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Not many growers are attracted by the chocolate color of the tomato. Traditionally, everyone is used to seeing a red tomato. However, according to the reviews of gardeners who decided to grow such a miracle, the taste of the vegetable is excellent. You can even make delicious juice from the fruit. The chocolate tomato was bred by domestic breeders, so the culture is well adapted to our climate.
Variety characteristics
We will begin to consider the characteristics and description of the Chocolate variety tomato with the structure of the bush. The plant is considered semi-determinate. The bush is not a standard bush. Stems grow from 1.2 to 1.5 m in height. The foliage on the plant grows slightly, but it is wide and tightly covers the fruit. A feature of the Chocolate variety is its resistance to diseases. None of the reviews contained information about the defeat of the tomato by root and apical rot.
The tomato variety is suitable for indoor and outdoor cultivation. In terms of ripening, the culture is considered medium early. The fruits are ready for consumption 110 days after sowing the seeds. In cold regions, the Chocolate variety is best grown in a closed way so that the plant has time to give the entire crop. Fruit ovary occurs in brushes. The first flower appears above 8 leaves. Up to 5 tomatoes are tied from the inflorescence in the brush. The variety is considered a high-yielding variety. From 1 m2 an average of 10 kg of fruit are harvested. With good care, the yield of a tomato can grow up to 15 kg / m2.
Description of fruits
Reviews of the Chocolate variety tomato often begin with a mention of the unusual color of the fruit. And this is not in vain. When ripe, the tomato turns dark red mixed with a brown tint. The skin of the fruit acquires a chocolate color. The flesh inside the tomato is red, and the walls and seed chambers combine two colors: pale green and brown.
Fruits grow with an average weight of 200 g, but they can even last up to 400 g. The shape of the tomato is standard spherical with a flattened top and bottom. There are at least 4 seed chambers in the fetus, but there are more.
Most often, brown tomatoes are used for salads, decoration and cooking. The fruits are good for conservation. The tomato pulp is sweet and juicy, which allows you to process the crop into juice. However, many are frightened by the unusual dark color and because of this, tomatoes are grown in small quantities for fresh consumption.
In the video you can see what juice is obtained from chocolate tomatoes:
Positive features of the variety
Taking into account such arguments as reviews, photos, yield of Chocolate tomato, let's define the positive features of the variety:
- The tomato variety is excellent against many diseases. There is a high resistance of the Chocolate tomato to various types of rot. Even a rainy summer is unable to harm the plant. However, preventive measures cannot be neglected. Strong thickening of tomato bushes in hot weather and high humidity can provoke the appearance of late blight.
- The high yield of tomatoes often forces vegetable growers to step over their ambitions regarding the color of the fruit. When other varieties are badly ugly, the Chocolate tomato will always come to the rescue of the hostess.
- Fruits are characterized by a popular size. Tomatoes are small and rather big, but just good in a jar. The brushes are easy to pluck from the bush, which speeds up the harvest.
- Despite its brown color, the Chocolate tomato is very tasty.The fruit does not look so elegant in a jar or salad, but whoever tasted it will remain partial to this vegetable.
- A big plus of the variety is ease of care. Tomato Chocolate is unpretentious. Even a novice vegetable grower is able to get a good tomato harvest. Especially the variety is suitable for summer residents who do not have the opportunity to travel out of town every day to water the garden.
- The shape gives the fruit a presentation. Tomatoes can be grown not only for your own needs, but also for sale.
You can read as many reviews as you like about the tomato variety Chocolate, but there are practically no negative statements. The only downside is the color of the fruit, although many growers change their minds about brown tomatoes over time.
Cultivation and care of the crop
You can grow the chocolate variety of tomatoes in an open and closed way. In any case, you need to get strong seedlings. The time of sowing tomato seeds falls in February - March. It all depends on the weather conditions of the region and the place where the tomatoes are grown. When planting seedlings in open ground, sowing seeds is carried out about two months before the designated date. Tomatoes are sown in greenhouses ten days earlier.
Purchased tomato grains do not require preparation. The seeds passed all the necessary procedures at the production site. Here, the main issue for the vegetable grower is soil preparation. Store soil mixture is of high quality, but you have to pay money for it. You can prepare the soil yourself from equal amounts of humus and fertile soil. Better if it is recruited from the garden. Homemade soil mixture is heated in the oven and poured with a manganese solution to kill harmful bacteria. To increase nutrients for 1 bucket of soil mixture, add 1 tbsp. l. wood ash, plus 1 tsp. mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium.
The prepared soil mixture is laid out in boxes, slightly moistened, after which grooves are made on the surface with a depth of 1.5 cm and a row spacing of 3 cm. Tomato seeds are laid out, keeping a distance of at least 2 cm from each other. On top of the grain, the tomato is sprinkled with loose soil. Watering is carried out only from a spray. Before the appearance of tomato sprouts, the boxes are in a warm place, covered with glass or plastic wrap.
To obtain good shoots in the room, maintain a temperature of at least 25aboutC. After pecking the shoots, the shelter is removed from the boxes. The air temperature can be reduced by 5 degrees. Now tomato seedlings only need lighting and regular watering with warm water. After about 10 days, the tomatoes will form two normal leaves. This suggests that it is time to dive the seedlings into cups.
When the plants form 6–7 adult leaves and at least 1 inflorescence is thrown away, the tomatoes can be planted in a permanent place. Tomato seedlings should be hardened by this time. Plants are taken outside for two weeks, constantly increasing the time they spend in the fresh air.
Variety Chocolate reacts well to light soil with neutral acidity. Before planting tomatoes, the soil in the garden must be prepared:
- The earth, together with humus, is dug to the depth of the shovel bayonet. If the soil is heavy, then add river sand. High acidity is reduced with chalk.
- Based on 3 kg per 1 m2 the beds are applied with complex fertilizer.
- The prepared area is covered with black film until the very planting of tomato seedlings. This is required to warm the soil to a temperature of at least +15aboutFROM.
Seedlings of chocolate tomato are planted in late May. It is advisable to choose a warm and cloudy day. To avoid thickening, Chocolate variety tomatoes are planted in 3 bushes per 1 m2.
It is important for plants to pay a lot of attention during the first days while they take root.Further care of the Chocolate tomato is simple. It is advisable to water the tomato plantings regularly. Drying of the soil or strong waterlogging should not be allowed. Water is taken only warm and poured directly under the root of the plant. It is a good idea to dissolve some wood ash. The best time to water your tomatoes is early morning or evening.
You don't need a lot of dressing for a chocolate tomato. It is enough to apply fertilizer or organic matter three times per season. For those who wish to speed up the process of ovary and fruit ripening, top dressing can be applied once every two weeks. Young plants cannot do without magnesium. This substance helps the culture to develop. Boron is introduced with the appearance of inflorescences on plants.
After each watering and top dressing, the soil around the tomato bushes is loosened so that the roots receive the necessary portion of oxygen. It is important not to overgrow the garden weeds... Grass draws nutrients from the ground.
Tomato bush Chocolate requires a garter to the support. It is not necessary to put tapestries for these purposes. You can do with ordinary wooden stakes. The workpieces are cut into a minimum length of 1.5 m and driven into the ground next to the plant immediately after planting the seedlings. As the stem grows, it is tied with a string to a peg. Tomato bush needs a stewberry. To form a normal crown, all excess shoots are removed from the tomato. Stepson is usually performed early in the morning.
The Chocolate variety is resistant to many diseases, however, prevention never hurts. You should not resort to chemicals right away. Ash has good protective properties. It is simply added to the ground. Bone meal is suitable instead of ash. Bordeaux liquid will help get rid of late blight. In the event of the appearance of harmful insects, tomato plantings are treated with a solution of soap or a decoction of wormwood.
Testimonials
About the Chocolate tomato reviews are not the worst. Let's find out what vegetable growers say about culture.
