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Tomatoes, as a vegetable crop, appeared in Russia a little over 200 years ago. Due to their attractive appearance, excellent taste and useful properties, tomatoes very quickly took a leading position in vegetable growing.
Today, in the culture of vegetable growing, thousands of varieties of tomatoes are cultivated, which differ from each other in taste, shape, color, speed of fruit ripening and resistance to diseases. However, breeders around the world are actively working to obtain new varieties of tomatoes with high yields. Among these are the Palka variety.
From the history
Tomato Stick belongs to the group of rare varieties of tomatoes grown in domestic gardens, although this collectible variety appeared more than half a century ago in the United States. It got its name because of its unusual life form. It consists of three long stems that rise to a height of 1.6-1.8 m. This variety does not have side shoots. There are also few leaves. They are small, without petioles, and have a corrugated shape. For this, Stick tomatoes are often called Curly.
To get acquainted with the Palk tomato, its characteristics and description of the variety will help.
Tomato Stick
Varietal characteristics
Tomatoes are a thermophilic culture, they cannot stand even short-term frosts. Therefore, any variety, including the Palka variety, in the climatic conditions of central Russia requires growing through seedlings.
Palka tomatoes are mid-ripening varieties, since the period from germination to first fruiting lasts 107-111 days. Therefore, you need to take care of the seedlings in advance. It is necessary to sow seeds in boxes in late February and early March. Plants can be planted in the greenhouse in early May. But in open ground only after the soil warms up well, and the probability of frost will be minimal.
The flowering of tomato plants of this variety begins on the 87-92 day of the growing season. Flowers are numerous, located on racemes. During the fruiting period, 5-6 brushes are formed. The fruits are tied slowly but amicably. Up to 7-8 tomatoes develop on each cluster. In this regard, the average bush yield is 1.4-1.7 kg.
Good yield
The most important feature of the Palka variety is its small, firm, round fruits. At the stage of full maturity, they have a bright red saturated color. The mass of a tomato on the first clusters ranges from 65-80 g, on the second and subsequent ones - a little less (45-33 g). Tomato pulp is sweaty and fleshy, dense fibers and veins are absent. The variety has a pronounced tomato flavor with a characteristic sourness.
Agricultural technology of cultivation
There is no expert description in popular science literature about the Palk tomato. Therefore, they are not yet very popular among lovers of this vegetable culture. Many gardeners are confused by the appearance of the plant. But everyone who has come across this variety at least once notes the many advantages of Palka among other tomatoes. But in order for a plant to please with its harvest, you need to know the features of its cultivation. You need to start by choosing seeds.
Where can I find seeds? Palka tomato seeds are not sold through the retail network, but you can find the coveted variety in online stores.The cost of a bag of seeds (10 pcs.) Will cost the buyer 78 rubles, and upon delivery, the price rises to 350 rubles. Although you can save money, for example, exchange with another amateur vegetable grower on favorable terms for both parties.
How to grow seedlings
In order to get the harvest of Palka tomatoes on time, you need to take care of planting seedlings in time. Seeds should be planted 60-63 days before planting in open ground. So, in order for the seedlings to "ripen" by the May holidays, the seeds should be planted at the latitude of Moscow in the last days of February.
For seedlings you need to prepare:
- wooden box or plastic container, 8-10 cm high;
- soil substrate.
Before sowing, the soil and the container where the seedlings will grow must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. This is the only way to protect developing plants from dangerous microorganisms.
The seed also needs processing. It is best to do this the day before landing. A 1% boric acid solution is well suited for these purposes. Processed seeds should be dried on a napkin, buried in the ground dry.
In boxes with soil, seeds should be planted in grooves, at a distance of 1-1.5 cm from each other. The seeding depth of seeds is 0.8-1 cm. Amicable shoots will appear on 2-3 days if the container with seeds is covered with cling film and placed in a warm place (22-26 ° C).
Planting seedlings in the ground
In open ground, seedlings of Palka tomatoes should be planted no earlier than the last days of May. In order for the seedlings to receive all the necessary minerals for development, when planting, 1 tbsp should be added to each hole. spoonful of a mixture of superphosphate with potassium sulfate.
Due to the absence of branching and a large number of leaves in the plants of the Palka variety, they can be planted at close distances to each other. At the same time, tomato bushes do not compete with each other for sunlight and air. The optimal distance between seedlings in one stem is 15-20 cm, in two or three stems - up to 30 cm.
You should not deepen the plants during planting, as this will lead to the active formation of adventitious roots and delay the ripening of fruits by several days, or even weeks.
Landing
During the period of adaptation of tomato seedlings to open ground conditions, it is necessary to provide them with daily watering and shading from direct sunlight. It should be borne in mind that frequent watering leads to the formation of a dense soil crust. It does not allow oxygen to pass to the developing root system of young plants. Therefore, loosening should be carried out as often as watering. That is, if watering is carried out in the evening, then it is necessary to loosen it early in the morning.
During the period of active vegetation and fruiting, it is worth watering only during severe drought. In addition, tomatoes should be fed with a solution of magnesium sulfate. For this, 30 g of fertilizer must be dissolved in 10 liters of water. This should be done every two weeks.
Tomatoes of the Palka variety practically do not form stepchildren, but fruit clusters are actively forming on the stem. In order to increase the yield and quality of fruits, no more than 4-5 brushes should be left. Otherwise, the fruits will be too small.
Pros and cons of the variety
Benefits
Compared to popular tomato varieties, the Palka variety has many advantages:
- High-yielding variety - from 1 m² beds you can get up to 30-32 kg of tomatoes;
- Compact placement - to accommodate 10 plants, a garden bed is required, the area of which is 1.5 times less than for placing bush tomato varieties;
- Caring for plants of this variety is simple, even a novice vegetable grower can do it;
- Fruits are medium in size, smooth and firm. They tolerate transportation well. Suitable for canning. They have a pleasant sweet and sour tomato flavor.
Disadvantages of the variety
In this variety, you can find only one drawback - it is fragile long stems that can easily break under the weight of the fruit. To solve this problem, it is enough to tie up the stems of the plant on a solid support.
Considering all the advantages of the Palka variety, it should be noted that such tomatoes will delight every gardener with the opportunity to grow a rich harvest in a small summer cottage. In addition, the exotic shape of tomato bushes will attract the gaze of households and neighbors all summer long. And seeds of a rare variety can provide additional benefits.
