A variety that is equally good for both greenhouses and open ground - the Nastenka tomato and the method of growing it

Every gardener is a breeder and experimenter at heart. Farmers are willing to try to grow tomato varieties and hybrids that are distinguished by their unusual color and shape of the fruit. They are not afraid of the difficulties of caring for such tomatoes, nor the lack of confidence in their taste. To avoid disappointment after another attempt to grow something special, pay attention to a proven variety that will definitely not let you down.

Meet the Nastenka tomato! It is distinguished by its unpretentiousness, classic tomato taste and early ripening. Read on to find out how to grow it on your own plot.

Description of the variety

The Nastenka tomato was bred by domestic gardeners in 2008. It was included in the state register only in 2012. Today, the variety is one of the most popular in Russia and neighboring countries. Seeds are produced by almost all domestic companies involved in the sale of planting material.

Note! Tomato Nastenka is a “basic” variety. While working on it, gardeners focused on increasing endurance and disease resistance.

Distinctive features of Nastenka

The main distinguishing feature of Nastenka tomatoes is their resistance to cold weather. This is an important quality for crops grown in our country. Thanks to this, the variety is planted in open ground even in central Russia.

Another feature of this plant is its early ripeness. The first fruits of Nastenka appear on the tables at the end of June.

Ease of care is determined by the low growth of the bushes. Stepsoning he doesn't need it.

The Nastenka fruits themselves do not stand out in any way. They are red in color, medium in size and have a classic sweet and sour taste. Photos of the berries of this variety are presented below.

Tomatoes are used for fresh consumption, canning and preparation of tomato products. They are also used as ingredients in hot dishes. Nastenka berries are not suitable for drying and freezing due to their insufficiently expressed taste.

Main characteristics

Tomato Nastenka is an excellent option for beginners and experienced gardeners. It is distinguished by its low maintenance requirements and delicious classic fruits.

Characteristics and description of the variety:

Rules for growing seedlings

Seeds are sown two months before they are planted in a greenhouse or open ground. For early ripening varieties, it is especially important to calculate the time for warming up the soil. After all, if you keep the seedlings in pots, ovaries will form, and it will be too late to dive.

The time for sowing seeds depends on the climatic conditions in which the tomatoes will be grown:

• cities with a southern climate - the second ten days of February or the first half of March;
• central Russia - mid-March;
• northern regions - March (subject to cultivation in a greenhouse).

Preparation of planting material

Before planting seeds, you need to make sure their quality. To do this, planting material is soaked in a mixture of 100 ml of water and 0.5 tsp of salt. Those specimens that rise to the top after half an hour are considered unsuitable for planting. Seeds that sink to the bottom have the greatest chance of germinating.

Treating seeds will protect plants from disease infection. To do this, they are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate, aloe juice or a mixture of water and soda. After this, the planting material is washed with running water. Next, seed growth is stimulated.

The easiest way is to use purchased products for these purposes:

• "Epin";
• "Heteroauxin";
• "Radifarm";
• "Biostim";
• "Kornevin".

Homemade products are also used as growth stimulants. To do this, mix aloe juice and water in equal proportions or add 1 teaspoon of honey to a glass of water.

Advice! Another way to speed up the germination of seeds is to wrap them in pieces of gauze moistened with warm water, place them in a saucer, cover with film and place in a warm place. Periodically you need to add water to the container. Plant the seeds when they germinate. This usually takes 3 days.

Options for soil and containers for tomatoes

Containers for sowing seeds are chosen wide. They use special plastic and wooden trays or make containers for sowing seeds from scrap materials. Suitable for these purposes are: deep disposable plates, containers for instant meals, etc.

For picking, pots with a volume of at least 300 g are used. Peat containers are most convenient, but plastic pots, cut-off bottles and disposable cups are also suitable.

All containers for growing seedlings need to be prepared. To do this, they are treated with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate or poured with boiling water.

The soil for seedlings should be light. In this case, it will allow water and nutrients to pass through well, which is important for immature plants.

To prepare the soil yourself, take as a basis the soil from the area where you plan to plant mature seedlings. This soil is mixed in equal proportions with peat and humus. To loosen the composition, sawdust or sand is added to it.

Advice! Crushed coconut substrate is also used to loosen the soil.It not only makes the soil lighter, but also contains many substances useful for tomatoes.

Ready-made soil mixtures are sold in stores. They contain all the necessary elements.

Both purchased and homemade soil must be treated before use. To do this, water it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water. Another option is to bake the soil in the oven.

Sowing seeds

Seed grooves are made in the soil, 0.5 to 1.5 cm deep. A distance of 2-3 cm is maintained between them.

The seeds are placed in the grooves. The distance between them should be at least 1.5 cm. The seeds are covered with soil on top.

The soil is watered with a spray bottle. Use warm water. Then the containers are covered with film and placed in a warm place. They do not need a lot of light before the seeds germinate.

To grow seedlings without picking, seeds are sown in individual pots or peat tablets. Another option is to divide the deep boxes into cells; a separate seed is placed in each cell. This will prevent the roots from becoming tangled.

How to care for seedlings

Proper care of seedlings will allow you to grow viable plants.

Basic rules for caring for tomatoes:

1. Before the seeds germinate, the seedlings are watered with a spray bottle. When the first shoots appear, this method of watering cannot be used. Tomatoes are watered in such a way that water does not fall on the green plants. Use only water at room temperature for these purposes.
2. The film on tomatoes is not removed until two weeks have passed after the first shoots appear.
3. After seed germination, containers with seedlings are moved to a well-lit place. Tomatoes at this stage need 16 hours of daylight.To ensure this, fluorescent lamps are used.
4. Tomato seedlings are fed three times. The first - 14 days after picking, the second - 2 weeks after the last feeding, the third - 3 days before picking the plants to a permanent place.
5. Tomatoes are planted in separate containers after the first true leaves appear. To do this, carefully remove the seedlings from the box with a spatula. Some gardeners pinch the central root of tomatoes to promote better root growth. This strengthens the root, but leads to stunted plant growth.
6. 14 days before planting tomatoes in a permanent place, the seedlings begin to harden. To do this, take it out onto the balcony or into the garden, gradually increasing the time spent in the fresh air.

Growing tomatoes

Nastenka tomatoes are planted in a permanent place when the soil in the garden warms up. In the southern regions this occurs at the end of April, and in the central regions at the end of May.

In the northern part of Russia, tomatoes are grown in a greenhouse. They are planted in it in the second half of May.

Advice! There are often sellers on the market offering ready-made seedlings. The fact that such plants are of low quality will be indicated by yellow leaves at the bottom of the bush, too high growth of tomatoes and low plant turgor.

Planting seedlings in a permanent place

The beds for tomatoes are prepared in the fall. For them, choose well-lit areas of the garden where nightshade crops did not grow last year.

The soil is dug up and cleared of plant debris. It is mixed with cow dung, ash and humus. The soil is checked for acidity; if it is high, dry lime is added.

note! Tomato beds should not be located next to potato plantings.

In the spring, the beds are dug up again. They dig holes in them, the depth of a shovel bayonet. The recesses are placed in rows in a checkerboard pattern. For Nastenka they use a 70x40 pattern. For 1 sq. m place 4 plants. It is impossible to thicken tomato plantings, this will lead to a decrease in the quality of the crop.

A handful of wood ash or granular long-acting complex fertilizers is poured into each hole.

Immediately before planting, the tomatoes are removed from the pots and placed in the holes. The root needs to be formed towards the center. The depressions are filled with earth without compacting it.

After picking, the plants are watered. One tomato requires up to 1 liter of water. The next watering is in 10 days.

Caring for the Nastenka variety

Nastenka does not need shaping. Good yield indicators are achieved precisely due to the spreading nature of the bush. Some gardeners still form bushes with 3-5 stems to obtain an earlier harvest.

It is better to remove stepsons in the lower part of the bush. They will take away the nutrients that the fruit needs. Lower and yellowed leaves must be removed.

The small growth of the bush allows you to do without a garter. If, under the weight of the fruit, it still bends to the ground, then support will be needed.

Water the tomatoes as the soil dries. A liter of water is consumed per plant. At the height of the day, you should not moisten the soil.

Nastenka is demanding when it comes to feeding. During the summer, fertilizer is applied to the roots four times. Both homemade and purchased formulations are suitable for these purposes.

How to prepare fertilizers for tomatoes:

1. Yeast fertilizer. Take 50 g of yeast per liter of warm water. Add 3 tbsp to the composition. l sugar. The mixture is infused for 3 hours, after which it is diluted with 10 liters of water and infused for another 1 hour.
2. Fertilizer with the addition of iodine. To prepare it, add 3 kg of ash to 5 liters, and infuse the composition for an hour. Then the total volume of the mixture is adjusted to 10 liters. Add 1 bottle of iodine and 10 g of boric acid to the liquid. The fertilizer is infused for 24 hours. Next, it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
3. Ammonia solution. For 10 liters of water take 10 ml of ammonia solution.

Foliar fertilizing is applied twice a season. To do this, plants are sprayed with boron compounds.

The main mistakes of gardeners

In the process of growing tomatoes, novice gardeners often make mistakes. This leads to a decrease in crop yield and plant disease.

The most common mistakes in caring for tomatoes:

1. Using cold water. Such a mistake will lead to frostbite of the roots and death of the plants.
2. Watering too often. Overmoistening of the soil is detrimental to tomatoes. It leads to rotting of the root system and promotes the development of pathogens.
3. Ignoring fertilizing. On poor soils, tomatoes begin to get sick, and their fruits become small and sparse. In some cases, berries are not formed at all.
4. Excess fertilizer. In this case, the plants begin to “fatten”. They produce a lot of greenery, which leads to a significant reduction in yield and shredding of the fruit.
5. Incomplete removal of stepchildren. This leads to disease and rotting of the plant.

Diseases and pests

The Nastenka variety is resistant to most tomato diseases. It is not affected by late blight (mainly due to early ripening) and various types of rot. And yet prevention will not be superfluous.

To avoid plant contamination, disinfect seeds, containers, soil and all garden tools that come into contact with tomatoes.It is important to weed the tomato beds regularly.

Compliance with the rules of care will significantly reduce the risk of plant infection. Particular attention is paid to watering and pinching the bushes.

Pests carry infections that cause plant diseases. They need to be removed. Large beetles are collected by hand. A soap solution and infusion of celandine will help get rid of small insects.

Features of cultivation in open and protected ground

In the southern and central parts of Russia, tomatoes are planted in open ground. To protect them from adverse environmental conditions, several techniques are used.

For the first 14 days, tomatoes are covered with film in the evening. This protects them from night frosts. In the morning the film is removed. During cold weather, film is also used during the day.

To protect the roots of the plant from freezing and disease, beds with tomatoes mulch. They are covered with straw, hay, burlap or film.

In the northern regions, Nastenka is planted in greenhouses. With this growing method, it is important to maintain optimal humidity. To do this, the room is regularly ventilated.

Harvesting and application

The first fruits of Nastenka ripen at the end of June. The berries are picked from the bush or cut with a knife as they ripen. This stimulates the ripening of other fruits.

Tomatoes are collected together with the stalk - this way they are better stored.

Nastenka tomatoes are used for fresh consumption and canning. They are also suitable for preparing hot dishes.

Advantages and disadvantages of Nastenka

Pros of Nastenka:

• immunity to tomato diseases;
• early ripeness;
• high productivity;
• low maintenance requirements;
• pleasant taste of fruits;
• versatility in use;
• shaping and tying are optional.

Among the advantages, tomatoes are demanding in terms of soil composition.

Farmers' reviews about the variety

Nastenka has mostly positive reviews from gardeners.

Galina Irtyscheva, Sochi: “Every year I plant Nastenka at the dacha. An ideal variety for lazy gardeners. It does not need to be tied or shaped. Not sick. The harvest is always early and abundant. The tomatoes taste good."

Sergey Belousov, Moscow: “I grow Nastenka in open ground. An easy to grow variety that is guaranteed to produce a harvest even in cold summers. I collect about 2 buckets of tomatoes from three bushes. The tomatoes have a classic tomato taste and are medium in size.”

Conclusion

Nastenka tomatoes are a variety characterized by their low maintenance requirements. The small height of the bush allows you to do without shaping and gartering, so even novice gardeners can grow such a tomato.

Among other things, Nastenka is an early ripening variety. Already at the end of June you can taste the first fruits.