Many people think that caring for tomatoes takes a lot of time and effort, so summer residents do not always undertake to grow this crop.
In fact, strong and well-grown seedlings are the key to a good harvest. When using useful foliar dressings, you can provide the plant with the necessary vitamins for the proper development and growth of the tomato.
Experienced gardeners have long used boric acid, adding it to spray plants that lack boron.
What is boric acid and why do tomatoes need it
Boric acid is a crystalline chemical that is widely used in horticulture. On its basis, fertilizers are made for plant nutrition: this improves the nutrition of seedlings, increases fruiting and contributes to a good flow of sugar to the fruits.
In fact, the tomato does not really need additional dressings unnecessarily. They are recommended when there is a high risk of infection, as well as when there is a shortage of certain elements.
One of the important elements found in the soil is boron – its deficiency significantly affects the development of the crop and the future harvest. Spraying with this solution stimulates the growth of the root system and reduces the likelihood of infections. The composition is an excellent stimulant of metabolic processes, perfectly increases the level of chlorophyll. Seedlings planted on a site that is fertilized with boric acid will be more resistant to adverse external factors.
What are good fertilizers with boric acid
Boron is an important element in plant development. If the soil in which the tomatoes are planted lacks it, then the fruits will be more susceptible to various diseases. Boron boosts flowering well, which prevents tomatoes from rotting in cases of high humidity. Using this spraying preparation, you can increase the yield by 20%.
It is worth noting that this dressing improves the taste of fruits: they become sweeter and juicier.
What are the benefits of top dressing with the addition of boron:
- provide culture with reliable protection against harmful parasites;
- allow you to get sweeter fruits;
- well strengthen the root system, which contributes to the development of natural immunity.
Spraying tomatoes with a solution of boric acid allows the plant to absorb more nutrients from the soil, and this is quite important if the crop is grown at home. Such plants are more susceptible to the influence of external factors than those that grow in open beds.
It should be taken into account that this remedy is absolutely safe for humans, therefore, tomatoes fed with a composition of boric acid will not cause any harm to the body.
Disadvantages:
There are no drawbacks to this feeding method. The main thing is not to harm the plant by oversaturating the ingredients.
How to determine the lack of boron
This is pretty easy to do. The lack of an element can be determined by the appearance of the plant. A few weeks after the tomato is planted in a permanent habitat, it will be possible to see if the plant is developing well. If the leaves on the tops begin to lose their normal color, then this indicates that it is time to fertilize the vegetable with boric acid.
It is worth noting that the top of the culture will always remain green, the leaves that are below change color. In addition, they will tend to twist, and the stem will weaken.
The lack of this element can also manifest itself in fruits – black dots and spots appear on tomatoes. If this happens, it is necessary to do top dressing, otherwise you will not get a good harvest.
When white mold joins all the signs, this signals a fungal disease – late blight. In this case, it is recommended to add iodine to fertilizers.
When to Process Tomatoes
With a boron deficiency, the plant does not give a good harvest, because some of the fruits rot and die. Most often, boric acid is used at the initial stage of crop development, until the moment the plant begins to bloom, it should not be applied. It is very important not to touch the bush during the flowering period and not to fertilize, otherwise it may slow down the growth of the vegetable crop.
As soon as the ovaries appear, fertilizers are resumed. Ready-made solution can be purchased at the store or you can make it yourself. For a small number of plants, you can prepare the composition according to the following recipe: 1 g of acid and 1 liter of hot water.
Spraying should be done only from a spray gun so that the liquid breaks into small particles.
In addition, this composition can be watered, but you should be careful with this. To avoid burns, before watering with acid, tomatoes should be well watered with plain water so that the solution is not so concentrated.
How to properly spray
Top dressing with the addition of boric acid is carried out in two ways:
- root fertilizer – watering the plant with a useful composition;
- foliar fertilizer – spraying tops from a spray bottle.
In order to eliminate the lack of this element, they can process the seeds before planting. In this case, it will be sufficient to soak them for 24 hours in a weak solution of boric acid.
You can use another method – add a little boron powder to the hole where the seeds will be planted. This method will also be helpful.
When to start the procedure
Spraying and root dressing should be carried out in the morning or evening. It should be taken into account that root feeding should be done when it is really known about the lack of boron in the soil. With such top dressing, there is a high risk of damaging the root system of the bush. If the dosage is incorrect, the plant can be burned, which will result in its death.
This method produces fertilizers in soddy-podzolic soils, mixtures of sand and peat.
How to dilute the solution: recipe and proportions
It is possible to spray with a solution of boric acid both seeds and adult plants. To do this, prepare the composition in the following proportion: 1 g of powder and 1 liter of hot water. Thus, the powder will dissolve well, and the mixture will reach the required concentration. You can dilute the composition in a smaller amount of hot water, and then dilute it with warm water so as not to wait for cooling and immediately start processing.
Next, fill the spray bottle with the solution and spray the tops of the tomato. Usually, for the purpose of prevention, tomatoes are treated with acid during flowering and during the period when fruits appear.
Boric acid with potassium permanganate
This mixture of components will protect plants from damage by fungal diseases, such as late blight. For preventive purposes, vegetable tops are processed in the middle or end of June. This feeding is carried out in 3 stages:
- first, spraying is carried out with the addition of manganese crystals;
- after a week, they are treated with a boron solution (for this, 10 tablespoon of the powder is diluted in 1 liters of hot water);
- after 7-10 days, it is necessary to spray with the addition of iodine.
Thus, the plant can be protected from late blight and similar diseases until the end of August.
It is worth considering that properly used fertilizers with the addition of boron will significantly increase the fruiting of tomatoes. This composition is one of the best for any kind of top dressing.
How long is the finished solution stored
Boric acid fertilizers are one of the few that can be stored for a long time and not lose their beneficial properties. Therefore, after watering the tomatoes with the composition, it can be safely put aside in a cool, dark place until the next top dressing.
How to spray
In each period of growth, vegetable crops require special care and feeding.
For proper vegetation, boron plays an important role, so processing with it is undoubtedly worth doing.
Fertilizers containing boron act rather slowly if they are applied to the soil in the form of a powder. For the formation of ovaries, it is better to use spraying, sometimes watering. The method and dosage of dilution is the same – 1 g per 1 liter of hot water.
When planting seedlings in the ground, the method of pouring the powder into the soil is better suited to the place where the crop will be planted. This should be done within a day.
It is better to process an adult plant by spraying. In order to prevent top dressing should be done no more than twice per season. During the disease of tomatoes, you can resort to more frequent spraying.
Greenhouse processing methods
For vegetable crops that are grown in a greenhouse, this type of top dressing will be very useful. Plants kept in a greenhouse are weaker than those growing outdoors. Processing with a mixture of boron in a matter of days will revive the vegetable and strengthen its root system. In addition, the composition will speed up the flowering process and increase the growth of greenery. Often this top dressing is used when the leaves of the plant began to curl and crumble.
In order to process a tomato in a greenhouse, it is recommended to irrigate not with one boron, but with a composition with the addition of urea and mullein.
Fertilizer is recommended to be done during the period of active flowering, then the procedure is repeated when the fruits appear.
In the video, the gardener shows how she dilutes boric acid and then sprays tomatoes with this top dressing.
Recommendations for the use of boric acid
During the processing of tomatoes with various dressings, you should follow some rules:
- Never spray vegetables with a cold composition. The temperature of the solution should be approximately the same as the soil.
- For spraying from a spray bottle, the optimum temperature will be 20-25 ° C, but only at high humidity. In the case when the degree of water rises and the humidity becomes lower, the solution simply dries up, without giving any result.
- Sometimes you should not start processing all the tomatoes in the garden at once. First, you can test on one bush, and after a while process the rest.
- It is very important to observe the dosage of the necessary components for top dressing. Often, ingredients (for example, iodine) are added to the compositions, which in large quantities can cause irreparable harm to the plant. Do the whole procedure strictly according to the instructions, without overdoing it with spraying and watering.
Top dressing of tomatoes with boric acid is an effective microfertilizer. Proper application and accurate dosage will achieve good results in the cultivation of this vegetable. Thanks to this tool, you can save a considerable amount of money and do without the use of chemical additives. Boric acid will provide the tomato with good protection from adverse conditions, and the summer resident will be pleased with a generous and sweet harvest.
