Pinocchio tomatoes - a fruitful fairy tale in your beds

Everyone's favorite tomatoes have many varieties. There are specially bred small-fruited varieties - "cherry", which can be grown even at home. Pinocchio also belongs to such varieties - an early ripe tomato that feels great at home ...

Pinocchio tomato variety description

Cherry tomatoes appeared in 1973 and since then, breeders have bred more and more varieties. So, in the early 1990s, breeder Aleksashova M.V. the Pinocchio variety was obtained, which since 1997 has been included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements. Designed for cultivation in all regions of Russia, mainly at home.

Initially, Pinocchio's tomato was supposed to be grown in open ground. However, a heat-loving plant in most Russian regions lacks heat and light and requires greenhouse cultivation. Due to their compactness and small root system, plants feel great in flower pots. In the southern regions of Pinocchio can be planted in open ground.

Pinocchio can be grown even in a flower pot

The official description represents this tomato as mid-season, although it follows from the reviews of gardeners that Pinocchio has the property of early maturity - the ripening period is 85-90 days (according to some reviews, even 70-80 days).

What does Pinocchio tomato look like?

Pinocchio bushes are a determinant species and have dwarf sizes - 20-35 cm (rarely up to 45 cm) in height. The type of bush is standard, the shoots are densely covered with medium-dissected leaves of a dark green color. Plants begin to bloom 4-5 weeks after planting.

Pinocchio dwarf bushes - 20-35 cm tall

On short stalks there is an articulation. Fruits grow in clusters of up to 10-12 tomatoes.

At the time of full fruiting, the entire bush resembles one huge bunch.

In shape, the tomatoes are flat-round, with a smooth glossy skin. Unripe fruits have a bright green color with a darker speck around the stalk. Ripening, tomatoes acquire a beautiful bright red color.

Unripe tomatoes are covered with dark green spots.

As is characteristic of all cherry tomatoes, Pinocchio fruits are very small - 15-20 g, although there are individual "giants" weighing up to 30-35 g. The taste of ripe tomatoes is very pleasant, sour-sweet, tasters rate it “good” and “excellent”. The pulp is juicy, bright red. Seed chambers in each fruit 2-3.

Each tiny tomato contains quite a lot of seeds.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Tomato Pinocchio has good characteristics and has several advantages:

• compact bush sizes;
• excellent decorative qualities;
• excellent taste of fruits, both fresh and canned;
• universality of purpose;
• good yield indicators - up to 1-1.5 kg from each bush;
• lack of need for pinching;
• resistance to diseases, even with high humidity in an apartment.

The disadvantage is the rapid loss of decorative qualities by the plant after the formation of fruits.

It is not possible to compare the qualities of Pinocchio with all other varieties of cherry tomatoes, since there are many such varieties.

Table: Pinocchio comparison with some other varieties of cherry

Photo Gallery: Cherry Tomato Varieties

Features of planting and growing

Tomato Pinocchio can be sown immediately in a permanent place. When growing in open ground, you can plant both on beds and flower beds, with a density of 7-8 bushes per square meter.

If tomatoes are grown in seedlings, the seeds can be sown in cut plastic bottles filled with fertile purchased soil (sown in March):

1. The seeds are buried by 1.5-2 cm and sprinkled with peat.
2. Landings need to be tightened with a film to create a greenhouse effect.
3. After 5-6 days, germination will begin.

Seedlings feel best at a temperature of 18-19 ºС at night and 24-26 ºС during the day.

Like other varieties of tomatoes, Pinocchio should be watered when the topsoil is dried. With the appearance of 2-3 real leaves, plants dive, and at the age of 45-50 days they are transplanted to a permanent place.

Video: growing Pinocchio tomato on the windowsill

It’s easy to take care of Pinocchio - you just need to water and feed it on time:

• during the period of active growth, nitrogen fertilizers are required;
• when tying and ripening tomatoes, it is better to use potash fertilizer.

In any case, top dressing should not be too frequent - about 1 time in 12-14 days. It is very useful to use mullein (diluted with water 1: 5, the norm is 1 liter per bush), as well as ready-made complex fertilizers: Kemira, Kristalon, Master, Mortar. These drugs can be used for both root and foliar top dressing (stimulate the development and growth of plants and prevent the falling of flowers).

Complex fertilizers for tomatoes in the photo

When grown indoors, Pinocchio may suffer from poor lighting. During winter and early spring sowing, seedlings must be illuminated with the help of special fitolamps placed at a height of 25-30 cm above the plants.

Phytolapmas give the plants a light spectrum

Pinocchio does not need pinching and support, although it is better to tie up the bush during active fruiting. The fact is that the variety has a high yield and a very small root system, which, under the weight of the fruit, can turn out of the ground.

A feature of this mini-tomato is that after the formation of fruit clusters, the plant begins to turn yellow quickly, does not form new flowers and ovaries. This is not a sign of illness, but a normal physiological process, so after picking the fruit, the bush just needs to be eliminated and replaced with another. Therefore, if you want to admire elegant bushes of tomatoes for a long time, you need to sow seeds in batches with an interval of several days. This approach will allow long-term use of the decorative properties of Pinocchio.

Pests and diseases

Pinocchio is highly resistant to pests and diseases. Even with high humidity in home-grown conditions, it is usually not affected by rot or other fungal diseases.

In case of excessive watering and insufficient lighting, a “black leg” may develop on a tomato. In the fight against the "black leg", washing the soil with plant manganese dissolved in boiling water (a dark pink solution) will best help. Sick tomatoes should be removed immediately, and the soil around should be treated with a Bordeaux mixture (1%).

With a black leg disease, the roots darken and rot

Pests should be wary only when cultivating Pinocchio in open ground: slugs can attack the plantings (they will be helped by spraying the soil with metaldehyde or ammonia solution) and cabbage (it will be scared off by insecticides like Confidor).

From my own experience in growing tomatoes, I realized that the most important thing is timely top dressing. The first time I feed (lightly water) the germinating seedlings with potassium permanganate (pink solution). I spend the second dressing after 1-1.5 weeks. Tea infusion works very well (used tea leaves in the amount of 1 cup is poured with 3 liters of boiling water and infused for 7-8 days). Such top dressing is good for any other plants. In order not to start midges, I stick it in the soil next to the seedlings of the match head down. The third top dressing (again with tea) I spend 2-3 days before the pick. After transplanting to a permanent place, I do not water the first 9-10 days. In summer, watering should be weekly, and at the beginning of active fruit ripening, they should be stopped. I even prefer to treat even disease-resistant tomatoes against late blight with copper-containing fungicides (twice during the growing season with an interval of 2 weeks). As a rule, no more efforts are needed to grow tomatoes.

How to use the fruits

Pinocchio begins to bear fruit in August-September. Tomatoes achieve the best taste with full ripeness.

Small tomatoes are ideal for canning in small jars

Pinocchio harvest can be consumed fresh, and can also be used for whole-fruit preservation, and they can be stacked in the same container with other varieties of tomatoes. Thanks to its excellent taste, various sauces or juice can be prepared from Pinocchio tomatoes.

Cherry Tomatoes Make Delicious Juice

Reviews gardeners about tomato Pinocchio

Last year, they sowed them on March 15, and this year they sowed them on February 26 and yesterday peaked, this is about Pinocchio. They are so funny, it’s written not to stepchild, and this is impossible to do. The distance between the leaves is a maximum of 3 cm. And to understand that it is impossible to grow from where, but really beautiful plants, especially when they are covered with red tomatoes and flowers at the same time. They do not need any backups or garters.

Lenka-Penka

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I love Pinocchio very much. I plant in a greenhouse (I used to grow in a greenhouse). It doesn’t get sick, it bears fruit well (kids love it very much).

Lenok

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My tomatoes on the loggia. Pinocchio - only in early July began to bloom. In mid-September, another serving of tomatoes ripened. Ate everything right from the bushes, very tasty

Fairy

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The Pinocchio variety can grow both in ordinary pots of the sizes of 2-3 l, and in flowerpots or boxes. Pinocchio tomatoes in the photo. I like the variety for processing. Or rather in the marinade.

Jackpot

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Tomato Pinocchio is very easy to grow. Even a not too experienced gardener can easily cope with it. Small bushes will decorate the interior of the apartment, as well as bring a quite significant crop of small, but very tasty fruits.