Miniature bushes with neat tomatoes that bear fruit until the very frost - Fakel tomatoes

Growing tomatoes is associated with a number of difficulties. Top dressing, pinching, garter, treatment from diseases - all these tasks are included in the care of the crop. Therefore, agronomists are constantly developing new varieties that are resistant to various diseases and unpretentious in care.

If you are new to gardening and for the first time decided to try planting tomatoes in your area, then give preference to high-yield varieties, the cultivation of which is associated with minimal difficulties. The choice of determinant crops will eliminate the need for pinching and garters. Small but fruitful tomatoes include the Torch tomato.

Description of Tomato Torch

The Fakel variety is a small-sized red-orange tomato... They are easy to care for, so even novice gardeners can grow them. The variety was developed in Moldova and is intended for cultivation in regions with a similar climate. In the northern and central regions of Russia, it is recommended to plant the Torch in a greenhouse.

Tomato bushes Torch determinant... After the development of the upper ovary, they stop growing. An adult plant reaches a height of 40-60 cm.

Due to their small size, the bushes do not need a garter and pinching.... This greatly facilitates the work of the farmer.

Reference. A small growth of tomatoes Torch allows you to grow this crop not only in the garden and in the country, but also on the balcony in boxes.

Distinctive features

The fruits of the Torch tomato are medium in size... One tomato can reach 60-100 g. In rare cases, their weight reaches 120 g.

Fruit color orange-red... The skin is thin but firm. The shape is correct, round. The taste of the fruits of the Torch is sweet, with a slight sourness, juicy, with plenty of pulp.

The variety is considered universal... Tomatoes are consumed fresh, and also used in the preparation of various dishes.

They do not crack when preserved, and due to their small size they look great in a jar.

The variety has an average resistance to plant diseases... Gardeners note that fungi and viruses rarely affect it.

The main feature of tomatoes is the low growth of bushes.... Thanks to him, they do not require garters and pinching, which greatly facilitates the work of the gardener.

What the Torch tomatoes look like, look at the photo.

Read also:

Low-growing variety - tomato "Mongolian dwarf"

Unusual tomato "Black bunch F1"

High-yielding and disease-resistant tomato "Moskvich"

Variety characteristics

Torch tomatoes are suitable for both beginners and experienced gardeners... The variety surprises not only with its unpretentiousness, but also with its high yield.

Description of the characteristics of the Fakel variety:

Gardeners note that the Torch tomato rarely gets sick with other diseases.... Preventive measures should not be neglected.

Growing seedlings

Gardeners recommend sowing seedlings 2-2.5 months before planting the Torch tomatoes in their permanent place... This is done in early or mid-May. When growing tomatoes in the open field, the tomato seedlings are planted later.

Seed preparation

Before sowing seeds for seedlings, you need to prepare them.... This will increase and accelerate their germination, prevent infection with plant diseases.

How to prepare seeds for planting:

1. Check expiration dates planting material. Go through the seeds, removing damaged and blackened seeds.
2. Soak the seeds for half an hour in saline. Discard those that have emerged, they will not rise. Rinse seeds that have sunk to the bottom and use for planting.
3. Treat seeds for diseaseby soaking them for half an hour in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate. If there is no potassium permanganate, then it can be replaced with purchased means for disinfecting planting material, aloe juice or soda solution.
4. Soak the seeds in a growth promoter or warm water. To do this, moisten the cloth in the solution, put the planting material on it and wrap it up. Place in a warm place. The timing of soaking the seeds depends on the composition used. It may take several days if soaked in regular water.
5. Dry prepared seeds paper towel.

Advice! Soaking the seeds in a soda solution will replace their disinfection and growth stimulation. Planting material is placed in such a solution for a day.

Selection of soil and capacity

The container for growing seedlings can be absolutely any... You can sow seeds in special plastic or wooden boxes. They also make containers on their own, cutting off a five-liter bottle, plastic packaging for cakes or taking packaging from instant noodles.

Used as individual containers for seeds peat and plastic pots, disposable cups, cut bottles, etc.

Advice! To reduce the risk of seed contamination, pour boiling water over the container before use.

Soil selection is an important step in growing plants... Light soil is best for tomatoes. There are many varieties of earth mixes. Experienced gardeners prefer to use a mixture of peat, turf and humus, taken in equal proportions.

Use ready-made potting mix... To reduce its acidity, add flour to the ground. Both the purchased and homemade mixture must be disinfected before use. To do this, use a solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water. Also, to disinfect the soil, it is calcined in an oven or in a steam bath.

Sowing seeds

After preparation of planting material, container and soil start sowing seeds.

Seeds are laid out on the soil in rows... There should be a distance of at least 2 cm between each seed, and 3 cm between rows. The greater the distance between the plants, the longer they can not be transplanted into separate containers. From above, the planting material is covered with a centimeter layer of earth. The soil is moistened with warm water from a spray bottle.

More about tomatoes:

Tomato "Bobkat" - the best of the undersized

Pear-shaped variety with sweet taste - tomato "Ivan Kupala"

To create an optimal level of humidity, the container is covered with glass or foil... Future seedlings are placed in a warm place with a temperature of at least 23 degrees. Under these conditions, the first shoots will appear in 2-3 weeks.

Seedling care

Basic rules for growing seedlings:

1. As soon as the seeds germinate, the container is placed in a well-lit place. Lack of sunlight is compensated for with fluorescent lamps.
2. When the seeds germinate, the film or glass is removed.
3. If the soil is too wet, remove the greenhouse and let it dry.
4. Water the seedlings as the soil dries. After the first sprouts appear, they are watered not from a spray bottle, but from a pipette.
5. When the first true leaves appear on the plants, make a pick. Pull tomatoes out of the ground carefully so as not to damage the roots.
6. A second pick may be needed. One grown plant should have at least a kilogram of soil.
7. Before planting seedlings in open ground, it must be hardened. To do this, two weeks before transplanting plants, they are taken out for a quarter of an hour outside, the next day for an hour, then for two. Gradually bring the hardening time to a day.
8. During the cultivation of seedlings, at least two additional fertilizing is done with complex fertilizers. The first time - two weeks after picking tomatoes, the second - a few days before planting them in open ground.

How to grow tomatoes

After the seedlings get stronger, and the soil on the street warms up, the tomatoes are transplanted to a permanent place in protected or open ground. Without a greenhouse, growing the Torch is only possible in regions with a warm climate.

Seedlings are planted in mid or late May... Plants are planted in open ground in early June.

Planting seedlings in a permanent place

From the fall, you need to prepare the ground... To do this, it is dug up, cleaned of weeds and enriched with ash, humus and dry chlorine.

In the spring, the soil is watered with a solution of potassium permanganate and dug up again... Before planting, the soil is thoroughly moistened and fed. Then the holes are formed. They are arranged in rows at a distance of 40 cm from each other. The aisle width between the rows should be 50-60 cm.

Advice! By planting tomatoes in a checkerboard pattern, you will save usable floor space.

Immediately before planting in a permanent place, the seedlings are removed from the pots... A clod of earth should remain at its roots. Tomatoes are placed in the holes, placing the root in the center of the holes, which are covered with earth. There is no need to tamp the soil.

Tomato care

Fakel tomatoes require moderate watering... The soil is moistened as its top layer dries. After each watering, the soil is loosened, which helps to avoid the formation of a crust on its surface. The loosening depth should not exceed 4 cm.

Torch tomatoes do not need pinching. But it is advisable to regularly remove the lower and wilted leaves. You also need to get rid of deformed inflorescences.

Garter tomatoes of this variety are optional... But experienced gardeners recommend tying up bushes that bend to the ground due to the abundance of fruits.

They feed the bushes every two weeks... Root top dressing involves the alternation of mineral compositions with a mullein solution. After the first ovaries appear on the lower brushes, foliar dressings are made. For this, the plants are sprayed with a superphosphate solution.

What difficulties can you face

There are a number of difficulties a farmer can face when growing tomatoes.... Below are the most popular ones:

1. Night frosts... When growing tomatoes in open ground, there is always a risk that in the first week after transplanting they will die due to night frosts. To prevent this from happening, cover the plants with plastic wrap.
2. The emergence of roots on the stems... This suggests that the plants lack nutrients. Hilling will help to correct the situation.
3. Plants have lost turgor... This can happen not only with a lack of moisture, but also with excessive watering.

Diseases and pests

Fakel tomatoes are resistant to late blight, rot and fusarium... Therefore, the risk of contracting these diseases is minimal.

To prevent tomato diseases, before planting plants in open ground, spill the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate. Commercial preparations for soil disinfection are also used for these purposes.

It is recommended to regularly spray the plants antifungal agents. This is done before the first inflorescences appear.

No tomato is resistant to harmful insects... Spraying the bushes with special products will protect them from pests. There are several options for such formulations.

Means for protection against harmful insects:

1. Camomile tea. 0.5 kg of plants are brewed in a bucket of water. Insist during the day.
2. Soap solution. A piece of laundry soap is grated and dissolved in a bucket of warm water.
3. Infusion of celandine. 0.5 kg of plants are brewed in a bucket of water. Insist during the day.
4. Insecticides. Use according to the instructions on the package.

Tomatoes are sprayed every two weeks until the first flowers appear... It is important that the agent does not get into the soil.

Differences between growing tomatoes in a greenhouse and in an open field

Growing tomatoes Torch in the greenhouse is not difficult... All that is required of you is to follow the rules of care and periodically ventilate the room. When planting tomatoes in the open field, labor costs will be significant.

The first week after transplanting tomatoes into unprotected soil, they need to be covered at night with a film. On hot days, shading of the bushes is necessary.

For greenhouse tomatoes, mulching is mandatorye. This will protect them from harmful insects and adverse external factors. Use hay, straw, or burlap as mulch.

Harvesting and application of the crop

The first Fakel tomatoes are harvested in mid-July... They are formed in 5-7 pieces by brushes, blushing evenly. Remove ripe fruits immediately by cutting them with a knife or twisting them by hand. On cloudy days, unripe tomatoes are harvested, reaching 80-100 g. They will ripen at home and the plant will not get sick with late blight.

Harvested tomatoes are consumed fresh, added to hot dishes or canned... This versatile variety is also suitable for curing.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tomato Torch

Benefits of Tomato Torch:

• beautiful shape;
• compactness;
• high productivity;
• universality of application;
• no need to tie and pinch;
• resistance to a number of plant diseases;
• the possibility of growing in open and protected ground;
• the possibility of using seeds from ripe fruits.

No significant flaws were found in the variety... If you find it, be sure to share them in the comments below the article.

Farmers reviews

Reviews of the tomato variety Torch are mostly positive... This is an unpretentious and productive variety.

Consider some online farmer reviews:

Denis, Crimea: “I have been growing a tomato Torch for several years already. A very productive and unpretentious variety. In our conditions, it feels great in the open field. I use the fruits mainly for conservation ".

Ksenia, Tver: “I have been growing a Torch in a greenhouse for two years now. The taste and appearance of the fruit is rather mediocre. However, its simplicity in care and productivity makes it my favorite variety. I collect about 11 kg of tomatoes from a square meter ".

Conclusion

Tomato Torch is an unpretentious variety that got its name from its original shape. He does not need a garter and pinch and gives an excellent harvest. A torch is the best option for summer residents, farmers and novice gardeners.