A gift from Ural breeders for regions with cold climates - the “Red Guard” tomato
The “Red Guard” tomato is a hybrid bred by Ural breeders in 2012. Excellent for growing in the northern regions of the Urals and Siberia, the middle zone and the Non-Black Earth Region. The uniqueness of this tomato lies in the combination of simple agricultural technology with the highest cold resistance.
Description of the hybrid Red Guard f1
Determinant early ripening variety. Suitable for both greenhouses and open ground cultivation. The bush can reach a maximum height of 80cm and requires support.
The hybrid is resistant to lack of light and low temperatures. Ripens successfully in cool, short summer conditions. Also has high resistance to major diseases and pests.
Fruit characteristics and yield
The fruits are round, dense. The weight of each can reach 150-200 grams. When fully ripe, the vegetable is deep red in color. The pulp is fleshy, with good taste. The fruits do not crack, have a small number of seed chambers, have good shelf life and are suitable for transportation.
The purpose of the fruit is universal. If agricultural practices are followed, up to 3.5 kg of harvest can be harvested from one “Red Guard” tomato bush. From 7 to 9 fruits are usually formed on one brush.
How to grow seedlings
It is recommended to sow planting material for seedlings 55-60 days before planting in a permanent place. To disinfect seeds, an hour before sowing they are placed in a Fitosporin solution.If the purchased seeds have a bright coating, they do not need processing.
Container and soil
Seeds are planted in seedling boxes filled with soil consisting of equal amounts of garden soil and compost. The container should not be deeper than 15 cm. You can also use special purchased substrates for tomatoes.
Sowing
The seeds are placed in furrows to a depth of 1 cm and covered with soil. Afterwards, the soil should be moistened with a small amount of water.
Growing and care
To speed up seed germination, the container with plantings must be kept in a room where the temperature does not drop below +25 degrees. To ensure that the development process goes smoothly, the seedlings are illuminated for 12 hours and watered periodically.
Seedlings need to be picked at the stage of two true leaves.
If you plan to plant seedlings in open ground, then they begin to harden them two weeks before moving them to a permanent place. To do this, young bushes are taken out to the balcony for several hours, and care must be taken that the plants are not exposed to drafts.
How to grow tomatoes
The best predecessors for tomatoes are legumes, cucumbers, cabbage, turnips and onions. The crop can be planted in the same place no earlier than three years later.
When moving seedlings into open ground under a film cover, it is recommended to place them on 1 sq.m. no more than four plants, when transplanted into a greenhouse - no more than 2-3 bushes per square meter.
It is worth taking care of the quality of the soil in the fall; the upper part of the soil, about 10 cm, must be removed, as it may contain insect larvae and fungal spores. In spring, dig up the soil and add compost.Young plants are transferred to prepared holes with a depth of 20-25 cm. This depth will guarantee comfortable placement of the root system. Immediately after planting, the plants need to be watered abundantly.
Care
Red Guard tomatoes require moderate weekly watering. If the weather is dry, the plantings need to be moistened every three days. At least 4 liters of water must be added to each bush. Soil moisture should be kept at a level of at least 85%. During the flowering period, watering should be increased, adding at least 5 liters of water to each bush.
After the fruits have formed, the plantings are watered twice a week. However, you should not use a large amount of water to prevent the tomatoes from cracking. When the tomatoes begin to turn red, reduce the application of moisture to once a week.
Weeding and loosening
Beds and row spacing must be regularly cleared of weeds so that weeds do not draw away useful elements that are vital for tomato bushes.
The soil around tomatoes needs to be loosened regularly to prevent crust formation. You can also do a little mulch ground with chopped straw. This will help retain moisture and eliminate the need to loosen the soil.
Stepsonning and formation
For the “Red Guard” variety, it is very important to carry out partial stepsoning, removing all shoots up to the first flower cluster, leaving all the stepsons above it and it is on them that the main crop is formed. If you ignore this procedure, the timing of crop ripening will shift slightly.
The Red Guard tomato bush is quite compact and does not need shaping.
Garter
Considering that the hybrid forms powerful clusters, the number of fruits on which can be more than seven, garter is vital for the plant. To do this, a support is placed next to each bush and the branches are carefully tied to it one by one from the bottom up.
Top dressing
Tomato plantings are fed several times a season, alternating different types of fertilizers.
The first application is made after two weeks. The tomato is fed with a urea solution. The main thing is to observe the dosage, since excess nitrogen negatively affects the formation of fruits.
A week after nitrogen feeding, you need to add a solution of potassium and phosphorus by watering. Mineral fertilizers can be replaced with ash, which is added to the soil. Yeast can also be used for the second feeding. This will help suppress the development of pathogens and promote the proliferation of beneficial bacteria.
During the fruiting period, tomatoes can be feed by spraying. To do this, prepare a solution of 10 liters of water and 1 tbsp. superphosphate. Spraying is carried out on the leaf.
Features of cultivation and possible difficulties
When planting seedlings in a permanent place, it is important to remember that this hybrid is cold-resistant and keeping overgrown seedlings at home until warm weather sets in does not make the slightest sense.
Plantings should not be thickened. Too often, planted bushes will grow poorly, bloom poorly and lose their ovaries.
When tying the stems, it is important not to apply too much pressure. There may be difficulties with this, since the hands of the “Red Guard” are quite heavy. Improper garter can lead to the formation of constrictions, and sometimes to the death of the stem.To prevent this, when twisting, you should not wrap the tomato stem around the twine, but the twine around the stem.
Diseases and pests
The “Red Guard” tomato is not damaged by cladosporiosis, fusarium and root-knot nematodes.
The only insect that can harm this crop is the whitefly. You can repel a pest attack using smoke or insecticidal preparations.
The nuances of growing in open ground and in a greenhouse
The Red Guard tomato requires good soil moisture, but the air must remain dry. When grown in a greenhouse, such conditions can be ensured by ventilation.
It is not recommended to combine planting tomatoes and cucumbers in the same greenhouse. These equally popular crops require completely different growing conditions.
Watering tomato bushes in open ground, moisture should not be allowed to get on the leaves - this leads to sunburn. Plantings need to be moistened strictly at the root.
Harvesting and application
Tomatoes reach technical ripeness by the end of July. Tomatoes have time to fully ripen even in the short northern summer.
The fruits of the “Red Guard” tomato can be consumed fresh, and can also be used to prepare canned preparations, sauces, pastes or ketchup.
Advantages and disadvantages
The “Red Guard” tomato does not have any obvious disadvantages, except perhaps the need to provide support for the bushes during the growth process.
The advantages include:
- The fruits quickly form and ripen. This helps to avoid fungal infections; the disease simply does not have time to develop;
- High resistance to low temperatures, which allows you to obtain crops even in the polar regions;
- Unpretentiousness in terms of light and heat.
Farmer reviews
Olga, Chelyabinsk: “I grew the variety “Red Guard” in a greenhouse. I am a beginner gardener, so I didn’t know that there was such a procedure as pinching and, accordingly, I didn’t carry it out. And the tomato bushes grew normally, did not get sick, set ovaries well and bore fruit. This variety has a typical tomato taste; my family and I actively used the crop for salads and pickling.”
Nadezhda, Orenburg: “A very unpretentious variety. The stepsons were removed only up to the first hand; further growth proceeded without any intervention. It began to ripen in the tenth of July. The harvest is good, the fruits are not cracked. I have planted other varieties that, in my opinion, are more suitable for fresh eating, and “Red Guard” was ideal for pickling.”
Mikhailova Yulia, Penza: “Unpretentious tomatoes. The only thing I had to tinker with was the garter. The fruits are heavy, there are a lot of them and they literally bend the entire bush to the ground. Each branch had to be tied separately. But it was worth it. The tomatoes are dense and beautiful.”
Conclusion
Elementary agricultural technology, high resistance to cold and disease, as well as excellent productivity make the “Red Guard” tomato the undisputed leader among other hybrids.
The versatility of the crop and its excellent taste are deservedly appreciated by both experienced gardeners and those who have recently mastered the art of growing tomatoes.