Vegetable growing » Tomatoes
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Kira Stoletova
Breeders have managed to create a large number of different varieties of tomatoes. It is believed that tomatoes do not belong to the category of vegetables that tolerate long-distance transport, but the Pink King tomato is an exception to this rule.
Description of the Pink Tsar tomato
Description of the tomato variety Pink Tsar
Pink king tomatoes are tall, indeterminate plants. The growth of the tomato bush continues after the formation of the first ovaries and continues throughout the season, even during fruiting.
For this variety, it is not uncommon to find plants reaching a height of 1.8 m even before the first green fruits appear. However, on average, the height of the bushes is about 1.5 m. Depending on the growth rate of the plant during the initial growing season, the formation of bushes is carried out in 1 or 2 stems.
The Pink Tsar tomato bushes, despite their high growth, have a small volume. Plant foliage is moderate. The leaves themselves are medium-sized, with slight roughness. The degree of leaf dissection is low.
The color of the foliage of the Pink Tsar tomato depends on the moisture the plant receives. With excess moisture or its normal amount, the stems and leaves of the plant are dark green. If there is not enough moisture, first the stem lightens, and after some time the leaves lighten.
The flower size is medium. The color is predominantly yellow, in rare cases light yellow. Like most nightshades, the inflorescences are a simple raceme.
The growing season of the Pink Tsar tomato is quite long - it can last up to 90 days. In this case, the ripening period ranges from 3.5 to 4 months. That is, the formation of fruits occurs quite quickly: they reach full ripeness in less than a month.
Description of fruits
The fruits of the Pink Tsar variety are large, their weight ranges from 200-300 g. Real giants weighing more than 400 g are often found.
The shape of the Pink Tsar tomato fruit is round, with a slight flatness. The color of the fruit can vary from light pink to crimson. The color is mainly affected by the level of light during ripening, but this does not affect the taste in any way. Sometimes the fruits show slight ribbing, especially noticeable in the area of the stalk.
The pulp of the Pink Tsar tomato fruit is medium dense, fleshy and juicy. Typically, each fruit contains 5-6 seed chambers, which contain a small number of seeds.
Attention! Often in the literature this variety is classified as a hybrid and the index “f1” is added to its name.
This is fundamentally incorrect: Pink Tsar is a full-fledged variety, and the small number of seeds in the fruit should not be misleading.
The taste of the Pink Tsar tomato fruit is moderately sweet, without any sour or bitter taste.
The skin of the Pink Tsar tomato fruit is smooth, but at the same time quite durable. This allows them not to crack even with heavy watering, and also tolerate storage and transportation well. Tomatoes can be stored for quite a long time (up to 3 weeks at room temperature, up to 1.5 months in the refrigerator). In addition, they can be collected in a state of technical ripeness with subsequent ripening.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Pink King hybrid
Reviews of the Pink King F1 tomato from those who planted it in their summer cottage are mostly positive. But, despite the large number of positive reviews, the Pink King F1 tomato has not only advantages, but also disadvantages.
- Large-fruited, tomatoes can reach up to 350 g;
- Unpretentiousness to breeding conditions;
- Gives a bountiful harvest throughout the season;
- Fruits can be stored for a long time and not lose their taste;
- Universal use in cooking;
- High resistance to diseases and pests;
- Ovaries can form in any weather conditions;
- Tolerates lack of moisture well.
- Tomatoes Pink King F1 do not tolerate a lack of sunlight;
- With excessive soil moisture, bushes can become infected with gray rot;
- The fruits are not suitable for canning whole.
Characteristics of the variety
In general, the Pink Tsar tomato variety has an excellent set of characteristics. To some extent, this is not surprising, since every year the results of breeding work are getting better and better. This variety is quite young, it is not yet 10 years old, and in terms of the totality of its characteristics it surpasses many 20-30-year-old varieties.
Productivity and fruiting
The timing of fruiting of the Pink Tsar tomato ranges from 108 to 115 days from the appearance of the first shoots. Thus, the harvest time for the Pink Tsar variety in the greenhouse and open ground is at the beginning of June and mid-July, respectively. As a rule, the timing of ripening does not greatly depend on external conditions, and the only way to speed up harvesting is by planting seedlings and planting them in a greenhouse at an earlier date.
The average tomato yield is about 6 kg per 1 sq. m. Depending on the chosen planting scheme, it may vary slightly. Record yields for the Pink Tsar variety are about 7 kg per 1 sq. m; at the same time for 1 sq. m accommodates an average of 4 plants.
Such productivity cannot be considered high, however, its low performance is more than compensated by the excellent taste of this variety.
Area of application of fruits
The Pink Tsar variety is characterized by the versatility of its fruits. The sweetish and rather dense pulp is capable of not losing its properties for a long time. Due to this, the variety is mainly used for preparing salads without acidic additives.
The fruits of this tomato variety can be used in preparing first and second courses. From Pink Tsar tomatoes you can obtain tomato juice, purees, pastes and sauces of good quality. The variety can also be used for canning: the fruits can be preserved either independently or by adding them to lecho, vegetable caviar, etc.
Important! During preservation, the color of the pulp of the Pink Tsar variety of tomatoes changes from pink to whitish-pink.
Despite the fact that this does not affect the taste in any way, many home cooks do not like this color change, and therefore this variety is not often used in canning.
Resistance to diseases and pests
The plant has good resistance to verticillium and late blight. Of the pests, the Pink Tsar tomato variety is vulnerable only to the Colorado potato beetle, but only in the early stages of cultivation.
However, the originator recommends regular treatment of the plant with fungicides, since it is believed that all tomatoes are susceptible to fungal diseases to one degree or another.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Based on the considered description of the Pink Tsar variety, the following advantages of the plant can be noted:
- excellent consumer qualities: good taste and consistency of the pulp;
- large fruit size, excellent presentation;
- versatility in the use of fruits;
- high shelf life of fruits and their ability to be transported;
- Possibility of harvesting in a state of technical ripeness.
The variety has virtually no disadvantages. Conventionally, these include low yields, but if we take the average results in Russia (up to 3 kg per 1 sq. m) or the Moscow region (up to 4 kg per 1 sq. m), then this indicator is at a completely acceptable level.
Pest and disease control
Sometimes Pink King tomatoes may be affected by pests or diseases. Then it’s worth treating them with special preparations or folk remedies as quickly as possible:
- Fungicides “Topaz”, “Fitosporin”, “Maxim” and others.
- Insecticides “Karate”, “Decis”, “Confidor”.
- Folk remedies, for example, 1% solution of baking soda, ammonia, laundry soap shavings.
The treatment is carried out according to standard rules: the solution is sprayed in dry, windless weather, preferably in the evening, so that the sun's rays cannot burn the foliage.
Advice! Potato traps can be used to combat the invasion of Colorado potato beetles. Pieces of peeled raw potatoes are placed in a jar and the pests are caught.
Growing rules
In the southern regions (for example, in the Krasnodar Territory), seedless cultivation of this variety is acceptable. In other regions, seedling cultivation is used with the planting of young plants in greenhouses or open ground, depending on the planned harvest time or climate characteristics.
Planting seedlings
Planting of seedlings takes place in March. Recommended dates for greenhouse cultivation are early March, for outdoor cultivation - late March or early April.
Preliminary preparation of seeds consists of soaking them in a warm (+ 25-30 ° C) solution of potassium permanganate (concentration 0.1-0.2%). At the same stage, seeds are also rejected: those that float to the surface are not planted. After this procedure, the seeds are washed with running water and placed for another day between layers of gauze moistened with warm water.
The soil for planting includes the following components in equal proportions:
- leaf soil;
- compost;
- humus;
- sand.
All components should be prepared in advance, mixed thoroughly and disinfected (using a solution of potassium permanganate or by calcining the soil in the oven).
Attention! It is recommended to add 30 g of superphosphate, potassium sulfate and ammonium nitrate to every 10 liters of soil.
The seedlings are planted in a common container in the form of a box. There is no special need for individual planting; Seating in individual containers is best done after picking.
The distance between plants is no more than 1.5-2 cm. After planting, the boxes are covered with glass or film and placed in a warm place with a temperature of + 24-26 ° C. As soon as the first shoots appear, the boxes are moved to a sunny place and the temperature is lowered to + 15-18 °C at night and + 21-25 °C during the day. Seedlings should be watered and ventilated daily.
Daylight hours for seedlings should consist of 12 hours. If there is a lack of natural lighting, artificial lighting should be used.
Picking is carried out when two true leaves appear. When picking, approximately a third of the plant's root is cut off, which will lead to the formation of a fibrous root system, more suitable for this tomato variety.
In this case, the plants are transplanted into individual containers. It is recommended to immediately transplant young tomatoes into peat pots with a diameter of 10-12 cm, so as not to regularly transplant seedlings into larger containers.
Transfer
Tomatoes are transplanted both into the greenhouse and into open ground 60-65 days after germination. Typically, planting is preceded by a hardening procedure for a period of one week. Plants are planted according to a 50 by 50 cm pattern. However, excessive thickening of the planting is not recommended - usually by 1 square meter. m there are a maximum of 4 bushes.
Tomatoes are planted in the ground, deepening to the very cotyledon leaves. The soil is thoroughly compacted and watered.
In the case of greenhouse cultivation of tomatoes, it is recommended to initially maintain the temperature inside the greenhouse at + 14-16 ° C, gradually increasing it.
Aftercare
Caring for tomatoes is standard: watering every 3-4 days with 2-3 liters of warm water under each bush during the growing season and up to 5 liters during flowering and fruit set. When the fruits ripen, watering is again reduced to 2 liters per bush.
To avoid regularly loosening the soil, it is recommended to use mulching in tomato beds. You can use freshly cut grass, hay, and sawdust as mulch. Mulch layer – up to 10 cm.
Forming a tomato bush is best done in 2 stems. At the same time, all leaves and stepsons are removed, except those located under the first flower brush. Long stems and branches of the plant must be tied to supports.
Tomato fertilizing is carried out 2-3 times per season, and it is recommended to combine mineral and organic fertilizers. For example, the first fertilizing containing nitrogen fertilizers is done with mullein diluted in water (at a concentration of 1 to 10). It is produced 1-2 weeks after planting the seedlings.
The second feeding of the Pink Tsar tomato consists of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. For it you will need to dilute 30 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate in 10 liters of water. This feeding is done when the ovaries appear.
The third fertilizing can be done using wood ash in the amount of 200 g per 1 sq. m. m. It is applied 2-3 weeks before the planned harvest date.
