Tomato Metelitsa f1 is suitable for both summer residents, including inexperienced ones, and farmers who want to make a profit by investing a minimum of time. The hybrid is unpretentious, created specifically for open ground, is productive, and the fruits have an excellent taste.
| Height | Landing location | Ripening time | Fruit color | Fruit size | Origin | Fruit shape |
| short | Open ground | Early ripening | Reds | Average | Hybrid | Round |
Description
Tomato Metelitsa F1 is a hybrid. Fortunately, it does not have a namesake, so you can safely purchase seeds that will match the description and characteristics. The variety is included in the State Register of the Russian Federation and is recommended for outdoor cultivation. Although it produces a good harvest in greenhouses.
Bushes
Tomatoes from Siberian breeders from the group of medium-early ripening vegetables. The first ripe fruits can be harvested 105-108 days after sowing the seeds for seedlings.
The hybrid is short, about 50-60 cm high, and is compact. The bushes are not standard. The juicy green leaves are small, but it is still best to remove them as the fruits form. The first flower tassel appears above the 6-8 leaves, all subsequent ones - after 1-2. The inflorescences are simple, each of them produces 5-6 fruits.
Fruit
The Metelitsa variety is a tomato with flat-round fruits that have ribbing, but it is weakly expressed and noticeable only upon close examination. The resulting ovaries are light green, becoming scarlet-red when biologically ripe.
Medium-sized tomatoes, usually from 60 to 100 cm, are just what you need for canning whole fruits. But there are specimens on the lower tassels weighing up to 200 grams. Fruits with a glossy, dense, but not hard skin, do not crack during ripening, and retain their integrity when canned. This quality is confirmed by the photo below.
Each fruit has four seed chambers. The pulp of Metelitsa F1 tomatoes is fleshy, pale red in color, sweet with a slight sourness, because the sugar content is from 1.9 to 2.9%. The dry matter in the fruit is 4.2-4.6%. There is a dense shell around the pulp, which allows it to maintain its presentation.
Culinary purpose
Metelitsa tomatoes, according to the description of the variety and reviews from gardeners, have a universal purpose. Summer salads are made from the fruits. Tomatoes are used for preparing various preparations for the winter, where pieces of the fruit are used. In addition, tomatoes can be salted, pickled, dried and even cooked into tomato jam.
Tomatoes Metelitsa, gardener's opinion:
Positive qualities and disadvantages
The most characteristic positive qualities of the variety are increased productivity, the possibility of universal use, and resistance to typical tomato diseases. Their important distinctive feature is the possibility of long-term storage and a variety of ways to use the fruits. People who sell tomatoes are impressed by the fact that the marketability of fruits of the Metelitsa variety is 97%.
Read also: 18 best varieties of gooseberries: for the Moscow region, middle zone, large and sweet
The variety does not have any particular disadvantages, which is why the tomato enjoys well-deserved popularity among vegetable growers. Their reviews characterize the variety as the most suitable for planting in cool climates.
Characteristics
Since gardeners need to understand the characteristics of the variety, in addition to the description, they will also need characteristics of the Metelitsa tomato
First, let's talk about the advantages of the hybrid:
- Harvest. From one square meter they harvest from 17 to 20 kg of delicious ripe fruits. The productivity of the Metelitsa tomato is confirmed by reviews and photos.
- Unpretentiousness. Growing this variety of tomatoes is not difficult. In addition, thanks to their high immunity, plants thrive even in risky farming areas.
- Features of fruiting. When comfortable conditions are created and agricultural practices are followed, the fruits are harvested until the cold weather.
- Versatility of purpose. The description stated that the fruits can be consumed fresh and processed.
- Marketable condition. The fruits ripen well and are transported without loss. Product yield of fruits is not less than 97%. That is why large agricultural producers pay attention to this variety of tomatoes. The Metelitsa tomato is stored almost until the New Year, and the taste and beneficial qualities are not only not lost, but, on the contrary, increase, as our readers write about in the reviews.
- Attitude to diseases. The variety is resistant to the most common tomato diseases and has high immunity.
Nothing is known yet about the shortcomings, despite the fact that Metelitsa has been grown for more than 15 years. This is precisely what attracts gardeners.
Features of growing seedlings
Tomatoes of any variety love to bathe in the sun, so choose a place for them that is well-lit and not shaded. Planting plants along fences and walls of the house is not recommended.
Since early and mid-ripening tomatoes are grown to obtain vitamin products in the first half of summer, you will have to get healthy seedlings. Metelitsa tomato seedlings are planted in the ground at the age of 50-60 days. Therefore, seeds are sown at the end of March, beginning of April.
Attention! In the old days, seedlings always began to be cultivated after the Annunciation, that is, after April 7.
Soil preparation
The soil is prepared as usual: mix turf soil with humus or compost, add a little sand and wood ash. Today you can use store-bought formulations designed for growing seedlings. The big advantage of such soil is that all nutrients are balanced in it.
A week or two before sowing Metelitsa tomatoes, the soil must be spilled with boiling water with the addition of potassium permanganate or a solution of boric acid. This helps get rid of spores of various diseases and pests overwintering in the soil. But the most important thing is that such heat treatment kills the black leg. During this time, bacteria will begin to work in the soil, which have a beneficial effect on the growth of seedlings.
Seed treatment
First, the seed material is inspected and all puny seeds are removed. Then they are dipped in a saline solution (1 full tablespoon of salt per liter of water). Specimens unsuitable for sowing will float, the rest will sink to the bottom. These are the ones that need to be processed.
Tomato seeds are washed in clean water to remove salt, placed in a gauze bag and dipped in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15 minutes. After this, rinse with water and dry. You can harden the seeds of the Metelitsa variety in the refrigerator by placing them in a bag for a day on the bottom shelf where vegetables and fruits are stored.
Sowing
Seeds can be sown in a common container or in separate cassettes or cups. When using the latter option, tomatoes will not require picking.
The seed is placed in grooves or dimples to a depth of no more than 1 cm. The containers are placed in a lighted place at a temperature of 22 degrees. The first hooks appear after 5-6 days, sometimes earlier. Small tomatoes need good lighting and timely watering.
Picking
When the seedlings have 2 or 3 leaves, the seedlings planted in a common container are planted in separate cups. Caring for seedlings is not difficult. You can feed them with an ash solution, or water them with a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
Before planting in open ground or a greenhouse, Metelitsa tomato seedlings are hardened off and accustomed to new growing conditions.
Tomatoes Metelitsa, video
If you grew Metelitsa tomatoes, please write whether you liked them or not. What was the yield and taste of the fruit? If possible, attach a photo of these tomatoes.
Your feedback and additions to the description will help many gardeners evaluate this variety more objectively and decide whether it is worth growing or not.
City: Arkhangelsk region
Where grown: Greenhouse
I planted Metelitsa after watching a video from Valery Medvedev.. But something went wrong..)) They just don’t need to be in the greenhouse!! They are for OG. They will take everything out and bring in a harvest!!) For me, the variety seemed unremarkable, may more successful gardeners forgive me! The bag says “fruits of excellent taste” - don’t believe it!) There are better tastes) By the way, the Gardens of Russia also have Metelitsa.. Who wants to compare?)
Read also: Gloria cabbage: description of the variety, characteristics, cultivation and care in open ground
Where grown: Open ground
Excellent variety. I planted 30-day-old seedlings in the OG on April 20, 2015 and covered each one with a plastic bottle. I removed it gradually (at first for 1 hour). I completely removed the bottles on May 1, 2. The bed is 10-15 cm high. I forgot about them. I didn’t pluck the stepson, I didn’t pick off the leaves. The result was thickets. At the end of August, I tore off some of the leaves and shoots. There were a lot of tomatoes, but they began to sing in August and until October. In October, I removed all the other tomatoes, but these stood with green leaves and everything was covered in tomatoes. They turned out to be the most persistent. 60-70 cm high. The largest ones were tied to pegs. I put some straw on the bed. The bed was watered 2 times with Fitosporin. The taste is good. Conclusion: late-ripening, very cold-resistant, weather- and disease-resistant variety for exhaust gas. (Our climate is warmer than in the middle zone)
City: Rybinsk, Yaroslavl region
Where grown: Greenhouse
The variety is good. The first fruits set well, the subsequent ones worse. The taste is sweetish when ripe on the vine. The fruits are quite large. The variety is not resistant to late blight.
Manufacturer: from collector
Where grown: Greenhouse
Yes....I read the reviews! Precocious for me too! Fruits in August... there are already plenty of standard tomatoes... I definitely won’t plant them... it’s better to grow some kind of hybrid early on.
Agricultural technology for growing in soil
Plants are planted in open ground after round-the-clock above-zero temperatures have established in early June. Planting in greenhouses takes place earlier. No more than six plants are planted per square meter.
Caring for the Metelitsa hybrid is not difficult; almost all operations are the same as when growing other varieties of tomatoes:
- watering, weeding;
- loosening and hilling;
- feeding and disease prevention.
Although tomatoes have their own characteristics. Plants require pinching and removal of leaves before the first flower cluster.
Important! The uniqueness of the variety is such that they can be grown standing or lying down, whichever is convenient for you, you just have to mulch the soil with straw or dried fresh grass.
In wet weather, to prevent diseases, plantings are treated with fungicides, antifungal and antiviral drugs.
When watering tomatoes of the Metelitsa variety, you need to make sure that moisture does not get on the leaves. The amount of moisture is reduced during fruit ripening to prevent cracking.
Care after landing
Caring for Metelitsa tomatoes planted in the soil consists of regular watering, removing weeds and loosening the soil. An important point when growing tomatoes is regular feeding and carrying out preventive measures against possible infection with diseases and invasion of pests. The Metelitsa variety does not require pinching and gartering of stems, but you can cut off the side stems before the first ovary.
All procedures required for tomatoes are performed here:
- weed removal;
- regular watering;
- loosening the soil to aerate it;
- mulching.
Although pinching is not a mandatory procedure, like gartering, it is better to carry it out. The last fertilizing is carried out in the phase of fruit formation, and nitrogen should be excluded from the complex.
Since the Metelitsa variety has an extended fruiting period, in order to preserve the harvest from late blight, the fruits must be picked before they are fully ripe and ripened indoors.
Harvesting tomatoes
Fruiting, and, consequently, the ripening period of tomatoes is long, almost a month and a half. Harvesting is carried out gradually, as the fruits ripen. Since this variety of tomatoes is easily transported, this creates additional convenience for gardeners growing vegetables for sale.
Based on the description and characteristics, the fruits can be harvested at milky ripeness, as they ripen without losing their beneficial qualities. To harvest, you need to choose dry and sunny weather, in this case you can avoid the occurrence of diseases.
The refrigerator is not used for long-term storage of fruits. It is best to put Metelitsa tomatoes in a box and put them in a room at room temperature.
Warning! At low temperatures, fruits lose their taste and usefulness, moreover, they can rot.
As you can see, any beginning gardener can grow the Metelitsa variety if desired. We are simply sure that once you plant these tomatoes, you will never give them up.
