The tomato variety Snowdrop can withstand low temperatures, it is perfect for all those who live in the cold regions of the country. In addition to this amazing quality, the culture is characterized by high productivity, ability to resist pests and diseases, as well as a unique scope of application of fruits.
Tomato seeds "Snowdrop"
The bush can produce up to a maximum of 5 kg of crop
Fleshy fruits, weighing up to 200 g each
Origin of the Snowdrop Tomato Variety
Homeland - Russia, St. Petersburg, agricultural company "Biotechnology". The owners of the company started their business with the creation of a simple laboratory, and now they have a large collection of plants obtained independently. Today, the company not only creates its own hybrids and varieties, but also cooperates with many foreign breeding organizations.
Scientists conduct their own experiments in the North-West, so almost all varieties are adapted to harsh cold climates.
The year of creation of the Snowdrop tomato variety is 2002. The same year the plant was entered in the state register of breeding works, and designated for cultivation throughout Russia. In the southern regions, seeds are immediately sown in the soil, and in the northern regions, seedlings are first grown, and then transplanted into greenhouses.
Grade description
A low bush of tomatoes, brings about 1.5 kg of crop per plant. Designed for cultivation in the northern regions of the Russian Federation.
Bushes
The bush is determinant, that is, having reached a certain point in height, it will not grow further. The maximum height of the snowdrop tomato is 0.6 m. The plant needs pinching and tying.
Fruit
1st inflorescence is formed over the 8th leaf, subsequent through a couple of leaves. On each brush about 5 fruits are formed. In the first inflorescence they are the largest, in the rest a little smaller. The average weight is about 120 g - for tomatoes this is a normal, standard size.
The fruits are rather big, slightly pressed from the poles. Unripe ones have a dark green spot next to the stalk. Matured tomatoes are bright red in color.
Productivity
Harvest ripens on the bushes, on the 1st stem - 3 brushes. According to official figures from the 1st quarter. m you can collect about 6 kg of crop.
1 bush on average gives at least 1.5 kg of fruit.
As for the ripening time, when sown in mid-spring, flowering occurs in the last week of June. Fruits begin to form by July, and the last crop is received in the second half of August.
In which regions is it best to plant?
Tomato variety Snowdrop is a cold-resistant tomato, it is better to plant it in the northern regions. The breeders who created this plant claim that it is suitable for all farmers living in the territory of Karelia, the Leningrad Region and the central part of the Russian Federation. The variety can be grown in open ground before the first frost.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Summer residents argue that the snowdrop tomato does not have any special drawbacks, it has only advantages.
Grade advantages:
- frost resistance;
- high productivity;
- drought tolerance;
- strong immunity;
- presentable appearance of the bushes;
- early ripening;
- the fruits do not crack;
- excellent taste;
- long-term storage of the crop;
- the possibility of transportation;
- does not need large greenhouses, can do with a small covering tunnel.
The main disadvantage of the variety is the high demand for fertilizers, especially during the period of bush growth.
Fruit application
Snowdrop tomatoes are considered a table variety, so its fruits are used fresh. You can make mashed potatoes, sauces, adjika, etc. from them. The crop is juicy and tasty. Try canning tomatoes as part of any vegetable platter. Some housewives try to close them in the form of lightly salted or dried tomatoes, but the reviews about this conservation from Snowdrop are not the best.
Opt for making juice, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.
Growing tomatoes of the variety Snowdrop
Acquiring seedlings on the market from an unverified seller is not the right thing to do. No one can ever guarantee that the sprouts will take root or that the Snowdrop variety will really grow from them. Perhaps the seller mixed up the seedlings or intentionally sold the wrong one.
Do not risk buying seedlings - grow it yourself. Only when growing sprouts yourself, you will be sure that you will get the desired fruits.
Seed preparation
In order for the seeds to precisely emerge and in the future seedlings take root in open soil, the grains must be correctly selected and disinfected.
How to process the seeds:
- From all the grains that you have, select the best. Make a solution of water (250 ml) and salt (10 g). Place all planting material in this mixture and wait 10 minutes. In this short time, low-quality grains will rise up, and good grains suitable for planting will go down.
- Pour out all the water and throw away the bad planting material. Rinse good seeds under running water from salt.
- To increase the immunity of future sprouts, hold the seeds in a weak manganese solution for about a quarter of an hour. Some summer residents say that potassium permanganate can be replaced with aloe juice.
- After pickling, place them in feed water for 24 hours. As a healthy medium, use any preparations from the store, you can also put seeds in potato juice.
- It is necessary to improve the germination of grains. To do this, spread the cheesecloth in a double layer on a flat dish, lay the seeds on top, moisten and make sure that they do not dry. Germinate grains for 3 days.
- The final stage - hardening will prepare the seed for transplanting into open soil. Remove the water from the gauze and put the grains in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Remove them and let them warm up, after a while, put them back in the refrigerator. Repeat the procedure three times.
Sowing seeds: a step-by-step scheme
Plant all seeds at the same time so that the grains grow and develop under the same conditions. Follow these tips:
- Wet the soil slightly with water, wait a quarter of an hour and make small furrows of 10 mm each. Between the rows - 40 mm.
- Fill the furrows with mullein with water and sow the grains, leave a distance of 2 cm between them.
- Sprinkle seed with soil and moisten. Cover the containers with foil and place on a warm windowsill.
- Keep track of temperature (+ 24 ... + 29 degrees Celsius) and humidity (80%).
- Open the film daily for 5 minutes so that the soil is ventilated and excess moisture evaporates.
- If necessary, then moisten the soil from the spray gun, seedlings will begin to hatch on the 5th day after planting.
The soil
When creating a substrate for seedlings, more sand is added to it than humus. The mixture is sieved and disinfected. It is better to steam the soil in a double boiler so that all bacteria, fungal spores, etc. die in it. It is better to carry out this procedure a week after planting grains so that beneficial bacteria begin to restore their work in the soil.
Soil for seedlings should be loose, but at the same time sufficiently moisture-resistant. To improve oxygen permeability, add a little sphagnum (moss) to the mixture.
Instead of sphagnum, use coconut crumbs.
Tara
Small containers are suitable for growing tomatoes in the form of a simple wooden box with holes at the bottom. The height of the box is 10 cm. Place the boxes in pallets so that excess water drains into them. Fill them with a special soil mixture for tomatoes. You can use this recipe for creating soil: humus (2 parts), peat (2 parts), sand (1 part), superphosphate (10 g per 10 kg) and wood ash (10 g per 10 kg).
Do not use plastic containers, in them very quickly the earth begins to suffocate and sour. Better opt for wooden crates.
Seedling care
Most importantly, provide seedlings with plenty of light. If the house does not have such an opportunity, then make additional lighting (at least 12 hours a day). The first 7 days, keep the seedlings in extreme humidity, slightly open the film, but you can not remove it. Moisten the soil only if it has dried; in other cases, use simple spraying. Protect plants from drafts.
1 time in 10 days, water the seedlings with a mild solution of guano or with purchased mixtures based on vermicompost. Only halve the dosage.
Picking is required, spend it on the 10th day after sowing the seeds. Move each plant into a separate small container. Carry along with a soil lump so that the roots are not damaged.
Carry out hardening measures 14 days after disembarkation. On the 1st sunny day, take the cups to fresh air and keep there for about 5 minutes, then increase the “airing” to 3 hours a day.
Rules for planting seedlings in open ground
Immediately pay attention to the composition of the soil. Snowdrop tomatoes cannot tolerate clay lands with high acidity. To reduce the amount of acid, add 20 g of wood ash and half the crushed chalk per 1 kg of earth.
If seedlings were grown in the last week of February, then you can transplant it in open soil at the end of April. Divide the landing area into squares of 0.4x0.4 m. Dig holes, put humus on the bottom and fill them with standing water.
Choose a cloudy day for landing. Plants planted in the heat and drought, rooted weakly, and as a result bring a poor harvest.
When moisture is absorbed into the wells, repeat watering again. Deepen the seedlings 40 mm above the root neck, sprinkle the sprouts with soil, tamp a little. Pour 0.5 liters of warm water under the root of the plant.
Bushes care
Adult bushes need quality and regular care. It consists of several parts:
- Watering. Carry out a radical way. You can’t pour on the leaves, otherwise there will be a chance of fungal diseases. Watering is carried out when the topsoil has dried up. Transfusions should not be allowed. During heavy rainfall, cover the seedlings with foil. In drought, water the tomatoes every other day or every day, but in the morning. About 1 liter of water leaves for 1 young plant, 4 liters for an adult.
- Loosening. This procedure will slow the evaporation of water from the soil, it will not allow the formation of a dry crust on the soil. Loosen not too deep, as the roots of the tomatoes are close to the surface.
- Weeding. Carry out with loosening, because at this moment weeds break out of the soil better. Destruction of grass is necessary, because it is considered the source of the emergence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
- Stepsoning. It is a process of collecting lateral shoots of a plant in its lower part, breaking them off manually when the shoots reach 5 cm. You need to conduct an event in cloudy and cool weather so that the plant has time to heal its wounds before the heat. After planting seedlings, carry out the first herding after 30 days, then every 10 days.
- Garter. Farmers use two types of support: trellis and stakes. The first is a grid with large cells, it is very difficult to tie them, but on the trellis you can lean against 5 bushes at once. Stakes drive in near each bush.
- Top dressing. Tomatoes are very sensitive to the presence of nutrients in the soil, so fertilizing is indispensable. The first application is carried out 14 days after the germination of the sprouts (10 l of water + 1 kg of mullein + 15 g of superphosphate). One plant takes about 0.5 liters of funds. The next feeding after another 14 days (20 g of superphosphate + 15 g of potassium chloride + 10 l of water). Subsequent fertilizers are applied every 20 days, you can use a weak solution of mullein.
Diseases and Pests
Tomato Snowdrop is resistant to many diseases and pests, but some ailments still overcome it. The main diseases: late blight, apical rot, mosaic. To combat them, use special tools such as Meteor, Thiophene Extra and Acidan.
Bacterial diseases that are not treated are also dangerous. Sick plants are torn out along with the root and burned.
The most common pests are thrips, whiteflies, wireworms, slugs, and bear cubs. Methods of struggle against them are regular prevention and use of drugs such as Confidor, Karate, Mospilan.
Grade Reviews
Maria, 46 years old, journalist, Adler. Recently I read an article describing a seedling method of planting tomatoes. I immediately remembered how my friend grew the Snowdrop variety directly by planting seeds in open ground. This is really interesting, I think that I should try, especially since our climate allows us to conduct such experiments.
Peter, 37 years old, taxi driver, Arkhangelsk. For many years I have been growing Snowdrop in a greenhouse. What can I say about him? A very productive tomato variety, I collect about 1.8 kg of crop from one bush, and this is a lot. The only thing is that he needs constant lighting and fertilizing, without top dressing he starts to hurt and does not bring as much fruit as we would like.
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Tomato Snowdrop is an excellent cultivar designed for cultivation in cold regions. It needs special care, but juicy and large fruits are worth the time and effort.