Pink tomatoes are especially loved by many gardeners. It is believed that most of them have a dessert flavor and unique sweetness. In addition, among pink varieties, lovers often choose the largest ones, sometimes even competing among themselves in growing giant tomatoes. One of such popular varieties is called Pink Giant.
Description of tomato variety Pink Giant
The pink giant has been known for almost 20 years, in 2001 it was included by the State Register of the Russian Federation in the list of cultivars approved for cultivation, while it was recommended for small farms and amateur gardeners, summer residents. It is considered the result of amateur selection. Basically, it is customary to plant it in open ground, but it is quite possible to do this in greenhouses. At least, this is clearly indicated by the fact that the regions of its cultivation are not regulated by an official document, and in the north, of course, only the greenhouse version is possible.
The pink giant belongs to indeterminate tomatoes, that is, it grows in a very tall bush, in reality its height is also higher than two meters. The leaves are ordinary, medium size, green. The first fruit brush is laid after the 9th leaf, after every 3 subsequent ones new ones are formed. The brush contains from 3 to 6 tomatoes, however, in order for them to fully express themselves, it is recommended to leave no more than three pieces.
Fruits of a flat-circular shape, with a high degree of ribbing, contain 4 seed nests, the number of seeds in them is small. The fruits are very large, weigh an average of 350-400 g, but there are also kilogram specimens; in a mature state, the tomatoes are pink in color. Giants weighing up to 2.2 kg and irregular shape are described. Maturity does not occur early, almost 3 months after transplanting seedlings in the garden.
A small amount of seeds is one of the advantages of a salad variety
The main purpose of the fruit, already according to the name, of course, for fresh consumption, the variety is considered salad. In addition, tomato juice, pasta, various sauces are prepared from the fruits. The taste of both fresh tomatoes and dishes made of them is estimated to be excellent, since the pulp of the fruits is sweet, fleshy. Of course, they do not fit into the jar, but pickling in barrels is, in principle, possible, although this does not make much sense: there are a huge number of varieties specially designed for this purpose.
With all the positive characteristics of the variety, its overall yield is rather mediocre: about 6 kg / m2. The maximum result with a high level of agricultural technology is estimated at 12 kg, which, of course, is also far from ideal value.
Since the fruits are very heavy, and the bush is tall, plants require mandatory shaping and tying. To most diseases, resistance is above average, and it is tolerant to temperature extremes. Despite the large-fruited, the fruits withstand transportation quite well, since they have a fairly dense skin. The shelf life of fresh produce is average: in a cool place for about a week, in the cellar - up to a month.
Video: Pink Giant Ripe Tomatoes
Appearance of Tomatoes
To describe the appearance of tomatoes, the Pink Giant does not need extra words: everything is in the name. The color of ripe fruits is bright pink, sometimes even raspberry, the size is very large.
Some tomatoes are irregular in shape, some are slightly cracked, but all are equally tasty.
If there were several tens of such tomatoes on the bush, he simply could not stand their total mass. Therefore, the bush of the Pink giant looks poor, but the tomatoes on it are still not located one at a time, but in small groups.
Video: Siberian opinion about tomato Pink giant
Advantages and disadvantages, differences from other varieties
The pink giant is a very popular variety, due primarily to the excellent taste of its fruits. If you try to briefly describe all its advantages, the list will look something like this:
- large-fruited;
- great dessert flavor;
- resistance to most diseases;
- good transportability and preservation of fresh fruits;
- unpretentiousness to growing conditions, including sharp fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
Relative deficiencies are recognized:
- relatively low productivity;
- unsuitability for canning in general;
- the need for careful formation of bushes and tying them to strong supports.
Of course, these shortcomings are by no means critical: the vast majority of tomato varieties require tying bushes, and special tomatoes have been bred for whole-canning. But the yield of such delicious tomatoes, of course, I would like to have higher. The main feature of the variety, of course, is its large-fruited nature in combination with a beautiful color and dessert taste of tomatoes.
A couple of decades ago, the variety could be called unique. Of course, now this is not so: the number of different varieties is growing rapidly, among them there are obvious competitors of the Pink giant. So, the Pink Honey tomato has excellent taste characteristics, but its fruits are stored for a very short time and do not withstand transportation well. Mikado pink tomatoes are well known, although its fruits are somewhat smaller. A little earlier than the Pink giant, a similar variety of the Scarlet Flower is ripening, but its fruits often crack. The fruits of the tomato are very similar to the Pink Elephant, but their flesh is considered dryish. Thus, the gardener always has a choice, and often he makes it in favor of the Pink Giant variety.
Features of planting and growing tomatoes Pink giant
The pink giant in the sense of agricultural technology is a typical indeterminate variety with large fruits of medium maturity, which imposes its own characteristics on the care process. Like all mid-season varieties, it is grown only through seedlings; only in the very south can seeds be sown directly in the spring in the spring. Like all indeterminate varieties, it requires skilled bush formation; it does not matter if it is planted in a greenhouse or in open ground.
Landing
Concern for tomato seedlings The pink giant in most of our country begins in mid-March; earlier planting is justified in the south or provided it is transplanted in early May into a good greenhouse. About two months should pass from sowing seeds to planting seedlings in the garden. It should be borne in mind that planting is possible no earlier than the soil warms up to at least 15 aboutC, and the threat of night frosts is practically over (light shelters immediately after landing help to cope with temperatures close to 0 aboutFROM). So, for example, in the midland, before the end of May, planting tomatoes in open ground is risky. Therefore, in the second half of March, seeds are sown at home. The whole process consists of stages known to gardeners.
- Seed preparation (calibration, disinfection, hardening and, possibly, germination are included in this concept). Calibrate the seeds by placing them in a 3% solution of sodium chloride, and after a few minutes, drowned ones are discarded. Disinfected with a 20-30-minute treatment in a dark solution of potassium permanganate. Tempered by placing in a wet cloth for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Sprout until miniature tails appear.
To disinfect seeds, a solution of potassium permanganate must be made strong, almost 1%
- Soil preparation. Its best composition is peat, humus and sod land, mixed in equal amounts. A glass of wood ash is added to a bucket of the resulting mixture, then the soil is disinfected by pouring a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
To grow a dozen or two bushes, soil can also be bought in the store.
- Sowing seeds in a box. Often the Pink Giant is sown and immediately in personal pots, since there are few such bushes, but it is better to sow first in a small container, and then plant the seedlings. The height of the soil should be at least 5 cm, the prepared seeds are laid out in grooves to a depth of about 1.5 cm, at distances of about 2.5 cm from each other.
For sowing seeds, take any convenient box
- Maintaining the required temperature. After 4-8 days, seedlings appear in a glass-covered box, and the temperature is immediately reduced to 16-18 ° C, while the illumination is provided as much as possible (enough natural light on the southern windowsill). After 4-5 days, the temperature is raised to 20-24 ° C.
There is usually plenty of natural light on the windowsill if the windows are not facing north.
At the age of 10-12 days they pickle tomatoes sown in a box: seedlings are planted in separate pots or in a box of larger capacity; in the latter case, the distance between them is about 7 cm.
Seedling care - moderate watering and, possibly, 1-2 dressing with solutions of any complex fertilizer. However, if growth is proceeding normally, seedlings should not be fertilized once again: overgrown seedlings are worse than those grown under ascetic conditions. 10-15 days before planting in the garden, seedlings are periodically placed on the balcony, accustoming plants to fresh air and low temperatures. By this time, tomato seedlings The pink giant should have 5-7 large leaves, a thick stem and one bud brush. Planting seedlings in the garden is possible with the onset of guaranteed warm weather.
A site for tomatoes is chosen so that it is closed from the action of the north winds and well lit. The bed, as for most vegetables, is prepared in the fall, adding organic and mineral fertilizers to it. Tomatoes especially need phosphorus, so the required doses are a humus bucket, a glass of wood ash and 30-40 g of superphosphate per 1 m2.
This variety loves freedom, it does not bear the thickened planting. The minimum distance between plants should be from 50 to 60 cm, and it is better to use the scheme 70 x 70 cm. At least more than three rose giant bushes per square meter should not be planted. The planting technique is usual, it is better to plant in the evening or in cloudy weather.
- They dig a hole in the selected places with a scoop of the required size, add local fertilizer to each. It can be a handful of ash or a tablespoon of nitroammophos. Fertilizers are mixed with soil, then the well is watered.
Wood ash is the most valuable and almost free fertilizer
- Carefully remove the seedlings from a box or pots with a lump of earth and place it in the holes, while deepening to cotyledon leaves. If the seedlings have clearly grown, it should be planted obliquely so as not to bury the roots in a layer of cold earth.
It is important to extract seedlings from containers without damaging the roots.
- Water the plants with water at a temperature of 25-30 aboutC and mulch the soil slightly with humus or compost.
You can water tomatoes from a watering can, but it is better not to soak the leaves
It is advisable immediately, before the bushes have grown, to organize a system for tying them: strong stakes or a common trellis. The height of both of them should be about two meters. Tie bushes will have to be soon as soon as they take root in a new place and resume their growth.
Care
Tomato care The pink giant is relatively uncomplicated; it consists of watering, loosening the soil, destroying weeds and periodic top dressing. But, besides this, the bushes must be tied in time, and the extra stepsons and leaves periodically removed.
The best time for watering is evening, do it about once every 5-7 days. Water must be warm, warmed up in the sun. If the surface layer of the soil seems wet, you should not water it: the tomatoes do not need excess water. The maximum water demand is observed at the height of mass flowering and during the period of fruit growth. But as the tomatoes ripen, watering significantly reduces, otherwise their severe cracking is possible. Watering the Pink Giant is carried out under the root. It is better to prevent water from entering the foliage. Very good if there is the opportunity to apply drip irrigation.
After each irrigation, the soil around the bushes is shallow loosened with the simultaneous removal of weeds. Fertilizing is given quite often, 4-5 times during the summer, using mullein infusions and full mineral fertilizers. The first time the Pink Giant is fed with the advent of the first small ovaries. To do this, after watering, make, for example, 1 m2 about 20 g of azofoska, after which they are watered again. Repeated feeding is carried out every three weeks. In the second half of summer, they try to give less nitrogen, limiting themselves to wood ash and superphosphate.
In private gardens, they rarely engage in preventive treatment of tomatoes from diseases, especially since this variety is quite disease resistant. But in the case of not very favorable weather, it is advisable to carry out processing at least with folk remedies (for example, infusion of onion scales).
The pink giant bush is formed in 1, 2 or 3 stems: options depend on the preferences of the host. The more stems on the bush, the more fruits there will be, but they will grow smaller. The second and third stems are the first powerful stepchildren, the remaining stepchildren periodically break out, preventing them from growing to more than 5-7 cm. Over time, yellowing leaves are removed: usually this process starts from the lower tiers, as well as some leaves, especially strongly covering fruits from the sun.
The diagram shows where the 2nd and 3rd stems come from and how to break out extra stepsons
You should not leave all the nascent tomatoes on the bush: most likely, the bush will not stretch more than 6-7 brushes anyway; at least they will not be able to grow and mature normally. In addition, the bush itself is also specifically limited in growth: if the height has reached 1.8-2 m, the top must be pinched.
You have to tie up not only the stems, but also the brushes with the fruits, however, this must be done extremely carefully and in a timely manner. Sometimes under the brushes you even have to substitute supports, almost like in the case of fruit trees. Take off the fruits on time, preventing them from overripe on the bushes.
Reviews
Incredibly tasty and fruitful Pink giant from Flos, only he was with a potato leaf. The taste is juicy, sweetish and some kind of silk (not sugar at the break).
Garnet//www.tomat-pomidor.com/newforum/index.php?topic=3052.0
This tomato variety is the most correct when viewed as an ingredient in spring salad. One such tomato can feed the whole family. With proper care, the fruits can be very weighty.
Glaropouli//otzovik.com/review_2961583.html
The pink giant is a real fresh treat, right from the bush. The pulp is dense, low in liquid, juicy and has a pleasant sweet taste. Not a single year have I noticed that this variety was small, sour or with hard fibers, like wood. In lean years, it just happens that the fruits themselves are fewer, sometimes they ripen longer. In general, this is one of my favorite varieties of tomatoes that you can eat fresh.
AlekseiK//otzovik.com/review_5662403.html
The pink giant is one of the tomato varieties that our gardeners love. This is due to the excellent taste of large-fruited tomatoes of a beautiful pink color and the relative unpretentiousness of plants. Despite the emergence of new varieties and hybrids annually, the popularity of the Pink Giant does not get lower.
