An excellent variety for lovers of large-fruited sweet tomatoes - the Pink Giant tomato
Fans of large-fruited tomatoes will appreciate the Pink Giant variety with an average weight of one fruit in 400 g. Those who love sweet, juicy tomatoes, which make delicious salads, juices and sauces, will also be interested in it. In this review, we will tell you how to get a large harvest of the Pink Giant and what mistakes to avoid when growing this tomato variety.
The content of the article
Description of the variety
The variety was bred by breeders of CJSC Scientific and Production Corporation NK.LTD (Shchelkovo). In 2002, the Pink Giant was listed on the government register Of the Russian Federation as a variety intended for cultivation in greenhouses and open field. This makes it possible to cultivate tomatoes in all regions of the country.
Distinctive features
Indeterminate, mid-season variety... The period of fruit ripening is 105-115 days from the appearance of the first shoots. As you can see in the photo, the bush is tall - 1.5-2 m, medium leafy, but with large, potato-like leaves, which is why it needs a mandatory garter. Each plant has 6 brushes, each with 3 to 6 ovaries.
Fruit characteristics, yield
The color of the tomato is pink. Tomatoes have the following properties:
- sweet, fleshy, juicy pulp;
- ribbing (at the stalk);
- seed chambers are slightly expressed, with a small number of seeds;
- rounded, slightly flattened shape.
Productivity - 12 kg per 1 sq. m... The weight of one fruit is 400 g, subject to certain conditions, it reaches 1 kg.
How to grow seedlings
Seedlings are sown for seedlings in early March.... In the south of Russia, tomato is also planted "in a reckless way" - seeds are sown directly on the beds.
Seed preparation
To begin with, gardeners carry out seed calibration... Large (and medium), even, not empty to the touch grains are selected.
The selected seeds are placed in a saline solution, for the preparation of which a tablespoon of salt is stirred in a glass of water. After 15-20 minutes, the container is checked: the seeds that have sunk to the bottom are selected for planting.
The seeds are laid out on a cotton cloth and placed on a central heating radiator for 36-48 hours to warm up.
After the grain is disinfected in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate... To do this, dissolve a teaspoon of potassium permanganate in three glasses of water. The duration of the procedure is 15-20 minutes, then the seeds are washed with clean running water.
Interesting! If there is no potassium permanganate, summer residents use hydrogen peroxide. In 400 g of warm (+40 ° C) water, dissolve 1 tbsp. l. 3% peroxide and seeds are placed in the solution for 12 hours. This method accelerates germination, but is not suitable for pelleted seeds (with a nutritious shell) and encrusted (with a thin water-soluble layer containing disinfecting and growth-stimulating components).
Seeds saturate with oxygen - bubble... To do this, they are placed in warm (+ 26 ... + 30 ° C) water and stirred every hour for 15-18 hours. Some gardeners use an aquarium compressor for this procedure. Sparging is beneficial for the grains: it increases their germination and the viability of the resulting seedlings.
Read also:
Salad tomato "Pink Elephant" and its benefits
Then the seeds are soaked for 12 hours in water or a solution of biostimulating drugs:
- "Zircon".
- "Epin".
- "Immunocytophyte".
Water when soaking should be at least +21 ° С.
The next stage is hardening... Seeds are wrapped in cloth and polyethylene, placed in a place with a temperature of -2 ... + 3 ° C for 8 hours. Then they return to heat for 8 hours. 5-6 changes of temperature conditions are carried out.
Important! Summer residents who harden the planting material note that this procedure is complicated, and if carried out incorrectly, there is a risk of spoiling the seeds.
Before planting, seeds are germinated by placing on cotton cloth or gauze on a flat dish... The fabric is constantly moistened with warm (+ 25 ... + 30 ° C) water until embryos of 2-3 mm in size appear.
Capacity and soil
As a container for planting, take plastic containers, cups, cut PET bottles.
The soil is bought in the store or prepared by yourself. The mixture purchased must include:
- humus;
- peat;
- river sand.
To prepare the ground for tomato seedlings yourself, connect:
- 1 part of the garden land (it is better to take from the area where cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, dill grew);
- 2 parts of non-acidic peat (pH 6.5);
- 0.5 parts of sand (river or washed);
- 1 part humus or sifted mature compost.
Add sifted wood ash (or dolomite flour), sphagnum moss and fallen needles.
Containers and soil are disinfected boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate.
Sowing
The pink giant does not dive, but is immediately planted in separate cups... The pick slows down the development of the plant, and the fruits will begin to form 1-2 weeks later. 3-4 grains are planted in one container, after the appearance of cotyledon leaves on each plant, the strongest tomato is selected, and the rest are removed.
The seeds are dropped by 1 cm, the soil is moistened with a spray bottle... The containers are covered with foil and a warm (+23 ° C), bright place is removed.
Interesting! Tall tomatoes need strong roots. Root development is enhanced with eggshells and dry banana peels. They are crushed and placed on the bottom of seedling containers.
Growing and care
As soon as the seeds sprout, the film is removed... Water the seedlings as the soil dries up with a syringe, teaspoon or sprayer so as not to wash out weak seeds and roots.
The variety is light-loving, so containers are placed on southern windows or illuminated with lamps (use special and ordinary fluorescent lamps).
Important! With a lack of light, the seedlings are pulled up and can break.
Every two weeks, seedlings are fertilized with complex dressings.... 2-3 weeks before transplanting to the beds, seedlings begin to be taken out into the open air: a balcony, a summer veranda. First for 2-3 hours, and each subsequent day add an hour. 3-4 days before moving to a permanent place, the seedlings are left to spend the night outside (if there is no night frost). This allows plants to become accustomed to lower temperatures and direct sunlight.
How to grow tomatoes
Seedlings are planted in the ground 60 days after emergence... By this time, 6-7 leaves and one cluster with an inflorescence are formed on the plant.
Landing
Cucumbers, zucchini, dill, and carrots are good precursors for tomatoes., but in the area where tomatoes, potatoes and peppers grew, tomatoes are not planted - the plants are prone to the same diseases and suffer from the same harmful insects. Before planting, the ground is disinfected with boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate.
The pink giant is planted with an earthen ball, being careful not to damage the roots... The planting pattern is 70x70, with more frequent planting, the yield drops.
Care
Tomatoes are watered with warm water only at the root, avoiding water getting on the stem and leaves... After watering, the soil is weeded and loosened. Fertilizers are applied every 2 weeks, alternating complex and mineral fertilizing.
Summer residents form giant tomatoes into one, two and three stems... However, the more stems, the smaller the fruit.
Bushes grow tall, so they are tied up... Sticks, ropes or trellises are used as support.
Pink Giant pinching rules:
- The maximum number of brushes is 7. Otherwise, the tomatoes will not have time to ripen before the onset of frost.
- The bush, pinched after 4-5 flower brush, will give larger fruits.
- Very large fruits (up to 1 kg) are obtained by leaving 3 inflorescences in the cluster.
Features of cultivation and possible difficulties
Large-fruited tomatoes feed the whole season, especially during the formation of inflorescences and fruit ovary... In addition, they need more water to form fruits, so watering is carried out more often, but not abundantly. To preserve moisture in the soil (and reduce the frequency of watering), gardeners recommend using mulch - spreading hay, straw, sawdust between the bushes.
Not only the stem is tied, but also each brush separately.
All stepchildren are gradually removed and leaves up to the first flower cluster.
Diseases and pests
Pink Giant Tomatoes Have Medium Disease Immunity... In greenhouses, tomatoes develop fungal diseases. To avoid this, gardeners carefully ventilate the shelters, process:
- "Fitosporin".
- Ecosilom.
- "Quadris".
- Ridomil Gold.
Important! Farmers use milk whey for the prevention of phytosporosis (fat content no more than 1%, so as not to burn the leaves). Immediately after transplanting seedlings into the ground, the bushes are sprayed with this agent. The procedure is repeated every 10 days.
Tomatoes Pink giant is attacked by such harmful insects as aphids and thrips... They are fought with the Zubr drug. Prestige will save you from the Colorado potato beetle, and Confidor will save you from the whitefly.
It will be interesting:
The nuances of growing in open ground and in a greenhouse
Tomatoes are planted in open ground at the end of May and only in the southern regions of Russia, but even in this case, in the first 2 weeks it is recommended to cover the plants with agromaterial at night.
They are planted in the greenhouse at the end of April (southern regions) - early May (middle lane and north of the Russian Federation)... When grown in greenhouse conditions, make sure that it is not too hot, regularly ventilate. The shelter is set up so that in the afternoon the tomatoes are not under active sunlight.
In the greenhouse, summer residents recommend forming a tomato into one stem, on open beds - in two.
Harvesting and application of the crop
The first fruits are picked from the bush 105-115 days after germination. Productivity - 12 kg per 1 sq. m (from three bushes)... When tomatoes are formed into one stem, less are harvested, but each fruit is of greater volume and weight (up to 1 kg), and with 2 and 3-stem formation of fruits on the bush, more, but smaller, grows (300-500 g).
The variety is classified as salad, so tomatoes are consumed fresh... Juicy tomatoes are suitable for making juices, sauces, ketchups and snacks. Due to the large size of the fruits and delicate skin, they are not used in salting. For the same reason, tomatoes do not tolerate transportation and long-term storage.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The main advantage of the Pink Giant is called large-fruited... In addition, the tomato has juicy, sweet and tasty fruits.
It is for the "real" tomato taste that the giant is forgiven for shortcomings:
- Picky to weather conditions (does not tolerate heat, frost, and direct sunlight).
- It takes time and effort to leave (frequent, but not abundant watering, regular feeding throughout the season, formation, pinching and garter not only of the stem, but also of the brushes).
- Impossibility of long storage, transportation (delicate thin skin cracks during transportation).
Farmers reviews
Farmers note the taste, size of tomatoes and long - until the first frost - fruiting.
Dmitry Ivanov, Kaluga: “I have been growing the Pink Giant in a greenhouse for the second year. The taste is excellent. Some fruits are cracked at the stalk.Cracks darken, spoil the appearance, but taste does not suffer because of this ".
Anna Vasina, Stary Oskol: “I always grow Pink Giant tomatoes from my seeds. During the outbreak of the epidemic, the bushes were affected by late blight. Tomato stepchildren tend to take root quickly. By the fall, a normal new bush grows out of them, and before frost I pick delicious tomatoes. ".
Mikhail Drozd, Moscow region: “Pink Giant is my favorite variety, I have been growing it for several years in a greenhouse. Fruiting almost until the first frost. It does not ripen very quickly, the lower fruits are simply gigantic, but the upper ones cannot be called small either. When ripe, the tomatoes are dark pink. We use tomatoes in preparations, eat them fresh, taste wonderful ".
Igor Pronin, Samara: “The Pink Giant variety is grown by seedlings and planted in the garden. Tomatoes have never been seriously ill. There are always many fruits and they are delicious. But with watering you need to guess. The plant loves water, but the fruits partially crack from excess moisture ".
Conclusion
Tomatoes are suitable for growing in central and southern Russia. In the first case, greenhouses are used, and in the second, open beds. Despite the difficult care, the Pink Giant tomato continues to be popular with Russian summer residents. The reason for this is the sweet taste, large size and yield of the variety.
The variety is not suitable for growing for sale - due to improper watering, the fruits crack and not yet plucked from the bush are already losing their presentation, and the thin skin does not allow tomatoes to be transported.
The pink giant is one of the best salad varieties: soft and juicy, juice and sauces are prepared from tomatoes, but it is not suitable for preservation because of the large size of the fruit and because of the thin delicate skin that cracks when heated. There is no need to buy seeds annually: many farmers plant tomatoes from the seeds of last year's fruits. One large tomato produces 80-100 grains.