Tomato Black Elephant: very tasty, unpretentious and fruitful

A large variety of black tomatoes, which have appeared recently, allows you to choose the best varieties of these exotic fruits by color of plants - not only the most delicious and healthy, but also the most fruitful and resistant to growing conditions.

Tomato Black Elephant - one of them, according to gardeners, has perfectly established itself in most regions of the European part of Russia. It is a variety of mid-ripening ripening period, indeterminate type, intended for cultivation in greenhouses and unprotected soil (for southern regions).

The unusual rich taste of the fruit, beautiful potato-type leaves make it attractive for the most picky tomato lovers. Get acquainted with the tomato Black Elephant, with the characteristics and detailed description of the variety.

Basic information about the variety

Bushes of tomato, depending on growing conditions can reach 150-160cm. Leaves - potato type, saturated green color. It requires the formation of 2-3 stems, pasynkovaniya and garters to the trellis.

Features of the fruit:

• The form is flat-round.
• The weight of tomatoes varies, according to reviews, from 100 to 400g. bulk about 200g.
• The color of the tomatoes is red-brown when ripe.
• The flesh is very juicy and meaty.
• The high content of sugar in the composition of the pulp makes it taste original and extremely attractive.
• It is used mainly in fresh form, as well as in the composition of other dishes and salads, as well as when preserved in the composition of ketchup and tomato paste.

Photo bush

Advantages and disadvantages

• The plant grows well both in the greenhouse and in the open field.
• Differs in productivity.
• Tomato attracts the attention of the original type of fruit with great taste.
• Tomatoes have healing properties due to the high content of antioxidants that help cleanse the body.
• Normalizes appetite and promotes weight loss.
• Favorably affects the condition of the skin, helps prevent cholesterol plaques.
• The high content of vitamin A in the fruit has a positive effect on vision.
• It is a kind of aphrodisiac, stimulating sexual function.
• Anthocyanins contained in the fruit, strengthen the immune system.
• Tomatoes are very useful in the treatment of prostate adenoma due to the high content of lycopene.

The disadvantage include:

• Mandatory formation, pinching and thinning of bushes.
• Lack of resistance to late blight.
• According to reviews of individual summer residents, Black Elephant is a tomato that does not have high storage capacity.

See also: What are the features of growing varieties of tomato "T 34 F1"?

Cultivation

To obtain healthy seedlings, seeds are treated in a solution of potassium permanganate and one of the commercially available growth stimulants.

Land for planting is prepared in advance, using a mixture of garden soil with compost and ash.Since the soil for tomatoes should be light and loose, sand or peat is added if necessary to improve the structure.

Prepared land is disinfected by heating in the oven or frozen, exposing to frost.

To begin sowing in the first decade of March for planting in the greenhouse, and after 10-15 days for planting in open ground.

Sowing is done in rassladochny boxes with moistened earth at a distance of 15-20 mm, asleep on top of a small layer of earth (about 5 mm) and slightly compacted by hand. Top cover with plastic film or newspaper to preserve moisture and placed in a warm place (25-26grad.)

When real leaves appear, tomato seedlings dive into pots or larger boxes, at a distance of 20-25 cm. Further care is to timely water and feed fertilizer for seedlings a week after diving.

The soil for planting tomatoes in the greenhouse and on the beds is prepared in autumn:

• Bring in lime or dolomite flour.
• Sow sidderaty.

The holes for tomato seedlings are made at a distance of 50 cm in a row and 60–70 cm between the rows, they are filled with compost, ashes, and mineral fertilizers. Seedlings are planted at the age of 50 - 60 days in a moist land, preferably in the late afternoon.

See also: How to grow a Balcony Miracle Tomato?

If planting occurs in hot sunny weather, young plants pritenyu auxiliary materials.

Care after planting includes:

• Watering once every 10 days.
• Loosening, weeding after watering.
• Fertilizer fertilizer.
• Formation of plants in 2 - 3 stalks, pasynkovanie, thinning foliage.
• Garter bushes to the trellis or supports.
• Top dressing with green fertilizer (solution of infusion of mullein with grass) until the fruit set.

To grow tomatoes in the greenhouse, its preparation is carried out in the autumn:

• Be sure to remove the remaining vegetation after the summer season.
• Take out all the props, tapestries, garters, disinfect them.
• Wash the walls of the greenhouse with a disinfectant solution.
• The soil is treated with phytosporin.
• The soil is acidified using lime or dolomite flour.
• Plan the next year's beds and make compost.
• They make warm beds - dig trenches, lay in them plant residues, tops.
• Sow sidderaty.

Growing tomatoes in the greenhouse has its own characteristics:

• Since the variety is sensitive to the air humidity in the greenhouse, watering is carried out directly to the location of the roots. For this purpose, it is advisable to use drip irrigation systems or special containers that allow watering plants directly under the root.
• It is not recommended to irrigate with sprinkling, as drops of moisture in hot weather can cause burns on the leaves of plants.
• When forming a plant, it is necessary to remove more carefully than in open ground unnecessary stepchildren and leaves. This procedure is preferably carried out in the morning, so that the wounds on the plants have time to dry before night falls.
• It is recommended to mulch the soil to maintain its moisture. Mulch interferes with the growth of weeds, and over time, and itself becomes an excellent fertilizer, making the soil light and loose.
• The distance between the plants in the greenhouse is in the 50cm row, between the rows - 80-100cm.

See also: Methods of dealing with the apical rot of tomatoes

Diseases and pests

Tomato Black elephant is reviews of vegetable growers sensitive to late blight.To prevent fungal and viral diseases of tomatoes will help the maintenance of plants in a healthy state, timely airing of greenhouses, soil mulching, good illumination, as well as compulsory pasynkovanie and thinning of the bushes.

By the appearance of the plants, an experienced gardener can determine which nutrients the plant lacks and what needs to be changed in terms of its content:

• If the plant lacks phosphorus, the leaves and stems turn purple in color, curl inward.
• With a lack of potassium, the old leaves turn yellow, and the young ones curl up.
• The plant is drawn out and turns yellow, its growth slows down with a lack of nitrogen.
• The lack of copper is reflected in dropping ovaries and dropping leaves.
• An insufficient amount of calcium is manifested in the form of dried fruit tips and cessation of plant growth.

The manifestation of these signs is a signal to the summer residents of the lack of relevant trace elements in the soil and in the top dressing. In trade there are a number of fertilizers with trace elements that will help to cope with these problems.

Tomato pests in the garden, slugs, Colorado beetles, larvae of the May beetle, wireworms can cause irreparable harm to plants, however, it is usually enough to thoroughly examine and destroy the pests by mechanical means. Summer residents prefer not to use insecticidal preparations, especially when the fruits are already ripe.

Careful attitude to black tomatoes in vegetable growers is often associated with the unusual color of the fruit. Skeptics often consider growing tomatoes with black color to be just another fun, but most of the vegetable growers who got to know these beautiful plants loved them for their excellent taste, unpretentiousness and yield.

Video: Black tomatoes (best varieties)