomatoes.
Gardeners have different tastes. Many use only their own tomatoes for home canning. Too sour tomato or fruit drink will require adding sugar, which older people and those on diets cannot afford. Sweetness in the fruit is important to them.
Reasons why tomatoes produce sour berries
The acid itself is initially present in green tomatoes. As they ripen, it is "diluted" by sugars coming from the leaves. To prevent this process from slowing down or stopping, additional feeding is necessary.
Nutrient deficiencies
Sour tomatoes ripen on bushes that suffer from a lack of phosphorus, potassium, boron, magnesium. During the period of fruit setting, the bushes should be watered with an infusion of wood or grass ash. Once every 10-14 days, watering the beds beforehand with ordinary water (to avoid possible root burns).
The solution is prepared in two ways. First: pour 1 liter of ash with 10 liters of water and let it stand for several days. Then dilute the resulting concentrate 1 to 10.
Second: add a quarter of a liter jar (250 ml) of ash to the same 10 liters of water. This mixture can be used immediately, as soon as the solution becomes more or less transparent.
The Importance of Nitrogen
It is also necessary to monitor the sufficient amount of nitrogen entering the soil under the tomato bushes. In the second period of vegetation, it contributes to the formation of a pleasant taste of fruits no less than the above-mentioned elements.
The plant will be supplied with a herbal infusion with bird or animal droppings. The substrate is added as needed (leaf or stem color fading) out of turn or once every 14 days regularly. It is better to hammer in the first mixture in advance, before planting the seedlings in a permanent place of growth, and then renew the supplies.
To prepare it, you need to fill a container with green mass from any grass with roots and soil, add about 200 grams of manure or bird droppings, fill with water and let stand in a warm place for about 10 days.
Landing errors
Tomatoes, like all nightshades, love the sun. This must be taken into account when planning future beds. At the peak of high temperatures, when the fruits get burned, you should temporarily shade the bushes, but do not place seedlings under trees or behind the wall of the house initially.
Soil acidity is another factor that prevents tomatoes from becoming sweet (as well as beets and carrots).
To "deoxidize" the beds, use wood or grass ash, adding it to the soil before forming furrows for plant placement. A liter of dry matter per 1 m2 of land will be enough.
If something prevented you from doing this in advance, you can simply sprinkle ash between the rows and water the seedlings not at the root, but covering the entire plot of land. The application rate is the same as indicated above.
Timely watering
While the fruits on the bushes are green, water should be added to the soil as the soil dries out. When the tomatoes enter the period of milky ripeness, watering should be stopped completely.
Not only can excess moisture cause the harvest to crack or be spoiled by slugs, but berries filled with water are more sour than their “drier” relatives. The sugar concentration in them is lower.
I hope this information will be useful to all those who are trying to get the perfect tomato harvest with natural sweetness on their own plot. I wish you success in vegetable growing!
Earlier we talked about why you need to trim onion seedlings .
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
