Speaking of tomatoes, we are used to seeing ordinary red tomatoes on garden beds. However, not all varieties produce such fruits. There are more and more original new products. Tomato Amethyst jewel attracts lovers of everything unusual. What kind of variety is it, how to grow it, what is the yield of a variety, reviews of farmers - these and other questions will be raised in the article.
general characteristics
Tomato Amethyst jewel belongs to tomatoes with an average ripening period. The author of the variety is Bradd Gates (USA, California). There is another name for these tomatoes - "amethyst treasure." The original name is Amethyst Jewel. Bushes grow tall (more than 180 cm), need to be planted. The leaves are rather large, light green in color. Inflorescences are simple.
Fruits have a rounded flattened shape, weigh 150-210 grams. The peel of tomatoes is dense, does not crack. Tomatoes have an original color, bicolor, it changes from light violet during the period of technical maturity to black near the stalk, turning into bright pink at the top upon final maturation. Gardeners characterize the color as blue-pink. The pulp of pinkish tomatoes.
Tomatoes Amethyst jewel, the description of the variety of which is present in the article, goes well with other vegetables in salads and is great for harvesting. The variety has a spicy flavor with a hint of fruit notes.
Benefits of Tomatoes
The features of the tomato variety Amethyst jewel should be called:
- Suitable for growing in a greenhouse and in open ground.
- The bushes are sprawling, with medium cloudiness. When cultivated in open beds does not grow above 1.5 meters.
- In the greenhouse bear fruit in 110-117 days (average ripening period).
- High yield. The brush brings 5-6 fruits. From the bush you can collect up to 10 kg of tomatoes.
- Resistance to long storage and transportation. After removal from the bush, tomatoes are able to ripen in boxes within 1-2 months.
- Bear fruit for a long time, until September - in open ground and even longer - in greenhouses.
- Resistant to most diseases - fusarium, late blight. Sometimes they can be affected by gray rot.
- Universality.
Variety disadvantages
The downside can be considered weather sensitivity - the plant does not tolerate heat and extreme cold. The fruits begin to crack. The optimum temperature for growing is 25 ° C. Therefore, in the open ground, tomatoes of this variety can be grown only in central Russia.
Also a minus is the need to tie up the bushes.
And not everyone likes the taste of ripened tomatoes, we’ll talk about this more.
Seedling preparation
Seeds should be sown 60-67 days before planting tomatoes on the bed. Grains sprout well and amicably.
First, disinfect the seeds (if they were obtained on their own), soaking in the prepared solution. It can be prepared if 1 g of manganese or 0.5 g of soda or aloe juice (50 ml per 50 ml) is added to 100 ml of water.
The soil is prepared in advance. You can buy it in a special store. Otherwise, the ground is disinfected. To do this, it is enough for 10 minutes to warm in the oven at 200 ° C, or spill with boiling water or a steep solution of potassium permanganate. Seeds are laid out in rows on moistened ground and covered with a thin layer of soil on top, then slightly moistened soil.
The box with seeds is covered with plastic wrap or glass, put in a warm place for germination.
When shoots appear, the covering material is removed. After germination of the first leaves, seedlings are dived in cups.
Experts recommend placing two seedlings in one cup. When growing to 13-15 cm, the stems are tied with kapron thread. Gradually they grow together, in the weak, pinch the top. As a result, a bush with a powerful stem will be formed.
Temperature and placement
For the proper development of seedlings, they should be kept in a bright room with a temperature of 23-24 ° C. Then begin its gradual decline. This contributes to the development of brushes.
After a couple of weeks, the temperature is lowered to 19 ° C during the day and 17 ° C at night. So the first brush is formed. It is necessary that it is formed between the 9th and 10th sheet. Otherwise, the volume of the crop will drop significantly.
When transporting seedlings, tomatoes should be protected from drafts and sudden temperature extremes. Seedlings are transported in an upright position, covered with a film.
When planting seedlings in the soil, the soil is moistened. When placed on the beds, an interval of 51-56 cm between the bushes is observed. The width of the track between the ridges should be 70-80 cm.
Experienced gardeners advise to arrange the bushes in a checkerboard pattern, it is more convenient to care for them.
Trellis and garter bushes
Trellis - a structure with which the stems can be tied up as they grow, are placed above the beds of tomatoes. Usually a crossbar is built at a height of 2 meters. In greenhouses, bushes grow higher.
The tomato stalk is thrown over the crossbar and fixed at an angle of 45 ° C. With enhanced growth, pinch the top of the plant.
Grade fertilizers
To correctly select the composition of top dressing, you should take into account the composition of the soil and the climatic features of the area. Tomato Amethyst jewel is fed three times.
- 10 days after planting seedlings, the tomatoes are fertilized with ready-made mixtures (Gumisol, Vermistil). Fans of organics can use bird droppings at the rate of 1 part of fertilizer per 10 parts of water. The beds are mulched with grass, straw, this will help restrain the growth of weeds.
- After the ovaries form, they fertilize again after two weeks. You can apply a solution of chicken manure with the addition of Art. tablespoons of “Solution” and 3 grams of manganese and copper sulfate. Under each bush, pour 2 liters of water with fertilizer.
- When the crops are harvested, another 2.5 liters of a similar composition is added under the bush.
To avoid root burn and simplify the process of feeding, you should combine watering and fertilizing.
Tomatoes are resistant to disease, as mentioned earlier, therefore, additional measures to prevent them do not need to be taken. It is enough to observe the rules of agricultural technology when growing the described variety.
How to carry out stepsoning?
As soon as the first inflorescence is formed in the sinuses, lateral shoots begin to grow. At this time, you should engage in the formation of a bush. This is necessary so that the plant does not give all its strength to increase green mass and does not reduce productivity.
Tomato Amethyst jewel, the description of the variety of which we consider in the article, needs regular stepsoning. It is simply a necessity if the gardener has a desire to get a plentiful harvest.
Any shoots and ovaries formed in August should be cut off. They also pinch growth points, thereby helping the plant not to spend energy on growth.
During the season, bushes stepchild weekly. To form a bush, one, two or three stems are enough. In central Russia, one or two stems are enough. Despite the fact that the yield is high and there are many fruits, bushes with a powerful stem are quite capable of withstanding such a load. If it was originally planned to leave one stem for the formation of bushes, you can place the seedlings denser than previously suggested.
Opinions of gardeners
Reviews about tomatoes Amethyst jewel is mixed. Some gardeners like the original sweet taste of tomatoes without sourness. Thanks to this feature, tomatoes are used to prepare various summer salads and autumn preparations, and children also like them. Tomatoes can be stewed, canned, fried, made from them juice. Tomatoes of this variety go well with meat in various culinary dishes.
Caring for this variety is not particularly difficult, and the original color of the fruits will truly decorate the garden beds.
Gardeners who love experimentation often choose the Amethyst jewel tomato for planting (photo presented to the reader), while not at all disappointed in the appearance or taste of the tomatoes. The latter is appreciated by family members and guests.
There are negative reviews about the variety. Not everyone likes the specific caramel flavor of tomatoes. And one of the gardeners, having tried to grow these tomatoes, later refuses to cultivate them.
But all gardeners without exception note the excellent resistance of the plant to tomato diseases, and this cannot be emphasized.
So we examined the characteristics and description of the tomato variety Amethyst jewel. As you can see, this is almost an ideal variety for cultivation on their own beds. Excellent taste, the versatility of tomatoes, unpretentiousness in care will undoubtedly be appreciated by gardeners.