What to do to make tomatoes in a greenhouse turn red faster: the best techniques and life hacks of experienced summer residents
Due to the high content of the “happiness hormone” - serotonin - tomatoes improve your mood no worse than chocolate. They are good for heart health, youthful skin and strong bones.
Almost every summer resident grows them - mainly in greenhouses. But even under favorable conditions, tomatoes do not always have time to ripen. In this article we will tell you what to do to make tomatoes in a greenhouse turn red faster.
Natural cycle of tomato ripening in a greenhouse
Tomatoes ripen at different rates - it depends not only on the variety, but also on the growing conditions.
Duration and stages
About a month after the formation of the ovary, the green fruits reach the size corresponding to the variety. During the second stage, which lasts 10-25 days, the tomatoes become ripe.
It can take 40-56 days from the beginning of flowering to full maturity of vegetables.. But it also happens that even early varieties are in no hurry to please summer residents with ripe fruits. Therefore, it is important to know how to speed up the reddening of tomatoes on the bushes.
Read also:
When and how to properly plant tomatoes in a greenhouse
In what cases and why the reddening of tomatoes may slow down
Some growing conditions inhibit crop ripening. Let's list the main ones.
Temperature
This is the main reason, due to which the harvest of ripe tomatoes is delayed.
Important! When the air temperature in the greenhouse is less than +15°C, the natural coloring of fruits slows down significantly. If the night temperature drops to +8-9°C, green tomatoes will no longer be able to ripen. At air temperatures above +34°C, ripening also stops.
This is explained simply: when temperatures are too high or low, the vegetables decrease production of the pigment lycopene, which is responsible for the red color of ripeness.
Lighting
With a lack of sunlight (or artificial lighting), greenhouse plants will not produce a ripe harvest soon. If the bushes are densely packed, they do not have enough lighting and the fruits do not turn red for a long time.
Nutrients
Slow maturation may be caused by excess or lack of nutrients.
For example, with an excess of nitrogen, green mass begins to grow quickly on tomato bushes. Excess leaves and shoots absorb most of the nutrients, and, as a result, the fruits ripen much more slowly.
If there is a lack of potassium in the soil the delivery of useful elements to the fruit stops.
Excess of tomatoes on the bush
After partial ripening, large fruits are removed from the bushso that all the forces of the plant are devoted to pouring the main harvest. Partially ripened tomatoes can ripen in boxes at home or in the country.
Ways to speed up the ripening of tomatoes
In most of our country, summer is short, so without additional help, heat-loving vegetables will take a long time to ripen. Various tricks will help speed up ripening.
Traditional methods
One of the favorite methods among gardeners is spraying the entire bush with a weak iodine solution (40 drops per bucket of warm water). This is harmless and effective not only for speeding up pouring, but also for protecting against diseases.
A less common method is to use alcohol. 0.5 ml of alcohol is injected into each green fruit through the stalk, after which the ripening time is reduced by 5-10 days. This method will not change the taste of ripe tomatoes.
For faster production of ripe vegetables on the bushes the first tomatoes begin to be picked at the stage their partial maturation. This way you will unload the bush and give the remaining volume the opportunity to ripen faster.
Collected brown or milky ripeness tomatoes are stored at +22-25°С mixed with reds. Even one reddened tomato lying among the unripe ones accelerates the ripening of the rest.
Purchased funds
It is recommended to spray brushes with ovaries and leaves with a superphosphate extract. For this, 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate, pour 2 liters of hot water, stir. After a day, add 8 liters of water to the prepared solution, then start spraying.
Fertilizing with potassium humate once every 10 days is effective. (prepare according to instructions). This is a natural and inexpensive fertilizer for accelerated ripening of tomatoes. The potassium humate solution is poured strictly under the root.
Agrotechnical techniques for speedy ripening of tomatoes
We advise you to use the following recommendations:
- Timely stepsoning (without waiting for the stepsons to become longer than 5 cm) and pinching the tops - this is done in early August.
- Gradual removing excess leaves on bushes (2-3 leaves per week), starting from the lowest ones.
- Restriction of plant nutrition. To do this, at a height of 3 cm from the ground, the stem is tied with copper wire or small cuts are made in it, where a match or toothpick is inserted. This method is more suitable for experienced vegetable growers.
- The "starvation ration" method. From the second half of July, all watering and fertilizing are stopped. Then the plants will devote all their strength to accelerating the filling of tomatoes. But this method is not suitable for hot summers.
How to make tomatoes ripen quickly
The optimal temperature for rapid ripening is considered to be +22-26°C. To maintain this regime in hot weather, the greenhouse is ventilated all day. Be sure to close it at night and turn on the heater when it gets cold.
A lot of light is needed. Seedlings are planted at a distance of at least 40 cm from each other. When forming a bush, always remove the lower leaves and stepsons, which interfere with the receipt of light and nutrition. In August the top is pinched off. Daylight hours should last at least 15 hours. If it is shorter, provide additional lighting.
In July and August, all bushes are sprayed from bottom to top weak iodine solution, and once every 10 days potassium humate is poured under the root. It is also effective to spray brushes with ovaries and leaves with a superphosphate extract.
The first tomatoes - both small and large - are picked at the stage of partial ripeningwhen the flesh is pink inside.
In green greenhouse vegetables you can inject 0.5 ml of alcohol once for accelerated redness.
Experienced summer residents use the method of pulling or traumatizing stem.
If the summer is not hot, from the second half of July some gardeners deliberately stop watering and fertilizing tomato beds in the greenhouse.
Tips, secrets and life hacks from experienced gardeners
In addition to the techniques listed, in August they practice removing flowers and small ovaries - in any case, they will not have time to ripen, but will only delay the ripening of already finished fruits.
Some experienced gardeners in the process of harvest ripening they like to slightly damage the root, pulling the bush towards you. In this case, all nutrients will be sent to the fruits.
Sometimes summer residents in August they pull bushes out of the garden, hang in a shed or garage with the roots facing up and get red vegetables faster.
Conclusion
Even from such a fastidious crop as tomatoes, it is not difficult to obtain ripened tomatoes if you know why full ripeness is delayed. By applying several suggested methods to accelerate ripening, you will get ready-to-eat tomatoes even ahead of schedule.