The variety of assortment of seeds and seedlings of vegetable crops has created certain difficulties for those who like to dig in their own garden. It became difficult to choose, plunging into the abyss of market proposals.
Perhaps the unusual appearance will be the straw that outweighs the scales with the tomato Honey drop in his favor. Who made this choice will not regret.
Honey drop is a variety of tomatoes, the original appearance of which is followed by excellent yield, disease resistance, unpretentiousness and excellent taste.
Honey drop: description and characteristics of the variety
A group of tomatoes of a cherry variety includes the Honey drop, in the description and characteristics of which there are exceptionally pleasant words for the gardener's heart.
Forming powerful bushes tall (up to 2 m in greenhouses, up to one and a half - in the garden) shoots, each of the branches of which are covered with clusters of a half dozen small (12-15 g) bright yellow pear-shaped tomatoes, similar to large amber drops.
These tomatoes, whose mass can sometimes reach 30 g, are called honey drops for a special sweetness of the pulp, in which, according to the description of experts, the largest sugar content among tomatoes.
Features landing Honey drops
Honey drop requires careful observance of certain growing conditions.
Terms of planting tomatoes
Vegetable growers choose time for planting, being guided by the forthcoming terms of harvesting. The early terms of ripening Honey drop suggest, in accordance with the description of the variety, planting seeds for seedlings at the very beginning of spring. The very seedlings are planted in greenhouse or open ground in May - early June.
Honey Drop Requirements for Lighting and Soil
The soil must be nutritious. The most preferred option is a light fertile soil composed of a mixture of garden soil with humus and sand. It is necessary to loosen and weed weekly. Before sowing, some potash fertilizer and superphosphate are added to the ground.
The capriciousness of the Honey drop in relation to the quality of the soil makes it necessary to replace the top layer of greenhouse soil annually. Successful development of planted tomatoes is possible in bright sunlight. The negative impact on seedlings of cloudy days should be overcome by additional lighting with electric lamps.
How to choose a quality planting material
The originality (not hybrid) of the varieties of tomatoes Honey drop adds to its positive characteristics also the ability to use its own quality seeds for planting. Cutting, rubbing and rinsing completely ripe tomatoes through a sieve, dry the remaining seeds (on a napkin), put them in sachets and put them in a dark place, which is not accessible to mice.
After two or three years, they will ascend most effectively (up to 96%), but germination itself lasts up to 7 years. Bags with seeds bought in stores are sold along with instructions for using them.
Planting Honey Drop Seeds
Before sowing seeds disinfect. This is done by soaking in aqueous solution of potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide. Next, the seeds are placed at a depth of 2 cm in a moistened soil.
Then the transplant boxes covered with film are placed in a warm (+ 22 ... +25 ° C) room. After 7-10 days, the first shoots will sprout.
Growing tomatoes Honey drop: how to care for crops
Growing a variety of tomatoes Honey drop also has its own characteristics.
Pickling up seedlings and subsequent care for Honey Drop
The first real leaf that appears indicates the need for a dive of tomatoes (you can wait for the second sheet). After abundant watering, tomatoes should appear in separate pots or cups directly in the seedling boxes.
The essential point of the picking procedure is pinching the main root in order to form new roots. The stem must be buried in the soil to the level of the leaves.
Transplanting seedlings in the greenhouse
The displacement of seedlings to a permanent habitat is preceded by its hardening. Saplings spend several hours in the fresh air.
Greenhouse receives new guests in the first half of May. If, nevertheless, open ground is chosen for planting, then the dates are shifted to the end of May - the beginning of June.
The general rules provide for the planting of tomatoes Honey drop in the soil in accordance with the 40 x 70 cm scheme. Experience shows that the intervals between rows can also be reduced to 40-45 cm without harming the future crop - the limited area will be considerably saved and optimized.
The soil must be warm enough, and the air is not too humid, for which the greenhouse must be constantly ventilated. When grown in fresh air, young plants are covered with a film, and all frosts should be behind.
Rules for watering and feeding
When watering is important systematic with a moderate amount of water (not more than once every 6 days), which should be warm and defended. Top dressing water solutions of complex mineral and organic fertilizers are made once every two weeks during the period of growing seedlings, and after planting in the greenhouse or open ground. When the ovaries appear, the tomato bushes are supplemented with potash fertilizers, which leads to an acceleration of the fruit ripening process.
Did you know? If you mulch the soil with organic matter, then its rotten bottom layer becomes nourishing for worms that create humus, fertilizing tomatoes in a natural way. This can save further feedings.
How to make a support for tomatoes
The high growth of tomato stalks Honey drop caused, no matter how and where to grow it, obligatory manufacturing of strong supports. Garter is carried out both in the greenhouse and on the garden bed.
Greenhouse cultivation requires the use of vertical or horizontal trellis. Smaller height of plants in the open field allows you to attach them to long pegs or to the grid. Shrubs form no more than two or three stalks, mercilessly removing the side stepsons.
How to deal with pests and plant diseases
Resistance of Honey drops to the usual for the family solanaceous diseases - late blight, gray rot, black leg - does not give a reason for complete complacency. Especially careful you need to be just in the greenhouses, where most often grown and planted this variety denser.
For prophylaxis soil mulching with straw or peat is used. Preventive spraying with "Phytosporin" or other non-toxic preparations (antiviral and antifungal) will help to save plants during cultivation and will give an opportunity to harvest a decent crop.
To combat insect pests apply:
- frequent airing;
- soil mulching;
- spraying with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide or celandine.
Important! Specially against aphids use the treatment of the attacked bushes with a solution of water and laundry soap.
Honey Drop Harvesting
Honey drop is a medium early variety, that is, the harvest of its fruits can be removed after 3-3.5 months - simultaneously with the collection of the first red tomatoes. Fruiting lasts a long time - from mid-summer to late September.
Honey drop tomato: merits and demerits of the variety
According to experts and reviews of gardening amateurs, it is possible to make approximate lists of the advantages and negative sides of the Honey Drop tomato variety.
The first list will include the following information:
- Lovers of dense food, while not gaining excess weight, will find in the Honey drop more pulp with low calorie content.
- Adherents of natural support for good vision and strengthening the walls of blood vessels will find in these tomatoes, plus a higher content of vitamin A yellow drops.
- The variety has a strong immunity to a number of diseases, especially to the black leg and phytophthora.
- The plant is quite resistant to drought and not too much lower temperature.
- Tomato seeds have good and long-term germination.
- Miniature fruit contributes to the ease of canning.
Did you know? Excellent sugar content makes it possible to make jam from the honey drop tomatoes.
Among the shortcomings could be included the following points (sometimes arising from the merits):
- Due to the predominance of the pulp, the honey drop is less juicy. They are of little use for the preparation of traditional products - tomato juice and tomato paste.
- Compared with other varieties of tomatoes in these lower levels of vitamin C (for those suffering from high acidity, this may be a plus).
- Care in the process of growing Honey drops, especially the removal of stepsons, takes a lot of time.
- The plant is too sensitive to fluctuations in air humidity and nutritional value of the soil, which is bad for the yield.
Important! It is impossible to do without pasynkovka, without zaklamiv whole plot with tomato thickets.
The superiority of the advantages of Honey Drop over its insignificant, in general, disadvantages leads to the fact that summer residents and gardeners make its presence permanent in their beds.Its mass popularity, due to its ease and pleasantness in its use, makes it necessary to look more closely at Honey Drop and industrial producers of agricultural products.
