How to Grow a Record Crop of Pepper-Shaped Tomatoes

Tomatoes are timelessly popular vegetables. They are sought after as salad ingredients, a component of various dishes, and as the raw material for tomato preparations. They are also often eaten canned. For these reasons, gardeners and homesteaders love to grow them. Today, numerous varieties have been developed, varying in shape, color, and size. All are easily purchased in specialty stores and planted in your own garden. There are even varieties of tomatoes that resemble other vegetables. For example, the pepper tomato is very similar to a common sweet bell pepper.

Content

1 Description of the variety
2 Video: "How to Grow Tomatoes in Heavy Rainfall"
3 Advantages and disadvantages
4 Features of cultivation
5 Storage methods
6 Video: "The Three Most Effective Ways to Store Tomatoes"

Description of the variety

The pepper-shaped tomato can be considered a mid-season hybrid. Its juicy, firm fruits resemble peppers in shape. Their coloring is not always uniform. Because of the light, uneven stripes, the vegetable is sometimes called "tiger tomato." The weight of each fruit varies around 0.1 kilogram. About a dozen ovaries form on the bush's cluster, which later develop into fruits. Each tomato contains a large number of seeds.

The variety description is quite specific. As mentioned, the plant is a hybrid with unlimited growth (indeterminate). This high-yielding variety can reach up to 2 meters in height. Pepper-shaped tomato varieties are typically grown in unprotected soil. During formation and development, the bushes require staking and pinching. The first flower appears on the plants when the tenth leaf emerges. Subsequent inflorescences appear at intervals of 2-3 leaves. Proper plant care is the key to a bountiful harvest: up to 30 kilograms of fruit per bush.

The ripe vegetable has an excellent flavor and aroma. The flesh is slightly sweet and crumbly. It is usually eaten fresh or preserved for winter.

Video: "How to Grow Tomatoes in Heavy Rainfall"

In this video, experienced gardeners will share the secrets of growing this tomato variety in unfavorable conditions.

Advantages and disadvantages

The characteristics of tomatoes include a number of advantages and disadvantages of the variety:

Versatility – this vegetable is perfect for both greenhouse cultivation and planting in open ground.
High yield – tens of kilograms of harvest can be collected from a bush.
Taste and specific appearance.
Wide range of uses. This variety is suitable for fresh consumption and is also good for canning for the winter. Pepper-shaped tomatoes are ideal for stuffing. The fruit walls are dense and do not fall apart during cooking. Due to their high sugar content, this vegetable is used in baby food.

Features of cultivation

Growing a crop variety requires a certain sequence of actions:

Seeds for seedlings are sown in late March or early April. The holes for the planting material should be shallow, only about 2 centimeters deep.
To ensure rapid emergence of strong sprouts, it is necessary to maintain the room temperature at around 23°-25°.
After the first pair of leaves has formed on the seedlings, they need to be transplanted into separate containers, providing the sprouts with more space.
The seedlings are transplanted to their permanent location in open ground in late May or early June. The vegetables typically ripen from midsummer to early fall.
For greenhouse cultivation, sowing begins in March. Seeds are planted in small holes about a centimeter deep. For successful sprouting, maintain a temperature of 24°-25°C. After the first leaves appear, transplant the seedlings into individual containers. Plants are transplanted into the garden bed in May. Ensure a distance of 0.4 meters between plants and 0.55 meters between rows.
In a greenhouse, the first harvest of ripe vegetables can be collected in the summer. Fruiting continues into early autumn.
In August, the top shoots on the bushes are pruned. Otherwise, the flowers will never develop into fruit.

Storage methods

Vegetable storage methods directly depend on the timeframe for which the fruit is intended to be "extended." The level of ripeness and harvesting method also play a significant role.

So, for long-term storage, tomatoes of this variety are hand-picked. Green tomatoes are also harvested when they have reached at least half their original size. In this state, the vegetables can ripen well even at home. Small, unripe tomatoes are almost impossible to force to ripen.

After harvesting, vegetables are separated into groups based on size and quality. It is also essential to completely remove any crushed, damaged, cracked, rotten, or overripe fruits.

The vegetables selected in this way can then be canned or processed into tomato juice. The best pepper-shaped vegetables are canned whole. Their unusual appearance will leave no one indifferent.

Fruits with minor defects can be preserved as a salad ingredient.

Small fruits that don't look very marketable can be processed into tomato juice, which can then be boiled and canned.

If you plan to store vegetables for a short time, you can pickle them, which is simply salting them. There are also many sun-dried tomato lovers who wouldn't mind indulging in these unusual "peppers."

You can store tomatoes in the refrigerator for a short time. Tomatoes are generally not frozen. Only tomatoes of similar ripeness should be refrigerated, as well as those with similar temperature and humidity requirements.

So, pepper-shaped tomatoes are quite popular today due to their appearance, shape and excellent taste.

Video: "The Three Most Effective Ways to Store Tomatoes"

In this video, farmers will reveal the three best ways to store tomatoes.