Description and yield of the Danko tomato variety
There is an opinion that the most delicious tomatoes are heart-shaped. Once this was the only variety - the Bull's Heart, but now there are a great many heart-shaped varieties, and one of them is the Danko tomato. The variety is so popular that its seeds are packed and sold by various agricultural companies throughout Russia and in the near abroad. In stores you can buy Danko from Aelita, Agros, Siberian Garden, Altai Seeds. Under the name "Heart-shaped" (Danko) it is offered by the firm "Elita-Sad", "Heart of Danko" is produced by "Golden Weaving of Altai".
Name from legend
For those who still remember the Soviet school curriculum for literature, the words "Danko" and "heart" are in the same row, closely soldered to each other. The legendary hero of Maxim Gorky named Danko comes to mind with a burning heart in his hands. It was in his honor that Siberian breeders named their variety. In 2000, the Danko tomato received a state patent and was registered in the State Register of Breeding Achievements.
Tomatoes of this variety really have a classic heart-shaped shape. At the top, the fruits are round, then taper down to a cone. The surface can be flat or slightly ribbed. Similar tomatoes of different sizes form many modern varieties, but the Danko tomato is special. The variety stands out among others for the compactness of the bush, the ability to adapt to different climates and to any weather. The annual yield is high in any region of the country.
Fruit - "hearts"
Danko's tomato is not a hybrid. You can easily get your own seeds by setting aside typical tomatoes from the most generous bushes.
Bright coloring
The fruits in full ripeness acquire a rich blood-red color. Unripe tomatoes of the Danko variety have a dark green spot near the stalk, which completely disappears when ripe.
In the conditions of the Central zone, in Siberia, in the Urals, in the open air, from a third to a half of the crop turns red on the vine. The rest of the tomatoes are perfectly ripened in maturation. Greenhouse conditions allow you to remove all the fruits red or brown.
Salad pulp
The most important quality of Danko tomatoes is the excellent taste of fleshy fruits. Under the thin skin, there is a sugary pulp with a small amount of seeds. The consistency is moderately juicy, but not liquid. Tasting score - 10 points out of 10 possible.
Solid size
The description of the variety as large-fruited is fully justified: the mass of one tomato in the first cluster can reach 0.5 kg. Even the ovaries in the uppermost racemes do not grow less than one hundred grams. On average, tomatoes are pulled for 170 - 300 g. Each bush is capable of carrying 2 – 3 dozen full-bodied "hearts".
Significant return
The minimum yield of the variety is 4 kg per square meter. This number is valid only for open ground in the northern regions. The potential is much higher: it all depends on the growing conditions. 4 - 5 kg can be removed from the bush, and this is also not the limit. Greenhouse conditions and competent agricultural technology allow you to get 6 - 7 kg of fruits from one plant.
The tomato variety Danko has one amazing property - a clear contrast between the load of the crop and the size of the plant. The bushes look slender, even frail, the foliage is rather weak, and against this background there is a record mass of fruits.
Features of growth and development
The characteristic of the variety as determinant implies a not too high bush height. In open ground, the plant grows only half a meter, sometimes a little higher - 70 - 80 centimeters.
After that, the bush stops growing by itself, forming a flower brush at the top instead of a growth point. This makes the work easier for the vegetable grower: there is no need to carry out punching in August.
In greenhouses, the Danko tomato behaves like a semi-determinate plant. The bush can grow to a height of 150 - 180 cm. Such dimensions are achieved using a special technique. When the main stem forms a flower brush instead of a growing point (edged), it is replaced by the upper stepson, which continues to grow upward.
The Danko variety belongs to the mid-season category. The fruits begin to ripen 110 - 120 days after the emergence of mass shoots. The yield is long-lasting, especially in greenhouses. But even in the street beds, the tomato bears fruit for a long time: the hardened "Siberian character" affects. It is noteworthy that the variety shows good resistance to fungal infections, especially in the open field.
Plants are distinguished by the highest unpretentiousness. It is no coincidence that Danko bears fruit successfully in different regions of the country, in any type of soil.
Tomatoes stubbornly continue to set even in bad weather conditions. The return is stable from year to year. Danko is considered one of the most reliable varieties.
Subtleties of agricultural technology
Danko tomato is one of those varieties that any gardener will like. A lazy or too busy summer resident will receive vegetables with a minimum of effort. An experienced and diligent grower will reveal the potential inherent in the variety, will be satisfied with the maximum return.
Features:
- Young seedlings grow frail, prone to elongation. During the seedling period, they need increased care and attention: moderate heat, good lighting, metered fertilizing.
- The optimum age of seedlings when transferred to a greenhouse or soil is 55 days (plus or minus a week). Planting overgrown seedlings or undergrowths leads to a significant yield shortfall.
- You can place the bushes in open ground quite densely, 6 - 8 pieces per square meter. Plants are not prone to thickening, leafiness is small. In a greenhouse, it is enough to plant 4 pieces per square meter.
- Pasynkovanie is the most important operation in growing Danko tomatoes. Lateral shoots grow very quickly and actively, so plants often have to be pinned. Bushes lead strictly in one or two stems. Density leads to a serious under-harvest and underweight of fruits.
- Another important technique when working with the Danko variety is the normalization of the ovaries. The brushes sometimes grow excessively long, and some flowers are ugly or weak. It is recommended to leave four neat flowers in each brush, mercilessly plucking out terry flowers and the smallest ones. The work will not take much time, but it will improve the quality of the fruit.
- The keeping quality of tomatoes is not too high. Delicious fruits need to be quickly put into action - for fresh salads and winter preparations.
Danko's tomatoes are not very suitable for whole-fruit pickling - they are large, but they are ideal for pickling in barrels according to old recipes. They also make the most delicious ketchups and juices.
Favorite variety of many gardeners
Reviews of amateur vegetable growers about the Danko variety come from different regions of the country. Everywhere the Siberian variety came to the court.
Irina Merzlyakova, Omsk: “I have been planting Danko Heart tomatoes for more than ten years now, I have been releasing my seeds from the best tomatoes. This variety has never let me down. I don't have a greenhouse. I put the arches and cover the seedlings first. Then I remove the covering material, and all summer the bushes stand in the open air. I change my place every year, and I have never seen phytophthora ”.
Alekseenko Vera, Ryazan: “This year I planted Danko tomato for the first time. I wish I knew about this variety before. I have never had such a harvest. But the most important thing is taste. The whole family ate fresh salads every day. "
Danko tomatoes are grown not only in Russia - they are appreciated in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and Northern Kazakhstan. Such "hearts" are to the heart of all lovers of this wonderful vegetable.
