Detailed instructions for growing tomatoes on a windowsill in winter and summer

Who among us does not dream of fresh vegetables that you can eat not only in season? Why go to the supermarket in the 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 year-round "exploitation", or whether the crop will ripen in the 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:

1. Sort out hollow seeds by soaking everything in salted water (those that come up are not suitable for seedlings).
2. 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, well moistened 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, besides, store land already contains all the necessary nutrients, and there is no need to add additional components.

If there is a desire and opportunity, the soil for growing tomatoes on the windowsill you can cook it 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 foil and placed on a bright window. Periodically ventilate the greenhouse or make several small holes in the film to avoid the accumulation of condensate. The 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;
• additional lighting with special lamps 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 ampel 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 mineral fertilizers 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 fruit.

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

Dwarf tomato varieties do not need pinching and a garter, but in higher species, a support should be installed and a bush should be formed into one or two stems, and the stepsons 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 lightly 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 poured 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 late blight... In order to prevent its manifestation, it is important not to fill the bushes and drain the water from the pan. 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 in early spring with delicious fruits.Some of the most popular varieties are the following tomatoes:

1. Balcony miracle. The height of a dense, even bush is no more than 60 cm. Small, round, bright red and sweet tomatoes ripen 90 days after sowing. The mass of one tomato is not more than 60 g. From one such dwarf, you can take up to 2 kg of fruits.
2. Oak. The variety is not hybrid, early ripening, slightly branched, with a bush height of 40 to 60 cm. Rounded tomatoes weighing up to 100 g ripen simultaneously, the pulp is fleshy, with a slight sourness. It requires artificial pollination in indoor cultivation, but it has a high resistance to late blight.
3. Ruby Ed. The variety was created specifically for growing on windowsills, balconies and terraces. The bushes are compact, up to 50 cm in height. Small fruits weighing from 20 to 50 g have a sweet taste and rich red color.
4. White filling. Bushes up to 70 cm in height grow equally well both in the open field and in a pot. The fruits ripen in 85 days, they are large enough (up to 130 g), rounded, red with a slight white tint. The pulp is juicy, with sourness, the skin is dense.
5. Red Riding Hood. High-yielding variety up to 70 cm high with thick stems. Red-orange fruits weigh 70 g, the pulp is juicy, sweet and sour.
6. Leopold. An ultra-ripe variety with a height of 70 cm. Fruits are dull red, weighing about 100 g.

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 cherry tomato... 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 such 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 outside or onto the balcony, not forgetting to take them into the house with a cold snap.

Growing a tomato on a windowsill is a fun 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!

Video recommendations for growing tomatoes on a windowsill