What We Must Not Forget When Preparing The Beds For Tomatoes

2023 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 07:13

The vegetables we grow on the beds from year to year take a lot of useful elements from the soil. Instead, harmful bacteria and fungi often remain, which cause various diseases in plants. Tomatoes are especially often affected by fungal diseases, and there are a lot of such diseases. In this article we will tell you how to properly prepare the soil for planting tomatoes. Do I need to dig the beds? What is the importance of soil acidity, crop rotation and sowing of green manure for a good tomato harvest? And most importantly - how to make the earth healthier with the help of the natural fungicide Trichoplant?

Do I need to dig up the beds for tomatoes?

The best time for soil restoration is autumn. After harvesting, it is necessary to prepare the beds for the next season - to cut the weeds, loosen, fertilize and treat the soil from diseases.

Today, more and more gardeners are thinking about the fertility of the soil and what it consists of. And having understood that the soil is not just a substance, but the whole world of living beings, on whose vital activity this very fertility depends in many respects, they gradually move on to natural methods of tillage, and hence the cultivation of plants.

Thinking farmers are gradually abandoning deep digging of the beds. Such work, apart from destroying the life of aerobic and anaerobic organisms, soil insects and raising weed seeds closer to the surface, gives absolutely nothing. What if you don't dig? Till the ground on the surface without affecting layers below approximately 10 cm from the surface. Do not dig, but cut.

The easiest way to do this is with the Fokin plane cutter. This is a tool that allows you to prepare the soil without digging and at the same time significantly saves our time and effort. But the main thing is that this method preserves the structure of the soil and does not disrupt the work of microorganisms. Remaining alive and healthy and everything is in its place, these very organisms process organic residues, and the soil receives the necessary vermicompost.

If for some reason the autumn tillage was not carried out, the preparation of the beds for tomatoes can be carried out in the spring. To do this, you can also use a flat cutter - he will trim the weeds and loosen the soil.

Crop rotation, green manure and acidity

As mentioned above, tomatoes are often affected by fungal diseases, and mechanical treatment of the soil (even with a flat cutter) will not help much in terms of prevention and control. In this case, crop rotation is very effective.

It is highly undesirable to grow tomatoes for several years in the same place - planting needs to be alternated. It is best to take the tomato beds where onions, garlic, cucumbers, turnips and cauliflower grew before. These are plants that do not suffer from "tomato" diseases, which means that the presence of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in the soil under tomatoes will be minimal.

In addition, for the healing and enrichment of the soil with organic matter (and therefore with the necessary microelements), it is advisable to sow green manure in future tomato beds. The positive effect of green manure on the soil and plants planted after has been proven repeatedly. Siderates play an especially important role when growing tomatoes in the same place.

It is possible to sow siderates both in the fall, leaving them to winter in the beds, and in early spring, by mowing the greens before planting the main crop and embedding it in the soil.

In addition to using crop rotation and green manure, soil acidity also plays an important role in obtaining good tomato yields. It is known that, like many vegetable crops, tomatoes prefer soil acidity close to neutral.

To determine pH, you can use different methods - do a chemical analysis (which is not available to everyone), determine it strictly by eye (by growing weeds) or conduct a test using litmus strips that can be found on the market.

If the pH of the soil is below 5.5, the soil is acidic and needs to be deoxidized. In garden centers today you can find various deoxidizers - there are plenty to choose from.

Prevention of tomato diseases using the drug "Trichoplant"

Proper cultivation of the soil for tomatoes using natural farming methods (flat cutter, crop rotation, green manure) are of great importance for the health and productivity of plants. But, unfortunately, these methods do not destroy the spores of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. A natural fungicide from the Biotechsoyuz company, a biological product Trichoplant, will help in this matter.

"Trichoplant" is a biological product for soil cultivation, which helps to reduce phytotoxicity and increase the agrochemical characteristics of all types of soils. Plants grown after soil treatment with this agent have increased immunity, grow well, develop correctly, and, as a result, give a rich harvest.

The action of the drug is based on the knowledge and application of the laws of nature in general and soil formation in particular. Soil is made up of many different components, with a large proportion of microscopic fungi. This is a fairly large group of microorganisms with a wide variety of properties and, fortunately, not all of them are pathogenic.

By absorbing ammonia, nitrates and pesticides, beneficial fungi make the soil healthier and cleanse it of toxic substances. Growing up, fungi secrete various biologically active substances that promote plant growth - phytohormones, enzymes and even natural antibiotics. It is these natural antibiotics that protect the habitats of their "hosts" - useful mushrooms - from the invasion of pathogenic aliens. And here everything is like in nature - the strongest survives. Therefore, the more beneficial microorganisms in the soil, the less chances of pathogens.

"Trichoplant" is created on the basis of Trichoderm fungus strains. By releasing antibiotics, this fungus destroys all harmful fungi. In addition to antibiotics, Trichoderma secretes various phytohormones, organic acids and amino acids that directly affect their life - improve growth and yield, as well as increase disease resistance.

"Trichoplant" is a suspension, which contains beneficial soil microorganisms that live in fertile soil. The drug suppresses the vital activity of pathogens of such diseases dangerous for tomatoes as late blight, cladosporia or brown spot, alternaria, septoria, gray rot, anthractosis, sclerotinosis or white rot, verticillus, fusarium wilting, powdery and downy mildew.

How to use Trichoplant?

The biological product has a universal purpose and can be used both for soaking the planting material and for treating the soil before planting. In the case of spring and autumn tillage, a solution is prepared at the rate of 100-150 ml per 10 liters of water. And this is very economical, since just as much is required to process one hundred square meters of land and plant residues by spraying.

Soil cultivation with "Trichoplant" can and even should be carried out in greenhouses, where, as you know, the soil quickly loses all its positive qualities. Here, just as in the open field, in the fall, the beds are watered after harvest, in the spring - one to two weeks before planting the seedlings.

Do not forget that Trichoderma is a living microorganism that lives in the upper layers of the soil and for it to work, it is not enough just to spray - you need to create an environment suitable for life for it. And mushrooms need moisture. Therefore, the drug should be applied after watering or rain, and after application, the treated areas should be mulched. That is, moisture must be maintained without letting the soil dry out.

If it is supposed to sow green manures on the garden bed, then it is better to sow them in rows, and to water "Trichoplant" when the seedlings grow up. After watering, the aisles must be mulched with organic matter. A good layer of mulch will create a favorable environment for microorganisms, which, in turn, will do the job.

Dear Readers! If you previously observed signs of fungal diseases on your tomatoes, it means that harmful spores are already in the soil. These organisms have excellent vitality, but you can get rid of them without the use of killer chemicals. Using the methods of natural farming and the Trichoplant solution when preparing beds for tomatoes, you will provide the soil with useful fungi that will destroy pathogens and create favorable conditions for plant growth.