How to feed tomato seedlings after planting in a greenhouse?
Is it necessary to feed tomato seedlings after transplanting them into a greenhouse? This question may be relevant only for novice gardeners - experienced farmers know that they should not wait for a rich harvest if the plant is "starving" and does not receive the necessary substances for its development. So it is necessary to fertilize tomatoes, the only question is - how, when and with what?
Types of feeding
The main top dressing for tomatoes, as for most other plants, is root. Its essence is that fertilizers are applied to the soil dry or by watering with solutions enriched with substances useful for the plant. You cannot neglect this type of feeding, but others can be used.
Another type of top dressing is foliar feeding, when plants are fertilized by spraying. This form of fertilization is not suitable for all plants, but tomato seedlings respond well to it. Fertilize it by spraying for additional introduction of any element, which the plant is clearly lacking, to prevent certain diseases.
What to feed?
The main substances that tomatoes need are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
If any of these minerals are deficient, seedlings develop poorly.
- If there is a lack of nitrogen, then the stem and leaves will be weak, visually they look too light and thin - it will be difficult for them to "hold" large ripe tomatoes, and they are unlikely to appear.
- If there is little phosphorus, then nitrogen will be absorbed poorly by seedlings, the ripening of fruits will slow down significantly. A sign of a lack of this element is the appearance on the lower leaves purple spots.
- If there is not enough potassium, the stem will be poorly formed, weak, and ammonia nitrogen will accumulate in the leaves, which will cause them to wither and die, will not participate in photosynthesis, which will negatively affect the development of the entire plant.
Thus, for feeding tomatoes, fertilizers containing these elements are needed, but at each stage of plant development - their own, since its needs "with age" change.
When to feed?
Experienced gardeners are advised to apply fertilizer to the soil before transplanting tomatoes into the greenhouse. First, compost is placed in the prepared holes, a little ash is poured, and only then tomatoes are planted in them. If necessary fertilize the tomatoes again immediately after plantingdespite the fact that the soil is already fertilized? The gardeners have no consensus. But still, many people fertilize at this stage.
Subsequent fertilizing is carried out 2–3 weeks after planting in the greenhouse, during the period of mass flowering, during the formation of ovaries, when active fruiting began. It is undesirable to fertilize more often, since an excess of minerals for tomatoes is no less dangerous than their lack. If it is necessary to additionally feed the plants between the main dressings, it is better to use foliar species.
At each stage of its development, tomato seedlings need a different complex of substances. Therefore, the composition of fertilizers must be made appropriate. The amount of fertilizer also varies depending on their composition and the age of the tomatoes.
First top dressing
The first time you can fertilize tomato seedlings, you can immediately after transplanting it into a greenhouse. For this, a fertilizer is being prepared, which gardeners call "green tea". Its composition is as follows:
- herbal mixture, which is a finely chopped nettle, plantain and weeds, in the amount of 5 kg;
- wood ash - glass;
- liquid mullein - 5 l.
All this is mixed, diluted with 50 liters of water and infused for two days, then the volume of the mixture is brought to 100 liters by adding the missing amount of water to it.
For each tomato bush you need 2 liters of "green tea".
Second top dressing
The second time is usually fed 3 days after picking tomato seedlings in the greenhouse.
Advice
If you did not fertilize the tomatoes when diving into the greenhouse, carry out the first feeding after 2 weeks, using the composition recommended for the second feeding.
The composition of fertilizers for the second feeding is recommended as follows:
- 50 liters of water;
- 125 g nitrogen;
- 200 g of phosphorus;
- 75 g of potassium.
All this is thoroughly mixed, then the plants are watered with the resulting mixture. Pour one liter of mineral solution under each bush.
Third application of top dressing
During the flowering period, seedlings should be especially fed, because the formation of ovaries in the future depends on what substances it receives during this period.
At this stage, organic fertilizers are recommended:
- 50 liters of water;
- 2.5 liters of liquid mullein;
- 2.5 liters of bird droppings;
- 100 g of potassium sulfate.
The plant needs for this nutrient solution - 1 liter per bush of seedlings.
If it suddenly turned out that it was not possible to get some components for the preparation of the described composition, you can replace it nitrophobic, spreading a tablespoon of it in a bucket of water. Watering tomatoes with such a top dressing should be in the same amount, that is, 1 liter per bush.
Fourth application of top dressing
The future harvest depends most of all on what top dressing the seedlings will receive during the period of ovary formation. There are several recipes by which you can prepare fertilizers suitable for feeding the plant at this particular time.
- First, tomatoes are fertilized with humus - a bucket per square meter. Then a solution of "Baikal" is poured directly onto the humus (10 g per bucket of water) in the amount of 0.5 liters per plant.
- First, tomato bushes are watered abundantly with plain water, then sprinkled with compost (two centimeter layer).
Tip Do not fertilize tomatoes with fresh manure, otherwise all the forces of the plant will go to the formation of leaves, not fruits.
- Dissolve in 10 liters of water a tablespoon of the fertilizer called "Humate + 7". Pour this mixture over the tomatoes, taking care not to get it on the stem and leaves. One plant only needs half a liter of such fertilizer.
- For 10 liters of water, take 2 liters of wood ash and 10 g of boric acid. To prepare this composition, it is recommended to use hot water. The mixture must be insisted during the day. Then it remains to water the tomatoes with this infusion. One liter is enough for one tomato bush.
Any of these recipes helps to bring the minerals they need most to the roots of tomatoes.
Fifth feeding
During the period of active fruiting of tomatoes, they can be fertilized again - there will be no harm. To do this, you can use "green tea", the recipe for which is given above, or make another fertilizer from the following components:
- two tablespoons of superphosphate;
- one tablespoon of liquid potassium humate;
- buckets of water.
Any of these fertilizers need one and a half liters per plant.
Spraying
Spraying tomatoes with fertilizers is carried out as needed. Most often, missing minerals are delivered to them. Spraying is usually done during flowering.
You can use wood ash to prepare your greenhouse spray liquid. Half a liter of it is poured with the same amount of water, insisted for two days, then filtered and mixed with a bucket of water. This liquid is already suitable for spraying.
Disease of tomatoes will help prevent spraying with a solution of calcium nitrate during flowering. A tablespoon of it must be diluted with a bucket of water. You also need to spray during flowering.
After planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse it needs to be fertilized periodically. The number of dressings ranges from three to five.Three of them are required, the rest are optional. Fertilization is considered necessary on the 15-20th day, during the periods of flowering and ovary formation.
Fertilize with solutions containing potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. At the same time, you can use different types of feeding: root, that is, watering, and foliar, that is, spraying.
Timely application of the necessary dressings is the key to obtaining a rich harvest.
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