Tomato "Grandma's Joy": photo and description of the variety, cultivation, reviews

The Babushkina Radoshka tomato is a popular variety, beloved by many vegetable growers, as it has proven itself to have numerous advantages—excellent taste, high yield, and large fruits.

However, with improper care, certain disadvantages may also appear, so to avoid mistakes when growing, let's take a closer look at this variety.

Main characteristics of the variety

The "Babushkina Radoshka" tomato is a mid-season, indeterminate variety. The plant is quite tall, reaching 1.8 meters in height, so it requires timely support and pinching. The best practice is to train the plant into single or double stems.

This variety is renowned for its productivity. The fruits are round and red when ripe. The weight of a single tomato varies, but with proper cultivation techniques, it can reach 250-500 grams (and in some cases, even a kilogram). If you want truly large fruits, train the plant into a single stem (but you'll get fewer than with a double stem plant). The tomato is tasty, fleshy, and juicy.

Main purpose: This variety is best suited for fresh consumption, juices, and sauces. Due to its relatively large size, whole tomatoes are not often canned.

This variety is suitable for both open-field and greenhouse cultivation. Tomatoes are grown outdoors in southern regions, while in temperate climates, they are grown in greenhouses.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The Babushkina Radoshka tomato has a number of advantages that are highly valued by both novice and experienced vegetable growers:

• Large fruits, which with proper care can reach 1 kg (on average 250-500 g).
• High yield - up to 5 kg from 1 bush.
• The variety has an extended fruiting period.
• Resistance to a number of diseases (late blight, etc.).
• Easy to care for.

This variety has no particular drawbacks. However, like any other plant, if improperly cared for, it can become ill, which can negatively impact its development and fruiting.

Features of cultivation and care

If you want a truly good harvest, you need to pay attention to the cultivation and care of the plant. This variety is grown from seedlings, with seeds sown in late March. If you want to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse, you can harvest the seeds as early as late February. Remember that transplanting into open ground or a greenhouse typically takes 60-70 days.

Pre-select good seeds:

Firstly, they should not be old, so no more than 2 years should have passed since their release.

Secondly, select the seeds, for this:

• Dissolve half a spoon of salt in a glass of water.
• Add seeds and leave for half an hour.
• Remove the floating seeds and the rest can be planted.

Then it's best to germinate them. To do this, spread the seeds on a damp cloth and leave them for a few days (usually 5). Once the seeds sprout, they're ready to plant. Those that don't germinate are best not planted, as many vegetable growers believe these plants will be weak and prone to disease.

It's best to buy soil for planting seedlings from a specialist store, as it will have a balanced composition of micronutrients needed for plant nutrition. Water the soil thoroughly before planting the seeds. Don't plant too closely, but space the seeds 1 cm apart. Then cover the container with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until the first shoots appear.

Water the seedlings as needed. Once you notice 1-2 full-fledged leaves appear, you can begin replanting.

Transplant to the main location when the plants have strengthened and there is no longer a risk of frost (usually late May). Avoid planting the bushes too close together—the optimal ratio is 3 plants per square meter.

Further care for the variety is as follows:

• Water regularly and moderately. The optimal time for watering is evening.
• Don't forget to loosen the soil. The soil should be loosened the day after watering to prevent the formation of a hard crust, which often causes oxygen deprivation of the root system.
• Weeding - remember, removing weeds is one of the methods of preventing a number of diseases and root rot.

Don't forget about fertilizer. Tomatoes need fertilizing throughout the season. Complex fertilizers are ideal for this purpose. Fertilize the plant at least three times during the summer:

1. First, 14 days after planting in open ground.
2. During the period of flowering and fruit setting.
3. During ripening.

Also, don’t forget about fertilizing the seedlings, which is done in 2 stages:

• After 14 days of germination.
• 2 weeks before landing at the main landing site.

As noted earlier, it is better to use specialized complex fertilizers for feeding, such as:

• Nitrophoska.
• Potassium sulfate.
• Superphosphate.

Organic fertilizers are also often used, but they (as well as mineral fertilizers) should be used with great care, as excessive fertilization can negatively affect the plant's development.

Resistance to diseases and pests

As noted above, this variety is resistant to a number of diseases, including the serious blight known as late blight. However, despite this rosy picture, disease prevention should be kept in mind. When grown in a greenhouse, it should be periodically ventilated, and special disease control products, available at a gardening store, should be used both in the open ground and in greenhouse conditions.

Also remember about protection from pests, tomatoes often suffer from:

• Whiteflies;
• caterpillars;
• aphids;
• spider mites, etc.

Folk methods of prevention do not always work, so it is best to purchase specialized products at a gardening store.

Feedback from those who planted

Sergey

An excellent variety that I'll now be growing regularly at my dacha. I specifically planted two beds of this variety, training one stem and the other with two stems. The first one produced very large fruits, which truly surprised me with their size, and the second one also produced large ones and in greater numbers. Overall, everything is great.

Paul

I'm a newbie vegetable grower, so when growing in a greenhouse, I forgot to ventilate the plants periodically, causing the bushes to rot. I couldn't cure some of them, but the ones I managed to save produced a wonderful harvest. Next year, I'll be more mindful of my growing and get an even bigger harvest.

Olga

A wonderful variety that I immediately fell in love with. It's easy to grow; I'm used to using nitrophoska as a fertilizer, which is easy to apply. I used to soak many seeds in growth stimulant, but these sprouted quickly anyway.

The Babushkina Radoshka tomato is a harmonious combination of numerous advantages with virtually no disadvantages, thanks to which it will produce a rich and delicious harvest that will delight you and your loved ones!