Why gardeners like the Delicacy tomato so much and how to grow it on your plot, having received a bountiful harvest

Delicacy - the very name of this tomato variety sounds promising. Its juicy, crumbly and sweetish-tasting fruits with a pronounced aroma fully correspond to the name. However, among gardeners, Delicacy has gained popularity not only for its undeniable taste.

These tomatoes are sensitive to attention, even in the smallest agronomic volume. The variety is unpretentious in cultivation, it grows well both in greenhouse conditions and in the open air. Moreover, many tomato lovers grow it in flower pots on the balcony!

Description of the variety

First of all, you should understand the very definition of the Delicatessen variety in order to avoid possible discrepancies. The following varieties of tomatoes are found in print and electronic publications: Moscow delicacy, Salted delicacy, Italian delicacy and even “Mega super fruitful and popular cherry tomato Delicacy F1”! Such a number of namesakes can be explained only by the special attractiveness and relish of the word itself.

Despite the fact that all these are varieties of the variety, only the first of them has an official variety status. Moscow delicacy was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements approved for use in the Russian Federation in 2001. But even he, like the "self-proclaimed" varieties, has nothing to do with the subject of our review. In addition, in most of the same publications, the date of registration of the Delicates tomato variety is mistakenly attributed to 2001. In fact, it was entered into the State Register only in 2007.

Attention! Don't confuse Delicacy with other gourmet-named varieties!

The characteristic and description of the variety without frills and discrepancies are recorded in the original source. Here is an extract from the registration card:

1. It is included in the State Register of the Russian Federation for growing in open ground in private household plots (personal subsidiary plots).
2. Requires garter and plant formation. Salad. Mid-season. Plant determinant.
3. Medium green leaf. The inflorescence is simple. The peduncle is articulated.
4. The fruit is round, smooth, of medium density. The color of the unripe fruit is light green, the ripe fruit is pink. The number of nests is 4 or more. Fruit weight - 100-120 g. Good taste.
5. The yield of marketable fruits is 6.1 kg per 1 sq. m.
6. Drought-resistant. Resistant to top and root rot.

Distinctive features

The variety is determinant, standard - a low-growing bush reaches a height of only 40-60 cm. The stems are strong, but during the ripening and fruiting period they require a garter, since the fruits are large. Cultivated for outdoor cultivation, the variety is so undemanding to the environment that some tomato enthusiasts do it on their balconies.

Fruit characteristics and yield

Fruits are large, rounded, slightly flattened at the poles. They have an attractive pale pink or hot pink color. 1.5-2 kg of tomatoes are harvested from the bush per season. Depending on the scheme and density of planting of plants, the yield ranges from 6 to 8 kg per 1 sq. m. Productivity is not the highest (after all, the variety is determinant), but stable.

How to grow seedlings

It is better to purchase seeds from a reliable and trusted manufacturer. But even in this case, it is necessary to carry out their pre-sowing preparation. It is advisable to calculate the seeding time depending on the climatic characteristics of the place of growth. Sowing begins at least 60 days before transplanting plants to a permanent place. The delicacy is a mid-season variety, that is, before the beginning of fruiting, it should ripen in the beds for at least another 1.5 months.

Seed preparation

In some publications and on the Internet, you can find the most extreme recommendations for sowing and preparing seeds. Following them, virtuoso gardeners do without any pre-sowing preparation of seeds and plant them immediately in open ground or flower pots. Perhaps, in the south, this approach would come off, but even there you need to be prepared for significant losses of seed and future crops. Therefore, it is safer to stick to the traditional scheme.

First of all, for disinfection, the seeds are soaked for 20-30 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, then washed and immersed in any growth stimulator. These can be "old-fashioned" recipes such as diluted with water aloe juice in a ratio of 1 to 1 or a solution of honey (1 teaspoon per glass of water), as well as modern formulations: "Epin", "Humat" or "Energen".

The drug "Epin" has proven itself well, but it should be used carefully, since it is a concentrate. For soaking, 3 drops per 100 ml of water are enough. Seeds wrapped in gauze are kept in a growth stimulator from 12 hours to a day and are sown without waiting for pecking. The planting material processed in this way gives friendly shoots.

Capacity and soil

Shallow trays are taken under the seedlings, which are filled with a nutritious substrate. It can be purchased from a specialist store. It is usually packaged in paper bags labeled "for tomatoes and peppers."

It is easy to prepare the substrate yourself: for 2 parts of peat, take one part of the sod land and compost and half of the sand. It is recommended to add one glass of wood ash and complex fertilizer, which includes phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, to a bucket of such a mixture. Such soil contains all the macro- and microelements necessary for the normal development of plants.

Sowing

Sowing is carried out to a depth of no more than 1-1.5 cm. The width between the grooves should not be less than 3 cm.If further picking into separate containers is not planned, the distance between the seedlings is increased to 8-10 cm. The seeds are sprinkled with earth and watered abundantly, then covered with a film. The optimum temperature for germination is 22-25 ° C. In the future, crops must be regularly ventilated (at least once a day) and watered at least once a week.

Growing and care

The film is removed after the first leaves appear. At this time, a pick is made into peat pots for a more comfortable development of each plant and the preservation of the root system when transferred to a permanent place. However, you can also leave seedlings in trays. Then the containers with sprouts are moved to a well-lit place.

To strengthen the sprouts, they need feed... For example, the already mentioned tool "Epin". For spraying, prepare a solution: 6 drops of concentrate per 500 ml of water. The procedure is carried out once every two weeks, and even less often with the favorable development of sprouts. It is also recommended to harden them before transferring to a permanent place. This procedure consists in that the seedlings are taken out into the open air for a week, gradually increasing the time from 20 minutes to 2 hours a day.

By the way! Fertilizers not only increase the growth and resistance of the bushes, but also significantly improve the taste of the fruit.

How to grow tomatoes

The cultivation technique of Delicatessen differs from the cultivation of other varieties and hybrids of determinate tomatoes. Despite the fact that the bushes of this variety are undersized, they will need special care throughout the growing season.Each bush requires support, because without a garter it can break under the weight of the fruit. Plants also need timely pinching and shaping.

Landing

Depending on the geographical location and climatic features of the area, the timing of transplanting to a permanent place varies between the second half of May - early June. Again, depending on the specific conditions, a place is also chosen - in a greenhouse, open field or a flower pot. In any case, the place should be sunny and sheltered from the wind.

For planting, light types of soil with preliminary drainage are preferred. The soil must be disinfected by treating with 1% potassium permanganate solution, and fertilized with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer, which promotes the development of the root system.

AVA is potassium monophosphate with nine additional trace elements added as additives. An excellent result is obtained by mixing a new type of fertilizer with good old wood ash in a proportion of 5 g of "AVA" to 3 glasses of ash per 1 sq. M. m. The germination capacity is doubled and the ripening period is reduced.

Seedlings are planted in pre-prepared depressions of the size of peat pots or lumps of earth with an intact root system (if no picking was carried out) on pre-formed beds. The row spacing is 70 cm, and the distance between plants in a row is 30-40 cm.

Important! Simultaneously with the landing, supports are installed for each bush. It is not recommended to do this later in order not to damage the already formed root system of plants.

Care

The first watering is done immediately after planting. The next one is not earlier than in 5-7 days. The delicacy tolerates a lack of moisture and even drought well. The seedlings are watered with moderately settled warm water, weeded and regularly loosened the topsoil around them to provide adequate aeration and prevent root rot.

Much more attention and labor costs are required for pinching and forming bushes. Timely removal of leaves and excess shoots-stepchildren allows the plant to mobilize all the resources of nutrients for the ovary and fruit growth. Therefore, the bush is formed only in one, less often in two stems. To do this, remove all the stepsons, except for the one under the first flower brush.

As it grows, the plant formed in this way is tied to a support. Garterlike pinching with pruning, carried out throughout the growing season. All side shoots and stepchildren are removed several times per season. Also, tomatoes periodically require feeding with complex mineral fertilizers - at least 3-4 times during the growing season.

Important! The delicacy accepts phosphorus-potassium mixtures well. Feeding is especially needed during the flowering period and the formation of ovaries.

Features of cultivation and possible difficulties

Further formation depends on the growing conditions. The leaves on the bushes of this tomato variety grow densely, regardless of watering and dressing. The lower part of the tomatoes is completely freed from greens until the first ovary. Leaves higher up are harvested as needed, exposing ripening tomatoes to sunlight.

Diseases and pests

Of the most common tomato diseases, the Delicacy variety is most often susceptible to brown spot and powdery mildew. Brown spot affects the plant both in greenhouses and in the open field. The main condition for its prevention is a decrease in soil and air moisture, for which watering is reduced, and greenhouses are ventilated.

To get rid of this disease, apply the fungicide "Zaslon". Before spraying, all damaged shoots, leaves and fruits are removed from diseased bushes. The spraying itself is carried out in the morning and in the evening 1 time in 10 days. The solution is prepared in the proportion: 2 caps of fungicide per 1 liter of water.

Powdery mildew (or ashes) is the general name for an infectious disease, the causative agents of which are two types of fungi. It is easier to follow measures for its prevention: alternate planting crops in the garden (plant tomatoes on one site no more than 1 time in 3-4 years), disinfect the soil before planting, often loosen the soil to saturate it with oxygen, ventilate greenhouses, avoid nitrogen fertilizers.

In case of the first signs of the disease, it is necessary to immediately spray the bushes with potassium permanganate (2.5 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water). Powdery mildew is quite effectively fought with the help of folk remedies. For example, this: 2 tablespoons of soda and 10 g of shavings of laundry soap are stirred in 10 liters of hot water. All plants are sprayed with a chilled solution when the first signs of infection appear, after 2-3 days the treatment is repeated.

The most common outdoor pest of this tomato variety is the Colorado potato beetle. Insects are harvested by hand, after which the bushes are treated with an insecticide - the drug "Confidor", which is produced in the form of a suspension in ampoules or in the form of convenient sachets with powder, 1 and 5 g. Consumption rate - 1 g per 10 liters of water, which should be enough 200 sq. m.

They fight slugs by loosening the soil, sprinkling with a mixture of ground hot pepper and mustard powder. Consumption - about 1 teaspoon per 1 sq. m. The nightshade miner also loves this variety, they use the drug "Zubr" against it. It is available in 1 ml plastic ampoules, which should be diluted with 10 liters of water. This should be enough to process 100 sq. m landings.

In greenhouses, the main enemy of Delicacy is the greenhouse whitefly. It can be lime with the same drug "Confidor" in the same concentration. When grown on the balcony, no problems with harmful insects were identified.

Attention! Insecticides are not used in the phase of mass flowering of plantings.

The nuances of growing in open ground and in a greenhouse

The southern regions of Russia are more suitable for growing Delicatessen in the open field, since the variety is resistant to moisture deficit and drought. In cooler, more humid climates, this variety is grown under a film cover or in a greenhouse.

Among the main conditions for growing Delicatessen in a greenhouse is sterility. Disinfecting containers for planting, the soil and the seeds themselves with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.

Harvesting and application of the crop

Delicatessen fruits have excellent taste and are good fresh. They are medium in size and are therefore suitable for canning and cask salting... Due to the low content of dry matter in fruits (up to 5% - one of the best indicators among tomatoes), these tomatoes are suitable for making juices, pastes and complex preservation products - lecho, ketchup and sauces.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The advantages of tomatoes Delicacy are easy to list:

• high taste;
• the ability to grow houses on the balcony;
• resistance to lack of moisture and drought;
• resistance to most diseases;
• duration of fruiting - until the first frost;
• the versatility of the fruit.

The disadvantages include not the highest yield, demanding fertilization at the stage of plant growth. No other significant shortcomings have been identified.

Other types

Concluding the review, it is worth mentioning those same "namesakes": Moscow delicacy, Salted delicacy, Italian delicacy, Raspberry delicacy F1 and cherry Delicacy F1. Their main difference from Delicatessen is that all these varieties and hybrids are indeterminate, that is, tall. This means that in terms of yield, they surpass the Delicates variety - over 10 kg per 1 sq. m.

In addition, they differ in the shape and weight of the fruit. For example, Moskovsky, Zasolochny and Italian are cylindrical or pepper-shaped, and cherry F1 Delicates is plum-shaped and small in weight fruits - only up to 80 g, while the fruits of the Pink delicacy hybrid reach 200 g. In general, confuse these tomatoes with a real Delicacy will be difficult.

Farmers reviews

The formal characteristics and description of the variety do not fully answer the question of why gardeners like the Delicacy tomato so much. Let's turn to the gardeners themselves for the answer.

Marina Zotova, Moscow region: “For several years I have been living in the summer in the country, there is a small plot. Of course, I am not a professional, but I am no longer a beginner. During this time, I got acquainted with some of the intricacies of growing different crops. My family especially loves tomatoes, so I plant most of the area with them. Last year, a neighbor shared the seeds of Delicacy, I planted them in April, planted them in the garden by mid-June, in August I already had my own tomatoes, and the fruiting is quite long, I picked a lot of green fruits, as it got cold, they ripened at home. "

Anna Gudkova, Saratov: “I have been planting this variety for more than 5 years, the harvest is always stable, the tomatoes themselves came to my and my household's taste, they are suitable for any type of preservation. Seed germination is excellent, the seedlings have never been sick over the years, I don't know if this is due to natural immunity or I was just lucky. They are completely unpretentious in leaving, suitable for those who are just learning to grow tomatoes. "

Conclusion

Despite the relatively low yield, the Delicates tomato variety definitely deserves cultivation in a personal or suburban area. It is stable and “tested” as officially recognized by the State Register - it has more than 10 years of history.

It can be recommended for novice gardeners - Delicacy is undemanding to climatic conditions, relatively unpretentious in care and generously rewards for taking care of it. What is especially great - it can be grown without even leaving the city apartment!