Features of the Summer Cider tomato and plant characteristics

The early-ripening Sidr tomato, with its unusual fruits and high yield, is in high demand among gardeners in Russia.

Description of tomato

These tomatoes are considered determinate, and in some descriptions you can even find the term semi-determinate tomatoThis indicates that the plant has limited growth and does not require pinching. The Summer Cider tomato grows up to 1.5 meters in open ground. This is quite large, considering that determinate bushes generally do not grow more than 1 meter. However, if planted permanently in a greenhouse, its height can reach almost 2 meters.

Its tall stature means it absolutely needs to be supported. Otherwise, the bushes will fall over, which will negatively impact yield. Furthermore, Summer Cider requires pinching. This means removing all excess branches, leaving only two or three main branches for fruit formation. This variety is characterized by its fairly dense foliage. The leaves are large and similar to potato leaves. Bushes with lush foliage produce fewer fruits than mature tomatoes.

Summer Cider tomatoes are early-ripening, ripening in up to 100 days. These tomatoes should be grown only from seedlings. Seeds should be sown 60 days before planting.

By this time, the pots should have grown quite a few strong bushes, each with 5-6 leaves. It's quite possible that a flowering branch will also appear by this time.

To achieve a high yield, it's important to follow certain planting guidelines. A planting pattern of 3-4 tomatoes per square meter is used. If the plant is trained into 2-3 stems, only 3 plants per square meter can be planted. If you leave one main stem, you can plant the seedlings more closely. This way, the tomatoes won't crowd each other.

It's important to remember that the bushes grow quite lush and can suffer from insufficient sunlight. Moreover, if planted too close together, they will suffer from a deficiency of nutrients, which will inevitably negatively impact the yield and quality of the fruit.

Apart from tying and shaping the tomatoes, the Summer Cider variety does not require any special care. Here it is enough to simply water the bushes in a timely manner, loosen the soil under them to saturate the root system with oxygen and weed.

Mineral fertilizers, applied weekly throughout the growing season, are also helpful. This can significantly increase the yield and appearance of tomatoes.

Characteristics of fruits

With proper care, each plant can yield a plethora of delicious and unique tomatoes. These tomatoes are large-fruited, making them especially appealing to gardeners who enjoy summer vegetable salads. The fruits are large, round, slightly flattened, and orange. When ripe, the tomatoes have a rich hue, making them a wonderful addition to salads, as numerous reviews attest.

The average fruit weight of the Letniy Sidr variety is 600 g. The lower clusters will produce tomatoes weighing around 800 g, and higher up, their size will become more modest. Orange tomatoes weighing up to 300 g can be harvested at the top. However, this weight makes them unsuitable for whole-fruit canning. However, if the harvest is good and not all the berries are used in salads, they can be used for juice and sauces.

The average yield per bush is 4 kg, but with proper care, you can harvest a significantly larger quantity of delicious orange fruits.

As for what gardeners say about this variety, in most cases the reviews are positive.