Colored assortment in the beds: the yellow and red Raketa tomato variety and a practical guide to growing it

Tomato Rocket, due to its high yield and unusual shape, is of interest to summer residents. Many people love this variety of tomatoes, and for good reason! The fruits are distinguished by their special taste and aroma, and also perfectly complement any festive table.

In order not to waste time looking for this product in supermarkets and not to miscalculate with its naturalness, you can grow these tomatoes right at home or on the site. In this article, we offer you step-by-step instructions on how to properly prepare seeds for planting, how to care for sprouts and harvest your own tomato crop.

Tomato Raketa - characteristics and description of the variety

A distinctive feature of this tomato variety is its compactness. Usually Rocket does not grow more than 60 centimeters, which allows growing these tomatoes at home.

Tomatoes ripen after 120 days after sprouting, the variety is considered mid-season. Medium-sized fruits with a pleasant taste have a specific shape: elongated, with a pointed nose, hence the name - Raketa tomatoes.

Productivity does not fail: with a fairly dense planting (about 10 bushes per 1m²), you can collect 6-8 kg of fruits from each meter. That is why the variety is so popular with farmers: you can plant close to each other, and collect a large harvest.

When the fruit acquires a bright red or yellow (depending on the variety planted) shade, we can talk about its maturity (see photo). Tomato yellow Rocket is no different except for color: it is as easy to grow as red Rocket.

The fruits of the variety are quite dense and fleshy, do not spread or break when cutting. They tolerate temperature changes, transportation well, they can lie for a long time and not deteriorate (relative to other varieties), and are also resistant to diseases.

Growing seedlings

To grow seedlings of this tomato variety at home, you need to prepare the seeds. Remember that the best time to germinate seeds is the second half of March.

Previously, they must be soaked in hot water for about half an hour - disinfected. The next step is germination. We spread the seeds on a hard surface and cover with damp gauze.

Advice... Do not cover the seeds with a thick cloth as this will prevent oxygen from reaching them.

Care must be taken to keep the gauze moist, because it is moisture that will ensure germination. After two days, you can start planting seeds, but always in moist soil. It is necessary to plant in rows, retreating from each seedling 1.5 cm, observing a depth of about 2 cm. It is advisable to put 2-3 seeds in one hole so that they will probably germinate.

For better conditions, close to greenhouse, you can cover the box with seeds with cellophane. With regular watering, problems with seed germination should not arise if all of the above instructions have been followed.

Next, be sure to put the container closer to the light: on the window, and also observe the temperature norm for favorable cultivation: about +20 degrees. After a week, the temperature can be increased and brought closer to the usual room temperature. Light should come from all directions so that the seedlings do not stretch in one direction. To do this, you can change the location of the boxes or add an additional method of lighting - fluorescent lamps.

As soon as the leaves appear at the seedlings, they must be transplanted into separate containers: you can use plastic cups. For further successful growth, it is advisable to periodically take out the seedlings to the street: this will help to harden them and adapt them for further transplantation into the greenhouse.

Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse

At the end of May (the optimal transplanting time), the tomatoes are planted in the greenhouse, but already at a distance of about 15-20 cm from each other. You can alternate bushes of yellow and red varieties: when the fruits appear, the garden will become very elegant and bright.

Important! Dense planting does not affect the yield of this variety. Therefore, the Rocket is perfect even for those summer residents who have a small plot of land.

First, you need to dig up the ground, form the beds, sprinkle with fertilizers a couple of days before planting (you can use mineral or organic: humus, compost or ordinary chopped grass). Also in the future, you can fertilize the bushes once a month.

Next, we monitor the growth of the bushes, tie them up if necessary (however, as a rule, this variety of tomatoes does not need tying up). If you are making a vertical garter in a greenhouse, it is worth making a support for the bush (it can be a peg, a stick) and tie a branch and / or a stem that falls under the weight of a piece of rope to it - this will facilitate the growth and development of the plant.

A horizontal tie uses a high tension wire or rope from one end of the greenhouse to the other. Ropes will be attached to it to support the branches and stems of plants.

Water the tomatoes in a greenhouse you need water at room temperature 2-3 times a week. Try not to get on plant leaves, as this can cause fungal disease. However, if you forgot to water the plants on time, don't worry: Raketa tomatoes are quite drought tolerant.

After watering, it is advisable to loosen the soil - this will allow the roots of the plant to breathe better. You can loosen with a special hoe or garden fork, working the soil 5 cm deep. This can prevent root diseases and accelerate growth.

Important! Do not confuse loosening and weeding. You need to loosen the soil after watering, and weed the beds only as weeds germinate on it.

It is necessary to remember about timely pinching: cutting off young shoots from plant stems. After removing the stepchildren, the bush should look like a stem with several branches on which there will be fruits in the future. This will allow the plant to develop normally and bear fruit on time.

When it comes to growing tomatoes, you need to remember about pests and plant diseases. Despite the resistance of this variety to disease, fungal disease is common. late blight... The spots that have appeared on the leaves testify to it. This may be due to frequent watering, so at the first sign it is necessary to reduce the amount of moisture that enters the plant.

Another common disease of the variety is mosaic. It is carried by aphids. If you see white or yellow spots on the leaves, this is a mosaic. The affected leaves fall off, but you should not bring it to this: tear off the diseased leaves in advance.

There is also a plant disease manifested by brown spots. It can be cured by spraying with fungicides.

However, there are also pests that eat plants, such as the May beetle. Its larvae bite the roots of the plant, and it dies. You can fight them by direct collection of larvae or special preparations. from pests.

Subject to the regime of watering, loosening and feeding, as well as with proper observation and prevention of diseases and pests, you are guaranteed to get a good harvest of Rocket tomatoes.

The nuances of growing outdoors

It is not recommended to grow these tomatoes in the open field, as there are a number of nuances that impede the healthy growth and development of the plant:

1. Temperature conditions. If the summer is rather cold, the sprouts may just freeze and not produce fruit.
2. Rains. If it rains too much, the plant can get sick with fungal diseases or die from excessive moisture.
3. Plants planted outdoors become more vulnerable to attack by pests and diseases. For example, late blight begins, among other things, due to rains.

Harvesting and application of the crop

Once the tomatoes are bright red or yellow (depending on the variety), they can be harvested. As a rule, ripening occurs in July. You need to pick tomatoes carefully so as not to damage either the branches or the tomato itself. For storage you can put the fruits in a box covered with newspaper. Do not put too many tomatoes in one drawer, as the fruits lying underneath can wrinkle.

Store the box in a dry place, but not in direct sunlight. Indoors, the temperature should not exceed +6 degrees, otherwise tomatoes may start to deteriorate.

If there is a need for long-term storage of tomatoes (more than 3 weeks), they should be removed from the branches a little unripe and put in boxes to ripen in the same way.

The use of the crop can be very diverse: the fruits of the described variety are very convenient to preserve, they fit perfectly into jars.

Rocket tomatoes will decorate your festive table even in the form of regular cuts (especially if you alternate yellow and red fruits).

Also, we must not forget about the beneficial properties of tomatoes: tomatoes are a powerful antioxidant. The lycopene in tomatoes helps in the treatment of many diseases.

In addition, tomatoes are antibacterial. Also, tomatoes can fight blood clots, and due to the serotonin they contain, they raise the mood.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

So, the main advantages of this tomato variety are:

1. The compactness of the bush.
2. Resistant to diseases and pests, as well as drought.
3. Growth and development without tying.
4. Productivity: tasty, dense, bright fruits, pleasant aroma.
5. Ease of care and harvesting.

Among the disadvantages are:

• to grow a healthy plant, you need enough light and heat;
• the need for fertilizers and feeding;
• not the earliest ripening dates.

What farmers say

Reviews of this variety on the Internet are positive. There are often comments about the simplicity of growing Raketa tomatoes and a large harvest. There are many recipe reviews. Here are some examples:

Vasily, 54 years old, Moscow:

“Raketa is a wonderful variety that is easy to grow even for novice summer residents. I did not pinch the bushes, only periodically watered them. The tomatoes survived the drought well. "

Elizaveta, 48 years old, Khabarovsk:

“I chose the Raketa tomato based on its photo, yield and online reviews. The variety is distinguished by even small fruits. Moreover, they are quite dense, retain their shape well after heat treatment. "

Valentina, 36 years old, Izhevsk:

“I have been growing tomatoes on my site for over 10 years. Every year, in mid-March, I plant the Raketa variety. In May, I transfer part of the seedlings to the greenhouse, and plant the rest on the street. Rocket tomatoes are liked because they do not need to be tied up and pinned. They do not exceed 40 cm in height. "

Conclusion

Summing up, we can say that the Raketa tomato is a variety that has been proven over the years. It is extremely tasty and easy to grow. It is advisable to plant plants in a greenhouse and treat them from pests and infections in time.

By following the instructions in our article, even a novice gardener can get a rich harvest of tomatoes.