All about the "Little Red Riding Hood" tomato variety: characteristics, tips for planting and growing

Tomato "Little Red Riding Hood" is a popular tomato variety known to almost every experienced gardener. This tomato is loved by many due to its wonderful taste and high yield. Another name for this tomato variety is Rotkapphen.

Description and characteristics of the variety

Tomato "Little Red Riding Hood" is an early ripe high-yielding determinant variety of tomatoes. It was specially bred by breeders from Germany for those areas where moderate climatic conditions prevail. Rotkappchen can be grown not only outdoors, but also in greenhouses. In addition, this variety is even suitable for growing on a balcony, veranda or windowsill at home.

Basic parameters - characteristic of the variety:

• Bushes are undersized, about 40-50 cm high, compactly located in the garden. Small branching, strong and strong trunks. As a rule, this variety does not need tying.
• It has high yields - on average, you can collect up to 2 kg of tomatoes from one bush. On one hand, about 3-5 fruits can ripen.
• The fruit is round and neat in shape. Tomatoes are generally small in size and weigh an average of 50 to 70 grams. Due to their size, they are ideal for preservation as a whole, since large quantities of fruits will compactly fit into the jar.
• The peel is not very dense, so the variety is not suitable for long-distance transportation - tomatoes can be damaged and, accordingly, quickly deteriorate.
• Tomatoes ripen juicy and moderately fleshy. They have a pronounced tomato smell, a slightly sweet taste and a slight sourness. This early tomato variety is believed to be ideal for the first summer fresh greens.
• Ripening occurs quickly: the first fruits can be seen already 93-103 days after planting the seeds in the ground.

In general, after analyzing the description of the "Little Red Riding Hood" tomato variety, it can be noted that this tomato became famous for a reason. It has decent characteristics, it is convenient for growing even by inexperienced gardeners, because it is unpretentious in care.

Planting seeds and growing seedlings

In order to grow beautiful and high-yielding tomato bushes "Little Red Riding Hood" on your site, it does not take much effort. One has only to follow a few simple recommendations to avoid possible complications.

We choose seeds that were collected 2 or 3 years ago. It is believed that they have the best germination.

The right time for planting seeds and germinating seedlings is the second half of March or early April.

Before sending the planting material into the ground, it should be well disinfected. This is done according to the usual scheme - the seeds are thoroughly washed in a pinkish solution of potassium permanganate, after which they are rinsed with ordinary running water and dried. After all the manipulations, the seeds will be ready for planting.

The seeds can be allowed to germinate under damp gauze or a napkin, or they can be planted directly into the ground, using, for example, peat pots.

You can prepare the soil for growing yourself. "Little Red Riding Hood" will like the soil from the following components:

• turf and garden land with humus;
• a small amount of river sand, which is pre-washed with water or, for greater safety, is calcined in the oven;
• wood ash and superphosphate.

In the prepared soil, hatched or ordinary seeds are carefully planted to a depth of about 1 cm.In the room where the pots with planting material are installed, it is necessary to maintain a comfortable temperature for germination - 20-25 degrees. After 5-10 days, you should expect the first shoots to appear.

Before the seedlings give three and four true leaves, they only need regular moistening of the earth and does not require any other care.

After the leaves appear, the seedlings are distributed in separate pots and begin to be fed with mineral fertilizers.

Planting in open ground or in a greenhouse

The most suitable soil for planting tomatoes is considered to be the one on which vegetables such as carrots, peas, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, cauliflower, parsley or dill grew in previous seasons.

Due to the fact that the Rotkappchen tomato ripens very quickly, in the southern regions it can be safely planted directly into the ground without fear of ruining the plant. And in central Russia and to the north, tomatoes are already being planted to the greenhouse by seedling method.

The most suitable time to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse is the second half of May.

The sprouts are planted according to the following scheme - 1 m² have 3 or 4 bushes.

The soil should be well dug up and loosened to saturate it with oxygen. During digging into the ground, you can immediately add humus.

Care

Leaving for "Little Red Riding Hood" tomatoes is minimal. The vegetable should be watered regularly, however, we note that it does not need particularly frequent watering, the main thing is to prevent the soil from drying out, cracking it and subsequent dehydration of the plants.

To preserve moisture in the beds, agronomists advise mulching the soil surface. To do this, you can use straw, sawdust, buckwheat husks, weeds that can be collected in the garden, grass.

For the whole season, tomatoes are fertilized 3-4 times with mineral complexes.

The first feeding is carried out immediately, as soon as the seedlings are strengthened in their new habitat. The seedlings are fed with superphosphate, potassium salt, chicken droppings or cow dung.

Diseases and pests

Another undoubted advantage of Rotkappchen tomatoes is that they are highly resistant to various diseases, such as fusarium, alternaria, verticillus, and tomato mosaic virus. Most often, gardeners manage only with preventive measures even at the stage of growing seedlings: they disinfect seeds and soil.

Also "Little Red Riding Hood" is rarely exposed to phytophthora. This happens because the peak of this disease often falls at the end of summer, that is, after the bushes have ripened and have given up their entire harvest.

It is a little more difficult to protect vegetables from pests:

• aphids;
• thrips;
• whitefly;
• spider mite.

The so-called risk group includes tomatoes that grow in a greenhouse.

To get rid of pests, you need to use insecticides - they are sprayed with plants, repeating the procedure several times with a break of a couple of days. If the plant has already set and ripens the fruits, then insecticides are replaced with more gentle herbal decoctions of chamomile, onion husks, celandine or yarrow.

They get rid of slugs with a solution of ammonia, and aphids - with warm soapy water.

Tomatoes "Little Red Riding Hood" is a unique, unpretentious and original variety of tomatoes, the cultivation of which, perhaps, will not regret any gardener. Neat bushes with small scarlet fruits look very presentable, and the tomatoes themselves will decorate any feast, both fresh and canned. Growing these tomatoes is easy. It is worth giving them just a little of your attention and care - and they will delight you with a bountiful harvest.