Why every gardener should at least once grow a tomato "Bobkat" - the best of the undersized

Both beginners and experienced gardeners want to harvest delicious and beautiful tomatoes without spending a lot of time caring for them. Previously, this was impossible, since tomatoes are a capricious crop, the cultivation of which in our country was associated with many difficulties. However, selection does not stand still. Thanks to the efforts of agronomists, to date, many varieties have been bred that are unpretentious in care.

One of the varieties that delight tomato lovers with beautiful, tasty and large fruits is the Bobkat tomato. It has been popular in our country for many years. Why is this hybrid so good? In the article, we will give a detailed description and description of the variety.

Description of the hybrid

Bobcat is a hybrid tomato variety, as indicated by the F1 designation. It was bred by Dutch breeders. It appeared on the Russian market in 2008. Since then, the popularity of the tomato crop has not diminished.

The hybrid produces large red fruits of the same shape and size throughout the entire fruiting period. They have good transportability due to their dense skin.

Bobcat bred for cultivation in hot regions. In the south of the country, it feels great outdoors. Greenhouses should be used in northern Russia.

Refers to determinant crops. On average, a healthy bush reaches a height of 50-70 cm, the maximum can grow up to 1.2 m.

Reference.Tomatoes are called determinant if they stop growing as soon as a fruitful ovary appears at the top.

Features:

The Bobcat tomato is a large-fruited hybrid. It grows large fruits of uniform red color with a shiny shell (see photo). The weight of one tomato can reach 300 grams.

Tomatoes have a sweet and sour taste, a high percentage of dry matter content (5.5-6.5%) and a loose flesh.

Thanks to their dense skin, tomatoes are excellent for conservation, they do not crack or change shape. They are also suitable for fresh consumption, which makes the variety universal.

Bobcat is immune to the most common diseases of the nightshade. This makes it much easier to care for and reduces the need to use chemicals for treating bushes.

The crop yield is average. At the same time, Bobkat is resistant to temperature extremes and will delight you with a harvest until the first frost.

The table below shows the main characteristics of the variety.

The tomato is bred for cultivation in arid regions. Has a developed root system, is not afraid of high temperatures. In dry weather, with the scorching sun, the fruits do not crack.

Growing seedlings

Before planting tomatoes in the ground, seedlings are grown. This is usually done at home on the windowsill.

Planting material is sown in early or mid-March (terms are calculated depending on the region).

Preparing the seeds

Before starting to grow seedlings, prepare the planting material. Make sure the seed has not expired. Expired goods will have low germination.

Council.When buying seeds from an unverified seller, ask for quality certificates and other documents for the goods. This will reduce the likelihood of acquiring a fake.

Seed preparation:

1. Go through the planting material. Remove damaged and blackened seeds.
2. Bobkat does not need preliminary disinfection. Therefore, the seeds will not have to be processed with potassium permanganate. To test seed germination, you can soak them in a mild salt solution. The floating material will not rise, so it is removed.
3. Before planting, the seeds can be soaked in a growth promoter. To do this, you need to cut the gauze and moisten it with liquid. Seeds are placed in it for 12 hours.

Important! In March, there may not be enough sunlight for plants, which is fraught with stretching. To avoid this, use phytolamps.

Choosing a container and soil

For sowing seeds, it is better to take a large container. This will make it possible to fit all the planting material in one container. At the same time, the pot may not have a great depth.

After germination, the plants are planted in individual pots. To do this, you can use ordinary half-liter plastic cups or peat pots.

You need to prepare a glass or film with which you will cover the sprouted seeds for the first time.

Important! If you are using homemade seed containers, be sure to make some holes in the bottom.

The container is disinfected before use. This will reduce the chance of plant infestation.

Planting soil can be purchased at a specialist store. Such land contains all the necessary trace elements.

Homemade soil is also suitable for growing seedlings, but you just should not take land from the garden. To provide the plants with the most comfortable conditions, a mixture of turf, humus, peat (1: 1: 1) is prepared and a glass of ash is added for every 10 kg of the mixture.

The soil must be disinfected before use. One of the options for soil disinfection is treatment with a weak solution potassium permanganate... Calcining at 80 degrees can also be used for these purposes.

We sow the seeds

The seeds are planted in a prepared large container. For this, grooves with a depth of 1 cm are made in the pre-moistened earth at a distance of 2 cm from each other. Seeds are placed in the grooves at a distance of 1 cm.

From above, the planting material is sprinkled with a small amount of soil. You can't ram the ground.

The container with the seeds is covered with glass or foil and placed on a windowsill or under a phytolamp.

The optimum temperature for seed germination is 25 degrees. To ensure the optimum moisture level, the film covering the seeds must be slightly opened for several hours daily.

Seedling care rules

Compliance with all the rules is a guarantee that you will grow strong and viable plants.

Seedling care rules:

1. Seeds planted in a common container are moistened as the soil dries. This should be done from a spray bottle with water at room temperature.
2. Two weeks after sowing the seeds, you can remove the film from the container in which they were grown.
3. When real leaves are formed on the plants, they are transplanted into separate containers. If the root of the plant is too long, then the lower fragile part can be pinched off. This will allow the plant to take root better.
4. After pinching the roots of plants by one third, their growth may temporarily slow down. This does not need to be scared, since in the future the indicators will normalize, and the plant will be more hardy and strong.
5. Tomatoes planted in individual containers are poured with water from a watering can. This must be done carefully so as not to wet the greens.
6. A week after picking seedlings in separate pots, they are fed with compositions based on biohumus.
7. Two weeks before planting tomatoes in the ground, you need to start hardening them. Pots with Bobkat are taken out on the balcony or street in warm weather. You need to start with 15 minutes, gradually increasing the time to a whole day.

Cultivation of tomatoes

Cultivation of Bobkat is possible both in the greenhouse and in the open field. It depends on the region of your residence.

Tomatoes are planted in open ground in early or mid-June. Plants can be placed in the greenhouse at the end of May.

Planting seedlings in the ground

Before planting Bobkat in a permanent place, you need to prepare the soil. In order to prevent plant diseases, the soil is treated with copper sulfate, then fertilized with compost and ash.

Tomatoes are planted in a checkerboard pattern. The distance between the Bobkat bushes should be at least 60 cm, since this variety has a developed root system.

How to transplant seedlings into the ground:

1. Holes are made in the soil at the desired distance (the diameter of the hole is the width of the shovel). They are watered abundantly with water.
2. Wait for the water to soak into the soil before planting.
3. During this time, water the seedlings themselves abundantly - this will facilitate their extraction.
4. Remove the tomato and soil from the pot. It is important not to damage the root system.
5. The seedling is placed in a hole, holding the roots with the ground in the process. The stem is buried a couple of centimeters.
6. The holes are covered with earth, carefully tamped.

Plant care

The top of the Bobkat tomato does not need to be pinched. The plant stops stretching upward after the formation of fruiting brushes.

The tomato is formed into 1-3 stems. The more stems, the more abundant the harvest will be, but the later the first fruits will appear. Usually gardeners choose the formation tactics in 2 bushes.

Stealing tomatoes must be produced regularly so that the plant does not shed flowers with an ovary. For this, all the shoots that have formed under the brushes are removed. To do this, you need to break off the escape with one movement.

Important! Bobcat has quite heavy fruits and, despite its short stature, needs a garter. For these purposes, a meter peg is enough.

Plants should be watered 1-2 times a week. The frequency of soil moisture directly depends on the weather.

Top dressing of tomatoes with complex fertilizers is done every two weeks. For tomatoes, it is better to choose formulations in which the amount of nitrogen is less than the percentage of potassium and phosphorus. It is necessary to use fertilizing and magnesium-based.

Apply boric fertilizers when the plant begins to bloom. The dosage and method of application are always indicated on the packaging of these products.

The nuances of growing tomatoes

Knowing some of the nuances of growing tomatoes will allow you to get a good harvest.

The most important ones are presented below:

1. You can protect bushes from pests, diseases and drying out of the roots by mulching. The beds are covered with straw, hay, compost, burlap or plastic wrap.
2. On hot summer days, it is better not to carry out pinching, as this can become severe stress for the plant. Plants tolerate such manipulations better in rainy, cloudy weather. Watering on the day of pinching is also prohibited.
3. You need to water the Bobkat bushes at the root. Water contact with leaves will increase the risk of plant infection.
4. For irrigation, do not use water from a well or well. Tomatoes are watered with settled water at street temperature.

Diseases and pests

The Bobcat tomato is resistant to verticillium, fusarium wilt and alternaria. Gardeners claim that other diseases are extremely rare in this variety.

The culture must be protected from pests. Solanaceae are often affected by aphids, slugs, Colorado potato beetle, bear, etc.

Some pests can be harvested by hand. To prevent their appearance, the bushes are treated with a mild soapy solution.

It is possible to reduce the likelihood of damage by a bear by timely removing weeds, loosening and mulching the earth.

Attention! Late blight is the most common and dangerous disease of tomatoes. To prevent its occurrence, do not plant Bobkat in the beds where the same crop grew last year, and pick the ripe fruits in time.

It's very important to follow the rules glaze... If plants are poured or allowed to dry, the risk of diseases and pests will increase significantly.

Features of growing in protected and open ground

Tomato Bobkat is grown both in protected and in open ground. For this variety, the care technology in both cases does not differ much, but there are still some nuances:

1. If the plants are in the greenhouse, then it needs to be ventilated daily by opening doors and windows.
2. When growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, the risk of being damaged by harmful insects is lower than in open ground, but a preventive examination is still necessary.
3. When planting seedlings in open ground, the first time it should be covered with a film. This will help prevent plant death during night frosts.

Harvesting and application of the crop

Bobkat fruits ripen in late July - early August. During this time, you need to regularly harvest.

All ripe tomatoes are immediately plucked, preventing plant infection late blight. In rainy weather, green tomatoes are also gathered, which managed to gain weight. They will ripen at home.

Bobcat tomatoes are suitable for fresh consumption, making juices and pasta, as well as preservation, since they do not crack or lose their shape in the marinade.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Bobkat tomatoes are grown not only for themselves, but also for sale. This culture has many virtues.

Benefits of tomato:

• large fruits of the same size;
• excellent transportability;
• ease of care;
• high temperature resistance;
• resistance to many diseases.

Among the disadvantages of tomato, one can note its thermophilicity. This hybrid is not suitable for growing outdoors in the northern regions of our country.

Reviews

In general, the reviews about the culture are positive, but there are always gardeners who have already found their favorite varieties and therefore meet the hybrid coolly.

Irina Ivanova (Sochi): “I have been growing Bobcat for many years. On average, I collect 5 kg of tomatoes from one bush. I love that the tomatoes look like a photo on the cover of a magazine. All the same size, large, shiny and evenly colored. I didn’t face any difficulties in leaving ”.

Cabbage Alexey (Klin): “We took Bobcat on the recommendation of friends. Grown in greenhouse conditions, since the summer was cold. Honestly, I was not impressed. The yield is average, and the taste is sour. "

Galina (Vitebsk):“I liked the Bobcat tomato. The fruits were 600-700 g, did not hurt, this year I plant again, kept for a long time, were in the greenhouse until October, took them off when the frost began. "

Conclusion

The Bobcat tomato is a variety characterized by large, beautiful fruits with a durable glossy shell. It can be grown not only in a greenhouse, but also outdoors.

It is the unpretentiousness and immunity to the most common diseases of the nightshade that makes this hybrid worthy of the attention of experienced and novice gardeners. With it, you can get a good harvest without spending a lot of effort, money and time.