Tomato Watermelon

The tomato variety Watermelon is beautiful not only for its unique appearance, but also for the weight of the fruit. Subject to all the rules of agricultural technology, you can get a fruit weighing up to 500 g.

This variety was bred by the breeding company "Gavrish", the authors are Victor Vasilievich Morev, Elena Valentinovna Amcheslavskaya, Olga Anatolyevna Volok, Vladimir Fedorovich Gavrish. The hybrid was entered into the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 2004, and from that moment on, the Armelon variety became permissible to grow in all regions of the Russian Federation, both individually and on an industrial scale in film greenhouses.

The Watermelon variety is a tall bushes reaching 2 meters. The stems of the plant are dense, powerful, however, it is impossible to make an ampelous shape or a stem from a bush. Leaf blades are medium in size, green, typical. Inflorescences are of the simple type. The first ovaries of buds are formed above the 8th leaf, with the further growth of the plant, flowers are laid every 3 leaves. The stalks are articulated.

The shape of the tomato resembles a flattened circle, there are pronounced ribs. The tomato peel is smooth, with a waxy sheen, colored in dark red-green shades, half striped (the stripes begin in the area of ​​the stalk and are located vertically). Unripe fruits are greenish, but also with a characteristic varietal pattern.

The size of the tomatoes is large, the average weight of one fruit is 130-150 g.

The pulp of the fruit is quite fleshy, but tender and moderately juicy. Its taste is bright, sweetish exotic notes are present.

The variety is medium early, 110 days will pass from the moment of planting the seeds to the end of fruiting.

Since the culture is not frost-resistant, due to the limited shelf life, the fruits should be eaten fresh. For canning, tomatoes of the Watermelon variety are sometimes not suitable, because they have a juicy pulp, the skin of these fruits often cracks.

The variety is classified as indeterminate, which means that the hybrid has unlimited growth. This, in turn, allows the Watermelon tomato to be a high-yielding crop. From one bush, you can collect about 3 kg of tomatoes, and from 1 m2 - up to 6 kg.

Watermelon is grown only through seedlings. The seeds of the plant are prepared in early spring, at the beginning of the first months. The planting material must be buried 3 mm into the substrate and placed in a greenhouse or in any warm, bright place with high humidity.

For successful germination of seeds and growing young seedlings of the Watermelon variety, you should adhere to the rules of constant care:

• stable temperature regime within + 20-25 ° С in the first half of the day and up to +17 at night;
• regular supply of fresh air and spraying;
• bringing daylight hours to 12 hours for young seedlings using lamps.

When two pairs of true leaves appear on young shoots, the seedlings must be dived and planted in separate containers for further transshipment into open ground or into a greenhouse substrate. Tomatoes are planted in a permanent place in May, as a rule, by this time the age of a young culture reaches 1.5 months. Shoots in plants are on average 30 cm long, and each has 8 leaves.

Tomatoes must be hardened before planting in open ground, that is, a slight decrease in temperature by a couple of degrees and a long flow of fresh air are provided.

Planting holes are prepared in advance according to the size of the root system. Do not plant more than 3 bushes per 1 m2. There should be a distance of 40 cm between each plant, and 60 cm between the rows of the garden.

It is not recommended to plant potatoes, eggplants, various peppers and other varieties of tomatoes next to the variety. In the open field, it is better to plant beets, legumes, carrots or cabbage with Watermelon.

The Watermelon variety is quite hygrophilous, so you should pay more attention to watering the plant. Before the appearance of flower ovaries, up to 5 liters of water per week are applied under each bush. During the fruiting period, the frequency of watering is doubled, but at the same time the water consumption is reduced to 3 liters. Be sure to cover the trunk circle with a layer of straw, peat to reduce evaporation of moisture from the earthen mixture.

The culture is fed as follows:

• after planting in open ground, 20 days are counted and the first feeding of tomatoes with mineral fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) is carried out;
• during the period of budding and flowering, superphosphates and potassium are introduced into the soil;
• when the crop bears fruit, the plants are fertilized with sodium humate and superphosphate.

It is also necessary to manually pinch the tomatoes once a week. The culture is formed in one stem; at the end of the growing season, the growth point should be removed. Due to the fact that the variety is tall, the stems of the plant must be tied to supports or trellises.

Tomatoes of the Watermelon variety are stably resistant to late blight, curly leaf blades and spotting. However, the culture is susceptible to whitefly, mites, slugs and other insects. In such cases, the standard treatment of plants with insecticidal preparations is performed.

It is worth remembering that the use of poisons and other chemicals is stopped a month before the fruit is removed.

Tomato Watermelon is a good solution for garden greenhouses due to the indeterminacy and size of ripe fruits with excellent taste characteristics. This variety is ideal for fresh use throughout the summer.