Experienced gardener know that to get a good harvest of tomatoes is not enough just to plant healthy seedlings in the greenhouse and from time to time to water it . No, the cultivation of tomatoes in the greenhouse includes a number of rather specific operations, for example, pruning them. About how to properly cut tomatoes in the greenhouse and whether you need to do it in principle, we'll talk today.
Do you need to cut tomatoes in the greenhouse?
Some beginner gardeners refer to pruning tomato shrubs to a greenhouse as an absolutely unnecessary operation, which can be completely neglected. Thus they make a serious mistake. The fact is that the tomato - the culture is light-loving enough. In the conditions of close planting in the greenhouse, the tomato shrub undergoes a constant shortage of sunlight and, trying to minimize it, begins to grow strongly. At the same time, he makes every effort to build up an extra green mass, which can not but affect the quality of the harvest - the brushes are formed at a greater distance from each other and contain fewer fruits. In addition, excessive thickening of bushes in combination with a moist microclimate provokes the development of numerous fungal diseases. Hence the conclusion - to trim tomatoes in a greenhouse is not only necessary, but even vital, because the quality of the crop depends on this.
When to trim the leaves of tomatoes in a greenhouse?
Pruning of tomato bushes begins after the first brush is formed on them and the first brush starts to ripen. By the time that tomatoes in the first brush begin to acquire a brown color under it should not remain a single sheet. As the brushes mature, the leaves beneath them are removed completely, leaving only the bare trunk. Thus, you can repeat the trimming of leaves to the third brush inclusive. Let us consider in detail what this pruning gives. The fact is that the root system itself is not able to feed all the ripening fruits on the bush, and first the nutrients accumulate in the leaves. That is, the food goes according to the "roots-leaves-fruits" scheme. Each fruit brush has its own feeding leaves, which in the process of photosynthesis provide fruits with the necessary substances. As fruits grow, they begin to produce the necessary nutrients themselves, so they do not need to feed from the outside.
Normally, the bare bottom of the trunk should have a length of at least 30 cm growing in a greenhouse of a tomato bush. Thus, several important issues for obtaining a full crop are solved at once:
- The trunk gets the necessary amount of sunlight;
- nutrients are directed to the formation of fruits;
- improves the air circulation in the greenhouse;
- decreases the likelihood of developing fungal diseases.
How correctly to cut tomatoes in a greenhouse?
The pruning of leaves from growing in a greenhouse tomato is made according to the following rules:
- The works are produced in the early morning on bright sunny days so that the sections can close and dry before the evening. In case the weather is overcast,
sections are treated with a disinfectant, for example, a weak solution of potassium permanganate or sprinkled with activated charcoal. If you neglect such precautionary measures, then the bush can die because of the damage caused by gray rot. - When starting removing superfluous leaves, do not forget about the sense of proportion: you can not trim more often than once a week and remove more than 2 leaves at a time, as this "haircut" can also weaken the plant.
- In addition to the lower leaves, it is necessary to remove those leaves that obscure the ripening fruit, and those that are themselves in the shade. Since the tomato leaf has a segmental structure, it is quite possible, if necessary, to cut a whole leaf rather than a whole sheet.