Good afternoon or evening, dear readers of the site!
Today I continue my new column... I want to talk about the dangerous pest mole cricket and you will also find out why our cucumbers are bitter.
Did you know that stepchildren grow into excellent tomatoes?
...lovage is a perennial spice plant, belongs to the celery family, sometimes reaching two meters in height. In different places it is called differently: lovage, zorya, piper, lyubimtrava, zaborina, etc. It is propagated by seeds and by dividing the rhizome.
Lovage greens are rich in carotene, vitamins, essential oils, contains malic acid and mineral salts as phytoncides. Young leaves, shoots, and roots are used in cooking, both fresh and dried. Lovage root is also used in medicine.
... the mole cricket is one of the most dangerous pests in garden beds. Where it has started, it creates a real threat not only to cucumbers and tomatoes, but also to radishes, onions, parsley and many other vegetables.
The mole cricket inhabits mainly waterlogged areas. It appears extremely rarely on the soil surface, mainly at night. Therefore, it is not easy to destroy it. To combat the pest, pesticides are most often used - for example, chlorophos (30 grams per 10 liters of water). This solution is poured into fresh insect burrows, where the mole cricket crawls to the soil surface, after which it is easy to collect and destroy. The remaining pests in the hole also die.
Despite the fact that this method is effective, we must not forget: we are still talking about pesticides. But there are two that have been tested folk ways fight against mole crickets. One of them is that chlorophos can be successfully replaced with soapy water remaining after washing clothes. In this case, the mole cricket also crawls to the surface.
Another way: setting traps from jars. It's done like this. Boards are laid between the rows on which people walk while caring for the plants. In these places, jars are dug into the ground so that their edges are slightly below the soil level. The mole crickets that get there are selected and destroyed.
... the opinion that the bitter taste of cucumbers depends on the variety is completely erroneous. A cucumber becomes bitter if an excess of cucurbitacin accumulates in it (the young fruits of all cucumbers, regardless of the variety, contain the bitter substance cucurbitacin. However, in modern varieties and hybrids its content is so insignificant that we simply do not taste it). In small quantities, this substance is “not contraindicated” for vegetables, but when it is in excess, the taste of them, and most often cucumbers, does not suit us vegetable growers.
The accumulation of cucurbitacin in vegetables occurs under unfavorable conditions during cultivation: lack of moisture, sun, nutrition, high and low temperatures, etc. Cucumbers grown in dry beds in warm and hot weather are especially bitter. At the same time proper care, timely watering and fertilizing can help not only improve the quality of fruits, but also increase productivity.
...the stepsons of tomatoes can become good seedlings for us gardeners. From them you can grow an adult bush with fruits even in room conditions. What needs to be done for this? First of all, prepare good soil. Tomato shoots take root best in compost pots or in well-manured and always moistened soil. (It is a mistake to first put the shoots in water and wait for the roots to appear. The tips of the shoots rot and they gradually disappear. In this case, at least one or two out of 10 shoots take root. Verified on personal experience. If we plant the freshly broken stepson immediately in the prepared soil, ten out of ten will take root.) At first they must be kept in the shade and watered abundantly. At good care after 12-15 days they form the first ovary. And 60-70 days after planting the stepsons, the bushes grown in this way can already be harvested. This is much earlier than when you usually grow tomatoes from seeds.
...tomato tops are a strong phytoncide. It can be collected and dried, and in the event of an attack by leaf-eating and sucking pests on fruit and vegetable crops used as a means of combating them. It is necessary to dry the tops in the shade. When it becomes necessary to protect the tree from caterpillars or aphids, I chop up the dry tops, pour them into a bucket of water and boil for about half an hour. For every two liters of broth I add 10 liters of water and 40 grams of soap. Then I spray the tree crowns with this solution along the surface of the leaves. (This year I also sprayed cucumbers against aphids.)
Tomato bushes planted between the rows of gooseberries and currants repel the gooseberry moth, one of the worst pests of these crops.
I look forward to your comments.
Best regards, Irina!
Anyone who has had to grow tomato seedlings in the spring has periodically encountered problems such as poor seed germination, lack of the desired variety or hybrid, or stretching of seedlings due to lack of light. Gardeners have long perceived this as an inevitable evil that is almost impossible to combat. Is it necessary to fight? Maybe we can simply bypass these difficulties? Let's see how to do this.
Imagine that in April you planted seeds of a very good, rare and expensive variety, and out of ten seeds only one sprouted. What to do in this case? Of course, you can go out and buy another packet of seeds. What if this is not possible?
And where is the guarantee that they will not turn out to be unviable again, and that time will already be lost. In fact, everything is much simpler.
Everyone knows that tomatoes produce a lot of shoots during the growing season. Usually they are broken off when they are still very small, leaving, at best, 1 - 2. If this is not done, then the bed turns into continuous thickets, and you cannot expect a good harvest.
Now let's take our only tomato sprout. If you take good care of it, feed it and provide additional light artificial light, when necessary, stepsons will begin to appear from the axils of the leaves in due time. But you don’t need to break them off right away - let them grow a little. When they reach 4–5 cm, or more, they are carefully pinched off and stuck into damp soil or sawdust. You can simply put it in a jar of water. After 5 - 6 days, the stepsons will take root, give roots and begin to develop like new young plants. Such seedlings are much stronger than those grown from seeds and do not require either picking or additional lighting, unless, of course, they are trying to grow them on a northern windowsill. It is ready to bloom within a month, because these are parts of an already developed plant. The first flower cluster of these tomatoes appears much lower than in seedlings grown from seeds. And since it is obtained vegetatively, it retains all the properties of the mother bush.
But what will happen to the mother bush itself? After some time, new stepsons will grow on it, which should be dealt with in the same way. It is a good idea to trim the top of the mother plant when it grows tall enough. The cut off upper part also takes root quickly, as do the side branches. In addition, shortening the upper part is even useful, as it causes increased growth of the stepsons.
There is only one secret: stepsons for seedlings should be used only those that have grown above the fourth leaf. If you take lower ones, then the bushes obtained from them will begin to bear fruit a little later, and their first brush will be located much higher along the trunk.
So in a simple way From one single seed you can get seedlings for a whole garden bed. It is especially useful when you need to propagate some rare and interesting hybrid. After all, as you know, seeds obtained from hybrids do not retain the properties of the plant from which they were collected. In order to grow the hybrid you like next year, you need to look for and purchase its seeds again. This is where the vegetative method of propagation comes to the rescue. An adult healthy bush is dug up in the fall and transplanted into a large flower pot or container. At first he is looked after as if he were an ordinary indoor flower. Then, when the leaves turn yellow and fall off, they move it to a cool, but fairly bright place. Ideally, the temperature should be between 7 and 15 °C. But an ordinary window sill will do, if there is no heating devices. In nature, the tomato is a perennial plant. Therefore, if he creates favorable conditions- cool air and very moderate watering, it will easily overwinter. In the spring, when it gets warmer, new shoots will appear on it, which can be used to produce young plants.
The advantages of this method are obvious, because the seedlings
– does not require picking;
– does not require additional lighting;
– does not suffer from blackleg and similar diseases;
– quickly begins to bear fruit;
– guaranteed to retain all varietal characteristics of the mother plant.
But there is also a drawback to seedlings grown from a stepson - the central tap root, which goes deep into the ground and reaches groundwater, she may not have it. True, this is compensated by a highly developed system of lateral roots, which are located closer to the soil surface. Therefore, it will not be possible to grow tomatoes from such seedlings without watering at all. As for the rest, tomato bushes obtained using vegetative propagation are no different from ordinary ones planted with seeds. And they produce a harvest, under equal conditions and care, no worse.
Even experienced summer residents often face a problem - it’s time to plant tomatoes in the ground, but there are not enough seedlings for one reason or another. The traditional solution - buying tomato seedlings at the market - is not the best way out of the situation.
An unknown variety with problematic fruiting, fungal diseases and pests that are invisible at first glance, and the considerable cost of strong-looking seedlings are not a complete list of arguments against such a step.
Even with only a few healthy bushes, each summer resident is able to provide his plot and greenhouse with high-quality seedlings due to stepsons - lateral shoots of the main trunk, which grow with enviable speed and consistency. Using them as cuttings for vegetative propagation is the optimal solution in many cases.
- Poor germination.
Gardeners often encounter poor seed germination: only 1-2 seeds sprout from a whole package. From these 1-2 seedlings, it is easy to obtain almost any number of seedlings by cuttings.
- Diseases:
- An unpleasant situation can happen to anyone. There is no 100% guarantee that the “black leg” will not appear, which can mow down tomato seedlings in 1-2 days.
- This method of agricultural technology - best way reanimate the site during an outbreak of late blight. Rooted cuttings of healthy plants can completely restore a dead plantation within 2-3 weeks.
- No conditions.
City apartments are not suitable for planting large number seedling roots.
Lack of space on windowsills and a constant lack of light force summer residents to abandon the varietal diversity of tomatoes and grow only 2-3 varieties.
- A tomato sprout stretched out due to lack of lighting can be shortened and you can get 2 full-fledged plants from 1 seed.
- Early disembarkation.
Happy owners of unheated polycarbonate greenhouses often plant tomato seedlings too early and face the consequences of spring frosts.
- Even 1 tomato bush of a rare variety can provide planting material for an entire garden bed: this is how lovers of rare varieties share seedlings.
- Filling empty areas.
Rooting stepchildren is a simple, fast and free way to fill the “dropped out” areas of a tomato bed without buying market seedlings.
- Frost.
In the climatic conditions of the North-West and Central regions increased risk of spring frosts. The method of rooting tomato cuttings allows you to quickly restore fallen areas
Experienced gardeners do not forget about the ability of tomatoes for vegetative propagation by cuttings; they send their stepsons to school for rooting. 
5 advantages and 2 small disadvantages
The method of growing tomatoes with rooted stepsons is extremely simple in practical application, the share of tedious operations is reduced to a minimum. The advantages of vegetative production of tomato seedlings are obvious:
- no dive required;
- no additional lighting required;
- no danger of seedling death from the “black leg” disease;
- tomatoes planted in a permanent place quickly take root and form ovaries until the first frost;
- 100% varietal characteristics are preserved.
In numerical terms, this is a technique for increasing the reproduction rate - from 1 seed, if desired, you can get as many genetically identical descendants as you like. Planting expensive seeds can be spread out over several years by purchasing a branded bag only once.
The disadvantages of this method of obtaining tomato seedlings are insignificant and, against the background of all the advantages, are hardly noticeable.
- Rooted seedlings do not always form a tap root - such tomatoes cannot be grown without watering.
- Rooted stepsons from the root zone of a tomato bush bear fruit somewhat later than their relatives taken from the top.
Tomatoes obtained by rooting green cuttings do not differ from ordinary tomatoes planted as seedlings. Under equal care conditions, the harvest will be no worse.
In the video you can clearly see how tomatoes reproduce through the rooting of stepchildren.
Growing tomato seedlings from stepchildren - plant according to the rules
Young shoots of stepchildren quickly form adventitious roots at the site of damage to the integumentary tissue. When the root shoots reach a length of 3-6 mm, they can be planted in a permanent place. There is no point in waiting until the roots are longer: they take root much more difficult, and besides, roots grown in water are very fragile and break off easily. There are several methods for rooting stepchildren.
Chinese method
This is a traditional way of rooting any shoots, including tomatoes. In the strongest bushes, the stepsons of the lower tier are bent to the bed and sprinkled with soil. After 7-10 days, check how the process of root formation occurs. Layerings with rudiments (even 1-2 mm) of roots are separated from the mother plant with a sharp knife and planted in a permanent place.
Rooting cuttings
In the process of pinching, the strongest cuttings are selected, at least 7-8 cm long. You can also divide them into cuttings top part tomato bush. This will not harm the future harvest at all.
Hidden buds awaken in the root part and the bush quickly recovers.
- The cuttings should be placed in water for 2-3 hours, where you can add any root former according to the instructions: “Heteroauxin”, “Kornevin” or just a little bee honey (1 tsp per liter).
- After this, the cuttings are planted in a schoolhouse or seedling containers.
- Further care is no different from ordinary seedlings, only the seedlings grow much faster.
Such seedlings are ready for transplanting to a permanent bed after 2 weeks. By this time, the formed roots do a good job of feeding the tomato bush. It should be noted that such seedlings develop faster than ordinary ones grown from seeds, produce flowers faster and bear fruit earlier. 
Proper care of seedlings
Tomatoes obtained using vegetative method, are stable, they do not need special conditions. The rules for caring for such tomato bushes are no different from usual:
- watering;
- feeding;
- loosening;
- preventive treatments;
- bush formation.
The only difference is that the fruiting period is extended, which is an additional advantage of the method.
The main secret of success
To obtain seedlings with maximum efficiency, only shoots located above the 4th leaf should be used for rooting. Bushes obtained from lower-lying stepsons will begin to bear fruit somewhat later and do not always ripen before autumn frosts.
How to preserve a hybrid without loss of properties for several years?
A rare hybrid with a particularly liked taste can be grown for more than 1 year. Seeds of hybrid plants do not guarantee the preservation of the qualities of the mother bush. Vegetative propagation comes to the rescue.
By their nature, tomatoes are perennials. If you dig up a healthy bush in the fall and transplant it into a container, in the spring you get a lot of green shoots for rooting.
The tomato is cared for like a houseplant; after the leaves turn yellow, they are placed in a cool place for the winter (up to 15°C). This could be a window sill, a glazed loggia or a veranda. During the dormant period, watering should be very moderate. Increasing the duration of daylight hours triggers the growth mechanism.
- All green shoots can be cut for rooting.
- The cut top can also be rooted.
- A powerful root system causes active growth of young shoots - material for vegetative propagation of a valuable variety.
Thus, without unnecessary financial costs and labor-intensive hardening, additional lighting, and picking, strong, healthy seedlings of any variety or hybrid of tomatoes are obtained year after year. 
Conclusion
You should not be afraid of such a “personally untested” method of obtaining seedlings. On the contrary, the seedlings turn out to be much hardier: they quickly acclimatize in a new place and produce ovaries within 1-2 weeks.
The method is very simple to implement and allows you to obtain additional seedlings throughout the season. Seedlings from tomato shoots are not at all an alternative to the seed method, but a proven “lifesaver” in a difficult situation.
From the stepsons you can get an excellent harvest of tomatoes. Scientists are convinced of this. Moreover, the stepsons do not have to be left on the bushes; it is better to pick them and root them in a bucket of water.
They are removed so that the fruits on the central stem and the remaining stepchildren were larger and ripened earlier. Therefore, the further the gardens are located to the north, the more popular the technique. Meanwhile, you can raise excellent stepchildren tomatoes. Leaving them on the bushes, we will get a trifle - there simply won’t be enough nutrition to form a large fruit. But if we separate it from the plant and throw the bunch into a bucket of water placed in the shade for five days, we will have at our disposal seedlings of a proven variety and without signs of disease (from diseased bushes stepsons we don't take it). For faster, higher-quality rooting, you can dip the ends of the stems in a solution of stimulants before germination. Such “seedlings” can be grown until July 15 in Middle lane and until mid-August in the South. Of course, the harvest will be late, and in early winter in some places it will be possible to harvest only “evergreen fruits,” but stepsons can help with late blight outbreaks and seriously prolong consumption fresh tomatoes. Care is almost the same. Only they are planted 1.5 times denser (in a row) than the same variety in the spring, watered at first every other day if the weather is dry. Fertilizing is not carried out until the plants become stronger and begin to produce growth. But treatments against diseases with Ridomil, Ordan, Strobi and other fungicides should be carried out regularly, every two weeks, 10-12 days after planting. The last treatment is done 30 days before the first harvest (in total you can do 2-3 sprayings).
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All gardeners know that hybrid tomato seeds They are very expensive, especially from well-known manufacturers. It is no secret that such tomato plants are more productive than varietal ones.
But I think any gardener will agree that varietal tomatoes are tastier than hybrid tomatoes. Therefore, as a rule, both varieties and hybrids are grown on the site. For example, I plant several hybrid tomato plants in my greenhouse. Their fruits will mainly be used for canning. I give preference to cocktail tomatoes for the size of their fruits - they are not large, but not small either, almost all the fruits in the cluster ripen at the same time. Their skin is dense, even if you don’t pick them in time, they don’t crack and can hang long time. And most importantly, they are convenient to preserve.
Grow cocktail tomatoes in my greenhouse (made of cellular polycarbonate) until frost - I do not limit their growth, like all other tomato plants in the second half of July. I noticed that such tomatoes do well in cool weather, both in spring and autumn. This year, at the beginning of October, there are still red tomatoes hanging in our greenhouse.
Cocktail tomato plants have one drawback - they produce a lot of shoots, so you need to constantly monitor them, removing the shoots in time, otherwise a continuous forest will grow. I leave the stepsons only at the top of the plants in early September, in order to later obtain cuttings for winter storage.
I save planting material these hybrid tomatoes at home in winter. The tomato plant is a vine and can grow endlessly, so I harvest cuttings(top of the plant and stepsons) in the fall before frost, unless of course the plants are affected by late blight; by the way, cocktail tomatoes are resistant to it. They prompted me to do this method of preserving planting material extremely expensive hybrid seeds with very low germination rates. For example, in 2013 I bought hybrid cocktail tomato seeds for 100 rubles - there were five seeds in the bag - and not a single one sprouted. I think that many gardeners, and especially pensioners, cannot afford such luxury, so the tomato hybrid you like can be preserved in the winter. It won't require much effort. In addition, in early spring, preserved cuttings can also be propagated. At first it was an experiment, it paid off and has now become part of my practice.
How do I do this? At the end of September or beginning of October, before frost, I cut the shoots and tops of tomato plants for winter storage. Such a cutting should have 3-4 leaves (they are small) and a stem 10-15 cm long. I try to cut those cuttings that have a thicker stem, they overwinter better. In addition, as they grow during winter storage, the stem becomes thinner. If there are flowers on the stem, I cut them off. Tomatoes will, of course, appear on them and even ripen, but they will take away the strength from the cuttings. If you have space on the windowsill, you can try cutting more flowering cuttings, and then by the New Year, using my method (in water), grow several dozen small red tomatoes.
I bring the cuttings home to my city apartment and put them in a glass jar with a wide neck in the brightest place on the windowsill. On each jar I write the name of the hybrid. You can’t put too many cuttings in a jar, they will be crowded and they will fall out. Therefore, there should be room for the cuttings in the jar - I put no more than 5-6 pieces. It is better if they do not touch each other. 7-10 cm of the stem should be immersed in water.
After some time, roots will appear on the submerged stems, the stem will grow upward and become thinner. This is why it is better to take cuttings with thick stems. The distance between the leaves on the stem during growth will increase due to lack of lighting. I don’t plant these cuttings in the ground, otherwise they will begin to grow, and the daylight hours are short outside, and I can’t place many cuttings in pots on the windowsill.
In the first half of November, I cut off the upper part of each rooted cutting (approximately 15 cm) and put it in boiling water again. cold water, having first washed the jar. I throw away the lower part of the plant with roots. It is best to take cuttings on the day of the fruit according to the lunar sowing calendar. From now on, I place the cuttings on a rack for seedlings and begin to illuminate them with lamps daylight 12-14 hours. November-December is the most unfavorable time for plants due to the short daylight hours, and for many indoor plants During this period, life processes freeze. In addition, if you leave the cuttings on the windowsill, they will be cold from the windows (I don’t seal them for the winter because the apartment is very warm, and at times even hot).
In mid-December, I shorten the cuttings again, cutting off the rooted part, and change the water. Cuttings from shortage sunlight They turn light green, but it's not scary.
After January 15, I plant several of the thinnest cuttings with small roots in small pots with soil so that they do not die after the next pruning, and continue to add additional light. But you don’t have to do this, because I had a lot of cuttings prepared in reserve.
Once in the soil, these cuttings begin to grow, their stems thicken, and the leaves become darker. As soon as they grow up, I cut cuttings from them, root them in water, and the lower part of the plant produces shoots and continues to grow. Then I also allow these stepchildren to reproduce.
On a tomato that grows in a pot, I leave one stepchild - it will be a continuation of the plant, which I will later transplant into a deep pot at least 14 cm high and 11.5 cm in diameter at the top of the pot. Moreover, when transplanting, I remove its lower leaves and deepen the stem to the remaining lower leaf in order to grow a good root system. This plant will be a safety net if suddenly, when planting seedlings in a greenhouse, tomatoes die due to return frosts. You don’t have to do this if there are enough preserved cuttings.
For the cuttings remaining on the rack, I cut off the roots for the last time in early February, leaving their lower part longer, and I root them in water for the last time. After roots appear on the cuttings - this will be in the second half of February - I plant them in small pots or milk boxes, also removing 2-3 lower leaves and deepening the stem into the ground. As a result, most of the stem will grow a powerful root system. When planting, the roots should not be overgrown and no more than one centimeter long. With such small roots the plant takes root better. Once it finally gets into the ground, the tomato plant begins to quickly grow its root system. I remove any flowers that appear. Until the end of February, these plants will still be on the illuminated rack.
I prepare the soil for all my seedlings in the fall. This is a mixture of sifted cucumber soil with sifted compost. In the spring I add a little coconut substrate, vermiculite, vermicompost and a pinch of AVA fertilizer (powder). I fill the pots with this mixture. In each of them I add the drug Glyokladin - one tablet in the center of the pot with soil: no smaller than one centimeter from the top of the pot. This new drug, which has proven itself to be excellent. It suppresses pathogenic microflora, releasing beneficial ones. After planting the plant, I sprinkle 10-13 peas of HB-101 on top of the ground.
At the end of February I put the seedlings in pots on the windowsill. I attach foil to the back of the plants to make them lighter from reflected light. After a week, the leaves darken and acquire a color similar to that of sown seedlings of other varieties and newly acquired hybrids. As soon as the seedlings grow, I remove the lower leaves and replant them in a larger diameter and deeper pot, filling the stem with soil up to the remaining leaves in order to grow a good root system.
I take care of it the same way as regular seedlings. I feed the seedlings once a week with Ideal fertilizer (2 caps per liter of water), alternating feeding with a solution of the HB-101 preparation (2 drops per liter of water) and a solution of Extrasol.
At the beginning of March, I take these seedlings out onto a glazed (but not insulated) balcony for hardening, as soon as the temperature there reaches no lower than +8°C. I will write in the next article how I harden seedlings of tomatoes and cucumbers.
I planted these hardened seedlings in the greenhouse on April 14, covering them with dense white spunbond. The plants already had their first flower clusters. She survived five return frosts, in the most extreme of which the temperature dropped to -5°C. I want to say right away that the yield of plants obtained during the winter storage of cuttings did not decrease - they rewarded us with an excellent harvest, delighting us with their ripened fruits until the beginning of October and even later.
I think this method will be appreciated by pensioners who count every penny.
Thanks to winter method of storing hybrid tomato cuttings, you don’t need to buy expensive seeds, sow them again and wait: will they sprout or won’t sprout. Winter care of cuttings does not cause any special problems: you need to wash the jars several times, change the water there and trim off the grown cuttings. And then promptly plant them in pots with nutritious soil. By the way, in the same way you can make indoor tomatoes intended for growing on a windowsill perennial. As a rule, these are low-growing plants with small fruits.