Growing tomatoes on the balcony

To grow tomatoes on the balcony, you need to follow the instructions step by step, follow the rules of planting and care. Let’s see how to grow tomatoes on the balcony.

Growing tomatoes on the balcony

Choose a variety

Successful tomato cultivation on the balcony, it largely depends on the right variety. Unlike cultivating tomatoes in greenhouses and on the open ground, it is recommended to choose compact varieties that you can take care of without much effort.

In addition, it is recommended to make balcony tomatoes the choice is in favor of self-pollinated species, otherwise during flowering you will have to pollinate them yourself.

Tomato size th bush

What tomatoes take root on the balcony?Large tomato bushes in a balcony will not feel comfortable, and this will certainly affect productivity. The most suitable are determinant plants whose height does not exceed half a meter.

Small-sized balcony tomatoes do not need to be tied up and pinched, they should not be pinch.

On the balcony you can grow tomatoes on trellises, for this they choose not very branched varieties that can also be grown in suspended baskets.

Ripening period

For planting balcony tomatoes it is recommended to select varieties with an accelerated time ripening related to ultra-mature. The longer the period specified in the instructions for a tomato variety from the moment of the first appearance of tomato seedlings to the first harvest, the better.

Fruiting

For balcony growing tomatoes it is more advisable to select carpal varieties, which bear whole clusters. Such varieties have a decorative purpose, because they can not only bring a crop, but also decorate a home loggia. Brush mini-tomatoes of various colors with elongated or pear-shaped vegetables fit beautifully into the balcony interior.

Famous balcony varieties

Among the tomatoes for the balcony there are a number of varieties:

• Balcony miracle – carpal variety with round red vegetables of pleasant sweet taste.
• Red caramel is a standard variety with shrubs of small height and oval bright red fruits with a slight acidity.
• Yellow caramel is a high-yield variety, ripening in bunches, with elongated yellow vegetables , with a dense skin and taste, tinted with light fruity notes.
• Cranberries in sugar are a variety of tomatoes with high yields, small red fruits ripening in the hands, differing in a sweet-sour rich taste.
• Golden drop – indeterminate with t, well suited for cultivation on a balcony loggia in hanging baskets, has pear-shaped fruits, bright yellow in color with a light fruity taste.
• Yellow date – a tomato look with bushes of moderate height, suitable for growing in a balcony on trellis supports, it has elongated oval-shaped vegetables with a sweet flavor, ripening in the hands.
• Garden pearl – a beautiful decorative tomato ampoule variety with long flowing lianas, on which bright pink cherry vegetables ripen colors with sweet taste.
• Cherry fingers are a tomato variety for balcony cultivation in a suspended basket with compactly folded bushes and very sweet fruits of an elongated shape of bright red color.

Equipment for a balcony loggia

Much depends on the location of the loggia

Tomatoes are grown on the balcony, taking into account where the loggia is located. It will be better if it faces the southeast or southwest side. The south-facing balcony loggia requires shading during the hot season, and rooms with a northern direction, where the sun does not reach more than 3 hours a day, are not suitable for growing balcony varieties of tomatoes.

It is recommended to place containers with tomato seedlings as close as possible to the balcony railing or the loggia wall, since the walking wind adversely affects the growth of the tomato bush, stopping its development.

Hanging baskets and pots during cultivation ampel varieties of volume s hung on the balcony is not very high, so it was easier to care for them. High-growing tomato bushes are attached to trellis supports made of plastic, wood or braided from ropes, placed as close as possible to a draft-proof wall.

Tatyana Orlova (Candidate S.-x .Sciences):

The capacity of the dishes in which the tomato plant will be grown should be at least 3-4 liters for the weakest varieties, 30-35 cm high and at least 7-8 liters for relatively large (up to 50 cm ).

Plant neighbors

Gardeners adapted to plant next to tomatoes mint, oregano, celery and curly parsley, which not only serve as a decorative addition, but also repel insect pests.

Preparing for planting

To grow tomatoes on the balcony, you need fertile soil and comfortable d To grow the container.

Soil soil

Balcony tomatoes prefer nutritious light soil with neutral or slightly alkaline acidity. It is better not to use ready-made soil mixtures that are not particularly rich in nutrients and contain a large amount of peat.

The most favorable soil consists of turf and humus, mixed in different proportions. To give the soil friability, peat or sawdust is mixed into it. Granular superphosphate, nitrate, wood ash, potassium sulfate are used for fertilizer.

One of the following options is also chosen as soil:

• mixed garden soil, humus and a small amount of peat,
• a mixture of turfy soil, compost and a finished substrate containing peat
• garden soil diluted with compost and washed river sand.

Tatyana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Sciences):

You can buy ready-made garden soil specifically for growing tomatoes. All soil components in it are in optimal proportions. In addition, no fertilizer is needed before planting. Tomato plants need to be fed as it grows and bears fruit.

Tanks

Plastic or wooden boxes are suitable for growing tomatoes on the balcony that are conveniently placed along the balcony railings or walls.

You can also use individual pots and even cut plastic bottles, which eliminates the process of subsequent picking.

Tatyana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Science ):

Capacities for growing adults asthenia should be opaque, because in the light on the walls and soil green microscopic algae appear, which worsen the condition of plants. It is imperative to place drainage made of expanded clay or broken brick at the bottom of the box or pot. There must be a drainage hole in the dishes to drain excess water.

Seed

Seeds and soil before planting need to be prepared

You can get a crop faster from tomatoes grown on the balcony if you plant them using the seedling method. Initially, the seeds are treated with drugs that stimulate growth, soaking them for 10-12 hours. To stimulate the process of germination, potassium permanganate or a drug called Epin is used. Such preliminary preparation helps to increase the germination of tomato seeds.

If you purchased seeds in a specialized store, you can grow tomatoes on the balcony without preliminary processing of seed material, which is done for the purpose of disinfection.

Sowing of seeds begins in March, in rare cases in winter, in the last days of February. To do this, shallow containers with pallets or plastic bottles and pots are filled with prepared soil, leaving 1 cm from the edge, compacted, cut furrows and sow tomato seeds. Plant the seed material in depth, sprinkled with a soil layer, then sprayed on top with water at room temperature, cover with a film and place in a warm place until the first shoots appear.

Initial care

B the period of germination of tomato seeds until the first seedlings appear is irrigated once every 5-7 days.When the first leaves appear, carry out the primary mineral bait, using special mineral formulations for seedlings.

Pick and transplant

When the first 1-2 leaves appear, tomato seedlings are dived, and after 14-15 days, the strengthened sprouts are transplanted onto the balcony to a permanent place, after which they have done the second mineral top dressing.

Usually, the process of transplanting to the balcony takes place on the first May days, if the loggia is glazed, and in the first half June if the balcony is open.

In long boxes are planted seedlings at a distance of 30-35 cm from each other, so that the growing tomato bushes have enough space to receive light, water and fertilizers. No more than one bush is planted in each container. At the same time, at least 4 kg of the same substrate in which the seeds germinated is required for each tomato bush. The bottom of the containers is laid with expanded clay or pebbles.

For greater fertility, ash powder is mixed into the soil.

Young seedlings are moved to new containers together with an earthen lump to preserve the root system from accidental damage.

Transplanting seedlings ends with watering at room temperature.

Care on the balcony

Tomato bushes planted at a constant place of growth are afraid of direct sunlight and stagnation of moisture in the soil, therefore, in the first days, when the plant gets used to new When planting, it is important to protect young seedlings with roller blinds or awnings, and to irrigate with standing or boiled water, irrigating in the morning and evening hours.

Sprouting

Pasynkovka is required for balcony tomato varieties that are of an indeterminate type and are grown I’m in baskets or on trellis supports. Begin to do this process of cutting off the shoots after the appearance of the 3rd flower brush. When the tomato stem is excessively extended in height, it is pinched at the growth point in order to activate the process of ovary formation faster.

Mineral fertilizing

After transplanting young seedlings, tomato bushes cease to feed with mineral compounds, among which there is nitrogen among the components.These fertilizers, including, for example, urea and ammonium nitrate, lead to an active build-up of green mass and stop the formation of fruits.

The application of fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium allows to stimulate the appearance of ovaries. Tomato bushes are fed with such mineral complexes at least 3 times per season. Mineral compounds can be replaced with natural organics and added with humus, bird droppings, mullein.

Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):

To a limited extent Soil is very easy to burn the root system of plants with high-speed organic fertilizers. It is necessary to use them for balcony tomatoes very carefully, but it is better to use ready-made HCS-liquid complex fertilizers, which simultaneously contain both an infusion of organics and minerals.