How to plant tomatoes on seedlings at home?

According to the taste characteristics, tomato is the leader among other vegetable crops. Tomatoes are very thermophilic, so they are grown mainly through seedlings. Get a good harvest and at home, if you know how to plant tomatoes on seedlings.

Seedling is a very important stage in the cultivation of tomatoes, which begins with the preparation of inoculum. Seeds ripen unevenly: it all depends on their size, density, maturity, hereditary characteristics, etc. Therefore, sowing tomato on seedlings is not without preliminary preparation to improve the germination and productivity of plants.

Seed preparation

Even knowledge of how to plant tomatoes on seedlings will not prove useful if the seeds are of poor quality. Their choice is a very important and responsible moment. Seeds of last year's harvest are not worth using, they will not give a good result. It is desirable to purchase several varieties in special stores or on the market. After a few seasons, it will be possible to determine which of them yields the best harvest.

Good seedlings of tomatoes will be obtained only from quality seeds. First of all, you need to sort them, removing empty, small and damaged ones. You can pour the seeds with salt water, mix thoroughly and allow to stand for about five minutes, then remove the floated up to the surface, and rinse remaining on the bottom with clean water several times and dry it. Seeds of different varieties should be stored separately. For this, they can be wrapped in pieces of gauze, placing inside the label from the sachet.

After that the seeds are disinfected. Avoiding diseases such as bacterial cancer and vertex rot, helps keeping the seeds for 24 hours in a 0.8% solution of acetic acid. Prevent viral diseases is helped by a one-percent solution of potassium permanganate, in which the seeds last for 20-30 minutes. After this, they must be washed with running water.

To improve the germination of seeds, they must be heated for several hours with hot running water (you can use a thermos bottle, dropping bags into it). After that, the seeds are kept in wet sacking for two to three days at a temperature of about 25 ° C. Seed seeds are sown in a moist, loose soil. After this preparation shoots appear after 1-2 days.

To ensure that seeds are resistant to low temperatures, hardening is used. To do this, the swollen seeds are placed in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. To increase the yield, you can drop seeds for a day in a solution of ammonium nitrate (4%) or a solution of potassium salt (2%). A good result can be achieved by placing the seeds in a 0.5% aqueous solution of manganese sulphate with zinc sulphate for twelve hours.

For processing, growth regulators can be used, which awakens seed germs, disinfects them, and improves the taste and nutritional value of the fetus. The seeds are treated for six hours at a temperature of 18 ° C. Only fresh solution is used. After processing, it is necessary to dry the seeds.

If the above products are not available, you can use wood ash. To do this, in five liters of water, which is pre-warmed in the sun, dilute about ten tablespoons of ash. During the day, the solution should be stirred periodically (4-6 times), then strain and pour into jars, each of which is lowered gauze bags with seeds of one grade for three hours.

Soil Preparation

To sow the tomato on the seedlings gave good results, you need to properly prepare the soil. The substrate must have the following characteristics: light mechanical composition, air and moisture permeability, absence of pathogens and weeds, sufficient nutrients and organic substances, looseness.

Possible variants of soils for seedlings

For the first option, use garden land, humus, black or pressed peat (1: 1: 1). Wood ash is added (half-liter per bucket of soil mixture), superphosphate (on the bucket of soil about two matchboxes). In addition, water is needed to moisten the mixture.

The second option - take the garden land, black or pressed peat, and humus is replaced with river sand (all in one piece). Mineral fertilizers are added in the form of an aqueous solution (20 g of potassium sulphate, 10 g of carbamide, 30 g of superphosphate) are taken for 10 liters of water.

Planting tomatoes on seedlings without picks can be done using peat tablets. Two seeds are planted in a peat pellet with a diameter of 33-36 mm. When a plant has roots, it is planted in a half-liter container.

Seedlings tomato in the home can be grown in ready-made soil mixtures from the store. Conscientious producers bring in the soil all the necessary additives and useful substances.

Growing seedlings

Before planting tomatoes on seedlings, the soil mixture must be moistened and poured into a container. The earth is leveled and compacted, making grooves a depth of one centimeter with a distance between them of five centimeters. Then the seeds are dropped into the furrows and sprinkled with soil.

The surface of the soil must be moistened. Tare with seedlings should be covered with a film and put in a bright place at a temperature of not less than 22 ⁰ C. Five days later, when emergences appear, the film can be removed, and the box with seedlings put in a place with a lower temperature (up to 15 ° C) by 4 -6 days. About a week later, when the sprouts become strong, the temperature is raised to 24 degrees in the daytime, and to 12 degrees at night.

After the tomatoes have two or three leaves, they are dived into pots filled with a mixture of soil, sprinkled with potassium permanganate (10 grams of water, 0.5 g of manganese). Weak and damaged plants are culled. For active growth of the root system of tomatoes during picking, the main root is pricked. Pikirovannuyu seedlings watered every week, paying attention to the fact that between watering the soil did not dry up.

Care of plants

Seedlings need to be fed. For the first time this is done ten days after the picking with the following solution: 10 liters of water, superphosphate - 30 g, urea - 4 g, potassium sulfate - 10 g. Ready fertilizer can be purchased at the store.

After 14 days, a second feeding is performed. After fertilizing the seedlings you need to water and loosen the soil. It is necessary to ensure that the watering of the seedlings is not excessive: this can cause disease or plant death.

Lighting

In addition, seedling tomato at home needs good lighting. Backlighting is passive and active. In the first case, a reflective screen is placed in the window opening. With the active method, illumination is provided with the help of lamps. The first few days are desirable around the clock lighting, because tomatoes are very demanding for lighting.

Good insolation is a prerequisite for obtaining a quality seedling tomato.

How correctly to water plants?

Sprinkle seedlings moderately, at the initial stage, a teaspoon is enough. As a result of excessive watering, roots that lack oxygen will develop poorly. Watering is increased gradually, observing the weather conditions. In the cold season, watering and feeding will occur less often, on sunny and hot days - more often. Water should be watered as necessary, not allowing the soil to dry out. It is better to use not water, but a weak solution of mineral fertilizers.

Seedlings tomato for the greenhouse must undergo a hardening procedure, for which reinforced ventilation. Then tomatoes should be transferred to a greenhouse, which is not heated, and to stand there for several weeks with closed windows. If there are no frosts, you can gradually leave the pane open for a while, and then leave them open and at night for a week. After this, seasoned seedlings can be planted in the ground.

How to determine the quality of seedlings?

Correct seedling tomatoes have green, well-developed leaves without white coating and stains. A weak plant slowly rises, while not always discarding the seed coat, has an irregular shape, grows poorly and develops.

But it should be taken into account that the plant can later ascend because it was sown to a greater depth than the rest, and the shell can not be discarded due to unconsolidated soil. Therefore, the soil needs to be compacted and the seeds buried in the same way - then shoots with a capsule will be a clear signal that the quality of the seeds is low, and you can not expect a good harvest.

Seedling of seedlings

Diving tomato seedlings is more convenient, if an individual container with a volume of 0.5 liters is prepared for young plants. A more magnificent root system can be achieved by pinching the main spine.

Ways of picking

There are two variants of this agrotechnical technique:
Planting of one plant. This ensures a strong seedling with a good root system;
- planting two plants in one container. The resulting plants have two roots. For this, the stems of plants, when they reach a height of about 15 cm, must be tightly connected with a nylon thread. After the shoots grow together, the thread must be removed. Then prickle the tip of a weaker plant. This way of growing helps to increase the yield. Use it most often for tall varieties.

When to plant seedlings?

Many gardeners are worried about the issue when planting seedlings tomatoes in the ground and how to determine its willingness? Ready-to-plant seedlings have a thickened stem not exceeding 30 cm with 6-7 leaves. And also short interstices and a flower brush.

Landing in the open ground should be made when the threat of frost, that is, in late May or early June, passed. When answering the question, when planting tomato seedlings, it is necessary to take into account the climatic zone in which this occurs. To protect the plants, it is necessary to use the covering material. It must be remembered that temperatures below 15 ^° C can adversely affect growth and flowering.

Errors in growing seedlings

Many gardeners know how to plant tomatoes on seedlings, but still they are not immune from mistakes. Decrease in quality and yield contribute to:
- a ground of poor quality;
- disturbed temperature conditions, lack of light, improper irrigation;
- planting tomatoes on seedlings too early;
- use of varieties that are unstable to stretch;
- lack of hardening.

Too moistened soil, insufficient lighting and high temperatures lead to stretching of the seedling stem, its yellowing and poor development of the root system. Violation of temperature and water conditions causes thinning and lodging of plant stems, the leaves become brittle, flowers and buds fall off.

Planting seedlings of tomatoes

In sheltered from the wind, a well-lit and warmed place is planted seedlings home-made tomato. How to grow a good harvest of tomatoes from their seedlings? To do this, you must follow certain rules.

Preceded tomatoes can pumpkin, cabbage, legumes, carrots and onions. The place where peppers, eggplants, potatoes were grown, can be used for tomatoes three years later.

Tomatoes are not particularly demanding on the fertility of the soil, but it is still preferable to use light, loamy or sandy loam soils.

To plant shoots, it is necessary to prepare the wells and pour water. Planting of strong seedlings occurs at a right angle. Tall varieties or seedlings that stretched out are planted at an angle of 45 °.

Then the hole must be filled with soil, compacted and watered. Near the stem, a peg should be inserted as a support for the plant.

Between the rows an interval of about 70 cm is maintained, between plants - 30-40 cm.

Growing a tomato at home is not an easy task, but it is quite feasible. When observing the rules of planting, even inexperienced gardeners will be able to harvest an excellent crop. And this will help knowledge about how to plant tomatoes on seedlings.