As evidenced by numerous reviews, the Lady's fingers tomato has a good yield and excellent taste. In addition, seedlings of this variety feel good during growth in a greenhouse and open ground, so they can be planted in a place more convenient for you.
Description of the variety Ladies fingers and its characteristics
Tomato Ladies fingers, the fruits of which ripen quite early, belongs to determinant varieties. A big plus is that these tomatoes are not considered a hybrid, so everyone can easily collect its seeds by selecting fruits from the "more successful" bushes.
Despite the fact that Ladies' fingers according to the characteristics are recommended for growing in the open field, they do well during growth in greenhouse conditions. In the first case, the bush grows up to 0.5-0.6 m, whereas under film shelters, the plant height reaches 1.2 m.
A tomato is formed in 2 trunks, so pinching is not required.
The compact bush has leaves of a dark green hue and simple inflorescences. One brush, which is tied after 1-2 leaves, contains 5-6 fruits.
Description of the variety:
- elongated cylindrical shape;
- the length of the fruit is about 10 cm;
- deep red tint;
- smooth surface;
- average weight - 50-70 g, while large tomatoes often weigh 145 g;
- fruit pulp - juicy, aromatic, with a slight sourness.
Variety Ladies fingers can be attributed to early ripening, because its fruits ripen only for 102-112 days... They start picking tomatoes at the end of June, and the tomatoes themselves can hang on the branches until the beginning of autumn.
Breeding history
Tomato variety Ladies fingers has been known for a long time, since the end of the last century. However, until 2006 it was not included in the State Seed Register. Only after Lyubov Myazina brought out the selected form of tomato, this variety was officially recognized.
Currently, gardeners have several varieties of ladies' fingers, each of which differs in the shape of the grown tomatoes.
These are elongated pear-shaped tomatoes with a pointed lower part, as well as elongated-cylindrical fruits with a "nose".
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantages of the variety:
- drought resistance;
- good keeping quality and transportability;
- excellent taste;
- unpretentiousness to care.
Tomato fruits ripen well on bushes or in a plucked state.
The disadvantages include:
- the requirement for a large amount of light;
- a good harvest of tomatoes is possible only in regions with warm climates;
- not suitable for making tomato juice.
If you provide the necessary growing conditions for the tomato Lady's fingers, then the disadvantages of this variety can be avoided.
Planting seeds
They start planting seeds of this variety in mid-March, 55-60 days before the expected planting of tomatoes in the ground. Before planting, the seeds must be soaked for 15 minutes in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then rinsed with warm water.
Sowing tomatoes is carried out to a depth of 1-2 cm (2 seeds should be placed on 1 cm²). Then we cover the container for growing seedlings with polyethylene to create a greenhouse effect in it.
After the first shoots appear, the container must be installed on the lightest windowsill, and also during the week to maintain the temperature - 15-16 degrees, so that the sprouts do not have time to stretch. After that, the temperature is raised to 20-22 degrees. When 2 real leaves appear, the seedlings dive.
Transplanting seedlings into open ground
The seedlings are planted at a permanent planting site 2 months after sowing the seeds.
For 1 m² it is recommended to place no more than 6-8 plantsso that the distance between the bushes is 50 cm... The distance between the rows should be 60 cm.
Further care for tomatoes consists in timely watering, feeding, removing weeds. Preventive measures aimed at protecting bushes from pests and diseases are of particular importance.
Agricultural technology of cultivation
Caring for a tomato Lady's fingers is quite simple. Since this variety has a compact shape, it does not need to be shaped by pinching.
If the tomato is pulled too much, then it be sure to tie upso that the strong wind does not break the bush.
Tomato Lady's Fingers needs abundant watering 2-3 times a week. If the weather is hot, then watering is performed every day. The optimum temperature for a high yield is 19-26 degrees.
How to get seeds for planting next year
For seeds, it is required to choose fruits that are red and endowed with a characteristic variety of shape.
To harvest the seeds, the fruits must be slightly brown... Before collecting the seeds, the tomatoes are washed, cut with a knife and squeezed out the juice and pulp into a small container.
After squeezing out the pulp, the dishes are covered with gauze, and then placed in a dark place. In this case, water is not added to the mass, as it will cause the death of the seed.
When the juice becomes lighter, on the surface of the jar contents film and bubbles will be noticeable, and the seeds will go down to the bottom of the container. Thereafter you can separate the seeds.
Then you need to perform a number of actions:
- the seeds are washed;
- spread on a cotton cloth to remove excess moisture;
- laid out on paper in a thin layer for drying;
- stir periodically.
The finished seeds are stored in a dry place in paper bags, their germination is preserved 5-9 years oldbut it is better to apply them no later than 4 years.
Diseases and prevention
This variety is different medium resistance to disease... It is most prone to damage by mosaics, which is manifested in a change in the shade of the leaf, on which emerald-amber spots appear. In addition, the branches of the plant twist and change, the bush looks sick.
The crop from the affected plant may be small or not at all, so be sure to manually remove all affected areas, trying not to touch the sap of the plant, through which the disease is transmitted. The removed plants are burned. Mosaic develops both in the greenhouse and in the open field.
For the prevention of diseases, the seeds are pickled in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate before sowing.
To get a good harvest of tomatoes of the Lady Finger variety, it is enough to follow the basic agrotechnical techniques. This is a variety that is not demanding to care for, so a beginner can easily handle it.