Who needs a sweet and tasty tomato? The secret in this article

Variety or hybrid? How to achieve the perfect tomato flavor?

In childhood, we all tried freshly prepared salads from tomatoes or cucumbers. And even now, who does not like to pamper yourself with such light, but healthy food? In the markets, you can often grab a tomato with a pronounced taste, which is ideal for any dish.

But many of us choose to grow ourselves. At the same time, despite the large selection of seeds of all sorts and hybrids on the shelves, gardeners often complain that year after year they do not get the taste they would like. So what's the reason? What determines the taste of tomatoes and how to choose the right one?

Varieties or hybrids?

First, let's figure out which seeds are best for us to buy. And for this it is important to understand the difference in the concepts of "variety" and "hybrid".

A variety is a set of characteristics that distinguish a group of plants of one species from another group of the same species. These traits can be either positive or negative, and such plants inherit these traits.

A hybrid is an organism that is obtained by crossing two or more varieties of a plant and is a carrier of improved characteristics, such as resistance to diseases, transportability, etc. (on the packaging they are indicated as F1). But, unfortunately, a set of these traits is not inherited, therefore, seeds can be collected from varietal plants, but not from hybrids.

If you have a film or polycarbonate greenhouse, then it is best to purchase hybrids, as they perform well in such conditions.

When grown outdoors, it is worth choosing varietal seeds.

What about the taste of a tomato?

Varietal tomatoes are never tasteless. Yes, it is varietal. Indeed, in order to get a new variety of tomatoes, the best forms are selected for a much longer time. They try it in different growing conditions, climatic zones. Judge for yourself. Who will bother with a tomato for several years, if not a good taste?

The hybrids, in pursuit of new qualities, have lost some of their taste features, because in most cases good storage, an attractive appearance of the fruit, and a large yield are important for a hybrid (seeds of hybrids are not cheap). Not to say that the taste is lost. It persists enough. But still, "emptiness" is felt.

How To Get Perfect Tomatoes?

First of all, the most important thing is the conditions for growing the plant. We will cover three main components: nutrition, watering and leaf care.

Firstly, feeding... The plant needs it in order to form normal fruit with good taste. It is not so important what to feed the tomato - humus, ash or mineral fertilizers. The plant will still get what it needs only after processing the nutrients with bacteria. The main thing is that nutrition goes according to the levels of development. For example, a tomato needs a lot of nitrogen during the period of fruit formation. Just like micronutrients are important in nutrition. They act as catalysts (accelerators) of the maturation process. For example, with a lack of magnesium in tomatoes, yellowing of the lower leaves occurs, and a small amount of an element such as molybdenum allows the tomato to absorb nitrogen faster. But it is worth noting that very few microelements are needed. With the beginning of fruit ripening, calcium will be needed, not only the size of the fruit and color saturation depends on it, but also the sugar content, which significantly changes the taste of the tomato for the better.

Second - watering... Frequent watering in small amounts gives the fruit a sour-watery taste.Thanks to rare but abundant watering, the nutrition of the plant becomes more varied, and, accordingly, the taste of the tomato also improves.

And the last, of course - leaves... Everything is simple here. The fruits that we grow in the sun will be much tastier than those grown in the greenhouse. Directly direct interaction of the rays of the sun and the surface of the leaf has a beneficial effect on the formation of additional nutrition, which the plant itself creates.

It is also important to nourish plants, protect them from overheating and to regulate all internal processes, not to cut off almost all the leaves, leaving only the fruits, since the taste can significantly change for the worse.

Happy harvest everyone!