Tomato Tree. Cultivation And Reproduction

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Let's continue our acquaintance with an unusual tomato tree (tamarillo, cyfomandra). Let's find out the mechanisms of reproduction. Let's learn how to properly care for a perennial plant

Reproduction

Tamarillo is propagated in two ways:

• seeds;

• cuttings.

The second option accelerates the onset of fruiting of the tsifomandra.

Seed method

Seeds in garden stores are difficult to get. The most common variety is Sprut. The rest of the imported varieties are easier to buy in the grocery store with ready-made fruits.

Cut the product into two parts, take out the pulp with a spoon. Put it on a sieve. Rub the mass under running water, highlighting the seeds. Lay them out on the newspaper for drying.

To speed up the germination process, seeds slightly soaked in a cloth are removed for a day in the refrigerator.

Fertile soil is poured into the box with a layer of 15-20 cm. Grooves are cut to a depth of 0.5 cm. The seeds are laid out every 5-10 cm in a row, leaving a row spacing of 15 cm. If space permits, the seeds are sown individually in separate cups. When transplanting in the second option, the lump is not disturbed, the roots are not damaged.

Filled with a fertile layer, compacted soil, watered with water. Cover crops with foil. Shoots appear in a week. From this moment, pay close attention to the supplementary lighting, so that the plants do not stretch, turn on special diode lamps in the morning and in the evening.

Water gently. Instead of plain water, using a solution of potassium permanganate. Several grains per liter of liquid until slightly pink.

Twice a month, watering is replaced by fertilizing with fertilizer "Baikal", diluted according to the instructions on the preparation.

After 1, 5-2 months, the plants are transplanted to a permanent place of residence.

Vegetative way

Having a ready-made tomato tree, further reproduction is carried out by cuttings cut off from the mother plant. Separate young shoots 9-11 cm long from one- or two-year branches. The base diameter does not exceed 1cm. Remove the lower 2 pairs of leaves together with the petioles, the upper ones are slightly shortened. The cut is treated with root powder.

Use containers with a volume of 2-3 liters. Drainage holes are drilled at the bottom. A layer of pebbles is poured. Add soil, consisting of: peat, sand, garden soil in a ratio of 1: 2: 1. The acidic reaction of peat is neutralized with lime fertilizer.

Watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. A hole is formed with a stick, the handle is carefully inserted. Compact the soil with your hand. Cover with a jar.

Every day the plants are aired, removing the shelter for a few minutes. They are fed 2 times a month with humate fertilizer, the rates of use are according to the instructions on the label.

Water as the top layer of the soil dries up, in small doses.

Growing

According to long-term observations, tsifomandra grows for 5-6 years without reducing the quality of fruits ripening all year round. In the southern regions, plants are found at the age of 15 years.

Regular watering with warm water (daily in the heat) helps the plant to maintain the green mass in working order, to form juicy fruits. Drying and waterlogging of the soil should not be allowed.

Morning hours are favorable for watering. The tomato tree has an unusual property: in the morning, the peel of the berries expands, in the evening it returns to its original position. The introduction of water in small rates 2 times a day will lead to rupture of the internal tissue of the fetus.

Top dressing with complex fertilizers for tomatoes with the addition of trace elements (zinc, copper, boron, magnesium) 2 times a month. A powerful green mass requires good nutrition. Mineral components, if desired, are replaced in the summer with herbal infusions of nettle, diluted 1:10.

In the first year, stepchildren are not removed, allowing the culture to form skeletal branches. Pinch the growth points for more powerful tillering.

Pests, diseases on tamarillo plants in our conditions are not observed.

The value of culture, its medicinal properties, application will be considered in the next article.