Not every summer resident has the opportunity to devote a large amount of time to the garden, and tomatoes are especially demanding of care. What if you don’t have time to water at all? In this case, use the method of growing tomatoes without watering.
Features of cultivation
In order for tomatoes without watering to please you with a high-quality and abundant harvest, you must follow certain rules when planting seedlings. So, how to plant tomatoes and not water them:
- The lower leaves must be removed.
- Pre-dig a hole for planting seedlings half the size of the stem.
- Fertilizer, wood ash and potassium permanganate should be added to the prepared hole for planting seedlings (take 2 tbsp for ½ bucket of fertilizer.ash and 1 gram of potassium permanganate).
- The hole along with the fertilizer is watered with plenty of water.
- After absorbing the moisture, the seedlings begin to be planted: the lower part of the plant is placed horizontally in the hole with the top to the north side.
- Tomatoes wake up with a small amount of soil.
- The top needs to be tied to special pegs.
- Carefully water the plants with plenty of water at room temperature (1/2 a bucket), but do not let the liquid get on the leaves.
The stage of planting vegetable crops has ended, and summer residents begin a psychological turning point, which consists in growing tomatoes without watering.
Subsequently, as the moisture dries out, the leaves on the seedlings begin to wither, and the plant itself begins to bend. At this moment, gardeners should be persistent and under no circumstances wet the beds.
In the absence of moisture, the root system of tomatoes begins to grow. In search of water, the roots go deeper into the ground and become strong. When the fruits appear, the plant, no longer accustomed to watering, will not wait for moisture. The bushes are in independent search for water. Larger tomatoes are formed, because the vegetable crop is completely confident that it can “saturate” itself. Let us note that, according to numerous observations of summer residents, tomatoes without watering produce a greater yield than when grown in the traditional way.
Caring gardeners, seeing withering bushes, will immediately begin to water the garden. Should not be doing that! Wait just 7 days and you will see that growing tomatoes without watering is not a myth, but a very real thing. The total adaptation period for plants is about two weeks.After 14 days, the tomatoes begin to grow and gradually become like tomato thickets. Please note that growing tomatoes using this method is ideal for soils with groundwater.
Features of care
Although care for vegetable crops is minimal, tomatoes still require certain conditions. When planting tomatoes in open ground during the drying period of the soil, it is important not to water the bushes. Get over yourself!
The unkempt appearance of the bushes is explained by the fact that the roots in the soil begin to seek moisture, which requires a large amount of energy. After a half-moon, the plant again takes on a fresh and fragrant appearance.
The traditional method of growing tomatoes without watering is the complete absence of water during the development of bushes. However, if you are very worried about the tomatoes, it is not forbidden to water the garden once a month during fruiting. Then be prepared for the fruits themselves to become watery. With absence watering tomatoes have a sweetish taste, the fruits can be used in the preparation of salads or various tomato products.
In order for a plant to grow healthy in a greenhouse, you need to know several features of its cultivation:
- Form beds correctly.
- Remove the lower leaves on the stem.
- Perform stepsoning.
- It is recommended to add carbon dioxide to the seedlings 2-3 times, for example, a Greenhouse tablet.
- Provide high-quality lighting in the greenhouse, you can even add an additional lamp.
- It is necessary to systematically ventilate the greenhouse, especially in hot weather (above 30 °C).
- Water the seedlings only in exceptional cases, when fruits appear on the bushes.
Features of mulching
When wondering how to grow tomatoes without watering, special attention should be paid to mulching the soil. This is necessary to provide the root system with additional moisture.
Each layer of soil performs its own specific functions: somewhere grass grows, somewhere its remains are located. Modern vegetable growers are very accustomed to open soil and do not pay any attention to its other layers, because weeds do not interfere at all. Since the openness of the soil is directly related to natural conditions, such as sun rays, wind, precipitation, this often leads to drying out of the earth.
Most summer residents advise lightly loosening the top layer of soil rather than digging it. This should be done as needed. For example, by digging the soil deeper than 5 cm, you transfer the bottom layer to the top. Along with it, various microorganisms and worms appear at the top.
Being above the required level, they die due to lack of oxygen, and it takes a lot of time to restore the microflora. Please note that digging up the soil every year reduces the yield.
Why take unnecessary actions and reduce the amount of harvest if you can take a simpler path: it is enough to mulch the soil, preventing the soil from drying out. Moreover, this method is a budget option that will take very little time.
Absolutely any materials are suitable for mulching: newspaper, hay, straw, weeds, sawdust, fallen leaves from trees or expanded clay. The layer of mulch is about 20–30 cm. Be prepared that it will be necessary to add or change it during the season, since the mulch constantly sags.
According to the observations of one of the gardeners: “This is not the first time I have grown tomatoes without using water. I can say that this is a wonderful method. Caring for tomatoes does not require much time, and the fruits themselves grow tasty and sweet.”
It is very simple to grow tomatoes without watering, following the successful advice of summer residents and gardeners. Do not water the plants under any circumstances and follow simple rules for caring for tomato beds. Have a good harvest!
