- Category: grade
- Growth type: determinant
- Appointment: fresh consumption, for pickling and preserving
- Ripening period: ultra early
- Ripening time, days: 80-85
- Growing conditions: for open ground, for a balcony, for growing on a windowsill
- Transportability: Yes
- Bush size: undersized
- Bush height, cm: 40
- Ripe fruit color: Red
The unpretentiousness, efficiency and versatility of this culture in use exceeds all the expectations of beginners in the field of gardening. This variety is not ignored by professionals either.
Breeding history
The culture was obtained by the works of breeders of the Scientific Research Institute of Transnistria. The purpose of breeding was to obtain an early maturing variety that grows and bears equally well in open soils and in greenhouses. The Riddle variety, in almost all the required parameters, satisfies the goals pursued by scientists. In addition, the culture has a high degree of resistance to diseases traditional for nightshade crops.
Description of the variety
The culture is determinant, with rather stunted, but powerful and branched bushes, rarely growing more than 40 cm.In greenhouses, their height can reach 60-65 cm.
The shoots are strong, with compact clusters, on which 5-7 fruits are located. The number of leaves on the plants is average, there is no thickening, and the leaves are small in size.
Of the advantages of culture, we note:
- ultra-early ripening of fruits;
- excellent taste;
- compactness of plants;
- lack of stepchildren;
- undemanding lighting (they bear fruit in shaded places);
- unpretentious care;
- tomatoes have proven themselves well during transportation (they do not crack);
- dimensional uniformity of tomatoes;
- an increased degree of resistance to most diseases and pest attacks (fruits ripen earlier than diseases develop).
Gardeners note the absence of pronounced shortcomings in the variety, except for the need to harvest the tops (after harvesting the fruits) and soil reclamation.
The main qualities of the fruit
Fruits of a rounded shape, with indistinct ribbing near the stalk, bright red shades, with a dense peel that prevents cracking and deformation at an increased level of humidity and transportation. The consistency is juicy. The weight of ripe fruits taken from open ground is about 90-100 g. Fruits grown in greenhouses reach a mass of 110-115 g.
Taste characteristics
Tomatoes have a pleasant and sweet taste. Tasting score - 5 points.
Ripening and fruiting
From the time of emergence of seedlings to full ripening of fruits, 80-85 days pass - the fruiting process starts in the first decade of June. Aging occurs amicably.
Yield
High-yielding variety. The yield reaches 9-10 kg / m2.
The timing of planting seedlings and planting in the ground
Sowing dates for seedlings begin from about mid-April, and the process of planting seedlings in the soil in the first decade of May (under film shelters). Fruit harvesting begins in July-August.
Growing tomato seedlings is an extremely important process, because it largely depends on whether the gardener can harvest at all. All aspects must be taken into account, from seedbed preparation to planting in the ground.
Landing scheme
A typical landing pattern is 30x30 cm.
Growing and care
The culture is grown in seedlings. When purchasing seeds in stores, one should not forget about their shelf life, since old seeds lose 20-50% of germination. To obtain seeds, you should squeeze them out of the first ripe fruit yourself into a small container. Next, water is poured into the container, soaking the seeds for 3 days. By the end of the third day, the seeds sink to the bottom. At the end of 3 days, the water is drained, and the seeds are washed with running water and dried.
Containers for planting seedlings should be 5-8 cm high. They are filled with a special soil mixture (industrial or self-made). You can prepare such a soil by mixing peat, fine-grained sand, humus and turf soil in equal proportions. Another composition - mix 1 part of compost and 1 part of turf soil, adding 2 tablespoons of wood ash (per 10 liters of soil mixture).
The main requirement for the prepared soil mixture is its lightness and good permeability - it must perfectly pass air and moisture, and be nutritious. After irrigation, no dry crust should form on it.
Containers with seedlings (covered with a film) are placed in rooms with a temperature of + 22-23? C, at lower temperatures, seedlings will not appear. If sprouts appear from the containers, they are removed.
Seedlings of the Riddle do not fertilize - they have enough nutrients in the soil mixture. Nutrient surpluses can only impair the development of plants.
After the seedlings have formed 2-3 true leaves, a pick is carried out into separate containers. Then, to a moderate extent, fertilizing is done with mineral fertilizers. When transplanting bushes into one large container, they should be placed at a distance of at least 10 cm from each other. Disembarkation scheme:
- 3-4 shallow grooves are made in wet soil, located at least 4 cm from each other;
- seeds are placed in the finished grooves, with a depth of 1-2 cm, without tamping tightly;
- after planting, the soil is slightly pressed down;
- irrigation should be moderate;
- end the landing by covering the container with a plastic bag.
About transplanting a variety. The crop is shade tolerant. Nevertheless, it develops more effectively in lighted and not windy places. Soil types are not particularly relevant here. In autumn, places suitable for planting are dug up and fertilized. For fertilization, a mixture is used (per 1 m2):
- superphosphate - 50 g;
- potassium sulfate - 40 g;
- ammonium nitrate - 30 g.
Landing in the ground on cloudy days or in the evening is more productive. When transferring seedlings, you should not lay the bushes sideways (you can damage them).
Transplant scheme:
- according to the landing scheme, holes are prepared at a depth of 18-20 cm;
- the holes are filled with water, and when it goes down, the seedlings are placed in the holes along with an earthen lump;
- compost is poured near the seedlings (a little);
- the bushes are sprinkled with earth to the first leaf and lightly tamp the soil;
- then the young are abundantly irrigated - about 1 liter of water per 1 bush;
- pegs (40-50 cm high) are dug in near the seedlings, the seedlings are tied up (with hemp threads).
Caring for this unpretentious variety consists of regular watering. This is done in the evenings and only with warm water. Leaves should not be watered. Before the appearance of ovaries, irrigation is carried out, focusing on the condition of the soil (it should not be dry).
The beginning of fruiting indicates the need to reduce watering to 1 time per week (here you should be guided by the peculiarities of the weather).
Culture practically does not form stepchildren, in any case they are removed. Placed in the soil, they quickly take root and form new bushes.
Weeding and loosening the soil are mandatory operations.In addition, we recommend mulching the soil with stale sawdust, since fresh sawdust strongly oxidizes the soil.
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
Resistance to typical diseases of nightshade crops is an integral property of the Riddle. The reason for this is the earlier ripening of the fruits of the culture (late blight and other fungal infections do not ripen in terms of development).
The quick ripening period allows you to save on chemical protection substances, since the Riddle very rarely gets sick.
The culture is extremely little susceptible to fungal diseases and pest attacks (it is practically not interested in insects). It also does not need preventive measures usual for nightshade crops. However, as a safety net, you can spray the plant with any factory fungicide.
