Tomatoes can now be purchased at the market or in the store all year round. But, of course, the taste of winter tomatoes grown in the greenhouse is significantly different from those grown in the summer in the garden. Try growing tomatoes in the winter in an apartment, and you will have the opportunity to make a salad, the taste of which will remind you of summer.
Necessary
- - tomato seeds;
- - plastic transparent cups;
- - soil;
- - polyethylene film;
- - one large pot or several medium ones.
Instructions
Step 1
Find a spot on the windowsill or loggia where you will place the pots of tomatoes. It should be a well-lit place where direct sunlight hits, from the south side of the apartment. Provide additional sources, install fluorescent lamps there.
Step 2
Depending on what you will be growing your plants in, choose seeds. For small flower pots, buy dwarf tomato seeds. For growing in a large volume of soil, tall varieties with large fruits are suitable.
Step 3
Grow your seedlings using clear plastic cups in which you can control the watering level. This is necessary so that the roots of the seedlings do not rot. Pour soil into a glass, tamp it loosely and pour boiling water over it. When the soil has cooled, make a depression in it and put the seed in it. To be on the safe side, you can plant several seeds in one glass, about three or four. Then you will have the opportunity to leave the strongest shoots.
Step 4
Place the cups on the top panel of the refrigerator, where the temperature is about 25 degrees, cover them with plastic wrap and after the first sprouts appear, transfer them to the windowsill. Provide enough light so that the seedlings do not stretch out and the sprouts are strong. Water them only after the top layer of the soil dries up, make sure that moisture does not accumulate at the bottom of the cups. For watering, use warm water, pouring it between the soil and the side of the glass using a pear or large syringe without a needle. After a month, transplant the grown seedlings into pots.
Step 5
Periodically make pinching - removal of shoots developing in the axils of the branches. They must not be cut off, but broken off by hand. Leave on each bush one "stepson", located under the first inflorescence of the brush. You will form a bush into two stems, which, as it grows, must be tied to pegs stuck in the ground.
Step 6
The temperature for growing tomatoes is slightly above 25 degrees during the day and not below 15 degrees at night. You can regulate the temperature with a draft; it is not terrible for tomatoes. After watering, be sure to ventilate the room after a couple of hours to avoid excess moisture during the flowering of the plant. Water no more than twice a week, but do not flood the soil, it should only be moist. Feed the plant with mineral and organic fertilizers once every one and a half to two weeks. A good result is obtained by spraying the leaves with a nutrient solution.
Step 7
There is no need to specially pollinate the tomatoes, it is enough to lightly tap the stem several times a day, shaking the flowering brushes. When the bulk of the fruit is formed, remove the top of the plant and the rest of the flowers so that the fruits develop fully and have enough nutrients.
