Small-fruited tomatoes are loved by summer residents. The Ladybug tomato pleases with an abundance of strong, bright fruits. You can enjoy them as early as July. And when you get tired of it, add salt and diversify the winter menu.
What attracts gardeners
Breeders worked to create an early ripening variety for open ground. Practice has shown that plants bear fruit well even in unheated greenhouses. When it gets colder, it is recommended to cover the plantings with film or non-woven material.
Description of Ladybug:
- early ripening variety (from pipping to the first harvest 80 days);
- determinate bush (grows < 50 cm);
- leaves are small, light green;
- 2-3 brushes on the stem;
- the tomato is resistant to TMV, rot, and “escapes” late blight;
- yield up to 9 kg/m².
Children love to eat Ladybug tomatoes. They are attracted by the shape and sweetish taste of the berries.
What do the berries look like?
The bushes are quite decorative. Low-growing plants are strewn with small, dense fruits. Berries of green, light brown and red colors hang on one brush.
Characteristics of tomatoes:
- weight 20 g;
- thick skin;
- sweet and sour taste;
- juicy pulp;
- ball shape;
- smooth to the touch.
Ladybug decorates salads. Tomatoes do not crack during heat treatment, the pulp retains its consistency. Assorted vegetables diversify the winter menu.
Unripe fruits ripen easily in a dark pantry. The thick skin ensures delivery to the place of storage or sale.
The advantages of the variety are appreciated by gardeners: Ladybug is included in the State Register of Vegetable Crops of the Russian Federation. Recommended for growing in summer cottages and private plots.
Advice from agricultural technicians
The gardener who grew Ladybug knows: the harvest depends on competent agricultural technology. It is common for tomatoes:
- start seedlings in the third decade of March;
- The plants must be pricked down to the cotyledons;
- ventilate, feed, harden seedlings;
- maintain a temperature of 18 ⁰C;
- follow the watering schedule;
- place in a permanent place after late spring frosts;
- pre-fill the ridges with mineral complexes;
- layout: 50 cm x 70 cm;
- requires feeding with nitrogen (one time);
- mulch the soil with straw, sawdust, non-woven material;
- To optimize water consumption, provide drip irrigation.
People fell in love with this unpretentious compact plant. The gardener planted a ladybug this year and will plant it next year.
Methods of protection against diseases and pests
Tomato is resistant to some diseases. Early ripening eliminates late blight. But the bushes, overloaded with fruits, fall to the ground. Tomatoes begin to rot in cool, humid weather. Mulching the beds will reduce crop losses.
The ladybug was appreciated by pests. Garden snails can destroy berries in one night. To prevent aggression, crushed eggshells should be scattered on the ground.
A summer resident planted a ladybug near her neighbors' abandoned plot. The plants were eaten by aphids. The flowers have fallen, the fruits have not set. Aphids can be eliminated by timely destruction of anthills, treatment of plants with industrial insecticides or folk remedies.
Gardeners' opinion
Gardeners give good reviews about the Ladybug. They like productivity, early ripening, and transportability. People appreciated the universal purpose of the fruit and the ease of growing the crop. The unripe fruits are ripened in the dark. Prepared canned food decorates any dish.
