By and large, you can grow any tomato on the windowsill — that is, any variety. However, tall and indeterminate plants require a large amount of space and soil for normal development — they will be very difficult to handle in a room. Therefore, for a good result, you need to choose varieties and hybrids that are specially bred for pot cultivation.
Seed selection and packaging preparation
In the store, pay attention to the seeds marked “potted”, “garden on the windowsill” and the like. These varieties and hybrids are compact, precocious, and require a small amount of soil for good development.
Immediately you need to prepare the container. For an adult container tomato, 3-5 liters of soil are required. The most compact can cost 2 liters. If you bought decorative shrubs with a closed root system for your garden, then containers from under them are well suited.
Proper seeding
You can not immediately plant seeds in large containers. Tomatoes can be sown in small trays and then unpicked into glasses with a volume of 150-200 ml or immediately sown in similar small pots. Fill with seedling soil, water, lay out 1-2 seeds and cover with a layer of soil about 1 cm thick. Press down, cover with transparent lids or film and put in a warm place.
Every day, the cups (or the total capacity) should be opened briefly for ventilation. After 3-7 days, you will see the loops of seedlings, then the shelter can be removed.
Conditions and care
At first, the light day for tomatoes should be extended to 16 hours, in a month 14 will be enough. If the window is late autumn or winter, then you can not do without a phytolamp. After the emergence of seedlings, it is very desirable to reduce the temperature in the room where your seedlings stand to +16 for a week…+18°C, this will not allow the plants to stretch out. Then we raise the temperature to +22…+24°C.
About a week after the first green loops appear, it becomes finally clear how many plants have sprung up in each pot; you can see which one is better. The second one should be removed — but not pulled out, but cut off with scissors or plucked with your fingers.
Top dressing for tomatoes
The first top dressing should be done at the age of 4-5 real leaves. For this purpose, a fertilizer that contains the right set of macronutrients for young plants is well suited, and the composition should also include the necessary trace elements in chelated form.
For top dressing, you need to dissolve the fertilizer in warm water and carry out regular watering.
The next time to feed the plants should be 10 days later — and so continue throughout the growing season. This fertilizer can be used for almost all garden and garden crops that are grown by seedling method.
At the age of one and a half months, tomatoes look like established plants, but compared to ordinary garden varieties, they are much more compact. Their internodes are very short, the leaves are not large. The first transshipment is recommended after the formation of the first flower brush.