Octopus tomatoes: features of growing a tomato tree. Tomato tree: how to grow, care, conditions, fertilizing

  • 14.06.2019

Most vegetable growers dream of growing tomato trees. The most popular varieties of such plants are the Japanese Octopus f1 tree and the Italian Cherry, the features of which include high yields. More than 10 kg of crop can be harvested from one bush. Before you start planting such tomatoes, you need to figure out how to grow a tomato tree.

To understand what kind of miracle a tomato tree is, you can use its description.

They belong to indeterminate plants, which differ from the rest in their resistance to diseases, high yields and constant growth. During the first months after planting, the bush should not bear fruit so that it has time to fully form. During growth, such a tree cannot be stepson. This can disrupt the growth of the plant and further lead to its death.

A distinctive feature of tomato trees is that they form many shoots and branch well. Thanks to this, they can grow to an area of ​​​​about 5-10 square meters.

On bushes every 3-4 leaves small brushes with several fruits are formed. The weight of each of them can reach 200 g. The fruits are bright red and have a rounded shape. Outside, they are covered with a thin skin, under which there is a fleshy and dense pulp. The main advantages of fruits include the fact that they are not prone to cracking and are stored for quite a long time.

Advantages and disadvantages

The popularity of tomato trees is due to the fact that they have many advantages. These include:

  • adaptability to any level of humidity;
  • resistance to diseases such as late blight, tobacco mosaic virus and fusarium wilt;
  • resistance to sudden changes in temperature;
  • the presence of developed and branched roots;
  • ease of cultivation;
  • tall bushes that can grow up to 3-5 meters.

The disadvantages of the Octopus F1 tomato tree include the fact that it takes up quite a lot of space. Also, the disadvantage is that it is recommended to grow it in heated greenhouses.

What you need to grow a tomato tree

Before you plant a tomato tree in open ground or a greenhouse, you need to figure out what you need to have for this. For this you will need:

  1. Seeds. It is recommended to use the seed of tall varieties, as they give the most ovaries and grow well.
  2. Preparations for the preparation of dressings, ugras and compost. To do this, you can use "Baikal EM 1". However, it is necessary to use such preparations only if EM technology was previously used on the site.
  3. Film for shelter or greenhouse. In the Urals or Siberia, it is better to plant tomato trees in heated greenhouses. This will allow you to grow tall plants with a height of more than one meter. Residents of the southern regions can do without a greenhouse. To grow a tomato variety, an ordinary plastic film will be enough, which can protect the bushes from night frosts.
  4. Metal barrel without a bottom. Tomato trees should not be planted in holes, but in special containers with holes. The side holes are needed to saturate the soil with oxygen, and the lower holes are for moisture. If there is no barrel, then wooden boxes can be used instead.
  5. Air pump with hose. It will be needed to improve the ventilation of the plant's root system. To do this, several holes are made in the hose, after which it sinks to the bottom of the container, where the tomato tree will grow. The pump is recommended to be turned on every 10-20 minutes.

Growing seedlings

It is necessary to plant seedlings early, so you can start as early as January or early February.

Seed preparation

Before growing tomatoes, you need to prepare planting material. To increase the germination of Octopus F1 seeds, it is necessary to warm them up in advance. To do this, they are placed in an oven preheated to 50-60 degrees for several hours. Throughout this time, the temperature of the oven can be gradually increased to 70-75 degrees.

They can also be heated with water. To do this, tomato seeds are poured into a small jar, which will need to be placed in a saucepan with hot water.

In addition, disinfection of planting seeds is carried out before planting. There are several solutions with which you can eliminate the infection:

  1. Aloe juice. It can be purchased at any pharmacy or squeezed from the plant yourself. To prepare the solution, the juice must be diluted with water in equal proportions. Keep the seed in the mixture for at least 15 hours.
  2. Phytosporin. A few drops of the drug must be mixed with 300 g of water, after which planting material can be added to the prepared solution. It should not be soaked for more than two hours.

Soil preparation

It is necessary to plant seeds not in ordinary soil taken from the garden, but in pre-prepared soil. It is not so difficult to prepare the soil for planting seeds: river sand and peat are added to one part of the soddy land. The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed and watered with a nutrient solution, the composition of which includes 10 grams of carbamide, 30 grams of superphosphate and 10 liters of water.

The soil should also be disinfected in advance. To do this, it is treated with a weak manganese solution and special antifungal agents.

There is another way to disinfect the soil. In this case, the land will have to be placed in fabric bag and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. This will help cleanse the soil of all disease-causing microbes.

Planting seeds

plant a seed tomato tree can be in small boxes or pots. To begin with, the containers are filled with moistened soil, after which small holes are made in it, into which tomatoes will be planted. The distance between the grooves should be about 5 cm. Having planted the seed in the soil, the containers are covered with glass or plastic wrap to ensure optimal humidity levels.

planting seedlings

Growing a tomato tree in open ground or in a greenhouse begins with planting seedlings. Planting seedlings should be carried out in mid-April or early May.

Site preparation

Before you grow a tomato tree, you need to prepare seat. Barrels in which seedlings will be planted should be placed in the most illuminated place in the greenhouse. You also need to make sure that there is enough space around them, as one tomato tree can spread its branches several meters to the sides.

Soil preparation

Before pouring the soil into the barrels for seedlings, it must be prepared. The bottom layer of soil should consist of urgasa, and the top layer of EM compost.

It is better to harvest urgasu even in winter. To do this, put a garbage bag with several drainage holes in a plastic bucket. Small organic waste is placed in the bag, which must be periodically sprayed with a solution of the EM preparation. From above, you can install a small weight, with which liquid will be squeezed out of the contents of the package.

planting

You need to plant only the most powerful and large grown seedlings. Holes are made in barrels, the depth of which should not be more than the pots where the seedlings grew. A support must be installed near each hole so that in the future the bushes do not break under the load of fruits. After planting, seedlings are not recommended to be watered for two weeks.

Features of care

To grow a large tomato tree Octopus F1, you need to properly care for it.

Soil work

Caring for any plant includes loosening the soil. You need to do this 1-3 times per season. This is done in order to get rid of the crust that could form on the surface after watering. The first loosening is carried out 10 days after planting the seedlings.

Feeding and watering

Top dressing should be done at the beginning of summer, since it is by this time that the tomato tree consumes all the nutrients in the soil. It is recommended to periodically add boron to the ground. If the plant lacks this substance, then its stems will become very fragile and brown spots will appear on the fruits. In addition to boron, mullein, superphosphate and ammonium nitrate are added to the soil. Fertilizers should be applied to the soil periodically every 2-3 weeks.

Plants should be watered much more often. This is done 2-4 times a week, and at least a bucket of water is spent on one bush. During irrigation, it is better to use the sprinkler method. In summer, tomato trees need to be watered daily.

pasynkovanie

Leaves on bushes should be cut off a week after planting seedlings in barrels. First, only the bottom sheets are cut off, and the top few rows remain intact. After that, the shoot is covered with soil mixture made from earth and urgasy. It will not only nourish the tree, but also help strengthen the root system. Repeated pinching is carried out in a week.

You can pinch all varieties of tomato trees, except Surgut F1.

Treatment

Sometimes fruit ripening on trees slows down. To speed up this process, the bushes must be periodically processed. To prepare a solution for spraying tomatoes, you need to chop young pine shoots and place them in the freezer for several weeks. After that, they are filled with water and boiled for about 30 minutes. Then the broth is filtered and diluted cold water in a ratio of one to three. It is necessary to use the prepared mixture during the formation of buds.

Conclusion

Anyone can grow this plant. In order to grow it, you need to familiarize yourself with the technology of growing a tomato tree.

In the nature around us, there is such a miracle as a tomato tree. At the same time, its natural form is a small tree, but the artificial, hybrid form is a real tree octopus.

A few years ago, the fruits of the so-called tomato tree (in other words, the tomato tree) appeared on the shelves of supermarkets - beet cyphomandra. By appearance they closely resembled cream tomatoes, but their color ranged from dark red to orange-yellow, but the taste was a combination of tomato flavor with tropical fruit aromas. Tsifomandra soon fell in love with domestic gardeners, especially since low and unpretentious trees grow well in tubs at home, and their fruits delight their owners with their pulp almost all year round.

But if the cyphomandra can be attributed to tomatoes only on the principle of botanical kinship (both plants belong to the nightshade family), then the new Sprut F1 tomato hybrid, bred by Israeli breeders, can bring up to 1.5 tons of tomatoes per plant per year! Such a tomato tree alone is able to occupy a large greenhouse, spreading its crown over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bits roof, and even walls to boot.

Natural tomato tree - Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra is a very attractive tree with fragrant large, slightly pubescent leaves. At the base, they have a heart-shaped shape, but at the top they are pointed, reaching a length of 35 cm, and a width of up to 12 cm.

Fragrant flowers with 5 pale pink or lavender petals in a purple-green calyx, arranged in small clusters. Beautiful yellow stamens protrude above the petals.

Outwardly, the cyphomandra is a typical nightshade plant with large leaves almost like an eggplant, a strong woody trunk, flowers resembling potatoes, and tassels of fruits, like a tomato. The term of his life reaches 10 years, bears fruit from the second year of life.

In nature, there are cyphomanders up to 5.5 m high, but the kadochny culture is represented mainly by graceful trees 2-2.5 m high.

Cyphomandra fruits: use and varieties

The main decoration of the cyphomandra is smooth ovoid fruits, located on long legs singly or in groups of 3 to 12 pieces. The fruit can reach a length of up to 10 cm and a width of up to 5 cm. Purple-red, orange-yellow, sometimes even striped fruits look very aesthetically pleasing during the fruiting period. With a tough and inedible skin, their flesh has a juicy and firm outer part, as well as a soft and sweet (or sweet and sour) core, reminiscent of a combination of tomato and melon flavors.

Raw fruits, previously cut into two parts and, if desired, sprinkled with sugar, are eaten with a spoon. Salads, sauces and compotes are also prepared from them. Cyphomandra fruits are a dietary product rich in pectin. They have gelling properties and are widely used for the preparation of sweets, jellies and jams. Cyphomandra contains a lot of vitamins A, C, B6, as well as iron and potassium. The fruits of the tomato tree are useful for people with high blood pressure.

The following varieties of cyphomandra are known:

  • goldmine;
  • Ecuadorian Orange;
  • Oratia Red;
  • Inca Gold;
  • Rothamer;
  • yellow;
  • solid gold;
  • Ruby Red.

The Inca Gold variety is distinguished by very beautiful orange fruits with apricot flavor, which make excellent desserts. And from the oval, yellow-golden and very juicy fruits of the Solid Gold variety, excellent soups and mashed potatoes are obtained. The famous Rothamer variety from California has very beautiful bright red fruits with golden flesh and a sweet taste.

Planting and breeding cyphomandra

One Cyphomandra fruit produces so many seeds that a small plantation can be established. Cyphomandra germinates well even from seeds obtained from store-bought fruits. Its seeds are rounded and flat like seeds. bell pepper.

To stimulate the seeds for germination, it is recommended to subject them to a "temperature shock" - after separating the seeds from the pulp, they are kept for a day at the bottom of the refrigerator at +5 ° C. If desired, pre-sowing treatment can also be performed by soaking and treating with growth stimulants. But you can limit yourself to daily temperature exposure.

The seeds are planted shallowly, a maximum of 1 cm. At an optimum temperature of 24-28 ° C, seedlings appear in a couple of weeks.

The propagation of cyphomandra by cuttings rooted in water and in the soil substrate is also very common. Clear water allows you to monitor the rooting process: if a callus has formed and root tubercles have appeared, then it’s time to plant in the soil.

It is preferable to grow plants in a tub culture from cuttings, as the trees are more compact and bushy, and the branches are low-lying. In addition, with this method, varietal characteristics are more reliably transmitted. Cuttings are taken from 1-2-year-old branches and easily rooted in boiled or melted water. In general, after 6-7 years of growth, the cyphomandra should be destroyed and renewed from the cutting.

Tomato tree care

Caring for the crop is not burdensome and consists of monthly feeding, pruning, maintaining the temperature and humidity conditions.

Although the tomato tree grows up to 2.5 m, a tub under it is taken wide and low due to the superficial root system. Be sure to provide a deep pan, where watering is carried out, and drainage holes for good root ventilation. Stagnation of water is unacceptable, otherwise the young cyphomandra may die.

Annual pruning of fruit-bearing branches is required to stimulate the growth of new fruit-bearing shoots. Since pollination is carried out by wind and insects, during the flowering period, you need to turn on the fan for a couple of minutes every day or gently shake the tree.

Selection tomato tree Octopus F1

The name Octopus was given to the hybrid tomato tree for a reason, because, like the ocean octopus, it can braid the entire frame of the greenhouse with its branches.

However, such a giant can grow only in a year-round heated greenhouse and only on hydroponic agricultural technology. Tomato tree Octopus is very voracious and at the same time quite sensitive to various diseases.

Under a greenhouse roof, in 1-1.5 years, a seemingly ordinary tomato bush becomes a whole tomato tree up to 5 m tall and a crown with a diameter of up to 6 m. Annually, up to 1.5 tons of tomatoes are harvested from one tomato tree.

Amateur gardeners today have access to both the seeds of a natural tomato tree - cyphomandra, and a tomato tree octopus F1. When choosing between them, remember that the larger the harvest you expect, the more labor and material costs to achieve it.

Tomato tree (video)

Reviews and comments

(3 ratings, average: 4,33 out of 5)

saibat 04/13/2015

Honestly, this is just a small miracle, by golly, I have never seen tomato trees before, now I want to plant this in my country house, because this is an unreal thing and all my neighbors will be jealous when they see this beauty from me)

Irina 04/13/2015

For the first time I see this, truly a miracle of selection! I would very much like to try to plant such tomatoes in my greenhouse, at least for the sake of interest. Only here we always have problems with heating, and even ordinary tomatoes suffer from different diseases every year more than in other regions — the area is like that, or what, I can’t even understand. Therefore, of course there is a desire, but there is little hope for a favorable outcome of the case and a harvest.
By the way, I didn’t even see such tomatoes being sold, probably, among ordinary lovers of the garden and vegetable garden there is not very high demand, since such a “miracle” is capricious. 11/25/2015

I would like to ask a question to gardeners who have experience in growing this variety of tomato - where can I buy tomato tree seeds? I read a lot about him, but there are no seeds in any store. Can you write it down somewhere? How it tolerates heat, I live in a rather hot climate, I plant tomatoes in the ground without a greenhouse, there is enough water for irrigation, the soil is sandy.

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Some 30 years ago, the tomato tree was an exceptional curiosity that could be seen growing only in countries South America. In the countries of Europe, this plant was found exclusively in botanical gardens. But everything changed dramatically after the Japanese breeder Nozawa Shigeo introduced the Sprut F1 tomato hybrid. For your attention, detailed information about the features of growing a tomato tree in open (and not only) ground: planting, care, reviews of gardeners (photo and information are attached).

Tomato tree Octopus F1: variety description, features, characteristics

Octopus F1 is an indeterminate tomato variety that is able to form new shoots with incredible intensity. Only a few years ago, almost nothing was known about him, but today he caused a real stir. And this is not surprising, because a tomato tree, with proper and complex care, can please an incredibly generous harvest.

This is a very powerful plant, which is a real tree, with lush foliage and a well-branched root system. Octopus F1 is a mid-season hybrid, which in the first 7-8 months of its life is not used as a fruit-bearing plant, but is grown in order to obtain a strong powerful tree. The rest of the time, the tree actively bears fruit with delicious fruits.

In its homeland, the tomato tree is a perennial

The octopus sometimes reaches incredible sizes: proper care crown can have a diameter of about 50 square meters. m. The fruits of the plant are small, with a bright red skin and excellent taste.

Attention! Surprisingly, it is a fact: the Sprut F1 tomato tree, subject to agricultural technology, can produce an incredible amount of crop with a total weight of more than 1 ton in 1.5 years of its life.

Among the advantages of this tomato variety are the following:

  • high yield - not a single variety can be compared in terms of the amount of crop with a tomato tree;
  • high resistance to high temperatures;
  • excellent immunity to most tomato diseases;
  • long period of fruiting;
  • versatility of the use of fruits in cooking;
  • excellent keeping quality and transportability.

Tree growing technology

The tomato tree can be grown both outdoors and indoors. The main difference between these methods is the end result. In the first case, an ordinary seasonal plant grows, with proper cultivation which (in their reviews gardeners talk about the simplicity of this process) you can get about 10 kg delicious tomatoes from each bush. In the second case, a real sprawling tree grows, hung with tomato fruits. This result can be achieved using a special technology (hydroponic method). About all this further.

Agricultural technology for amateurs

Tomato seeds Octopus must be purchased exclusively in a specialized store. Landing properly prepared planting material should be completed around February.

By the way, it is preferable to purchase seeds rather than ready-made tomato seedlings, since in this case you will increase the chances of successfully growing a plant.

The fruits of the tomato tree perfectly tolerate transportation

Like any other, Octopus seeds must be carefully sorted out. Treat the best specimens with a weak manganese solution. Sowing seeds is carried out in a container with a previously prepared soil substrate (planting depth should be no more than 1 cm).

The container with seedlings must be rearranged in a sufficiently warm place. At night, provide additional lighting and (if necessary) a sufficient amount of heat.

Advice. For high-quality seed germination, it is necessary to strictly observe the temperature regime. So, the air temperature in the room where the seedlings are located should not be less than 20 degrees, but it is also advisable not to increase it above 25.

When the first two leaves appear, you can pick the plant into separate small pots. Planting grown and strengthened seedlings in open ground is carried out approximately by the beginning of summer. In this case, the seedlings should reach a height of at least 15 cm, the number of leaves should be at least 5.

When choosing a suitable place in an open area, be extremely careful: the place should be as calm as possible and with a minimum amount of shade, and the soil should be as fertile, loamy, and waterproof as possible.

Attention! Since the plant is very demanding on the composition of the soil, the development of the culture will directly depend on its quality. Humic acids must be present in the soil mixture for planting tomato seedlings. If there are none in the soil, it is necessary to add humus compost to the soil.

Planting seedlings is carried out to a depth of about 20 cm. In this case, the lower leaves should remain on the surface of the soil. Be sure to pinch the main root in order to activate the increased branching of the plant.

Since the Octopus is an indeterminant, and also quite sprawling, it is important to observe a certain distance between individual seedlings, which is about 1.5 m, when planting, and to prepare for each plant wooden support(peg) or trellis so that the tomato can freely rise up.

The process of caring for this variety is extremely simple. The main thing is to apply complex top dressings in time (at least 1 time in 3 weeks), regularly water the tomato beds and loosen them, but in no case do not pinch the plants.

Agrotechnics on hydroponics

If you decide to use the hydroponic method for growing a tomato tree, first of all, forget about soil mixtures and open ground: the plant simply cannot withstand such conditions so long time and will definitely get sick.

So, prepare a container in which the plant will "live". Its dimensions are: 1.5x1.5x0.5 m (the first two parameters can be 2 m each). The color of the container inside should be black, outside - white. In addition to the container, you will need the following components:

  • A lid consisting of a black film topped with a piece of Styrofoam. In the center of the lid, you need to make a hole through which the tree will grow.
  • Glass wool (several blocks).
  • A set of micro and macro fertilizers, from which a solution for hydroponics will be prepared in the future.
  • A compressor for aerating the root system of a plant (aquarium is suitable).
  • Devices for determining the composition of the nutrient solution, as well as its consistency.
  • Plant lamps.

The first step is to prepare a nutrient solution. The option of Chesnokov and Bazyrina is suitable (all nutrients must be taken based on 1 ton of water). To simplify the process of preparing the solution, you can start with the stock solution. To do this, all elements are bred separately from each other in no in large numbers water, then everything is drained into a 10-liter container, which is filled with water (up to 10 liters).

It remains only to mix the water with the prepared solution: for every 100 liters of water we take 1 liter of the solution and gradually bring the volume to the desired one.

In greenhouse conditions, additional lighting is required

The next step is to prepare the glass wool. It must be cut into cubes of 0.5x0.5x0.3 m (for the main tank) and 0.2x0.2x0.1 m (for growing seedlings). A small hole 1x1x1 cm must be made in the center of each cube. Glass wool cubes are moistened with a nutrient solution and lowered into small containers with the same mixture so that they are halfway in it. Periodically it is necessary to moisten the surface of the cubes.

Tomato seeds are placed deep into each cube and the containers are covered with film / glass. As soon as the first shoots appear on the surface, the film can already be removed. Seedlings are grown until 5-7 leaves appear (it makes no sense to grow seedlings further, as this can lead to excessive growth of the roots).

When the first shoots appear, it is necessary to immediately bring the tubes from the compressor to the roots so that they are provided with air.

In the first days, every 5-6 hours, it is necessary to check the composition of the nutrient mixture and, if necessary, add the missing ingredients. In the future, it is necessary to carry out this action weekly.

After 55 days from the moment of sowing the seeds, the prepared main container is filled with a nutrient solution (the depth of the poured solution is about 35 cm) and a large cube of glass wool is lowered there. The grown seedlings are installed on a cube, and then tied strictly vertically to the trellis.

With the right agricultural technology, the culture will please with a huge number of fruits.

Tomato tree or tomato tree Octopus F1 - bred a few years ago hybrid variety carpal tomatoes, which aroused great interest among farmers, gardeners and summer residents who like various innovations and curiosities. The unusual plant is indeterminate, i.e. having no restrictions in growth, a hybrid with a well-developed ability to intensive formation of shoots. Its height can reach 4 meters or even more, and the crown area is 40-50 square meters. meters. The annual harvest Octopus F1 gives just fantastic - about 14 thousand tomatoes, the total weight of which is 1.5 tons.

The miracle tomato got its name for a reason - a tomato tree, like an octopus, braids the entire frame of the greenhouse built for it. The main features of this tomato variety are its huge growth energy, power, yield and disease resistance. It is genetically based on a powerful root system and a well-developed surface leaf apparatus.

The brush of the hybrid Octopus F1 is laid in two or three sheets. Each of them gives 5-6 fruits with an average weight of 100-160 grams. Tomatoes have a rounded shape, fleshy, juicy, with excellent taste.

The growth process of a tomato tree lasts on average 1-1.5 years, therefore, in climatic conditions In Russia, productive cultivation is possible only in year-round heated and illuminated greenhouses. The first 7-8 months you need to focus on the formation of a tree, not allowing it to bear fruit. In the crown, pinching is not necessary - all shoots should bloom and produce a crop. Further, when the crown is already formed, the period of fruit formation and active fruiting begins.

You can plant Sprut F1 tomatoes in both professional and amateur greenhouses. When grown in a conventional greenhouse for three summer months beginner gardenercan get a fairly tall plant, which will bring about 10 kg of fruit per season. But intensive mineral nutrition, in addition to the most favorable conditions (enough heat and light), will allow you to grow a huge tree with a good yield.

When growing a tomato tree in a professional greenhouse, soil and soil should be abandoned - potential breeding grounds and accumulators of pests and diseases. Despite the good disease resistance of Octopus F1, adverse factors that can harm the plant, it is desirable to exclude. For this indeterminate tomato, the hydroponic method is best suited, i.e. a method of growing without soil on an artificial nutrient medium. It will provide good breathability to the roots of the plant, which will prevent too much moisture from entering and drying out. The tree will receive nutrition and moisture in a dosed manner. Glass wool cubes can be used as a subtrat (solid soil substitute). For the full development of Octopus F1, special attention should be paid to feeding with mineral salts.

Growing a tomato tree in open ground is also acceptable, but in this case, the height and yield of the plant will be much more modest.

Tomato tree Octopus F1 - a miracle of selection, which, if desired, can be grown by absolutely everyone. A little patience, enthusiasm and love for your work - and your greenhouse will be decorated with a luxurious plant, and the table - with juicy and tasty tomatoes.

The French call the tomato the apple of love, perhaps this is what inspired the breeders to create this wonderful tree. In terms of external features and size, a bush of such tomatoes is in no way inferior to an apple tree. Genetically, the “octopus” hybrid has the ability to grow intensively, and the height of individual representatives exceeds 5 m. For many gardeners, a tomato tree is something of a fairy tale, most simply do not know that such a plant really exists. However, such a variety exists, although it was bred relatively recently. His productivity is amazing. Only now it requires appropriate care. Let's try to figure out what kind of vegetable it is and how to grow it.

Characteristics and description of the variety

The variety of tomatoes "octopus" is difficult to confuse with anything else. The bush grows for a long time, it reaches its maximum maturity and fruiting phase around the second year of life. The height of an adult plant is over 4 meters, and long branches of a semi-liana type braid the entire territory provided. In diameter, the crown of a tomato tree occupies an area of ​​​​5-7 meters. At the same time, fruits are formed on each branch and on each shoot. AT total one tree produces more than a ton of vegetables. The shoot is powerful and strongly branched, all stems are partly lignified. It has a well developed

The tomato got its name thanks to its branches, which, like an octopus, braid the entire frame of the greenhouse built for the tree.

At the same time, the octopus has fruits of medium size, their weight does not exceed 200 grams. The shape of the tomatoes is correct, rounded. The pulp is juicy with a small number of seed chambers, covered with a thin skin of bright red color. The fruits are well suited for fresh consumption, and for various preparations (pickling, juices, pastes, etc.). They are stored for a long time and retain their presentation.

Variety features

Of course, a tomato tree is one solid feature, everything in it is unique and unusual. Firstly, it is the only variety that grows in a woody form and forms a perennial plant. Secondly, it is an amazingly productive variety. All its features were derived through long laboratory experiments and today delight farmers.

Tomato seeds "Octopus"

Country of origin, growing regions

Initially, the tomato tree could only be found in crop farms in South America. Later, they began to import it to Europe, where it was problematic to create the conditions necessary for it. A Japanese scientist-breeder began work on a hybrid octopus about 30 years ago, and the variety was brought to the markets for general use only in the last decade. The variety spread all over the world very quickly and became a real sensation among gardeners.

It can be grown almost everywhere, but only in greenhouse conditions. In open ground, the octopus can only be bred in a humid, hot climate, that is, in our country, a tomato tree can only be grown in greenhouses. Productivity is also significantly reduced in areas with short daylight hours or extreme temperature changes.

Octopus tomatoes were bred in South America

Advantages and disadvantages

The tomato tree has many advantages, thanks to which it won such an arrangement for it. In the foreground is its highest productivity. No other bush during the growing season gives so many (15,000 pieces) fruits. Excellent taste also distinguishes it from the rest. Solanaceae disease resistance and high keeping quality of the crop also make it a favorite of gardeners.

However, those who wish to try growing this variety of tomatoes need to be aware of the disadvantages that the octopus also has:

  • the need for abundant feeding and a variety of nutrients;
  • fruiting only in the second year after planting (the first summer the bush will only grow, become covered with dense foliage);
  • the need to provide the bush with a large area and complex structure crown supports;
  • capriciousness in care;
  • adverse reaction to cold temperatures(although the variety tolerates extreme heat without consequences).

Tomato "Octopus" needs special care, in particular, the allocation of a large area for growing

When growing a tomato tree for the first year, plant ordinary ones as well, since you will not get a harvest in the first season.

cultivation

The advantages of the variety are only half the success, one of critical factors that affect productivity is the observance of agricultural technology and all the rules for growing a tomato tree. Such exotic plant requires especially careful care and vigilant control over the constancy of growing conditions. Before you buy octopus seeds (and they are not easy to find and they cost decently), carefully read the instructions for cultivating it so that later it does not become an unpleasant surprise.

Read about how to plant tomatoes correctly.

Before starting cultivation, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the features of the cultivation of this plant.

By the way, this variety does not need at all. All of its shoots actively bloom and bear fruit.

In the open field

If the climate of your region does not prevent this method , then you can safely sow a tomato tree immediately to a permanent place. It is not possible to plant an octopus with seedlings, since the seedlings have highly developed adventitious roots that can be damaged during transportation. A seed sits alone on a bed with an area of ​​​​1 m * 1 m. The soil should be well warmed up, and do not forget (and before that it was spilled with hot water for disinfection). The composition of the soil should include as many natural organic components as possible, such as humus, compost, black soil. The earth should be loose and have good drainage properties (during this, gravel is poured into the bottom of the bed, and the main layer is mixed with sand).

The octopus should be planted at the end of winter - the beginning of spring, focusing on weather conditions. Remember that the plant is susceptible to lower temperatures, especially in the early stages of growth. It is recommended to cover a young shoot for the night with a film until it gets stronger. Choose a calm place so that nothing prevents the crown from forming correctly.

When planting a tomato in open ground, you must immediately carefully select the landing site.

Bushes of a tomato tree do not tolerate drought, therefore, in conditions open ground it is important to pay special attention to the irrigation regime.

in the greenhouse

In the first year of cultivation, it is permissible to use chemicals to get rid of pathogenic bacteria or insect pests. But when the bush enters the phase of active fruiting, such treatment is unacceptable, it can be harmful to your health.

Video

findings

  1. tomato tree, or octopus, does exist and was bred by Japanese breeders.
  2. The yield of one bush of this variety exceeds collection from 100 bushes of any other species.
  3. The octopus is finicky in care and needs constant temperature regime, regular watering and plenty of nutrients to increase disease resistance.
  4. In our country it is best to grow tomato tree in a greenhouse.
  5. Please think carefully before purchasing this variety. can you provide everything the necessary conditions for its proper development and high performance productivity.

You can read about why tomatoes rot.