The purpose of growing horticultural crops is to obtain healthy, bountiful harvest. All the efforts of summer residents and gardeners are aimed at starting to enjoy the fruits of their labor as quickly as possible.
It is all the more offensive when large, developed fruits do not want to be filled with ripe juices and, for no apparent reason, lag behind in ripening. Tomato is just such a crop. Often large fruits for a long time remain green, they have to be collected unripe, and then left to ripen in dark cellars. Of course, tomatoes in this form are inferior in taste to those ripened on bushes under the sun.
What factors influence the ripening of tomatoes, and what can you feed tomatoes to make them turn red faster?
Reasons for slow ripening of tomatoes
If you want your tomato crop to ripen well on the bushes, first of all you need select varieties that are adequate climatic conditions your region. Seedlings should be planted in open ground when the soil is well warmed up. Sudden changes temperatures can delay plant development and fruit ripening for a long time.
And, of course, immediately after planting in open ground (or in a greenhouse, under a film cover) it is necessary to stimulate the plant to rapid growth and full development. The faster the ovaries appear on the bushes, the faster the ripening process of tomatoes will begin.
Video: A simple way to speed up the ripening of tomatoes
First, tomatoes require nitrogen-containing fertilizers to build up green mass and strengthen stems and roots. When planting seedlings, it is good to add mullein infusion or a fermented solution of green weeds into the holes (or under the roots). You can add wood ash to them as a source of beneficial microelements.
Another important reason for the delay in the ripening of tomatoes is the thickening of plantings. Seedlings planted at a distance of 40-50 cm from each other, row spacing - 70 cm. The bushes must be tied to supports, the leaves must be torn off so as not to create obstacles to the sun's rays.
How to fertilize tomatoes to make them ripen faster?
During the entire growing season, tomatoes must be fed: in order for the plant to have the strength to grow and bear abundant fruit, it must receive adequate nutrition. How to feed tomatoes so that the fruits ripen faster? Here is one of the popular recipes for accelerating aging:
- 2 liter jars wood ash dilute with 3 liters of boiling water, stir well, cool, add up to 10 liters of water;
- add to solution 1 bottle of iodine (30 ml) and 1 sachet of boric acid (10 g), let stand for a day;
- for root feeding have to take 1 liter of mother solution, dilute it in 10 liters of water and pour 1 liter under each bush.
Boron and iodine promote rapid ripening, increase the sugar content of fruits, improve taste, increase yield and shelf life of fruits, and also protect plants from late blight. Useful microelements saturate the soil, nourish plants, and increase their immunity.
IMPORTANT! Fertilizing with ash should be applied to moist soil to avoid burns to the root system of tomatoes.
Feeding with iodine
Iodine has a positive effect on ripening, and in order for tomatoes to turn red faster, foliar feeding is carried out (leaves, stems, especially the root part, and fruits are sprayed). For this prepare a solution of 40 drops of iodine and 10 liters of warm water.
IMPORTANT! All fertilizing - root and foliar - is applied only in a warm form. The water temperature for the solution should be equal to the soil temperature
The effectiveness of potassium fertilizers for tomato ripening
What else can you feed tomatoes to make the fruits ripen faster? During this period, tomato fruits need potassium - its deficiency slows down the ripening process. Potassium humate – organic fertilizer, under the influence of which the taste of the fruit improves, the size of the berries increases and ripening accelerates.
10 g of potassium humate are diluted in 2 liters of hot water, left for 2 hours, then the solution is poured into a 200 liter barrel of water, stirred and watered at the root of the tomatoes. Moisture should not fall on the leaves to prevent late blight from developing.
How to feed tomatoes in a greenhouse
For greenhouse tomatoes, the same fertilizing and spraying is used. In order for the tomatoes in the greenhouse to fill and turn red faster, the doors of the room are kept closed most of the day. In the morning and evening hours, ventilation is carried out to remove condensation from the greenhouse.
These simple rules care and nutrition of tomatoes will help to collect stable, rich harvests of ripe fruits.
Did you like the article? Share with your friends:If the summer was cold, then the tomatoes do not have time to fully ripen. To speed up their ripening, special agrotechnical techniques are used. Some of the most effective ones can be found below.
The most important and urgent
Cold nights cause heavy morning dew, which can cause the appearance of. This dangerous disease can destroy a crop in a matter of days, even hours. If the tomatoes were not sprayed in summer Bordeaux mixture or another similar drug, this must be done urgently.
You can cover the beds at night plastic film, which is stretched over pre-installed arcs of smooth reinforcement. This technique will not only speed up ripening, but also protect the crop from late blight. It is advisable not to water or fertilize during this period.
Removing flowers, stepsons and lower leaves
All flower stalks are removed, since they will not produce a new harvest, but nutrients they will take it away. Tall bushes are necessary to detain further growth plants. This technique will force the tomatoes to devote all their resources to ripening the fruits. All lower leaves up to the tomatoes must be removed, as they can very quickly develop late blight. Moreover, there is no particular benefit from them during this period.
If tomatoes are grown on trellises, then the most productive branches can be turned to sunny side using garter material. Low-growing bushes are supported or tied to pegs.
Fruit care
When the fruits begin to ripen, you can limit the supply of nutrients to them so that they begin to ripen more intensively. To do this, you can influence the plant as follows:
1. Through cuts are made in the stems, into which wooden spacers are inserted. This technique, although quite troublesome, is very effective.
2. You can also lightly hold the lower part and lightly pull the plant, turning it clockwise.
3. Several loops copper wire wound on the lower part of the stem, no higher than 3-4 cm from the ground.
For ripening, large and brown fruits are collected in the morning and sorted. Healthy tomatoes should ripen in a dry and ventilated area. For accelerated maturation You can take advantage of the fact that in a bright place they ripen much faster, and in the dark more slowly, but evenly. For slower ripening, they are laid in 2-3 layers, sprinkled with dry sand or sawdust at a temperature of 8-10 ⁰C. For faster reddening of the fruits, you can raise the ambient temperature to 20-25 ⁰C. You can add ripe fruits, which stimulate the redness of the rest.
What to pour on tomatoes to make them turn red
Throughout the growing season, watering should be carried out regularly, taking into account weather. The yield of tomatoes and the speed of ripening depend on this. Can be used drip irrigation, because a large number of water can lead to cracking of the fruits and changes in their taste. As soon as a crust has formed under the plants, watering can be carried out. But during the flowering period, the soil under the tomatoes should be moist. In hot weather, plants should be watered only in the morning.
Before to sang faster, it is best to try a proven method. For this purpose, it is allowed to carry out morning hours 1-2 foliar feedings with a weak iodine solution. For this purpose, add 30-40 drops of iodine tincture to a bucket of water.
In order for tomatoes to grow fruit more intensively, they are fed only with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers at the beginning of ripening.
How to water tomatoes to make them ripen faster
But not everyone knows what to water tomatoes to make them ripen faster. Some experienced gardeners It is recommended to use pressed or dry yeast. This feeding develops the root system, and the fruits become more tasty. Fresh 100 gr. yeast is dissolved in 10 liters of water. Add 5 tablespoons of sugar, a glass of sifted wood ash and 0.5 liters of infusion of fermented chicken manure.
This composition must be left for 2-3 days in a warm place so that it ferments. For 10 liters of water, add a liter of this fertilizer and pour 1-2 glasses under each bush. It is important that the composition does not get on the leaves. This replenishment should be carried out once a month.
- In the first ten days of August, when cold dew begins to fall, place arches on the tomato plantation and cover the plantings with film overnight. Moisture will settle on it, but the fruits will remain dry. This will reduce the possibility of late blight.
- To speed up the ripening of tomatoes, you can spray the plants with an iodine solution (30-40 drops per 10 liters of water at 1.5 linear meters beds). It’s time to stop watering and fertilizing.
- Branches low growing plants carefully turn them towards the sun, securing them with spacers, place slingshots under the hands.
- Collect all the brown and large green tomatoes and place them to ripen.
- Pinch off the tops of the plants. Leave two or three leaves above the inflorescences with already established tomatoes - they will ensure the growth of fruits.
- The lower leaves should be removed down to the trusses on which the tomatoes are already ripening.
- On low-growing and medium-growing bushes, you can leave a maximum of four or five tassels, so all excess flower tassels will have to be broken out. After these operations, the bushes will spend energy not on growth, but on filling the ovary.
- At the end of the month, when the fruits have time to fill, perform any of the operations that limit the supply of moisture and nutrients from the roots:
- in the stems at a height of 8-12 cm from the ground, make sharp knife longitudinal through cuts 7-10 cm long, insert wooden chips into them so that the cracks do not close;
- or, holding the lower part of the stem, slightly pull the plant up several times, while twisting in the direction of the arrow;
- or tighten several rings of thin copper wire on the stem at a height of 3-4 cm from the soil surface.
What to do with tomatoes growing in a greenhouse to speed up the ripening of the crop:
The same manipulations, but a little later, are done with greenhouse tomatoes. If the greenhouse is not heated, 6-7 brushes are left on the plants, in heated ones - 10-12. Before the onset of frost, the fruits on the middle clusters will have time to ripen completely, and those on the upper ones - partially. Remove any emerging stepsons. The number of leaves is gradually increased to 13-18.
Methods for ripening tomatoes
- Large green fruits that have begun to turn brown are collected in the morning, before they are heated by the sun, and sorted. Healthy ones are placed for ripening in a dry, ventilated area. In the light they ripen faster, in the dark - more evenly.
- If you want the tomatoes to ripen slowly, select fruits of the same degree of ripeness, lay them in two or three layers, sprinkle them with sawdust, and store them at 8-10 °C.
- To accelerate ripening, the temperature is raised to 20-25°C and red fruits are added. They emit ethylene, which in plants is responsible for the “aging” of the body. It is when tomatoes get old that they turn red.
Tomato is a southern plant that requires a lot of heat and light. Therefore, where the summer is short, its fruits often simply do not have time to ripen, and harvest losses can amount to more than 50%. To avoid this, you can use a number of simple techniques that allow you to harvest earlier than usual.
For fast maturing In order to obtain fruit, first of all, the tomato bushes must be formed correctly. The more stepsons and branches there are on a bush, the more energy is spent on their growth and development. If you need to get ripe tomatoes in more short term, you need to grow the bushes into one trunk, mercilessly removing all the stepsons that appear.
Helps speed up the ripening of tomatoes and pinching of the tops when the growing point is removed. This is usually recommended to be done on the central stem and not earlier than above the third flower cluster. When performing this technique, you must ensure that at least 2-3 leaves remain above the last cluster, which will ensure the growth and filling of the set fruits.
Helps speed up the ripening and removal of unripe, but already browned and beginning to ripen fruits. They can be successfully ripened somewhere in a dry and warm place. The green tomatoes remaining on the branches will fill faster and will sooner reach the stage of so-called “technical” ripeness.
To speed up ripening, stop all feeding and watering starting in the second half of July. Tomatoes that find themselves on a meager ration ripen faster than those growing on fertile soil.
You can also speed up the ripening of tomatoes by tearing the roots. In this way, the nutrition of the bush is also limited. But when using this method, we must remember that it can sharply reduce yields.
Spraying saline solution used at the first signs of late blight disease. It allows you to save fruits by accelerating their ripening. Per liter of water take approximately 100 g of ordinary table salt and the resulting solution is treated with diseased specimens. As a result of this procedure, all the leaves on them will turn yellow, the growth of the bushes will stop, and all the power of the plants will be directed to the ripening of already formed fruits. A thin film of salt deposited on the fruits will protect them from damage.
For the same purpose, spraying with superphosphate is also used, after pre-infusion in warm water– One tablespoon is enough per glass. After holding for a couple of days, the infusion is poured into a bucket of water and the tomato leaves are treated. After which they darken, and ripening accelerates.
There are more exotic ways accelerating the ripening of tomatoes. One of them is putting on green tomatoes plastic bag. It is based on the fact that tomatoes turn red much faster if you place a ripe fruit next to them, which produces ethylene gas. A small but already ripe tomato is placed in a bag, which is placed directly on a bunch of tomatoes growing on a branch and tied. They do not keep it in this form for long - about three days. Then the package is removed. In 80% of cases, green tomatoes turn brown after two or three days.
You can simply put multi-layer polyethylene “covers” with a slit at the bottom on green tomato brushes so that accumulated moisture can drain. In such “clothes” the fruits can continue to grow and ripen even after the first frost.
It has long been noted that a significant difference in the rate of ripening is observed in fruits that have certain mechanical damage. If you specifically pierce the fruit in several places with a clean wooden stick, it will ripen much faster than its healthy neighbors.
Accelerates the ripening of tomatoes and the longitudinal splitting of the stem near the root collar. The stem is cut with a knife and a special spacer is inserted into the resulting through gap - wooden stick about 4 - 5 millimeters thick.
Some experts suggest doing green tomatoes injections of ethanol, or simply vodka. This does not affect the taste or vitamin content, but such fruits ripen much faster. This method of accelerating ripening was tested at the St. Petersburg University of Food Technologies. Tomatoes that had reached the normal size for their variety were injected with 0.5 ml of regular forty-proof vodka. After twelve days, most of the treated tomatoes were already orange or brown in color. And after another week, almost all the fruits were ripe. It was noted that the industrial application of this method is unlikely to be advisable, but in private farms it may well be used.
There are also special chemicals, spraying with which you can significantly accelerate the ripening of tomato fruits. But no one has studied seriously enough how these substances, when they get into vegetables, will affect humans. Amateur vegetable growers who used such spraying noted that ripening actually occurs faster, but the taste of the tomatoes becomes similar to lettuce.
In any case, each gardener must choose a method for accelerating the ripening of tomatoes independently, depending on local conditions and the result he wants to get.
Not the entire tomato crop has time to ripen within summer season. When the first cold dew appears, many green fruits can be observed in the plots and in the greenhouse. There are a number of techniques that allow you to speed up the ripening of tomatoes and have time to harvest before the arrival of autumn.
Basic ways to speed up the ripening of tomatoes
To stimulate growth, it is not at all necessary to stuff crops with drugs with an extensive chemical composition.
Horticultural and agricultural practice has helped to develop a number of methods that accelerate the reddening of fruits, both in greenhouses and in open ground.
- Removing the first reddened tomato
. Practice has shown that this action stimulates the ripening of other fruits, especially if the “reddened fellow” is left next to the tomato bush. This focus on “personal example” is explained quite simply. A picked red tomato releases ethylene, which is a catalyst for the ripening of other fruits.
We remove the first ripened tomato.
- Circumcision of stepchildren and lower leaves
. The stem of the bush is exposed to the first fruit. This is necessary to ensure ventilation of the plant, as well as to protect it from diseases such as late blight. As a rule, infection begins precisely from the lower leaf plates that touch the ground.
These tomatoes won't ripen anytime soon. Excess leaves need to be removed!
- Removing young flower stalks or pinching the crown
. After the start of fruiting, it is recommended to pinch the crown so that all the nutrients and energy are used to ripen the already set fruits. Even if new tomatoes can grow during this period, they will not have time to ripen.
Pinching the crown has two goals - improving the quality of the crop and reducing the ripening time of the fruit.
- . It is difficult to downplay the importance of the irrigation regime for the growth and ripening of tomato crops, however, during the fruiting period, moisture consumption should be minimized. If possible, it is worth stopping it, but here you need to focus on weather conditions. The minimum amount of water received by the tomato crop during fruit ripening increases the sugar content in tomatoes, reduces acidity and excessive wateriness. The structure of the pulp improves and appearance. Excess water can cause the fruit to crack. Spraying soda once a week will also help improve the taste of tomatoes. To prepare the solution, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 liter of warm water.
In addition to improving taste, soda solution has an antibacterial effect.
- Turn to the sun
. When breeding low-growing varieties You can turn the bushes towards the sunlight. For this purpose, all necessary leaves, and the bush is fixed on a trellis under the right angle. If necessary, additional branches are also tied to separate stakes.
Open for sunlight the fruits will ripen faster.
- Cleaning browned tomatoes
. Tomatoes that are beginning to turn brown can be safely removed and sent indoors for ripening, especially at the end of summer, in August. The tomatoes will turn red even outside the greenhouse, and the bush will direct all its freed forces to the still green fruits.
We remove ripe tomatoes in time.
Iodine
As additional methods to accelerate the ripening of tomatoes, experts recommend spraying with ash or iodine.
Iodine stimulates reddening of fruits and reduces the risk of late blight.
The benefits of iodine for tomato crops have been known for a long time. It improves nitrogen metabolism, is a safe alternative to nitrate, which worsens the soil composition. Iodine increases productivity and fights. An open bottle of iodine in a greenhouse disinfects the room well.
Iodine treatment stimulates well redness of tomatoes is s. To obtain a solution for spraying, 30 drops of the substance are diluted in 10 liters of water, after which the bush is treated, making sure that not only the leaves, but also the stem at the bottom of the plant are thoroughly moistened. Another advantage of iodine is that it is safe for humans and does not require the use of personal protective equipment during processing.
Ash
Spraying with ash is one of the most safe methods stimulating the ripening of tomatoes.
The beneficial properties of ash are based on the high content of calcium and potassium salts in it.
The ash solution is prepared at the rate of 1 glass of wood ash per 10 liters of water. No insistence required. The resulting mixture is poured under the root. To feed 1 bush, no more than 1 liter of solution is required. It is worth remembering that, otherwise root system the plants will get an ash burn.
If you don’t want to carry out additional watering or weather conditions mean precipitation, the tomatoes can be sprayed. In this case, not only the fruits, but also the leaves must be processed. However, the dosage of the spraying solution should be changed to 0.5 cups of ash to 10 liters of water. Spraying should be carried out in the evening or on a cloudy, partly sunny day.
Potassium humate
Another view additional food tomatoes is potassium humate.
Potassium humate is produced from peat, manure, sludge and other plant materials, therefore it is considered a completely natural fertilizer.
It contains a number of useful trace elements and potassium, necessary for ripening. This drug is completely natural and is used for root watering. Potassium humate is produced in powder, diluted in the ratio 10 g/200 l water.
- First, the packet of powder is thoroughly dissolved in 2 l hot water and leave to infuse for 2 hours.
- After this, it is poured into a barrel with the remaining 180 l and is used for irrigation.
- You can fertilize 3 times a month, the main thing is to ensure that the solution does not get on the leaves and provoke late blight.
In addition to stimulating ripening, potassium humate improves the tasting qualities of fruits, increases their size. Another undeniable advantage of the product is its low cost.
Boric acid
Many experienced gardeners are familiar with first-hand.
Boron – necessary element, involved in the formation of connective tissue in plants.
Boric acid crystals are poorly soluble in water, so to prepare a working solution you must first dissolve the powder in small quantity hot water and then add cold water up to normal.
It not only promotes growth, but also improves taste qualities future harvest. Boron protects the plant from premature fall of the ovaries, stimulates the production of nitrogenous substances and chlorophyll.
Treatment boric acid can improve yields by an average of 25–30%. But the plant’s immunity and resistance to temperature changes are also strengthened. The sugar content in fruits increases, the aroma increases, and the shelf life is extended.
Boric acid can be replaced with Borofoska fertilizer.
During the fruiting period, foliar fertilizing with boric acid is carried out. For this 10 g substances are diluted in 10 l water and treat the bushes on a cloudy day with temperature conditions from +18 °С to +20 °С . Spraying should be fine in the form of mist or drizzle. Drops rolling off the leaves are unacceptable, so when processing you need to use a high-quality sprayer.
Total held per season 3 treatments boron solution. The last third is carried out at the beginning of fruiting in order to accelerate the ripening of tomatoes.
Bananas and apples
Another proven way to make tomatoes turn red is with bananas and apples.
Everything is simple here: the fruits are laid out under bushes or in a box with ripening fruits and left for several days. Bananas and ripe apples emit ethylene gas, which is a natural catalyst for ripening tomatoes. The same principle of action applies to the leaves of the walnut tree.
Banana as a stimulator of tomato ripening.
This is what is most often used in the southern regions of our country.
Non-standard methods
If we talk about non-standard methods, the most original of them is alcohol stimulation.
To the nest tomato bush injected with a thin syringe 0.5 ml strong alcohol (vodka), as a result of which the ripening time is significantly reduced. Wherein chemical composition and the appearance of reddened tomatoes does not change.
If the end of August or the beginning of September is already marked low temperatures, tomatoes from open ground can be “transferred” indoors: garage, shed or veranda . There they are carefully hung and ripen “on the vine”.
What you can and cannot do during the ripening period of tomatoes
All feeding of tomatoes is done before the fruits begin to ripen.
At the moment of ripening of the future tomato harvest, it is strictly forbidden to:
- water the crop generously;
- carry out nitrogen fertilization.
In the first case, the tomatoes will crack. If the tomatoes absolutely do not have enough moisture, then it is better to mulch the soil with wet hay or sawdust.
In the second - all feeding mullein, green fertilizers or chicken droppings should be stopped after mid-summer. This type of fertilizer causes rapid growth green mass plants, but not fruits. Moreover, the taste of tomatoes may deteriorate.
But it is quite possible to prevent late blight during the fruiting period. To do this, you can use an infusion of garlic or organize shelter for the bushes at night.
conclusions
Even if the weather changes unexpectedly, you shouldn’t give up. There are many ways to speed up the ripening of tomatoes and get excellent harvest, which was honestly earned through well-deserved labor in the spring-summer period.
Video about cutting leaves to speed up fruit ripening
