Translated from French, the word ampel means a hanging flower vase, and in Russian it means a flower pot. Ampelous tomatoes are grown both for beauty and for food. They can be grown both indoors and on the plot, but in a suspended state, which can significantly save space on the plot or in a greenhouse, and will help decorate an apartment, cottage, plot, greenhouse, and so on.
This type of tomato belongs to the nightshade family.
Cherry subspecies
The fruit of these tomatoes is quite small, but tasty.A tomato reaches a weight of 10–70 grams, depending on the variety.
Ampel tomatoes have an advantage over regular tomatoes, which is that they can be planted earlier and, as a result, harvested earlier. This type of tomato has virtually no pests and is less sick because the plants do not come into contact with the ground. Scientists are constantly improving this subspecies of tomatoes by growing new varieties. These tomatoes are grown all year round on a warm balcony or windowsill.
Cascade F1 Red and Elo
Tomatoes of these varieties are almost the same, the differences are in color. Red is red, and ELO is yellow.
Both types of tomatoes have hanging shoots and a small bush. The varieties of these hanging tomatoes appealed to those who like to grow vegetables on the windowsill because they require virtually no care. The most important thing is to pick off dried leaves and water them on time.
These tomato varieties produce a small yield; if you plan to grow a good harvest, then you need to plant vegetables in a larger container, up to 10 liters.
Tomatoes are eaten raw; you can make preparations for the winter by canning them. Fruit ripening is 110 days.
city dweller
This type of tomato must be grown in a container of at least four liters. Tomatoes of these varieties are very tasty and healthy; they ripen for a hundred days.
Tomatoes have a nice appearance, as does the bush itself, which should be tied up, and then another bush can be planted nearby. This variety needs to be pinched - if you follow this rule, you can speed up the ripening of the fruits, i.e., the harvest time will be reduced. The variety is good to eat raw and canned.
Red abundance
This variety bears fruit well, you just need to fertilize the plant and water it on time, the harvest will ripen in fifty days. You can eat it both canned and fresh.
Garden pearl
This tomato is distinguished by especially small tomatoes. The fruits are well suited for canning whole: the tomato reaches only twenty grams of weight.
Mascot
This type of indoor tomatoes can grow not only at home, but also outside. This variety produces a harvest in July. Cold resistant. Ripens in one hundred days, and the weight of the fruit is 40 – 80 g.
Landing
To properly grow ampelous indoor varieties of tomatoes, the most ordinary care is sufficient.
Before sowing, the seeds are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for one hour, then washed in plain water. When soaking seeds or preparing the soil in advance.
Soil recipe
You need to take turf, humus, peat. All components must be in equal proportions.
Potassium sulfate, phosphate fertilizer, and ash are added to the prepared soil. All parts are mixed so that the resulting soil is airy and soft, allowing air and water to pass through. The prepared soil is placed in containers where the seeds will be sown. After everything is ready, the seeds are sown.
Sowing seeds
Performed in March. The seeds are buried 2 to 3 centimeters deep into the ground. Water carefully so as not to damage or disturb the seed. After the seeds germinate, you need to wait until 2-3 leaves appear, and only then the plant can be planted in the main container, having first poured a mixture of small pebbles, expanded clay and brick fragments to the bottom to the extent of 2-3 centimeters.
This drainage allows moisture to be properly redistributed in the pot and does not create stagnation of water, which has a detrimental effect on the tomatoes and can even kill the plants.
In May, seedlings are grown in containers that are hung or placed on the windowsill. When it gets cold, seedlings can be brought into the house, which means they can prevent freezing. Such containers protect seedlings from pests and diseases, because the soil is constantly enriched with oxygen.
Selection of capacity
The container is selected according to the weight of the future tomatoes. If the tomato is small, then the pots should be no more than five liters. When the fruit is large, the capacity should be up to 10 liters so that the plants feel cozy and comfortable in the pots.
Care
Ampel varieties require the same care as ordinary traditional tomatoes. Tomatoes need to be fed with mineral fertilizers, watered and loosened. The only thing you can’t do is be too zealous when feeding tomatoesso as not to overfeed, as this will affect the harvest in the future, and the tomatoes will not be as tasty. It is necessary to feed with phosphorus fertilizers in small quantities.
Plants need to be fertilized every two weeks. Fertilizing should be done during watering.
Summer care
If you plan to grow ampelous tomatoes with one stem, then you need to break off all the stepsons, but if you decide to make two stems, then you need to leave the stepson that grows under the flower - it is from this that the second stem will be formed.
If tomatoes are growing in a room where insects do not have access, then it is necessary to “pollinate” the tomatoes by shaking the flowers and thus transferring pollen from one flower to another flower.
If a tomato is grown for food, then you need to harvest a crop that is not fully ripe, and if it is grown for beauty, then you don’t have to pick the fruits until the last minute.
