- Authors: Russia
- Name synonyms: Grandpa's Cock's Plume
- Category: grade
- Growth type: indeterminate
- Appointment: universal
- Ripening period: mid-season
- Growing conditions: for greenhouses
- Marketability: high
- Transportability: Yes
- Bush size: tall
Tomato Grandfather's cock feather appeared more than a hundred years ago. At the same time, despite the variety of other, newer varieties, it does not lose its popularity. The reasons are the interesting shape of the fruit, excellent taste, good keeping quality and some other advantages.
Description of the variety
A synonym for the Russian name is Grandpa's Cock's Plume. Bushes are indeterminate, can grow up to 2 meters. The leaves have a standard shape and color. The variety is thermophilic and is recommended for greenhouse cultivation.
The main qualities of the fruit
Tomatoes have an attractive heart shape and a raspberry pink hue. The skin is of medium density. The pulp is juicy, fleshy. There are few seeds. The presentation of the harvested fruits is preserved for a long time. It is recommended to store tomatoes in closed boxes with sawdust at a temperature of 12-13 degrees. At the same time, the variety tolerates transportation well, which makes it ideal for sale.
Taste characteristics
Intense sweet taste and pleasant aroma make tomatoes suitable for all salads and preserves. They make excellent juices, sauces, pastas, pickles.
Ripening and fruiting
Grandfather's cock feather is a mid-season variety. Fruiting begins at the end of July and continues until autumn. After picking, the berries can be stored for several months.
Yield
Fruits appear in clusters of 6 in large numbers. The minimum weight of one berry is 150 g. With proper care, you can get tomatoes weighing 350 g.
The timing of planting seedlings and planting in the ground
Sowing seeds for seedlings is recommended to be carried out 2 months before planting in the greenhouse. The soil should be fertile and loose. The optimum air temperature is 22-25 degrees. Also, daily watering with warm water is required. After the appearance of the first shoots, the temperature regime decreases to 17-18 degrees during the day, and 11-12 at night. After a week, the seedlings are again placed in the warmth. Water the sprouts weekly.
When 2-3 leaves appear, the seedlings are moved into separate containers. The size of each must be at least 500 ml. This will allow the Rooster Feather root system to fully develop. 14 days after picking, the soil is enriched with liquid mineral compositions. When the seedlings reach two months of age, the culture is planted in a greenhouse. By this time, you can already see real leaves (7-8 pieces each) and brushes with inflorescences.
Growing tomato seedlings is an extremely important process, because it largely depends on whether the gardener will be able to harvest at all. All aspects must be taken into account, from seedbed preparation to planting in the ground.
Landing scheme
A maximum of 3 plants are placed per square meter. When formed into 1 stem, it is allowed to plant 4 seedlings in a meter space.
Growing and care
Tall bushes must be tied to a support. Therefore, it is worth organizing a trellis or single pegs for each plant. Be sure to remove stepchildren weekly. In general, care does not differ from standard recommendations (systematic watering, loosening the soil, timely weeding).
A plant needs different micronutrients at each stage of growth. All fertilizers can be divided into two groups: mineral and organic. Folk remedies are often used: iodine, yeast, bird droppings, eggshells.
It is important to observe the rate and period of feeding. This also applies to folk remedies and organic fertilizers.
Disease and pest resistance
Grandfather's cock feather is a variety that is resistant to most diseases. However, special attention should be paid to the prevention of fungal infections. Be sure to regularly ventilate the greenhouse, thinning the plantings (if necessary). If a plant is susceptible to disease, it should be treated with a copper-containing compound or "Fitosporin".
Review overview
All gardeners who grow this variety note its excellent taste and aroma. The sweetness of the fruit is pleasant both fresh and salted. High yield pleases. The best results are obtained when formed in 2 stems. Attempts to grow the variety in the open field show that it is better not to neglect the recommendations and plant the tomato in a greenhouse. In the protected space, Grandfather's cock feather invariably shows its best side and makes you want to continue its cultivation from year to year.
