How to use boric acid to treat tomatoes?

There are many nuances and pitfalls in the process of growing plants. They need not only to be watered, but also to perform many other actions. Including top dressing. And boric acid for tomatoes is a vital fertilizer both in the greenhouse and in open beds.

Why do tomatoes need boric acid?

Tomatoes do not need boric acid per se, but its main component is boron. It is found in many fertilizers, but boric acid is still considered the most successful of them.

Using this type of feeding affects tomatoes as follows:

• normalizes metabolism;
• helps the bush to grow more actively;
• accompanies the normal development of the ovary;
• increases the number of flowers, and therefore fruits;
• prevents ovary shedding;
• helps to preserve fruits, even in conditions of overflow;
• reduces the risk of tomato infection with late blight;
• helps sugar to reach fruits and seeds.

This versatility is due to the fact that boron helps the tomato to assimilate all the other elements necessary for the normal existence of the plant. Such a top dressing will be most useful for tomatoes growing in apartment conditions - in rooms, on balconies and window sills. This is due to the fact that such plants are weakened, they have little space and they need to receive more nutrients.

How to determine if tomatoes are lacking boron?

If the plant lacks boron, it is easy enough to determine by its appearance. The following signs signal the need for feeding:

• dying off of the upper shoots;
• curling and deformation of leaves on the tops of the bushes;
• early yellowing and dying off of old leaves;
• weak flowering of bushes;
• ovaries are not formed during flowering;
• fragile, brittle and crooked leaf stalks;
• lack of new shoots coming from the stem;
• many new, thin and fragile, stems growing from the root;
• ovaries fall off en masse;
• dry spots appear on the fruit.

How do you know if there is too much boron?

A lack of boron has a serious negative effect on tomatoes. However, an overabundance of this element can be no less harmful. It can be determined by a number of signs:

• leaves become unhealthy-shiny, slightly glossy;
• small brown spots appear on them;
• subsequently, the spots increase and, as a result, cover the entire leaf, which leads to its death;
• the sheet plates are bent into a domed shape.

How to fertilize tomatoes with boric acid?

Foliar dressing is usually used. It is necessary to spray all parts of the bush, trying to apply the liquid evenly. It is not recommended to apply fertilizer at the root due to the fact that boron is very quickly washed out of the soil, not having time to reach the plant. However, it is also possible to water the earth with a solution of boric acid.

Tomatoes can be sprayed with boric acid solution only in the morning or in the evening, or in cloudy (but not rainy!) Weather. This is due to the fact that if during or immediately after treatment, the plants are exposed to direct sunlight, they can get serious burns and die.

How much boric acid is needed to process tomatoes?

For processing plants, it is necessary to dilute boric acid in water. This is due to the fact that it is sold in the form of a white powder that has no color and odor.The specific recipe depends on the purpose of use.

Instructions for use:

• For soaking seeds. 0.2 grams is diluted in a liter of water heated to 50-55 degrees.
• For routine spraying. Soak about half a teaspoon of acid in one glass of boiling water. Wait until the powder is completely dissolved. Mix the resulting liquid with ten liters of water.
• Treatment of tomatoes with boric acid for the ovary (to prevent shedding and improve formation). One gram of acid is taken per liter of hot water. You can use the spray solution only after it has cooled down.

It is important that the powder is completely dissolved in the liquid. If acid crystals remain in the solution, the tomatoes can be burned.

When to spray tomatoes with boric acid?

The first time treatment with boric acid is carried out even before sowing - the seeds are soaked in the solution for a day. To avoid floating to the surface, it is recommended to dip them in acid in gauze bags. This process improves germination and also helps the seedlings resist various diseases.

After that, you will need to carry out three more dressings:

1. when buds begin to form;
2. during flowering;
3. at the very beginning of fruit formation.

It may also require additional fertilization - in the event that signs of boron deficiency are found on the tomatoes. However, the procedure can be carried out no more than once every 10 days.

Boric acid against late blight

Late blight is a fungal disease caused by a fungus with a consonant name - late blight. As a rule, it starts already on an adult fruiting plant.

The disease can be determined by the following signs:

• the appearance of dark spots on the leaves;
• drying flowers that do not have time to form a fruit;
• darkening of the stems;
• the appearance of a whitish bloom on the shoots;
• the appearance of small brown spots on the fruit;
• gradually the spots enlarge and cover the entire fruit.

To combat the disease, treatment with boric acid and iodine is carried out, and potassium permanganate is also used. There are several recipes for such products.

• Dissolve one teaspoon of acid in ten liters of warm water. In order for the powder to disperse better, it is recommended that you first pour a cup of boiling water over it, and then add this solution to the rest of the liquid.
• Some gardeners recommend not to overdo it and use other proportions: add only half a spoon to 10 liters of water.

For these recipes, it is also recommended to use additional treatment with weak solutions of other substances: a week before spraying with boric acid - treat with iodine, and 7 days after - with potassium permanganate.

Typical mistakes

Boric acid should be added as a top dressing very carefully, otherwise you can harm the plant.

There is a risk of making some mistakes during the fertilization process. Here are the most common ones:

1. the drug is diluted in water in the wrong proportion;
2. applied to too much fertilizer;
3. the solution is distributed unevenly throughout the bush (boron will not diverge from one point in all parts of the plant, therefore, you need to spray on each leaf, stem and flower, otherwise an excess of boron will be observed in some places, while other fertilizers will not get at all);
4. too high or low temperature of the applied fertilizer (it must correspond to the air temperature, otherwise the treatment will not give a result);
5. the introduction of boron-containing fertilizers into alkaline soils (a plant cannot remove the necessary element from such soil).

Output

Boron is an essential element for tomatoes. It helps the bush to absorb other elements vital to the plant. It is found in many fertilizers, but it is easier and cheaper to obtain it from boric acid. It will also be the most effective and will allow you to get the best results compared to other similar products.In addition, this substance helps well against late blight on tomatoes.