How to process tomato seedlings before planting in the ground?
Preparation and seedling processing begins with the selection of the variety. A beginner or an experienced summer resident should choose tomatoes, first of all, for the climate.
Tomato seeds and seedlings are initially classified as northern and southern. The northern varieties are characterized by rapid development and productivity. Tomato seedlings for cold latitudes are designed in such a way as to receive as much light as possible per day. Small leaves located very densely exactly where the maximum concentration of sunlight is.
The outer varieties for the south are distinguished by large leaves. It is the leaves that protect from excess sunlight. According to statistics, southern varieties develop more slowly than northern ones, but are more resistant to high temperatures.
First transplant of seedlings to open ground
Seedlings for open ground do not dive. Most experienced gardeners will plant these varieties in nutritious pots purchased just for seedlings.
Why is it so? The fact is that tomatoes not for a greenhouse are maximally resistant to viruses, strong, and frost-resistant.
Varieties for open ground, still in a seedling state, are treated against infection. Extra roots are removed from young seedlings, at the same time healthy tomato sprouts are sown from infected, damaged ones.
Important! Transplanting from soil to soil is not safe for any plant, including tomato. Tearing off a tomato from the usual soil breaks down the small root system, which is not resistant to infection and contamination.
It is advantageous to plant certain varieties with undersized tops precisely in nutritious pots, because they take up little space, and very little watering is required.
In order not to spend money on additional containers, you can use ordinary plastic from under food products at the beginning of the season from March 1 to March 30.
Care and treatment in March
Before planting in open ground, tomatoes after planting need to be watered with a special solution: a spoonful of liquid commercial fertilizer or manure humus steamed with warm water is added to a bucket of water.
Since the seedlings are individually wrapped, it is very easy to calculate the exact fertilization rate.
Further, for proper development, young seedlings are arranged in boxes for convenience. And the boxes are already being placed in a certain place with a comfortable temperature for seedlings up to +25. For any plant in the spring, it is important to have warm sunlight, including for tomato seedlings.
Already grown, but not yet ready for the street, it is better to rearrange young tomatoes in a cooler place. At a temperature of no more than 16 degrees, tomatoes for open ground will be hardened.
A large abundance of sunlight for non-greenhouse varieties will have a detrimental effect on the root system: tall and thin tops will stretch out on weak roots. In order to properly process it before planting in the ground, you need to periodically harden the growing tomatoes, opening the window during the day.
Among several dozen roots, there are the weakest, which are best removed immediately. Therefore, any seedlings are planned with a margin.
It is also necessary to monitor the growth process when watering. All 2 months that tomatoes are in the room, watering is carried out no more than twice a week, 100 grams of liquid per 1 root. Gradually, good seedlings will give 3-4 leaves, before planting in the ground, they need to be fed or fertilized.
Watering with fertilizers
Tomatoes are not moisture-loving plants, watering begins with a minimum volume, and the first mineral fertilizers should be applied 3 weeks after germination. For example, the same nitrafoska is diluted in a minimum proportion: 10 liters of water per one tablespoon. Watering with the ready-made solution should be every 10 days.
Next, two tablespoons of superphosphate are diluted into the same bucket of water. Previously, superphosphate must be infused in warm water for several days. 2 prepared spoons of mineral fertilizer are mixed thoroughly in 10 liters of water. With this fertilizer, watering is also minimal; in parallel, tomato seedlings must be hardened in an already known way.
Advice! It is necessary to harden seedlings of any kind of tomato gradually, in no case do not put boxes with young plants in the sun, because the young shoots will instantly burn.
Seedlings burned by the sun's rays will be dry, yellowish. Before final planting on the ground, the ideal, healthy seedling looks short, "stocky", without yellowness, with 7-9 healthy leaves.
What you need to know and do before planting in the ground
It is imperative:
- Choose a bright spot, the best soil. It is better to choose a land without draft, dampness. If there is a swampy area or ground water nearby, then you should not wait for a good harvest. The best soil is loam treated with mineral fertilizers.
- Prepare secondary crops. It's about legumes. It is impossible to "dilute" the beds with tomatoes with other varieties of the same crops. Potatoes will also hurt.
- Ridge preparation. Dig no deeper than the bayonet of a shovel, as under a potato. Then they are harrowed or leveled with an ordinary rake and poured with heated clean water without fertilization. In a flat ridge, holes should be organized with a margin: the distance between the roots is from 40 to 50 cm.
- Process the ridges correctly. A week before planting, the ridges should be shed with copper sulfate. It is better to warm the solution to 80 degrees. One spoonful of copper sulfate is enough for a bucket of water, and 10 liters of solution per 10 square meters.
- Apply fertilizer. You can use the "old-fashioned" way - it's a few shovels of humus. An innovative recipe: soak 3 shovels of manure, a shovel of sawdust, a glass of ash from the oven and a tablespoon of potassium sulfate in a bucket of water. This solution is enough for 10 holes.
What else do they do before landing
First, they are guided by the weather, it is better to choose a cool morning time. Seedlings are preliminarily examined for yellowness, sores and injuries. Weak stems and roots are not planted. It is not forbidden to use withered specimens, but they will lag behind in the speed of development.
The pots should be soaked 2 hours before planting. Next, the seedlings are separated from the container, and the soil moist pots with the root system are immersed in the holes to their full depth. The stem itself is not touched for the first 2 weeks. Then it is more correct to slightly huddle, about 10-15 centimeters, the stem itself.
Before digging into the ground, you should calculate the area for the future for an adult plant, otherwise some of the bushes in the shade will definitely not give a good result. It is better to plant low-growing varieties for open ground in 2 rows with a distance of at least 0.5 meters.
For greenhouse seedlings
It is better to plant greenhouse tomato varieties in several stages; this approach will give more than one harvest and insure against extreme weather conditions for seedlings. Moreover, there are several coatings for the greenhouse, and the development of plants in them is individual.
Tomato varieties for the greenhouse are also hardened, treated against pests and diseases. Before setting for hardening, it is better to cut off a few lower leaves. This is done to maximize the survival rate of a young plant in new conditions.
It is more correct to prepare greenhouse varieties of tomatoes for the "move" in 3 weeks. To do this, reduce the amount of watering, the airing time, on the contrary, is increased. For 3-4 days, the seedlings cease to be watered altogether, and on the last day they are abundantly moistened with water and already planted in the holes.
The folk method of preparing tomato seedlings is unthinkable without potash fertilizers... For example, a bucket of water and 1 glass of ash is enough. It is better to process greenhouse varieties with such a primitive fertilizer.
If there are no buds on the seedlings, then it is acceptable boric acid treatment... The recipe is simple: one teaspoonful (teaspoon) per liter of warm water. Use the liquid for irrigation.
Advice! Any greenhouse should not be used for the same crops every year. Otherwise, the yield of even the leading variety will be at risk.
About greenhouses
Early planting of a tomato for a greenhouse or for open ground can be done in a greenhouse. Greenhouse seedlings maximally resistant to frost.
Previously, greenhouses were created specifically for growing early vegetables, where humus was steamed in the greenhouse itself with boiling water. Even without the required amount of fertilizers, seedlings in a greenhouse do not take root. Up to 5 kilograms of lime and 15 kilograms of wood ash are needed per cubic meter. It is the availability of the required amount of fertilizers that makes the most primitive greenhouse useful, suitable for hardening and further cultivation.
The simplest film coating, for example, in northern latitudes, will contribute to a good harvest, both tomato and cucumber. It is important to install greenhouses in bright areas so that the plants collect as much sun as possible during daylight hours.
Fertilizers for all varieties of tomatoes
Any variety or type of tomato seedlings can and should be fertilized:
- Microfertilizers. Boron and magnesium solutions. If there is a weak set of colors, then use boron. It is enough to spray the plant itself with microfertilizer, and the deficit will pass.
- Phosphorus. Helps in the fight against nitrates.
- Nitrogen fertilizers. They slow down ripening, but contribute to the growth of green mass of leaves and fruits.
- Potash fertilizers. It's about ash or potassium sulfate.
- Organic fertilizers. Various humus, including poultry, cow, horse manure. The top layer of the soil is mulched with good humus. And in the process of caring for seedlings, organic fertilizers are diluted in water.
- Yeast. Can be fertilized in moderation with yeast starter. Up to 100 grams of dry yeast are kneaded into a standard bucket. The sourdough will create a fermentation effect after 3 days. A glass of fermented fertilizer is enough for one hole.
Summarizing
The processing of growing tomatoes is a very responsible event, the final result, yield and strength spent during the season depend on it.
A negligent attitude towards horticultural crops is likely to spoil tomatoes, either at the initial stage or when the weather conditions change.
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