We are attracted to tomatoes not only by their benefits, but also by the variety of sizes, colors and shapes. The mushroom tomato basket is so unusual that it can surprise even experienced gardeners. Once again, breeders from Siberia are helping to turn vegetable growing into real creativity.
Smile selection
A tomato with an original fruit shape and an equally original name was bred by experienced Siberian breeders - V. N. Dederko and O. V. Postnikova.
This tandem has created many modern varieties that have become popular not only in Siberia, but throughout Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and Northern Kazakhstan. Mushroom basket as a tomato variety appeared in the Russian State Register in 2008, and two years later received a State patent as a special achievement of selection. This relatively young variety quickly “went to the people” and spread throughout the country.
Atypical tomatoes
This exotic version of familiar vegetables will appeal to lovers of garden rarities and novelties. The authors, giving their description of the variety, call it “extravagant.”
Cheerful harmonica
In the description of the Mushroom Basket tomato, its main feature immediately catches the eye - the appearance of the fruit. They are round, flattened below and above, with a folded-ribbed surface.
Some people may find these numerous, pronounced tomato ribs ugly, but most people find them interesting, beautiful, and attractive. Deep, even furrows seem to cut the tomatoes from top to bottom. The fruit seems to be assembled from separate segments.
Great size
Not only the shape, but also the weight of the fruit is impressive. On average, each “basket” weighs a quarter of a kilogram, but specimens that are one and a half times larger are not uncommon. In a Mushroom Basket tomato, a typical bunch with three or four tomatoes can stretch a kilogram or even more.
Coloring
When ripening, the skin of the fruit gradually acquires first a bright scarlet, then a rich red color, with a crimson tone. The greenish spot near the stalk does not turn red immediately, but disappears gradually.
Pulp
Inside, the fruits of the Mushroom Basket are moderately juicy and have a delicate texture.Sometimes the cut shows small voids at the tops of the ribs. Tomatoes grow dryish when there is a lack of nutrition and moisture supply.
General fee
With minimal care, the yield is 6–7 kg per square meter. For meticulous, caring owners, each bush brings 3 kg, and a square meter brings more than a bucket, especially if grown in a greenhouse.
Purpose
Some gardeners jokingly call the variety “Surprise your neighbor.” But the Mushroom Basket is tomatoes not only for garden decoration and aesthetic pleasure. Tomatoes are suitable for any salads - both fresh and canned. When cut, their slices look very original, they will transform any dish and add variety. Tomato Mushroom basket is also useful in preparing tomato juice, lecho and other preparations.
Powerful bushes
The mushroom basket is recommended for any type of soil - both open and closed. Most reviews about the experience of growing these tomatoes claim that the best returns are still observed in greenhouses - film or polycarbonate. This applies to regions such as the North-West, the Urals, Altai, Siberia, and the Middle Belt. In warmer climates, the Mushroom Basket successfully ripens in open-air beds.
Ripening time
Original ribbed tomatoes require a lot of time to fully form clusters and fruits. The Mushroom Basket tomato belongs to the medium-late category.
This is a rare characteristic for Siberian varieties, which is why it is more comfortable in greenhouses. Tomatoes gain weight and begin to color only 4 months after germination. When picked green, the tomatoes ripen well, but some fruits turn out a little hollow.
Plant height
The bushes of the Mushroom Basket are large.The growth type is semi-determinant. The central stem itself is capable of stopping its development by tying several clusters. This is convenient for open ground - the bushes are no higher than a meter.
In order to increase productivity, the upper stepson is left in the greenhouse, which continues to grow instead of the main trunk. This way a height of one and a half to two meters is achieved. Tomato clusters are knitted until the end of the season. The stem of the Mushroom Basket is thick and durable, standard type, looks like a small tree.
For those who are accustomed to working with early ripening Siberian varieties, the technology for cultivating Mushroom Basket will not be too familiar.
Subtleties of agricultural technology
Tall, large-fruited, late tomatoes Mushroom basket require increased attention:
- Sowing seeds for seedlings should not be done too late. The optimal age for transplanting into a greenhouse or garden bed is 60 days.
- Young seedlings tend to stretch when there is a lack of light, high temperature, or thickening. Timely picking is required, and additional lighting on dark windows.
- In the greenhouse, three Mushroom Basket bushes are placed on each square meter, and four in open ground.
- Gartering of stems is required. Even the heaviest brushes may require fastening.
- The variety requires mandatory pinching. The plant is grown strictly in one stem, maximum two. Side branches are plucked out as early as possible.
- A mushroom basket, like a large-fruited tomato, requires regular moderate watering and increased nutrition. To avoid hollow fruits, complex fertilizing is carried out weekly, alternating root and foliar.
- The greenhouse must be well ventilated. The heat can cause the ovaries to drop and the fruit to become deformed.
- Excessive greenhouse dampness leads to the development of fungal diseases (late blight, cladosporiosis). Prevention is necessary.
Mushroom basket tomatoes are not a hybrid, but a variety. You can safely harvest your own seeds from it.
