How to care for tomatoes outdoors from planting

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

We will tell you how to properly care for tomatoes in the open field from planting to harvest in order to get high-quality fruits before the onset of the first frosts in the conditions of the northern regions and central Russia.

Important work before planting tomato seedlings in the ground

The plot with the beds on which the tomatoes will grow must be prepared in advance. These vegetables have their own characteristics of cultivation and will not give a good harvest if the growing conditions are not respected.

Choosing a landing site

When growing tomatoes, it is worth providing them with proper care from planting to harvest. Tomatoes planted outdoors love sunny places protected from strong winds.

A plot of land intended for growing tomatoes should be well lit throughout the day, shading from trees is unacceptable. If the site lies in a lowland, and the soil is swampy, drainage or the construction of raised beds above the soil surface is necessary.

It is unacceptable to plant tomatoes for more than two years on the same piece of land. This vegetable is susceptible to pests and diseases.

Also, do not plant tomatoes on the same land where potatoes, eggplants or bell peppers were grown.

But after planting these crops, you can use the land for cultivating tomatoes:

• carrot;
• peas;
• beans;
• onion;
• cucumbers;
• cabbage.

It is also helpful to plant tomatoes after green manure plants (legumes, cereals, crucifers). They saturate the soil with useful nitrogen and other trace elements, so tomatoes will grow faster and form many tasty fruits.

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Preparing the beds

For proper care of tomatoes in the open field, you should adhere to all recommendations from planting to harvest. The soil on the site should not be too acidic.

Tomatoes prefer neutral or slightly acidic soils. Litmus paper will help you determine exactly what type of soil is in your beds.

Dolomite flour and chalk reduce the excessive acidity of the soil. Liming also gives good results. It is best to do this procedure before winter, so that the necessary reactions have time to occur in the soil before the planting season.

Chernozem is the best soil for tomatoes in terms of composition and structural features. Other soils will have to be improved by the introduction of various substances in order to obtain a high-quality planting soil for tomatoes.

Sandy, loamy or clayey soils will require nutrient enrichment. They can be sapropelic silt, compost, humus, peat, added at the rate of 6 kg per 1 m² of soil.

The width between the rows should be 60-70 cm. Small plastic or boards made of boards can be installed on the garden bed. This will prevent water from draining off when watering.

Transplanting tomato seedlings into open ground

Once the preparation is completed, the seedlings can be planted in new beds in open ground. This is a crucial moment for sensitive plants.

If the planting is successful, the bushes will quickly adapt and begin to grow. Caring for tomatoes from planting to harvest is very important, so you need to follow all the rules described below.

Disembarkation dates

Gardeners of the Krasnodar Territory and southern Russia plant tomatoes in open ground before anyone else. The climatic features of the region are favorable for planting at the end of April.

The middle lane and central regions are planting seedlings from mid-May, as soon as the threat of night frosts has passed. In Siberia and the Urals, vegetable growers are used to planting tomatoes in early and mid-June - it all depends on the weather in the current year. Experienced farmers know that weather conditions can make their own changes in the timing of planting, and are guided by local forecasts.

The main clue to start planting tomatoes in open ground will be a consistently warm air temperature, suitable for this crop. As soon as the daily norms reach + 13 … + 15 ° C, seedlings can be planted.

If suddenly the air temperature drops to 9 … 10 ° C, tomatoes can retard growth. With a noticeable drop in air temperature to 0 ° C, the seedlings will freeze and die. The age of seedlings recommended by gardeners for planting in the soil is reflected in the table:

TITLE	NUMBER OF DAYS
early ripe tomatoes	40-50 days
mid-season tomatoes	55-60 days
late-ripening tomatoes	70 days

Landing scheme

Different varieties of tomatoes are planted according to specially developed patterns, depending on the size and shape of the bushes. The higher and more branched the bush, the greater the distance between individual plants and rows.

The following planting schemes are most popular among vegetable growers:

1. Rows. The main advantage of this option is the best illumination and ventilation of individual plants. If there is a large free area of land, then planting tomatoes in rows will allow you to get the best harvest. Low-growing varieties and tall plants with one stem forming a bush are suitable for planting in rows. Plants are planted in rows at a distance of 30 to 50 cm. It all depends on the shape and height of the tomato bush. There should be a free space of 50 to 80 cm between the rows. Those tomatoes that ripen earlier have a small bush size. But late-ripening varieties are usually tall and demanding of free space.
2. Ribbon-nesting scheme. In this case, tomato bushes are planted in two rows, between which a small distance of 40-45 cm is maintained. Such double rows are separated by a space of 70-80 cm. In each of them, individual bushes are planted in increments of 40 cm. This is an ideal planting option for determinant tomatoes. For tall, the distance between the bushes is increased.
3. Square-nesting method. When grown in this way, tomatoes give the highest yields, but caring for them will be a little more difficult than in previous schemes. Seedlings are planted in square-forming holes. Each pit contains 2-3 plants. Those bushes that have not taken root or look frail are subsequently removed. The rest are given the opportunity to form strong roots and a high-quality aboveground part.

Shelter from frost

Frosts, which often return even in May, can harm tomatoes. To protect the landings, you can build high-quality shelters with your own hands. This will require polyethylene or other material and a metal base for the mini greenhouse. Metal can be replaced with plastic bows.

Popular covering materials:

• dense polyethylene film;
• agrospan;
• lutrasil;
• spandbond.

The film must be tightly pulled over a frame made of pipes or stakes and fixed to the ground so as not to be blown away by the wind. The cover can also be double-coated if severe frosts are expected at night.

Outdoor tomato care

Each garden plant will actively grow and produce abundant fruits, subject to proper agricultural practices. Proper care of tomatoes involves all feeding regimes (from planting to harvesting), watering plants in the open field, observing temperatures.

Tomatoes are very susceptible to disease, so special attention should be paid at this point. The fertility of the bush is also affected by its correct formation.

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How to water

Tomatoes prefer sparse and abundant watering so that the soil is moderately moist. To do this, the soil is moistened once a week in warm weather, and much more often in hot weather. After rainy weather, watering can be carried out only after the top layer has dried.

During flowering, ovary and fruit ripening, the bushes should not suffer from a lack of moisture. If this condition is violated, the ovary may crumble, and the remaining tomatoes, when ripe, begin to crack.

Watering is carried out not on the tops, but under the root of the plant or in the furrows between them. This will prevent the appearance of fungal diseases. The drip irrigation method has proven itself well, when water flows directly into the ground, and not on its surface.

Important feeding

In order for the plants to develop correctly and quickly gain strength, it is necessary to provide them with the necessary care, namely, top dressing from planting to harvesting. Even before picking tomato seedlings, rotted manure is introduced into the open ground.

No plants can be fertilized with fresh manure or chicken droppings; they are introduced into the soil in the fall so that it has time to rot before spring. As a top dressing, you can use compost, humus, ammonium nitrate, potassium sulfate, boric acid.

Root dressings are fertilized with planting tomatoes three times over the entire summer period. The first is done ten days after planting the seedlings in the beds, re-fertilized after two weeks, and the third is carried out at the beginning of the flowering of the bushes.

Fertilizers are applied directly under the bush. Feeding can also be carried out outside the root system. To do this, the nutrients are dissolved in water and the tomato bushes are sprayed on top.

Bush formation

This procedure, carried out competently and on time, helps to increase the yield of tomatoes, especially undersized varieties. Only powerful plants need to be formed.

2 or 3 strong stems are isolated from the bush, all the rest are removed. The first shoot is central, the second is grown at the lower brush, and the third is selected from the lateral shoots above the second stem.

When formed into 1 stem, all stepchildren growing from the leaf axils are removed. The formation of stepchildren is monitored and removed when they reach 1.5 cm in length. The procedure is carried out not by pulling out of the sinuses, but by carefully breaking them out with two fingers.

If the stepson has grown to a larger size, it can be carefully trimmed with a sharp blade. The procedure is recommended to be carried out early in the morning, during the day the wound has time to dry out and tighten.

Tying bushes to a support

Outdoor tomato care also includes tying them up. From planting to harvesting, it is worth making supports for the plants. The garter can be done after the seedlings are completely rooted.

The peg is placed on the north side, stepping back from the bush by about 10 cm. The support is chosen in accordance with the variety of tomatoes. On average, the size of the support peg can be from 1 to 1.5 meters.

The tapestry method is sometimes used. To do this, drive two pillars along the edges of the beds and pull a wire between the rows, to which the tomato bushes are tied simultaneously from two rows. Such a garter provides good ventilation and lighting for each plant, which significantly increases yields.

Mulching

The procedure is used to solve many problems:

• moisture in the ground stays much longer, preventing drying out and overheating;
• serves as a barrier to the emergence of weeds;
• yield increases markedly;
• the period of fruit ripening is reduced;
• there is no need for constant loosening of the soil.

Mulch made from organic components additionally enriches the soil with nutrients. As such, you can use humus, sawdust, hay, pine needles, straw.

However, it should be borne in mind that coniferous sawdust and needles are mixed in equal proportions with compost before use, this will prevent an increase in soil acidity.

How to deal with pests and diseases

The healthy state of tomatoes is greatly influenced not only by proper care (watering and feeding), but also by the weather. With the onset of prolonged rains and a decrease in air temperature, plants are exposed to fungal diseases, which must be feared from the very moment of planting to harvest.

Phytophthora is the most common and dangerous disease of tomatoes planted in open ground. Treating it is quite problematic, but if you notice signs of the disease in the early stages, the chances of success increase.

In addition to diseases, tomatoes are attacked by such pests as spider mites, whiteflies, wireworms, nematodes, and bear. For pest control, drugs are used:

• Spark;
• Aktara;
• Phosphamide;
• Fitoverm.

Possible problems with tomato seedlings and how to solve them

If brown spots and mycelium are found on the leaves of plants, the bushes should be treated with a solution of fungicidal preparations. The most effective ones are:

• Fitosporin;
• Quadris;
• Fundazol;
• Yep-25.

Plants are sprayed with a solution that is prepared according to the instructions attached to each preparation.

Harvesting and storage

For harvesting the grown crop, experienced gardeners use some secrets:

1. To keep tomatoes fresh for a long time, they should be harvested not ripe, but brown.
2. The storage time is also influenced by the collection time. Tomatoes harvested in the early morning hours are more firm and have a much longer shelf life.
3. Spoiled and diseased fruits are also removed from the bush, this prevents the spread of the disease to healthy tomatoes.

Gardeners love to grow tomatoes of different varieties on their plots, despite their susceptibility to diseases. If the care of the tomato plantings in the open field is organized correctly, all the fertilizing is made on time, the prevention of diseases is carried out, then the beds will surely please with a rich harvest of tasty and healthy fruits.

Summarize

1. Before you start planting tomatoes in open ground, it is worth preparing the soil where they will grow.
2. Before planting, the soil must be fertilized.
3. The care procedures include feeding, watering, tying.
4. To get high-quality fruits, it is worth following all the recommendations.