Small tomatoes are as good as big ones
small tomatoes, also called cherry or cocktail. Not only are small tomatoes easy to grow in open ground, they are also suitable for balcony and window sill cultivation. But among the many different varieties of small tomatoes, there are those varieties that can only be grown at home in the summer, for example "Balcony Miracle", and there are those that can bear fruit even in the already cold season with short daylight hours, but with lighting, for example hybrids Cherry Lisa, Cherry Lykopa, Cherry Mio, Cherry Kira and so on. The fruits of these tomatoes are perfectly stored (especially if you remove the tomatoes from the trusses), do not crack, are suitable for freezing, canning and are very sweet. Hybrid varieties of small tomatoes are also disease resistant.
Grow small tomatoes of these varieties on the windowsill can be done in two ways: at the end of summer, carefully place the bushes in flowerpots (to save still well-bearing bushes from frost), or immediately in May, plant them in pots and put them in the garden, and then simply bring them into the house (so they are less injured).
Pots for tomatoes need to be large - from eight to ten liters, it is in such pots that the plant will feel good, its roots will breathe. For drainage, it is better to use expanded clay placed on the bottom of the pot; the substrate should be selected from garden soil, peat and sand.
Care Tomatoes in pots need to be cared for in the same way as tomatoes in open ground, only you need to monitor the moisture content of the substrate more carefully. You need to move tomatoes home prepared, that is, from the beginning of August you need to form up to four stems on the bush so that the fruits have already set. Tomatoes on the windowsill need to install a lamp to extend the daylight hours for them to 12 hours; without additional lighting, tomatoes will bear fruit until approximately December. It is better to protect tomatoes from the hot air of the radiators, so the best place for them would be a closed, insulated loggia, or you need to install a special screen that will protect the plants from the hot air of the radiators.
Tomatoes need to be fed regularly, and the fruits in the clusters need to be rationed so that the plant does not become too depleted.
Comments
Our neighbor grew these tomatoes on her balcony last year. It was funny to see tomatoes on the balcony instead of flowers. This year she also planted cucumbers - not a balcony, but a vegetable garden!
I wonder what kind of lighting is needed on the balcony for “winter” tomatoes? Growing in summer is somehow more understandable if you have ever been involved in gardening.
And how wonderful small tomatoes look in jars of pickles! They are probably grown in open ground only for canning; it is unlikely that they will grow in sufficient quantities on the balcony for this.