Tomatoes Are Fattening - What To Do?

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

When tomato seedlings have taken root in the greenhouse and have grown well leaf mass, this is a good sign. But if at the same time the ovary does not form in the tomatoes, then you should be on your guard. It is highly likely that the plant is fattening and urgently needs the help of a gardener

Why do plants fatten?

What is the reason that plants begin to fatten? This happens when there is too much nitrogen in the soil. Perhaps too much organic matter was introduced to the beds or overdosed with mineral fertilizing. From this, the tomatoes form a thick stem, beautiful green foliage, but at the same time the ovary does not appear.

To fix the situation, you need to reduce the impact of nitrogen in the soil on your beds. This can be done in a number of ways.

Rinse or dry?

One of the most effective, but at the same time controversial, ways to reduce the proportion of nitrogen in the soil is to shed an abundant amount of water in the beds. It will work if two conditions are met:

• in the case when top dressing was previously carried out with the help of saltpeter, which is relatively easily washed out of the soil;

• on your site, light sandy or sandy loam soil.

When urea or carbamide was used, the attempt to flush nitrogen from the soil into the deeper layers is likely to fail. In addition, if the earth is clay, black earth, it becomes a dangerous procedure. Moisture will linger in the ground, and high humidity is harmful to tomatoes - this creates favorable conditions for the development of phytophthora, and the roots will also begin to rot.

Another available method to force the plant to form ovaries is to create stressful conditions for it. For this purpose, use the method of overdrying. Watering is stopped until the leaves on the tops of the plants lose their elasticity and smooth out. After that, the first watering can be carried out. Then do another overdrying. Monitor the condition of the tomatoes again. When the tops are straightened, they water again. It should be borne in mind that as a result of such stress, plants can shed some of the flowers. To avoid this, it is recommended to treat the beds with foliar dressing with boric acid before overdrying.

A gentle way to shake up the plant and make it switch from growing greens to fruits is to tear off the lower leaves on the bushes before the first brush. But in advanced cases, it no longer helps.

Knock out a wedge with a wedge?

You can try to neutralize the nitrogen in the soil. For this, potash dressings are used. Potassium sulfate will stop the assimilation of nitrogen by tomatoes.

Another helper in the fight against fatliquoring is the use of raw wood chips as mulch. You have probably come across recommendations to add rotted sawdust to improve the structure of the soil. This is to ensure that fresh shavings do not pull nitrogen out of the soil. But when this element, on the contrary, needs to be neutralized, then fresh raw materials are used.

Create competition

Sowing in the beds with oil radish or mustard tomatoes will help remove excess nitrogen from the soil. When these green manure grows up, they do not have to be embedded in the soil. Instead, the plants are pulled out of the ground and simply left in the garden beds as mulch.

Processing tomatoes to stimulate the ovary

It is possible to stimulate the formation of an ovary on tomatoes with the help of special preparations. But such a remedy is also available to prepare yourself at home. To do this, dissolve 1 g of boric acid in a glass of warm water. A glass of milk and 15 ml of iodine are added to this mixture. A tablespoon of urea is also put here. The resulting solution is diluted in 10 liters of pure water and sprayed with tomatoes in a greenhouse. This composition not only stimulates the formation of the ovary, but also strengthens the plant in general, and ensures the prevention of diseases.