Geranium Kiss or Geranium Kiss is a rare, collectible cherry variety that attracts gardeners with delicious tomatoes growing on their hands. We learn more about this unusual variety than it is unique, how to plant it, grow it, harvest it and save it - further.
Tomato Seeds “Geranium Kiss”
Tomatoes Geranium Kiss on a branch
The size of the fruits "Geranium Keys"
Grade description
"Kiss of geranium" is unique in an unusual combination of characteristics of a plant and its fruits:
- Bushes. Compact, dense, stunted, well leafy and highly branched. The plant does not belong to the standard, but the bush type. The stem is moderately thick. Height - 50-60 cm. The central shoot is able to support the weight of the fruit without additional support.
- Leaves. Strongly corrugated, green, oblong in shape, with blunt teeth along the edges. The cuttings are thick.
- Inflorescences. Complex, lush. The flowers are lemon yellow. During flowering, bushes are strewn with flowers. One inflorescence contains 50-100 flowers. Ovaries and fruits do not develop from all flowers.
- Fruit. 3-4 fruit brushes or more are formed. They look like clusters. Each fruit on such clusters weighs 20-40 g. The shape of the fruit is oval-round, at the end - an elongated "nose". Ripening, green fruits acquire a bright red color. The skin is dense with a glossy sheen. There are few seeds inside the fruit.
The weight of the fruits on the hands depends on their number - the more tomatoes in the bunch, the smaller they are, and vice versa.
Bunches of ripe tomatoes remotely resemble the flowers of bright red geranium - hence the unusual name.
Origin
“Geranium Kiss” is an American variety bred by an Oregon farmer. The creator of the variety, A. Kapuler, introduced it to the world in 2008. This variety is not yet in the State Register of the Russian Federation.
On forums, vegetable growers often describe the variety as tall. This discrepancy is caused by a lack of information and seeds - they are distributed by the vegetable growers themselves. Authentic seed material must be taken from reliable companies. So, the seeds of "Kiss" can be purchased at the Biotechnika company.
Characterization and productivity
Tomato "Kiss of geranium" - a determinant. The variety is relatively new and little known among gardeners. Table 1 - the main varietal characteristics.
Table 1
Specifications | Description / Meaning |
Ripening time | early ripening variety, from germination to fruiting - 90-95 days |
Pollination | self-pollinated |
The number of fruits on the brush | 90-110 pieces |
Fruit weight | 20-40 g |
Brush weight with fruits | 500-1000 g |
Taste | the flesh is sweet and sour, juicy, dense, tender, aromatic; the taste is dominated by sweetness; tastes like cherry |
Resistance to temperature anomalies | blooms and gives an ovary at temperatures above + 30 ° C |
Stepson | not required |
Appointment | universal - for salads, salting, canning |
Productivity | unstable, depending on growing conditions (on average, 2-3 kg is collected from the bush) |
Transportability | high, thanks to strong skin and dense pulp |
Disease and pest resistance | medium (can suffer from late blight, are affected by whiteflies and spider mites) |
The variety has a variety - “Little Geranium Kiss” or Little Geraniums Kiss Tomato. It differs from the "elder brother" only in size - it grows up to 30 cm in height. These kids are ideal for growing on balconies.
Advantages and disadvantages
Pros:
- Suitable for growing in any region.
- Simple agricultural technology.
- It grows well in open and closed ground.
- You can provide yourself with seeds on your own, since Geranium Kiss is not a hybrid.
- Within the brush, the fruits ripen almost simultaneously.
- No need to install supports and trellises - no need to tie up bushes.
- There is no need to spend time on planting bushes.
- Resistance to cracking and top rot.
- Bushes are decorative during flowering and fruiting - decorate areas, balconies, greenhouses.
Minuses:
- Despite early ripeness, not all brushes have time to ripen.
- In extreme heat, green “shoulders” form in the fruit. But they are not tough and do not spoil the taste.
- It does not tolerate high humidity.
How to choose seedlings?
If you were not able to grow seedlings yourself, you can buy it. But in order not to be disappointed with the result, it is important to choose the right planting material.
Rules for choosing seedlings:
- Take strong seedlings with intact roots.
- The first flowers should appear on the seedlings. If there are no flowers on the seedlings, this indicates its unpreparedness for planting. If seedlings are planted too soon, it will lag behind in development or completely stop growing.
Soil preparation
The variety "Geranium Kiss" loves fertile and loose soils no less than other tomatoes. Recommendations:
- The soil should be neutral or slightly acidic, pH level not more than 7.
- If the soil is poor and infertile, they must be fertilized with humus and peat. It is also useful to add river sand.
- Tomatoes are best grown in areas where pumpkins, zucchini, and cabbage grew. The worst predecessors are all nightshade cultures. If potatoes, tomatoes, peppers or eggplants grew on the plot, it is not suitable for the “Kiss of geranium”.
- If the soil is fertile, you should not make a lot of fertilizer - they are not needed at the beginning of the growing season.
Soil for growing seedlings must be disinfected: freeze or treat with potassium permanganate. Steaming for 45 minutes is also recommended.
Growing conditions
The variety loves warmth and sun. For good plant growth, warm earth is required and a temperature of at least +15 ° C. If the summer is cool and the night temperature drops significantly, the plantings are covered with a film.
Growing seedlings
The variety is allowed to sow directly in the open ground, and you can grow seedlings yourself. The second option allows you to accelerate the harvest. You can buy seedlings, but then there is no guarantee that it grew in favorable conditions - this will affect the future harvest.
How to prepare the seeds?
If the seeds are purchased in a reliable source, they are not only a reliable carrier of varietal qualities, but also completely ready for planting. They are pickled, and have passed all the necessary pre-treatment. Soaking is contraindicated for them. Store seeds cannot be held in water or in stimulants - the protective shell created by nutrients as a result of special treatment will suffer.
Tomato seeds harvested on their own - collected from fruits, have to be prepared for sowing:
- Exposure to boiled water (40 ° C) for 3 hours.
- Immersion in a solution of potassium permanganate (diluted 1 g in 100 ml) for 15 minutes. Seeds are saturated with potassium and manganese - these elements stimulate growth.
- Seed germination. They can be sprouted, for example, on toilet paper. Some gardeners use cotton pads for germination. The main thing is not to overexpose the seeds. They should barely hatch. Sprouts should not be allowed to turn into long white threads.
Where to sow seeds and where to plant crops?
Swollen or sprouted seeds are sown in any suitable container - a pre-prepared nutrient soil mixture is poured into it. Ordinary plastic boxes, containers, disposable glasses, wooden boxes are suitable, you can also buy special cassettes.
So that the seeds germinate faster, they are placed in heat. After emergence, crops are placed closer to the sun. You can grow seedlings in the house - on the windowsill, or in the greenhouse - if any.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Sequencing:
- The substrate in containers or boxes is watered. There should not be too much water.
- Furrows are made in moist soil. If sowing is performed in glasses, make small indentations. Depth - up to 1 cm.
- In large containers, seeds are sown according to the 2x3 cm scheme, in small - 2x2 cm.
- Seeds are laid in wells. If the seeds are sprouted - with sprouts, use tweezers. If you take the seeds with your hands, then there is a high probability of breaking fragile sprouts.
- The seeds laid in the soil are sprinkled with soil. And the container itself is covered with a film.
Seedling Care
Features of crop care:
- When shoots appear, the film is removed.
- Do not allow waterlogging and stagnation of water.
- The grown seedlings are transplanted into separate glasses.
- Before planting in the ground, seedlings are fed twice with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers.
- Before planting, the seedlings are tempered - they are carried out for a short time in fresh air.
Read more about dressing seedlings.
Planting seedlings in the ground
If seedlings are planted not under cover, but directly in the open ground, then temperature conditions are extremely important. At night, the thermometer should not fall below + 15 ° C. And yet, even if the weather is warm, you should just in case, prepare a film - the size of the site. If it gets colder, urgently need to pull the film.
The best time for planting seedlings is after 14-00 hours. As soon as the first flowers appear, the plants are ready for transplanting.
Seedling transplant order:
- 3 days before planting, seedlings are stopped watering.
- On the site prepare the holes for landing. For 1 square. m have 4 recesses. The depth of the holes is greater than the height of the container in which the seedlings grew.
- In each hole pour 1 tbsp. l superphosphate and substrate for tomato.
- Pour water into the hole. When it is absorbed, water is poured twice more - the soil should be well charged with moisture.
- Seedlings are placed in the recesses, trying not to damage the roots, and sprinkled with soil.
- Watered with warm water. The next watering is after 7 days.
Outdoor tomato cultivation
In the south, tomatoes can be sown in the ground. But usually gardeners, even in the south, use the seedling method, as the most promising. We learn how to grow Kiss of Geranium tomatoes by sowing seeds in open ground.
Growing conditions
In regions with a short summer, there is no point in sowing seeds directly into the ground, they simply will not have time to ripen before frost. Sow tomatoes in such a place, it is necessary only in greenhouses. But in the south, sowing can begin in the spring, as soon as the soil warms up.
For growing tomatoes, sunny areas covered from the north are diverted to protect the plantings from piercing cold winds. As a defense can serve as a fence, walls of houses, shrubs, etc. The plot for planting tomatoes will be fertilized with humus.
In a greenhouse, tomatoes feel better, grow faster, earlier yield crops. But plants grown in the open air are stronger, stronger, healthier, and the fruits are tastier than greenhouse counterparts.
Planting seeds in open ground
In open ground, seeds are sown no earlier than April - the ground should warm up to 13-15 ° C. There is no unequivocal opinion - whether the seeds planted in the soil need soaking. Proponents of the treatment immerse seeds in fungicides and growth accelerators - just like in preparation for seedling cultivation. Both solutions have their advantages and disadvantages.
Dry seeds are safer. If a cold snap breaks out, nothing will happen to them. After sowing, they do not germinate for another ten days. Germinated grain sprouts on the 4th-5th day. In addition, the germinated seeds are planted in warm land, and if the temperature drops, and they disappear.
Sowing order:
- The earth is loosened up - it should be magnificent, soft. If the soil is not fertilized in the fall, this is done in the spring. Humus is added, if the soil is dense, it is loosened by applying peat, sawdust or sand. Dig the soil along with fertilizer.
- Prepare a nutrient substrate - it is introduced into each well.
- Make small indentations - 1-1.5 cm deep. The layout is 30 x 50 or 40 x 60 cm.
- Deepenings are watered. A weak solution of potassium permanganate will also be useful.
- 3-4 seeds are placed in one well. Sprinkle with a thin layer of soil and compact. Watering is not necessary - the earth is already wet.
- When 3-4 leaves appear, in each hole of the sprouted sprouts, the strongest is chosen - the others are torn out. They can be thrown away or put in another place.
How to water?
Features of watering "Geranium Kiss":
- Before germination, the beds are not watered. Otherwise, the topsoil will become hard - it will be difficult for the sprouts to germinate.
- The ideal water is rain. It should be warm, approximately + 22-24 ° C.
- Sprouts are watered in the morning until there is no sun, or in the evening.
- Frequency of watering before flowering - 1 time in 7 days. Flowering plants are watered twice as often. In summer, the frequency of irrigation depends on the amount of rainfall.
- Water is poured under the root; water should not fall on the aerial parts of plants. Drip type irrigation is preferable - it allows you to maintain the required level of soil moisture.
Loosening
Geranium Kiss, like any tomato, requires regular weeding and loosening. If this action is neglected, the roots of tomatoes will not receive oxygen and water - the dry crust of the earth prevents their access.
Loosening features:
- The first loosening is carried out after the appearance of all seedlings.
- The frequency of loosening is once every 14 days.
- Along with loosening, the growing weeds are removed with the root. Weed vegetation not only interferes with the normal development of tomatoes, but is also a provocateur of various diseases.
It is recommended to mulch the soil - with hay, straw, freshly cut grass. Mulch protects the roots from overheating, inhibits weed growth and retains moisture in the soil. Read more about soil mulching here.
Do I need to tie and stepchild?
The Geranium Kiss variety is stunted, so it’s easy to care for - in open ground, they don’t need to tie and tear off stepsons. But the leaves in the lower part of the bush must be removed - during the formation of fruits. Improved air circulation helps prevent disease.
In greenhouses, Geranium Kiss bushes grow to a meter and a half in height - they are tied to supports.
Feeding
The roots of tomatoes "Geranium Kiss" grow in depth to 0.5 m, but in the sides spreads over the entire area of the garden - so fertilizing is poured over its entire surface.
Features of feeding:
- Top dressing is applied every 10 days.
- During the growth of green mass, nitrogen is needed.
- During flowering and when the fruits ripen, plants need potassium.
The ratio of the elements for feeding tomatoes "Kiss of geranium": N: K: P - 1: 1.8: 0.5. Tomatoes also need zinc, copper, iron, boron, magnesium, calcium - their plants are obtained as part of complex fertilizers.
Diseases and Pests
Geranium Kiss has excellent immunity. The variety ripens early, having time to complete fruiting before the main tomato diseases begin to rage. “Geranium Kiss” bypasses the most serious diseases, the variety practically does not suffer from late blight, fusariosis, powdery mildew, verticillosis. But against bacterial diseases, the variety of immunity does not.
Disease Prevention:
- seed treatment with fungicides;
- use only healthy seedlings;
- in the greenhouse - to renew the soil every year;
- weed removal and tearing of lower leaves;
- to observe a crop rotation - it is impossible to plant tomatoes on one site for more than 4 years;
- it is not recommended to plant tomatoes near nightshade;
- preventive spraying of plants with copper sulfate 5%.
If it was not possible to avoid a bacterial disease, plants are sprayed with "Fitolavin-300" and copper-containing fungicides. Against fungal diseases, plants and soil are treated with Hom, Barrier, Bordeaux fluid.
The main enemies of any tomato are a bear, aphids, Colorado beetles, wireworms, whiteflies. The insecticide is selected in accordance with the type of insects. Affected plants are sprayed with Confidor, Commander, Spark Bio.
Harvesting and storage
If the care was carried out correctly, then 3 months after germination the harvest begins. 2-3 crops are harvested during the season. The fruits are harvested before the onset of cold weather, if you delay in harvesting, they will begin to deteriorate.
Features of the collection "Geranium Kiss":
- All fruits are harvested immediately from a ripened brush - they ripen almost simultaneously. Or tear off the whole brush.
- No need to wait until all the tomatoes ripen on the brush - the brush is torn off when the fruits are still green or brown.
- Brushes with unripe fruits are placed in wooden boxes - in two or three layers. 2-3 ripened fruits are also placed in a box - they will stimulate the ripening of unripe brothers. Tomatoes ripen together - it takes about a week to ripen.
Ripe tomatoes are not stored for long. To keep them fresh longer, they are kept in the refrigerator. But green fruits are stored for a long time, if you create favorable conditions for them - for example, they can be put in the cellar. The optimum storage temperature for unripe tomatoes is + 10 ° C.
Brushes ripped in a state of ripeness ripen perfectly ripen in limbo - if they are placed in a warm, dimly lit place.
Possible problems and advice gardeners
While the bush "Geranium Kiss" grows, blooms and bears fruit, it is very beautiful, it is not for nothing that the variety is often used as an ornamental plant. Gardeners tips:
- In order for the bush to remain beautiful longer, it is necessary to provide it with a flower pot of the appropriate volume - at least 5-9 liters.
- Using stimulants, they often get the opposite effect as expected, since different drugs are filled with various phytohormones. It is important, using such tools, to exactly follow the instructions from the instructions.
Fruit use
The fruits of Kiss of Geranium are universal. Their taste, size, density and other characteristics allow you to use them for a variety of purposes, their:
- eat fresh;
- Freeze
- sluggish;
- dried;
- salt;
- canned.
Reviews
Leonid Shch., 48 years old, amateur gardener, Yuriev-Polsky. I always try new, interesting varieties. The geranium kiss first interested in an unusual name. After reading the description, I decided to grow these cocktail tomatoes. The brushes grew very large - they have a bunch of fruits on them. I even specially calculated specially, on one - 76 pieces, on the other - 82, the largest brush - 93 tomatoes.
Ksenia P., 48 years old, Moscow Region. I do not have a plot, but Geranium Kiss is familiar with tomatoes well - I grow them on a southern loggia. Great balcony grade. The bushes are very beautiful, especially during the flowering and ripening of tomatoes. I use all the fruits for salads.
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It is enough to hear about Geranium Kiss once to make an irresistible desire to plant such a unique variety. Elementary agricultural technology, combined with the excellent taste of the fruits, make these American tomatoes a welcome guest in any area.
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