All the features of planting leek seedlings

Leek (pearl onion) is a biennial plant. It can be sown directly to the garden or planted leek seedlings... When is planting through seedlings preferable? When climatic conditions do not allow sowing seeds in open ground and when it is important to get an earlier harvest. In Russia, only in the southern regions is it possible to sow seeds in the ground in a garden bed, for gardeners in the rest of the territory, planting through seedlings is relevant.

Seed preparation

Leek seed preparation consists of antifungal treatment and soaking before sowing. You do not need to germinate them. Etching is performed with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate with a temperature of 20-22 degrees, keeping the seeds in it for 45 minutes, and then washed with water.

Immediately after pickling and washing, the leeks are soaked in water at a temperature of about 20 degrees. For this procedure, take rain or melt water or defend tap water. At least 6 liters of water are prepared for 100 g of seed. Leeks swell in 36 hours. Keeping seeds in water longer is not recommended. After swelling, the seed is slightly dried at natural temperature.

Simultaneously with soaking, you can stimulate the seeds. To do this, a biostimulator is diluted in water for soaking - "Epin" or "Zircon". This treatment subsequently increases the yield of plants by 15-17%. You can then process seedlings with the same solutions.

Preparation of soil mixture

For seedlings of leeks, you need to prepare a special substrate. Its composition:

• low-lying peat - 1 part;
• sod land - 2 parts;
• humus - 1 part.

400-500 ml of wood ash is added to 10 liters of such a substrate. After stirring, the soil is steamed in a sterilizer. A small amount of soil mixture can be steamed at home without special equipment. For this, the substrate is poured into a smaller pan, its height should not exceed 15 cm. Then the smaller pan is placed in a tank, at the bottom of which there are 2 bricks. Water is poured into the tank, closed with a lid (the smaller pan is not covered with a lid) and heated to 82 degrees. Controlling that the temperature remains the same, the soil mixture is steamed for 45-60 minutes.

Advice

Do not raise the temperature above 82 degrees. In this case, not only harmful microorganisms will die, but also useful ones. The sterile soil can then become a convenient breeding ground for pathogens that will not meet with resistance.

When and how to sow leeks?

For seedlings, leek seeds are sown in late February - early March. Since this culture tolerates transplanting well even without diving, it can be sown in common trays. Instead of diving, you need to make sure that the seedlings are not too thick and thin out it, removing weak or diseased plants.

Any plastic containers can be used as trays, the depth of which is at least 6 cm. The containers can also be made from rectangular cardboard packages, for example, from juice or milk, by laying them flat and cutting off the top wall. In both cardboard and plastic trays, holes must be made in the bottom so that excess moisture leaves the soil.

Pour about 3/4 of the soil into the prepared trays. Further, longitudinal grooves are made (the distance between them is about 2.5 cm). Seeds are laid out in the grooves every 20 mm. The seeding rate is 3-4 g of seeds per tray with an area of ​​50 × 50 cm. A small amount of sifted soil (5 mm) is poured over the seeds and tamped.After that, the containers are snatched with a film and placed in a warm place with a temperature of 22-24 degrees.

Seedling care

The first shoots appear in about two weeks. The film is removed from this field, and the seedlings are regularly watered and fed. Water the seedlings every 5-6 days, first with warm water, and when the plants get stronger - with water at room temperature. In this case, you need to be careful not to "fill" the soil mixture. For these seedlings, it is correct to observe moderate soil moisture.

For feeding, you can use aerated compost suspension (compost tea). The interval between dressings is 12-14 days. Instead of compost tea, you can use water-diluted chicken manure (1:20 ratio). Feeding chicken droppings should be alternated with complex mineral fertilizers.

Daylight hours for leeks should be at least 10 hours.

If there is not enough natural light, you need to provide additional illumination with phytolamps (lighting in the red and blue spectrum). It should be remembered that for this culture it will be correct to provide lateral diffused light.

After the shoots have appeared, it is important to observe the temperature regime. 14-15 degrees at night and 15-20 degrees during the day is a good temperature for leeks to grow.

Preparing for transplant

A month before planting them in open ground, the plants are thinned out, leaving a distance of 2-3 cm between them. At this point, only healthy seedlings should remain in the container. It can be dived - planted in separate pots or cassettes with a diameter of 4 cm, or, after thinning, it can be left in a common container.

Onion feathers during this period - 30-60 days after germination - need to be pruned, leaving no more than 10 cm. This technique is used in order to stimulate more active development of the root system and thickening of leek leaves.

Before planting seedlings in the ground in its garden tempered... If possible, the containers are taken out into the street, first for a short time. Gradually, the "walk" time is increased. If it is not possible to take out the containers, then they provide access to outside air by opening the windows.

Transplant to open ground

Leeks develop slowly, so only 8 weeks after germination can they be planted in garden beds. Visually, it is also possible to determine the readiness of plants to "move": their stems thicken and reach 0.8 cm in diameter, and the number of leaves is not less than 3. Usually planting occurs in early-mid May. At this time, the soil has already warmed up enough, and the plants will tolerate transplantation well. This culture is not afraid of short-term frosts, therefore they try to plant it until May 15.

For leeks, a light neutral soil is suitable - loam. Before planting seedlings, organic mineral fertilizers (up to 3 kg per m²) are introduced into the soil and the beds are prepared. The depth of the furrows for planting seedlings should be 10-15 cm, and the distance between the beds depends on the planting scheme. With a two-row spacing, they are made 30-35 cm wide, and the seedlings are planted after 15 cm. Planting according to a single-row scheme: the row spacing is up to 30 cm, and 10-15 cm are left between the bushes of the seedlings.

Before transplanting, the roots and leaves of the leek are cut by one third. After that, the roots are dipped in a mixture of mullein and clay (talker) and dipped into the prepared furrows. After that, they are sprinkled with earth and watered. Before the next watering, at least three days must pass, and before feeding - at least twenty.

Beds with planted seedlings are mulched with dry straw or peat. Every two weeks after planting, the leeks are spud. This is done in order to obtain a longer, more delicate white stem.