What does it take to grow excellent tomatoes? Good seeds, fertile soil, fertilizers, watering. Yes, this is all very important. But often summer residents forget about such an important moment as stepping tomatoes. This is an important question even for experienced summer residents, since the procedure allows you to get a big harvest when growing almost any variety. Many confuse it with the usual removal of leaves, but this is not at all.
What is pinching tomatoes
If you want to take not quantity, but quality, then you need to do gardening in accordance with the basic agrotechnical rules and practices. Of course, you can plant five beds of tomatoes and still get the required number of fruits. But if the place is limited, then the summer resident cannot afford such a luxury.
So, you need to use proven methods that will allow you to get more fruits from the same number of plants. And one of these is stepchildren.tomatoes. This is the name of the correction of the vegetative part of the plant, that is, the removal of excess shoots. Otherwise, the plant will grow green mass to the detriment of the fruits.
Nature of events
Stepping tomatoes is not a one-time procedure. Shoot removal must be done throughout the season. This must be done before the stepchildren become too large and begin to weaken the plant. The maximum length of the stepson, which does not cause much harm to the plant, is 5 cm.
If you do not remove them in time, then all efforts to grow tomatoes will fail. The neglected bush will weaken and the fruits will be much smaller and of poorer quality.
How to perform the procedure correctly
Even experienced gardeners are often interested in how to stepson tomatoes. In fact, this procedure is not too complicated. It represents breaking off unnecessary branches from tomatoes.
Stepchildren are side branches. While they are small, they are easily confused with leaves. Therefore, you need to let the branches grow a little, then carefully inspect and remove the emerging young branches. It is very good if a more experienced gardener shows you for the first time how to stepson tomatoes. First, a leaf grows, and a stepson is already peeking out from under it.
If you want to save time
It's no secret that a garden with tomatoes will take quite a lot of time. Particularly tall varieties are thrown out by stepchildren in large numbers throughout the entireseason. Soon they will resemble a shapeless bush in which it is difficult to find fruits. Yes, and they will be tied in a very limited number.
But there are tomatoes that do not require pinching. They are short and strong, very easy to grow. Bushes do not overgrow, and the fruits are always in sight. Therefore, they require minimal maintenance. These include the following varieties:
- Amber. A lettuce variety that produces yellow and very juicy fruits.
- Lady's fingers. The elongated fruits are very juicy and sweet.
- Nevsky. The earliest of all determinant cultures. The fruits are formed after 60 days.
- Gnome. The variety is very compact, reaching only 40 cm in height.
- Oak tree. One of the best varieties for outdoor cultivation. Compact and resistant to late blight, it has gained the widest popularity among gardeners.
Dealing with determinant varieties requires some care. The fact is that genetically they have a certain number of flower brushes. If the growing point is removed by mistake, the formation of fruit clusters may stop. This will affect the yield. Therefore, determinant varieties that do not require pinching are the most popular. Today the choice is quite large. There are dozens of options at the speci alty store.
When pinching is necessary
This procedure is especially important for tall, indeterminate varieties. They have a stepson growing from each leaf. A huge amount of green mass requires a lot of strength. At the same time, even top dressing is notable to solve the problem. Saturation with nitrogen leads to even greater growth of green mass. At the same time, flowering and fruiting are postponed indefinitely.
The need to perform the procedure is determined by visual inspection of the bush. If he stopped looking through, and the bed began to resemble a dense thicket, then time has already been lost. Normally, one bush should be separated from another by some distance. each of them can clearly distinguish the branches, as well as inspect the flower brushes and emerging fruits. Once the picture starts to change, it's time to get down to business. After spending a few hours, you can easily pluck out all the extra stepchildren and make the bush neat.
How to perform the procedure correctly
Do not forget that your goal is the intensive growth and development of the plant, its active flowering and fruiting. If you pinch off the branches at random, you can achieve the opposite effect, that is, the death of tomatoes. Grooming and stepchildren go side by side. Every day, by watering and inspecting the garden, you can determine whether it is time to get down to business.
For stepson to be useful, the following rules must be observed:
- Start the process with the first brush during flowering.
- It is permissible to leave one or two stems on a tall bush. Each of them has up to 10 flower brushes. Another plus to this formation of a bush is that the fruits will ripen earlier. If this is not done, then at first the green mass will grow for a long time, and then only a small amount will be tied.tomatoes.
- You need to break off stepchildren until they reach 5 cm in length.
- All stepchildren that form below flowering branches (down to the very roots) must be removed without any pity.
- If the bush is strong, then it is permissible to leave stepchildren above flowering brushes. Due to them, you can get an additional crop.
Important points, secrets and tips
Stepping tomatoes is a whole art, having mastered it, a person can manage the processes of growing vegetables in his summer cottage. And first of all, you need to know the theory. Already on the basis of this, you can move on to practice.
- Stepsons are best broken off in the early morning. This is easier for the gardener himself, since it is not so hot at this time. And the plant will more easily endure the procedure if it is not performed under the scorching sun.
- Stepchildren need to be broken off, not cut off. When doing this, try to break off to the side to avoid getting the juice on your hands, and then on other plants.
- Have you ever seen bushes, the lower branches of which spread along the ground? This should not be. They need to be tied up, and the leaves removed. The stem should be dry, exposed to the sun and not trap air. It is also very important for the prevention of fungal and viral diseases.
- At the beginning of summer, you can only make sure that there are no extra side shoots. And in July, it's time to pinch the tops to stop the growth of the bush and focus on growing those fruits that are alreadylaid down.
- Stepping low-growing tomatoes is carried out in such a way that the stem and 2 to 3 inflorescences remain.
Procedure options
Of course, most often gardeners are guided only by their own intuition. But in fact, this is not the best option. There are ready-made schemes that were developed by agricultural technicians. If you stick to one of them, you will achieve great results. Of course, if you provide all the conditions for the plants. That is, you will water and feed them in time.
Formation of a bush can be done in the following ways:
- In one stem on a garter. With this approach, a small number of fruits are formed, but large and of excellent quality. In this case, almost all lateral stems are removed, leaving one stepson for fruit set. Of the minuses, one can note its instability. Without support, such a bush will easily break.
- A more stable bush is formed into two stems. Of course, it allows you to get more fruits, so the need for support is not canceled. Along with the main stem, one stepson remains under the inflorescence. All other branches that are located below are completely removed, exposing the trunk. It turns out the shape of a horn.
- The third option is suitable for the largest and strongest bushes. Formation is performed in three stems. The main shoot is left, one stepson under the first flowering brush and the most powerful stepson below. It is recommended to tie each of them to its support.
Features of plant processing in greenhouse conditions
Most often, giants grow indoors, indeterminate varieties with unlimited growth. It's easy to explain. The size of the greenhouse is very limited. Therefore, you need to use the vertical as well. Such bushes can reach two or more meters in height. Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse is a must for every gardener, otherwise you will get nothing but greenery.
Most often, tall tomato bushes form into one or two stems, so you need to try to master these techniques. But if you are growing tomatoes with determinate growth, then you need to take into account the limited resources of their resources. Their main stem ends with a fruiting brush. That is, growing up to their maximum, they are already releasing only stepchildren. By removing them, you reduce the yield of the bush. Therefore, 2-3 stepsons must be left on the plants and pinched after the formation of two fruit clusters.
Plants in the beds
The execution technique remains unchanged. Pasynkovanie tomatoes in the open field should be carried out regardless of where the bushes grow. It's more about variety selection. For open ground, determinant varieties and superdeterminants are most often purchased. They are much easier to handle. Despite the fact that you still need to stepson them, you have to do this much less often. And the number of additional branches in such cultures is small. 3-4 strong stepchildren are necessarily left on the bushes, which are then separatelytied to a support.
