Growing tomatoes at home on a windowsill in winter. Indoor tomatoes - growing in winter on the window

In winter, when a blizzard and cold are knocking on the window, fresh tomatoes on the windowsill seem to be something exotic, unattainable and only more attractive because of this. How realistic is it to grow them in a harsh season? If you know the small nuances of "potted farming", it is no more difficult than ordinary tomatoes in the beds. When there is an insulated balcony, tomato cultivation can be organized on it.

Varieties that will "get along" in the house

All "tomato work" is tightly linked to the availability of free space. If there is enough space on the balcony, you can choose almost any varieties for planting - high, low, branched or not very. When only free space on the windowsill is available all year round, cherry varieties or miniature bushes specially bred for "home cultivation", which quickly "give away" the harvest, are suitable for cultivation. Among them there can be both red and yellow varieties of tomatoes. The qualitative composition does not depend on the external color.

Cherry varieties: Bonsai, Balcony miracle, Baby, Balcony charm, Golden bunch, Chinese indoor, Indoor surprise, Rowan beads, Bullfinch, Japanese dwarf and others.

Common tomatoes that are suitable for a winter windowsill: White filling, Bull heart, Leopold, Siberian early ripening, Florida Petit, Yamal.

Tomato varieties for balcony cultivation can be taken slightly higher "in growth" and with larger fruits, otherwise the care for them will be the same as for vegetables on the windowsill.

It is important to check the expiration dates, which are always indicated on the original seed packaging. Often inexperienced vegetable growers cannot understand why their indoor tomatoes do not sprout in winter. It is quite possible that this is the result of an overdue implementation period.

Miracle on the balcony

A special love of gardeners "at home" has won the "Balcony Miracle" tomato. This is a compact determinant variety, up to 50 cm high, ultra-early ripening (maximum ripening period of 90 days), the weight of each bright red tomato is up to 65 g, round in shape. The usual yield is up to 2 kg per bush. If the plant is "allocated" a large area, the yield in winter can be higher.

Before germination, the seeds are grown in greenhouse conditions, then the temperature is lowered for a week to 15 degrees, then raised again. When the sprouts rise to 15 cm, they dive into b O Larger containers. Tomatoes "Balconnoe Miracle" love light (although they ripen even in conditions of its deficit), do not require tying and removing stepsons.

A positive effect during winter cultivation will be given: help in pollination, good watering, fertilization, gentle loosening of the soil, and the formation of a bush.

Feeding options:

Special drugs.
Liter solution: 5 g of superphosphate, mixed with potassium and urea sulfate - 1 g each.

The most productive top dressing in winter during flowering and fruit formation.

Growing a "Balcony Miracle" house will allow you to collect excellent tomatoes from the windowsill in winter for salads, preparations, and even freezing.

Main growing conditions

Growing tomatoes on a balcony or windowsill requires compliance with a number of necessary conditions:

The best location is at the southern windows. It is practically impossible - in the north.
Disinfected, non-clayey soil. Not less than 5 liters per bush.
On the bottom - drainage with expanded clay or sand.
Air humidity up to 65%.
Daylight hours for seedlings are at least 12 hours even in winter, preferably 13-16.
If necessary, supplement the illumination with lamps installed at least 30 cm from the seedlings.
Water the tomatoes on the balcony or windowsill carefully, with warm water, without waterlogging, but also without overdrying. On average, every 3 days.
Air temperature indicators: during the day 25-26 degrees, at night up to 15-16. If it's hotter - ventilate, tomatoes are not afraid of drafts.
Do not grow on a balcony without insulation before April.
Loosen the soil and top up if necessary.
Spraying of leaves, garter of branches is possible.
Do not turn the pots with bushes so that there is no dumping of tomatoes from the branches.
It is advisable to install containers on rack supports.

You should not often fertilize tomatoes in winter with nitrogenous and organic fertilizers. Otherwise, powerful, rough bushes with a minimum of small fruits will grow.

Instructions for winter growing tomatoes on the windowsill

Before you "start" the winter process of growing tomatoes at home, you need to stock up on all the necessary materials. "At hand" should be:

Seeds of well-known producers with a "fresh" shelf life.
Sowing cups.
Containers for planting after picking - "cut-off" bottles, pots.
Lamps for supplementary lighting.

The main stages of work

Preparation of containers and tools ... "Fry" with a high temperature (in the oven) or treat with a preparation against fungi and bacteria. If new peat pots are used, soak them in a solution of mineral and organic fertilizers and dry them before planting.
Land preparation. Tomatoes on the windowsill, as in outdoor cultivation, prefer "breathing", clean soil. Ordinary soil can be spilled with hot potassium permanganate, steamed in a water bath, or severely frozen. Examples of mixtures for self-preparation: on an equal part of the earth, humus, peat and sand; on two parts of the land, 4 "measures" of humus and peat, 1 - sand. It is good to spill it with a mixture of urea and potassium sulfate, diluting a matchbox by 10 liters of water. Add a handful of ash there. The looseness of the soil is increased by peat or sawdust.
Germination of seeds. To prevent late blight, soak them in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, dry and treat with a growth stimulant. For germination, "wet" the seeds with warm water and leave on a damp cloth in a warm place.
Sowing rules varieties for the balcony and the windowsill. Sprouted tomato seeds are planted in lightly watered soil in small holes (up to 1 cm), 1 piece each. Dry ones are buried in 2 or 3 copies with a distance of 2 cm. Cover with a film on top or glass is laid and transferred to a warm place, but without "African hell". To harvest tomatoes on the windowsill in winter and early spring, sowing is carried out in October and late November. The continuity of picking tomatoes can be ensured with the following crops in mid-February and late March.
"Moving" to a permanent place. When shoots have appeared, the covering material is removed, and the pots are rearranged closer to the window. Further, it is important to ensure that the sprouts have enough light and warmth in winter.

Lift containers with tomatoes from time to time to see if excess moisture has accumulated in the pan. It needs to be removed. Drizzle with water at room temperature.

Diving. During the appearance of 2 permanent leaves. After the "procedure" the strongest sprouts receive a more capacious "container" for growth - 7-10 liters. The roots of the seedlings are buried 3 cm, watered. Growing tomatoes on the balcony will take place in such large containers. Larger varieties are immediately tied to pegs. Any tomatoes in the winter after transplanting are not touched for about a week, so that the bushes can calmly take root. When it's still cool outside, it is better to bring tomatoes from the balcony into the room at night. With the onset of heat, all landings "move" to the balcony.
Winter feeding of tomatoes on the windowsill. Seedlings are "supplied" every 10 days with organic matter and ready-made mineral fertilizers. Follow the instructions on the package, remember to gently loosen the soil around the trunk. With the appearance of 2 true leaves, fertilize seedlings with a solution of trace elements in winter. The most important rules of work: for young plants, the dose, reduced by 2 times in comparison with the instructions, is carried out on wet soil, preferably without touching the leaves.
Stealing and pruning. The stems that begin to grow from the axils of the leaves are called stepchildren. They are removed so as not to take food away from ripening fruits. For the formation of 2-3 stems in undersized varieties, you can leave the appropriate number of stepsons. The rest are removed by hand, preferably in the morning, while there is no strong sun. Low-growing and standard varieties can not be pinned, but the bush can not be thickened either. Sick and yellowed leaves are cut off. After the formation of the brushes, the lower leaves can also be cut off.

You cannot remove all the leaves. In this case, the synthesis of organic materials will be disrupted.

Bush formation. After fruit setting, 4-5 brushes are left on each trunk. All others are removed along with the top of the stem and inflorescences. When the formation of the fruit itself begins, pinching the top and removing the flowering tassels is carried out.
Pollination assistance. Tomatoes of "balcony" varieties are also self-pollinating, but help in winter will not hurt them. It is enough to lightly shake the brushes of flowers and tap on the stem. To prevent the ovary from falling off, it is permissible to spray the bush with a solution of boric acid - 1 g for 5 liters of water and add a little potassium permanganate.
Disease prevention. Without proper care, tomatoes can get sick in winter when grown on a windowsill. If they are "flooded" - mold, rot or late blight are provided. For its prevention, a mixture of the following composition is well suited: add half a glass of garlic and a little potassium permanganate (half a gram) to a three-liter container of water. Spraying with Fitosporin can be used. The appearance of the whitefly even during winter cultivation on the window is facilitated by soil acidification. The introduction of crumbs of chalk, ash, dolomite flour or slaked lime will help prevent acidification. There are also special deoxidizing preparations.

Responsibly caring for the bushes with all preventive measures, you can be sure that the tomatoes will ripen in the right amount.

Harvesting

In order to grow a full-fledged crop on the windowsill, it is important to harvest the fruits on time. In winter, they remove the poured tomatoes, which have begun to turn slightly pink. They are laid for ripening on a window or in a dark box. The process will go to the end, and the bush will "throw" all the released nutrients to grow the fruits remaining on the branches.

Knowing how to grow tomatoes at home on a windowsill or balcony, you can pamper your loved ones with “delicious plantings” not only in summer, but also in winter. This will especially delight children, who will examine each plant with the greatest curiosity and will certainly taste small tasty "tomatoes".

How strange a person is ... In the summer, at the time of fresh vegetables and fruits, for some reason I want to taste salted tomatoes and cucumbers, when the cold comes and you can get a jar of pickles from the cellar at any time, there is an insane desire to eat something from fresh vegetables and greenery.

What to do? Buying in a store is dangerous. Who knows how the products were processed for quick ripening and long-term storage. Why not try growing tomatoes at home in winter? Sounds tempting? Then let's understand all the intricacies.

Useful window sill decoration

With the onset of cold weather, window sills, in addition to indoor plants, begin to decorate jars with onions, or boxes with other types of greenery. Such a mini-vegetable garden helps to replenish vitamins, add additional taste to ready-made dishes, and practically does not require any maintenance.

To grow tomatoes, of course, you will have to spend a little more time, but the result is worth it. The only thing that should be taken into account before starting this important event is that the cultivation of indoor tomatoes is in many ways different from the same process in natural or greenhouse conditions, so first learn all the subtleties, and then feel free to get down to business.

The main thing to remember is that:

tomatoes are light-loving plants, so they must be placed on the south side so that there is no lack of lighting;
if daylight hours are less than 13-16 hours, you must resort to additional lighting;

The listed requirements are very important, but those who want to grow tomatoes in winter need to know a lot of equally important information. Let us dwell on some points in more detail.

Variety matters

Despite the widest assortment of seeds presented in agricultural stores, it is not so easy to choose the right variety for home cultivation. Do not blindly trust the recommendations of the sellers. During the period of "stagnation" of sales, they may well advise beginners of gardening art to purchase seeds that are not in demand, and if a participant in an unsuccessful experiment later asks questions, they will simply blame them on mistakes and inexperience made by him.

To grow tomatoes at home on the windowsill, you need to select low-growing varieties with small fruits. Micron and Balcony Charm have proven themselves best. These tomatoes are suitable for year-round cultivation, they are notable for their small bushes and small fruits.

With proper cultivation, you can remove 3-7 fruits from one plant per week. Often you can find a cherry variety on the windowsills, but certain conditions must be created for it in terms of temperature and lighting, so it is not suitable for beginners.

In principle, to grow tomatoes on a windowsill in an apartment in winter, you can use any variety, for example, owners of a huge insulated balcony can grow tall tomatoes, but how they will behave is impossible to predict in advance.

Note! Tomato harvest depends on environmental conditions, so to determine the most suitable variety, you can plant several representatives of each variety the first time.

How to grow tomatoes at home. Step-by-step instruction

So, the place on the windowsill is ready, the boxes are selected, filled with soil, the seeds are purchased (by the way, do not forget to check the expiration date on the package), which means it's time to start the process itself.

Seed preparation

In order for plants to be resistant to the troubles that await them in life, it is necessary to harden and stimulate growth. To solve the first problem, the seeds need to be put in the freezer for a day, and then, after a couple of hours at room temperature, soak them in a strong solution of potassium permanganate (should be deep pink). To stimulate growth, it does not hurt to water them with a weak yeast solution when planting (dissolve in a liquid twice as much as indicated on the package).

Preparation of containers

It is impossible to sow tomatoes directly into large boxes. For the first stage, the prepared soil must be half filled with peat cups (if it is not possible to purchase them, ordinary plastic ones are also suitable) and add 3-5 potassium permanganate granules to each of them. No need to moisturize.

Germinating seeds

So that the work does not turn out to be in vain, you need to be sure that the tomatoes will sprout. You can verify this with pre-germination. The seeds should be placed in cheesecloth and slightly moistened. If the humidity is maintained, after a couple of days the seeds will swell and sprout will appear. When placing seedlings in the soil, be careful not to damage them.

Landing

Before you "settle" the seeds in the pots, you need to slightly moisten the soil. Then, at a distance of 2 cm, make small depressions, put 2 seeds in each and sprinkle with earth carefully, without tamping. Cover each pot with a film or glass and do not touch until shoots appear. It is advisable to keep such pots in a warm place, but not in the sun.

When the first shoots appear, you can remove the coating, increasing this time every day until the plants learn to live without this protection.

Dive

After two true leaves appear on the stem, you can dive. For this, a tough "revision" is carried out and only strong shoots are selected. They are transplanted to a permanent "place of residence", the soil is slightly moistened and left untouched for two days, so as not to interfere with the adaptation period.

After that, the pots can be rearranged on the windowsill to create the most similar to natural living conditions.

It is important! For the tomatoes to be comfortable, the volume of the pot should be about 5-10 liters.

Stepping

As the plant develops, it begins to branch out. To avoid wasting energy, you need to leave the main trunk and, at most, supplement it with one branch, and remove the remaining sprouts. When the ovaries begin to appear, no more than five can be left on each branch, and the rest can be destroyed. It also does not hurt to cut the top off when the plant reaches the optimal size.

Care

Harvesting

In contrast to those grown in natural conditions, indoor tomatoes must be picked when the fruit has formed and has just begun to turn pink. Plucked tomatoes are laid out on cardboard, placed in a warm, well-lit room and left to ripen.

Advice! When choosing tomato seeds for growing on a windowsill, you should not be guided by a beautiful picture. Maybe, ideally, this is what the fruits look like, but in any case, the manufacturer uses marketing moves to increase the number of purchases. It is better to trust the real reviews of people, especially since it will not be a problem to get acquainted with them in the era of the Internet.

Outside the window, a blizzard, and you have fresh, home-grown tomatoes for dinner? This is not a fairy tale or fantasy, but a reality that is quite accessible to every reader. Try growing tomatoes on a windowsill. It's useful, but also very exciting.

How to grow tomatoes on a windowsill in an apartment in winter: video

Video: Growing cherry in winter

Video: Growing tomatoes Granddaughter on the windowsill

This video presents for you the full version of the origin of a tomato bush in a pot on a windowsill in an apartment of a multi-storey building, moreover, on the east side. For forcing the same tomatoes in your home, you need to purchase tomato seeds (variety "Granddaughter") in a seed store. Then plant them in pots with freshly harvested soil, and proceed according to the instructions written on the package with seeds. And that's all. You will also have such tomatoes all year round.

With the onset of winter, all activity on personal plots and dachas freezes, and those who like to work in the beds have to wait for spring. But a true lover, this will not stop. After all, there are many garden crops that can be successfully grown at home, on a windowsill or an insulated balcony. And the matter is not at all limited to simple growing "on a feather" or other. Traditional inhabitants of summer beds, cucumbers and toFmata, can be grown with no less success in indoor conditions. The main thing is to create suitable conditions and follow not complicated rules at all.

Necessary conditions for growing tomatoes on a windowsill

Location and lighting

One of the main conditions is good illumination. The best place for growing tomatoes in winter is the sills of the south-facing windows. The eastern and western windows are less suitable, and the northern ones are not suitable at all.
But even with the most optimal placement, light may not be enough. The daylight hours are short in winter, and tomatoes require at least 12 hours of daylight hours. It can be extended by lighting with phytolamps or ordinary fluorescent lamps.

Air humidity and watering

In winter, the air in the rooms is too dry, and this is not conducive to growing tomatoes. The optimum humidity should be between 60-65%. It is not difficult to achieve it. How - .
Watering tomatoes on the windowsill should be regular, but not overmoistening the soil. Subject to the temperature regime and normal air humidity, it turns out - once every 2-3 days.

Temperature

The optimal temperature for growing tomatoes at home is considered to be + 24-26 degrees during the day, and a drop to +16 at night. But these are average values. Deviations are also allowed. At higher growing temperatures, the room should be regularly ventilated.

Tomatoes on the windowsill - planting and growing

Preparing for landing

Initially, these works are reminiscent. For planting, you can use either small containers or seedling cassettes.
The soil for planting should be loose, permeable to air and moisture. For the first stage, growing seedlings, you can use the usual universal mixture. In the future, use more nutritious soil. You can cook it yourself by mixing in equal parts leafy soil, humus, peat and sand. Instead of leafy land, you can use turf. But if it is heavy, then increase the proportion of peat.
Attention should be paid to seed preparation. Sort them first. To do this, they are soaked in a glass with slightly salted water. After a while, some of them will emerge. Such seeds are discarded, remaining at the bottom of the glass, are considered suitable for planting. Before planting, it is recommended to disinfect them by soaking them for 20-30 minutes in a pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Sowing seeds and growing seedlings

First of all, you should decide on the variety of tomatoes that you plan to grow on the windowsill. There are a number of varieties that are specifically recommended for indoor growing. But even among ordinary tomatoes, you can pick up suitable ones. You should not choose with very large fruits. In confined spaces, it will be difficult to achieve good results from them. For beginners, we advise you to choose exactly special varieties.

The time when seeds are sown for winter growing of tomatoes does not matter, you choose it yourself. You can sow them immediately with the onset of autumn, or in the middle of winter. For an uninterrupted harvest, seeds can be sown in October and then re-sown in mid-winter. That is, there is no time limit.

Sowing is done in individual containers, cassettes or seedling boxes. Seeds should not be deeply buried in the ground, otherwise the germination period will increase. The maximum planting depth is 2 centimeters. Moisten the soil after sowing. To do this, it is better to use a spray bottle so that the seeds, along with the water, do not go deeper into the ground.
The container with seeds is covered with foil, glass or a transparent cap, and placed in a bright and warm place.

During the entire period of germinating seeds and growing seedlings, you should monitor the humidity of the earth and air, regularly ventilate them by removing the cap. Provide highlighting.

With the appearance of a pair of true leaves on the seedlings, feed them with a weak solution of mineral fertilizer.

When the seedlings grow well and get stronger, you can start transplanting into permanent pots.

Growing tomatoes in pots

The size of the pot should be selected based on the variety being grown. Accordingly, the larger the grown specimen, the larger the pot will be needed. The largest varieties are planted in pots with a volume of 5 liters, an average size of 3-4 liters, and the smallest, dwarf ones in 2 liters.
As already mentioned, successful cultivation requires sufficient lighting, regular watering without waterlogging, and normal air humidity.

Advice. To prevent the bush from looking one-sided, periodically rotate the pot relative to the light source. But this can be done only before the beginning of flowering and fruit ovary. In the future, it is highly likely that due to such turns, the bush can shed flowers and fruits.

When the tomatoes on the windowsill have adapted enough, it is about three weeks after planting in permanent pots, they can begin to be fed. For top dressing, mineral fertilizers are suitable every ten days. You should not get too carried away with organic and nitrogen fertilizers. Otherwise, you will end up with large bushes with a huge amount of leaves and a minimum of fruit.

For tall varieties, you should take care of the appropriate support. Also tall and medium-sized varieties of tomatoes grown on the windowsill should be pinned.

It should be borne in mind that tomatoes that are grown on the windowsill are not pollinated by insects, in the absence of such. Therefore, we need to help them in this. Tomato varieties designed specifically for indoor cultivation are usually self-pollinating, but additional help will not hurt, and for ordinary varieties it is required. You can use the laborious method of transferring pollen from flower to flower with a brush, or you can simply shake the bush so that the pollen gets where you need it.

If you want to get larger fruits, then the brushes should be thinned, leaving only 5-6 of them on the stem, and pinned the top of the stem.

Harvesting should also be a little different than in the garden. You should not wait for the fruit to fully ripen. They ripen unevenly, so those that start to turn pink must be removed and put on ripening. This will release the strength of the plant for further development.

Diseases and prevention

As for open ground tomatoes, the main danger for indoor tomatoes is late blight. Its main reason is excessive watering. If the plant is sick, then it is already very difficult to save it. Therefore, you should take mandatory preventive measures. First of all, do not overmoisten the soil and ventilate the room. Also spray with any antifungal agent.

How to grow tomatoes on a windowsill - video

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Who among us does not dream of fresh vegetables that can be eaten not only in season? Why go to the supermarket in winter for imported tomatoes that don't even smell like them when you can grow natural tomatoes on the windowsill ?! By moving indoor flowers and freeing up space for several pots, fragrant and tasty tomatoes are easy to get even at home. How to do it correctly, in order to pamper your loved ones with vitamins all year round, will be prompted by a small selection of practical tips and recommendations, which we propose to get acquainted with today.

Seed sowing time

The timing of when to start sowing tomato seeds for window sill cultivation does not have such restrictions as in the case of obtaining seedlings for open ground. It all depends on the period for which fruiting is planned: whether it will be a year-round "exploitation", or whether it is substantively the ripening of the crop in winter.

In order to have fresh vegetables throughout the year, regardless of the weather, seeds can be planted in 4 passes: autumn sowing in October and November will provide a winter harvest, and planting in February and March will guarantee fruit in the summer.

Preparation of planting material

Potted tomatoes are grown in the same way as garden crops - through seedlings. You can use your own seeds, collected with your own hands from homemade tomatoes, or you can buy them in the store. However, regardless of origin, all seeds must first be prepared for sowing. For this:

Sort out hollow seeds by soaking everything in salted water (those that come up are not suitable for seedlings).
Disinfect by leaving for half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate.

To speed up the germination of seeds, they can be put in a cloth bag, moistened well and left on a platter for several days so that the seeds swell.

Soil selection

Particular attention should be paid to the substrate for growing tomatoes on the windowsill. It should be loose, nutritious and neutral in acidity. The easiest way is to contact the same store where the seeds were bought and purchase ready-made special soil mixtures for tomato seedlings. This will be especially important during winter sowing, in addition, the store land already contains all the necessary nutrients, and there is no need to add additional components.

If there is a desire and opportunity, you can prepare the soil for growing a tomato yourself by choosing one of the proposed mixture options, namely:

1 share of sand and 2 shares of garden land;
humus, peat and sod land in equal shares;
1 share of vermiculite, as well as 4 shares of sod land and compost.

The soil from the garden or vegetable garden must be disinfected before use by pouring it with boiling water or igniting it in the oven.

Sowing seeds and creating conditions for seedlings

For growing tomato seedlings, you can use both a common container and individual cassettes, cups or peat tablets. In the first case, fill a shallow container with nutritious soil and moisten it well. Seeds should be laid out at some distance from each other (1-2 cm), deepening by no more than 2 cm, otherwise they will germinate for a long time. Then sprinkle with a thin layer of soil and tamp lightly.

Seeds should germinate in a greenhouse, that is, the container must be covered with a lid or film and placed on a bright window. Periodically ventilate the greenhouse or make several small holes in the film to avoid the accumulation of condensate. Optimal temperature conditions for seedlings at this stage of growth are from 22 to 24 degrees Celsius during the day and below 20 degrees at night.

Caring for seedlings of indoor tomatoes consists in the following activities:

airing;
removing the cover after seed germination;
regular watering;
thinning out too dense crops;
special supplementary lighting on cloudy days and shading from direct rays on sunny days (the length of daylight hours should be at least 13 hours);
feeding with a weak solution of the mineral complex after the formation of 2 leaves (about 20 days after sowing).

Strong grown seedlings can be dived into pots, having previously laid a drainage layer on the bottom. The choice of containers depends on the specific variety:

for dwarf tomatoes, a volume of 2 liters is enough;
for medium-sized plants, 4-liter flowerpots are suitable;
for ampelous varieties of tomatoes, pots with a volume of 5 liters are needed.

Further care for potted tomatoes

In order for the tomatoes on the windowsill to develop well and set fruits, they need to provide good lighting by placing the pots on the southern windowsills. Every two days, the flowerpots must be turned so that the bushes do not grow one-sided, and if the sun is not enough, they must be illuminated.

It is also important to observe the watering regime, moistening the soil twice a week. The soil must not completely dry out, otherwise the ovary and fruits will crumble, but waterlogging also threatens with putrefactive diseases. After transplanting to a permanent place, you can start feeding the bushes after 20 days - during this time they adapt. Enough 3-fold introduction of complex within a month, otherwise there is a risk that the tomatoes will go into the growth of deciduous mass, which will entail a decrease in yield and crushing of the fruits.

It is necessary to apply fertilizers on wet soil, preferably the next day after watering.

Dwarf tomato varieties do not need a garter either, but in higher species, a support should be established and a bush should be formed into one or two stems, and stepchildren should be plucked out.

There are some more tricks that will increase the yield of tomatoes, namely:

when the bushes are blooming, you need to gently shake the plants several times - this contributes to better pollination and, accordingly, will affect the amount of the crop;
if a lot of ovary has formed, no more than 6 brushes should be left on each stem, having plucked out the rest - this way you can get fewer tomatoes, but they will be larger;
in varieties that ripen unevenly, it is better to harvest at the half-ripeness stage - then the bush will have more strength for the tomatoes remaining on the branches, and the plucked vegetables will quickly reach if they are laid out next to the pot on the windowsill.

Protecting tomatoes from disease

Another point worth paying attention to is the protection of tomatoes in pots from diseases, because even indoor conditions cannot guarantee their complete absence. One of the main enemies of the nightshade is. In order to prevent its manifestation, it is important not to fill the bushes and drain the water from the sump. The fungus also does not tolerate fresh air, so it is necessary to ventilate the room more often.

As a preventive measure, you can spray the plants with a home remedy prepared from the following components:

3 liters of water;
100 g garlic (minced);
1 g of dry crystals of potassium permanganate.

Indoor tomato varieties

When choosing a tomato variety for growing on a windowsill, you should give preference to undersized, early ripening and fruitful species due to the limited space. They will not take up much space and at the same time will delight you with tasty fruits in early spring. Some of the most popular varieties are the following tomatoes:

And in order to have fresh vegetables not only in spring, but also until the New Year, you can plant taller (up to 1 m in height) hybrid varieties. On the windowsill, they will take up more space and require shaping and garters, but they will bear fruit before the onset of winter.

Some of the new, but already popular hybrids are the following cherry varieties: Ira F1, Liza F1, Maxik F1, Likopa F1. Small but very tasty red or yellow tomatoes grow in whole clusters and ripen quickly.

For the summer period, it is better to take cherry pots out to the street or to the balcony, not forgetting to take them into the house with a cold snap.

Growing a tomato on a windowsill is an exciting activity that will not only help you while away the long winter days, but also provide your diet with vitamins. Plant and eat for health!

September 21, 2016
Specialization: Master in the construction of plasterboard structures, finishing works and laying floor coverings. Installation of door and window blocks, decoration of facades, installation of electrical, plumbing and heating - I can give detailed advice on all types of work.

Growing tomatoes at home is quite an interesting and useful activity. The most important thing is that there is nothing difficult in the work due to the fact that in modern conditions you can purchase everything you need.

Another huge plus, in my opinion, is that you can grow tomatoes all year round, so if you wish, you can enjoy a fresh harvest even for the new year, even for March 8 - no chemicals and no crazy expenses when buying.

How to get a great harvest

From the title it is clear that I will talk about five components, without which it is impossible to get a harvest at home. I want you to learn right away that the growing process is not complicated, but if you violate its individual requirements, then you will receive several times less harvest or even lose it completely in some cases.

Therefore, carefully read the agricultural technique, I am talking about the simplest, in my opinion, option, which requires a minimum investment of time and effort.

Factor 1 - Seed Selection

Before starting work, you need to purchase high-quality planting material. More depends on it than you think, for the simple reason that there are so many low-quality seeds on sale that the likelihood of buying something unknown is very high.

So that you are not mistaken when choosing, remember a few simple tips:

Buy seeds only in specialized stores... No markets, street stalls and other sellers from wheels - they just have a zero probability of buying a good product. In addition, when selling on the street or in open structures, the storage conditions of seeds are violated, which directly affects their germination;
Pay attention to the seed producer, the following companies have recommended themselves the best: Gavrish, Russkiy Ogorod, Aelita, SeDek, Artikul, Plazmas, Poisk and Sortsemovoshch. All types of seed material of these brands are zoned, that is, they are suitable for growing in all regions of our country. Foreign options are also suitable, because we choose seeds for growing indoors, and here the microclimate is about the same everywhere;

When choosing a specific option, be sure to make sure that it is suitable for home growing.... After all, most varieties for open ground are not suitable for our purposes. Below I will talk about specific varieties that I can recommend, but this is far from a complete list, and many other good options can be found on the market;
Sellers should always have seed quality documentation. On the market you will not be shown anything due to the absence, so there can be no talk of any quality;
You can purchase specially processed seeds, they can be in the form of dragees from a nutrient mixture, they can be inlaid with a thin layer of a special composition, or they can be processed with plasma. All these options are distinguished by increased germination, but their price is also noticeably higher than that of ordinary seeds.

Remember that tomato seeds remain viable for 4-5 years. Therefore, check the date of manufacture, it is better not to take planting material released more than 3 years ago.

Now let's deal with specific varieties, I can recommend you several options:

Variety	Description
"Balcony miracle"	Perhaps the most famous variety for home cultivation. It has a rather fast ripening period for the first fruits, usually it takes 85-100 days from the moment of germination. The height of the bushes is no more than 60 cm, they do not need a garter, about 2 kg of fruits can be harvested from one bush, the main advantage of this variety is its viability: tomatoes ripen even with insufficient light
"F1 balcony red"	An early ripe hybrid that begins to bear fruit 85 days after germination, the fruits are small, but very sweet and aromatic. The bushes are low - up to 30 cm, the variety does not require pinching
"Bonsai"	The variety is named so for its similarity with ornamental trees, small rounded bushes can reach a height of up to 30 cm and give about 500 grams of harvest. The fruits also ripen quite quickly - after 85-90 days.
"Pinocchio"	This variety of cherry tomatoes is distinguished by its increased unpretentiousness, I will recommend it to you as an option for your first experience, it requires much less attention. The bush looks very attractive, the fruits ripen about 3 months after germination

Factor 2 - preparing everything you need

In addition to seeds, we need many other components. Let's figure out their list:

Soil for planting - if earlier it was necessary to mix peat, compost and other components, nowadays it is much easier to buy a ready-made version that does not need to be disinfected. There is no need to save money and do the soil yourself, as there may be disease spores or pests in the soil that you collect in the field or elsewhere. The prepared soil is processed and enriched with nutrients, which greatly simplifies the work process;

Purchase fine expanded clay to create drainage at the bottom of boxes or pots. Many people work without it, but tomatoes do not like waterlogging, so drainage will insure you against this factor, taking away excess moisture. A lot of expanded clay or other granules are not needed - literally 2 cm is poured onto the bottom;
For planting seeds for seedlings, it is better to adapt the box, options for flowers are well suited, they are of the optimal size and are easy to carry. Another huge plus is their small width, thanks to this, the container can be placed on the windowsill so that the seedlings grow better when they are natural;

Seedlings, when they grow up, are best grown in separate cups, these can be either special options or ordinary plastic containers. The main thing is to have the required number of cups on hand so that you do not run around the shops before the very transplant;
Tomatoes are transplanted to a permanent place either in pots with a volume of at least 3 liters, or in boxes, again the volume per plant should be the same 3 liters. You must purchase the required number of containers, but do not forget that you must have enough space for them on the windowsills;
For disinfection and treatment of seeds, purchase potassium permanganate, any growth stimulant composition, as well as a complex fertilizer that will be used to process tomatoes.

If you will be growing tomatoes during periods with little daylight hours, then you will additionally need a daylight lamp for additional illumination of the plants. Its use allows you to artificially increase daylight hours and significantly increase the yield of our small plantation.

Factor 3 - preparation and planting of seeds

Now let's go directly to the actions, the instructions for carrying out the work consist of the following actions:

First you need to prepare containers, I advise you to plant seeds in boxes, this simplifies the workflow and allows you to plant the already grown plants in their places afterwards. If you put it directly into cups, then not everything can ascend, and some of the containers will stand idle. The work is simple: pour the soil and water it with hot water until it is well moistened;
Seed testing is needed in order to initially reject low-quality material, if any. To check, we need a glass of warm water, into which a spoonful of table salt is poured and thoroughly stirred. Seeds are poured into the resulting solution and mixed well, after the movement in the container calms down, all high-quality seeds will be at the bottom, and damaged and empty ones will float up, they need to be drained;

If you have seeds in a nutrient solution or inlaid with a special composition, then you do not need to check them.

The seeds should be processed, first of all, they are dipped into a solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes. After that, they need to be soaked in a solution of a plant growth stimulant, which is prepared as indicated on the package. The seeds are left for 10 hours, the easiest way is to soak them overnight so that you can plant in the morning (if you plant in the evening, respectively, soak the seeds in the morning);
The prepared seeds are planted in containers, lines with a depth of 1.5-2 cm are made in the ground, into which the seeds are laid out with a step of 2.5-3 cm. It makes no sense to plant thicker, since tested and prepared seeds germinate almost 100%. The depressions are covered with soil and slightly compacted, you do not need to ram hard, this will make it difficult for the sprouts to break through to the surface.

The containers with seeds prepared by us must be covered with transparent polyethylene, it prevents moisture evaporation and maintains the microclimate necessary for germination, and at the same time does not interfere with the penetration of light. All boxes or boxes are placed in a warm place, the temperature should be about 30 degrees, so the seedlings will appear in 3-5 days.

Factor 4 - growing seedlings

Now let's figure out how to grow seedlings, since it is at this stage that problems often arise. Plants that have not yet matured are much more easily exposed to various diseases and are much more sensitive to violations of optimal growing conditions. Therefore, we will analyze this part of the work in as much detail as possible:

When a couple of false leaves have appeared on the plants and they have already risen above ground level, you can start hardening them. The containers can be placed on the windowsill and ventilated, the temperature during this period should be 20-25 degrees. Do not expose the seedlings to drafts, do not lose sight of this nuance;

To prevent young shoots from getting sick with a black leg, which often ruins crops, it is necessary to follow several simple recommendations: do not overmoisten the soil, do not keep the plants at temperatures below 20 degrees and remove weak shoots when the plantings are thickened. Remember that watering is needed only when the soil dries up, it should not be constantly wet;
When our plants already have two real leaves, you can carry out the first feeding. For this, a composition is being prepared, and its concentration should be half that for adult plants (that is, half the norm of dry powder is added to the water). Top dressing is done in cloudy weather a couple of hours after watering or the next day after it, no need to pour over the sheets, apply top dressing to the soil;
If a bright sun is shining through the windows, then it is better to protect the plants from it with a sheet of paper, since young leaves can get burned. On such days it is better to keep our crops on the west or north side of the house so that they do not get burnt;

When the plant has a couple of full-fledged leaves, it is necessary to start transplanting it into separate containers, it is best to use plastic cups, it is convenient to control soil moisture in them. When transplanting, carefully dig out a bush with a piece of soil and plant it in a glass, after which watering is performed and the plant is placed in a warm place with a temperature of 20-25 degrees;
Once every two weeks, you can water our seedlings with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, with the same frequency, fertilizing is done. Above, I wrote how to prepare a nutritional mixture, everything is done in the same way. To prevent mold, you can spray the plants with a solution of milk (50 grams per 500 grams of water) once every 2 weeks, this is the simplest and most effective way of prevention;
During the growing process, carefully monitor the air temperature, and periodically ventilate the room, this will eliminate the appearance of the whitefly - a small moth that lays eggs on seedlings. Periodically turn the seedlings in different directions to the window so that they grow evenly, and do not lean to one side and do not stretch towards the light;

Approximately 3 weeks after transplanting, when the seedlings are strong enough and grow, they can be transplanted to a permanent place. For these purposes, they are best suited (for small tomatoes, a volume of 3 liters is enough, for larger bushes it is better to take options with a size of 4-5 liters). You can also use boxes, in this case the distance between the plants should be at least 25 cm;

If your tomato seedlings wither on the window, then you need to urgently take action, most often the reason is insufficient watering or insufficient lighting. Therefore, if necessary, supplement the illumination of the plants, and as for watering, remember that as the plants grow, they consume more moisture, so its amount should constantly increase.

Factor 5 - proper plant care

Now let's figure out how a tomato is grown on a window. To achieve the best yield, several important requirements must be observed:

Plants should be on the south or east side to get enough light... If you grow tomatoes in autumn or winter, it is better to apply additional lighting and use a lamp to increase daylight hours by 2-3 hours, this will significantly improve fruit setting and ripening;
The first feeding is done 3 weeks after transplanting to a permanent place, then this work is done every two weeks. Spray the plants with a milk solution from time to time, as mold can also appear at any time if you do not take preventive measures;
Do not water the tomatoes too often, this is done as the top layer of the soil dries up, in a cloudy season, watering is usually done once every 3 days, and in hot weather - every other day or even daily. In the heat, you can spray plants from a household sprayer to prevent the leaves from drying out;
At air temperatures above 30 degrees, it is better to remove tomatoes from the sun so that they do not burn... In addition, being in the heat provokes the growth of plants in height, and we do not need this at all;
Tomatoes are not afraid of drafts, so in warm weather you can take them out onto the balcony and open the windows wide. In the summer, they can not be brought into the house at all, provided that the temperature does not drop below 15 degrees at night;

When the tomatoes bloom, you need to shake the brushes with inflorescences in the morning to improve pollination.... You can also treat plants with a special composition "Ovary", which improves the formation of fruits and helps to increase yields;

If you have a variety that produces stepchildren, then they must be broken off at a distance of 5 mm from the point of their formation. This is necessary so that they do not waste extra nutrients, and accelerate the setting and ripening of fruits;

If the bushes are tall or on small plants a lot of ovaries have formed and there is a danger of damage to the bush, then it is better to put a peg and tie up the bush. The support allows you to withstand any loads, and is required for bushes that are higher than 40 cm;

When the tomatoes begin to ripen, they should be picked so that the plant wastes nutrients on the unripe ovaries. Don't worry if the tomatoes are a little sour, put them on the window and after 2 days they will be delicious and sweet.

Conclusion

It is not difficult to grow tomatoes, the main thing for you is to do this work at least once, and then with experience everything will be easy at all. Your crops will take literally 10 minutes a day, so even those who get home late can grow tomatoes. The video in this article will help you understand the topic even better, and if you have questions, write them in the comments below.

September 21, 2016

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