Tomatoes can be grown not only in garden beds or greenhouses, but also at home on the windowsill. This is not exotic, but reality. Creating a home garden is not difficult. Self-grown tomatoes, of course, will not bring a large harvest, but you can get a few kilograms of he althy vegetables. How to grow tomatoes on the windowsill in the apartment, read the article.
Choosing a place to grow
Tomatoes are a light-loving crop. If they lack light, their flowers will drop. This means that there will be no ties. Therefore, the best place for tomatoes on the windowsill is the southern windows in the apartment. In order for the cultivation to be complete, additional sources of artificial light should be installed. Using fluorescent lamps is the best option.
Devices for additional lighting should be installed at a distance of 25-30 cm above the plants. Daylight hours for tomatoes at home on the windowsill should be 13-16 hours. Lamps should be turned on early in the morning before dawn, and also late in the evening, when the sun has already set.
The timing of sowing seeds
Getting fruits of tomatoes on the windowsilldepends on when the seeds for seedlings will be sown:
- If this is done in the summer-autumn period, seedlings are grown in September-October, and harvesting is in December-January.
- If the seeds are sown in winter-spring, seedlings should be grown from the end of December. The first fruits can be expected in late spring or early summer.
Seed preparation
Growing tomatoes on a windowsill is no different from a similar procedure for garden crops. This is done with the help of seedlings, the methods of obtaining which are different. You can use seeds or cuttings for this. But before you grow seedlings, you need to prepare planting material. Seeds are bought at the store or use their own, which are collected from grown tomatoes. No matter how the planting material appeared, it should be prepared before sowing. To do this, do the following:
- First the seeds are sorted. They are soaked in water with a little s alt. Unsuitable for sowing, hollow ones will float to the top, they need to be thrown away. Those that remain at the bottom of the container are usable.
- Then the seeds are disinfected. A weak solution of potassium permanganate is suitable for this.
- This can complete the preparation of seeds, but for better germination, it is recommended to germinate them. A soft tissue bag is taken, moistened, planting material is placed in it. Leave the seeds alone for a while until they swell.
When breedingTomato cuttings can be harvested much faster, as the time required for growing seedlings is saved. How to plant tomatoes on the windowsill? To do this, during pinching, the shoots do not need to be thrown away, they can be put in a glass of water for rooting or immediately planted in the ground. Pots with cuttings should be in a warm room where there are no drafts. When the cuttings are well rooted, they should be planted in pots for permanent growth. The method of breeding tomatoes with cuttings is suitable not only for growing them on the windowsill. Many gardeners use it to get seedlings, followed by planting in the beds.
Soil
To grow tomatoes on the windowsill in winter, care should be taken to prepare the substrate at other times of the year until frost sets in. Tomatoes love loose nutrient soil with a neutral acidity index. It is easier to buy such a soil mixture in a store. But many people prefer to cook it on their own, choosing the appropriate option. An example of some of them:
- Vermiculite one part, soddy soil and compost four parts each.
- Sand and garden soil in a ratio of 1:2.
- Peat, humus, sod land are mixed in equal amounts.
Garden or garden soil should be disinfected with boiling water or steamed in the oven. So harmful bacteria and pest larvae will die.
Sowing seeds
How to plant tomatoes at home on the windowsill? This requires seeds that are planted in boxes, containers or individual cups. In case of applicationcommon containers, they need to be filled with nutrient soil and watered. Then spread the seeds on the surface of the soil one or two centimeters from one another and, by pressing a finger, deepen into the ground at the same distance. Next, the crops are sprinkled with soil and compacted, but not much.
Seeds for fast germination need to create a greenhouse effect, for which you should cover them with a film. To prevent condensation from accumulating on it, small holes are made over the entire surface of the shelter. The containers from landing are placed in a room with an air temperature of 22-24 oC.
How to care for seedlings?
When the seeds germinate, the film must be removed. Small plants are called seedlings. She will grow weak if she is poorly looked after. When planted at a permanent place of growth, it will take root for a long time, which in the future will negatively affect the development of the plant, its flowering and fruiting. Care consists of the following procedures:
- The room in which the seedlings are located should be ventilated.
- During the period of intensive growth, seedlings need regular watering.
- If the crops are thick, they need to be thinned out.
- In cloudy weather, artificial lighting should be turned on, and in extreme heat, plants should be shaded from direct sunlight.
- When two leaves are formed, which will happen in about 20 days, you need to feed the seedlings with mineral supplements.
Picking
Very soon the seedlings will grow up, get stronger and be readyto the dive. What size container should I plant the plants in? It all depends on their variety:
- Dwarf tomatoes for normal growth are enough small pots, the volume of which is two liters.
- Medium-sized tomatoes need more space. For planting seedlings of these varieties, containers are chosen twice as large as the previous ones.
- Ampel varieties need a voluminous pot - five liters or more.
Picking is considered the most popular way to plant seedlings in a permanent place of growth. Its essence is as follows: the roots located in the center are shortened by a third so that they grow in breadth. But miniature tomatoes of many varieties do not need this, since they are transplanted by transshipment. At the same time, a clod of earth is not disturbed, they do not even touch the roots. Holes are made in pots with drainage, where plants are placed.
Feeding and watering
To moisten the soil in which tomatoes grow on the windowsill in winter, only warm water is used. This procedure is carried out at intervals of three to four days, when the top layer of the soil dries up. Feed tomatoes at least three times a month. If these two procedures are carried out more often, the green mass will increase, but the size of the fruits and their number will decrease.
Staging
Shoots, the formation of which occurs in the axils of the leaves, are called stepchildren. They should be removed, for which it is enough to pinch with your fingers. Yields will drop significantlyif you do not do this, as a lot of foliage is formed, the growth of which takes nutrients. Some varieties are formed in two or three trunks. In this case, stepchildren are left at the bottom of the bushes.
Processing potted tomatoes
If you take care of tomatoes at home incorrectly, they are also damaged by pests and affected by diseases. The most common crop disease is late blight. For preventive purposes, it is important not to allow water to stagnate in the pot. For this fungus, fresh air is detrimental, so plant bushes should be regularly ventilated. At home, you can prepare a tool that helps in the fight against fungus: 100 g of chopped garlic and one gram of potassium permanganate are diluted in three liters of water. The solution should be sprayed with tomato bushes for preventive purposes.
Varieties
For a home garden, arranged on the windowsill, you need to choose dwarf, low-growing varieties of tomatoes, as well as hybrid, self-pollinated. The fruits of such crops are characterized by low weight, and the plants feel great in small pots. To date, the labors of breeders have bred a wide variety of varieties and hybrids. But in order to grow exactly what is suitable for specific growing conditions, you need to choose by trial and error.
The fact is that each apartment has its own microclimate, which is ideal for some varieties and not suitable for others. Or it may be that the same variety grows in the same room,develops, blooms and bears fruit well, and in the other - badly. Tomatoes on the windowsill behave exclusively individually in different apartments. This should definitely be remembered. Some varieties of tomatoes for the windowsill are presented below.
Angelica
The variety is popular because the fruits ripen quickly. It is often grown on window sills. The bushes are low, the stems stop growing when three inflorescences form on them. Each flower produces 7-10 large fruits that are pointed and bright red in color.
Pearl
Tomatoes are low-growing varieties, so a window sill is suitable for growing them. The culture is unpretentious to growing conditions. It is resistant to temperature changes, soil composition, endures the lack of moisture. From the fertilized flowers, smooth, small-sized tomatoes are formed, they are usually four to seven in an inflorescence. The fruits of a pinkish-crimson hue have an elongated shape.
Cherry tomatoes on the windowsill
This type of crop has fruits of red, yellow and pink hues:
- Cherry with red fruits. Refers to mid-season varieties. Shoots in length are not limited by the number of inflorescences, which have a very original shape - in the form of a whip. It produces miniature red fruits in large quantities.
- Cherry yellow. In terms of maturation, they do not differ from the previous variety. Suitable for growing on the windowsill and under the film shelter in garden beds. After the formation of four or five flowers, the plant stops itsgrowth. Round yellow fruits in large numbers are formed from inflorescences.
- Cherry pink. The fruits have the appropriate color. This is an indeterminate plant, the height of the bushes reaches one and a half meters. Inflorescences form 14-25 egg-shaped fruits.
Balcony miracle
These tomatoes are early ripe varieties, bushes grow up to one and a half meters. The fruits are red in color, round in shape, they contain a lot of sugar. The tomatoes are quite large in size, weighing up to 100 g each. If the plants are well looked after, you can get high yields, two kilograms of fruit from a bush. The culture is adapted to insufficient lighting, it is characterized by high fruiting even in winter.
Bonsai
Small bushes up to 30 cm high, neat and very lush. The fruits have a rounded shape, they are colored red, weigh 25 g. In one season, one kilogram of tomatoes can be harvested from each plant. They are very tasty and have a great presentation.
Pinocchio
This variety is the best among potted crops of this type. Plants are compact, reach a height of only 30 cm, there is a lot of foliage. The weight of red fruits is 20 g. Tomatoes are used to make salads, they are used to make preparations for the winter. In the summer, cultivation can be carried out in open soil, and in the fall, before frost, the plants need to be transplanted into pots and placed on the windowsills in the apartment. Fruiting is good, one bush gives one and a half kilogramsfruits.
Waiting for the harvest
During the flowering period, certain varieties of tomatoes at home on the windowsill need pollination. To improve this process, you can shake the bushes and gently brush over the flowers with a brush. How to grow tomatoes on the windowsill so that the formation of fruits takes place faster? Experienced gardeners have a more effective technique in store, which is called "undermining the roots." It lies in the fact that the stems are taken by the lower part and stretched upwards, as if they want to pull the plant out of the pot. During this procedure, the roots of small sizes break off. So the plants will not waste their energy on their development, all the useful substances will take the fruits.
When growing tomatoes on a windowsill, the main goal is to get a good harvest. For this, it is important that the formation of the ovaries is good. What do people with the experience of such cultivation do? They isolate the second and third bunches of fruits and spray them with a solution: one gram of boric acid per liter of water.
While waiting for the harvest of tomatoes on the windowsill, you should not hope for a miracle, you need to do everything possible to get more fruits with high quality. To this end, during the ripening period of tomatoes, the branches must be tied to pegs installed in pots. So they will not break under the weight of the fruit. It is better to collect the fruits brown, at home they will ripen quickly. This is necessary in order to enable the next harvest to ripen.
