The content of the article:
Tomato, or tomato - a plant from the family of Nightshade originated from South America. Europeans met him only after the discovery of the New World and the tomato "took root like everything new, is quite difficult and long. Despite this, now the tomato is one of the most popular and popular vegetables in the whole world. It is difficult to imagine at least one of the national cuisines where a tomato would not be used. Some dishes without a tomato and do not imagine - it is enough to recall Ukrainian borscht, Italian pizza, Mexican chili, American ketchup and much more.
An important condition for obtaining an abundant and high-quality harvest is the correct planting of tomatoes for seedlings. Only strong and healthy seedlings quickly and easily get accustomed in the ground or in the greenhouse, it will actively bloom and tie up large and delicious fruits.
To seedlings tomato in the home was healthy and quality, you need to comply with simple, but very important rules:
- The right time for sowing seeds is a tomato for seedlings.
- Maintaining the temperature regime.
- Stable water balance.
- Competent selection of soil.
- Selection of varieties for open ground and greenhouses.
- Correct planting a tomato into the ground.
When to sow tomatoes on seedlings on the terms of vegetation?
Tomatoes are early, medium-term maturation and late. Between these three species there are intermediate with a difference in maturation of 5-15 days, but basically this division is literate and correct.
- Early tomato varieties have the shortest vegetation period from sowing to flowering, hence they bring the earliest and most valuable harvest. Early tomato seedlings make it possible to get tasty fresh vegetables, but it requires more attention and effort to grow.
- Varieties of medium-term fruiting give fruits at the height of the season, they are the most delicious and useful. The period of vegetation is longer than that of early tomatoes.
- Late tomatoes bear fruit from the second half of the summer until late autumn, when the weather is warm tomatoes remain fresh on the bushes until the frosts. These tomatoes have the longest period of vegetation.
Usually, early tomatoes are a pleasant delicacy to the table after a long winter, the middle-ripened accompany the food throughout the season, and the late ones go to conservation and processing.
When is it better to plant seedlings of tomatoes?
For cultivation of seedlings of tomatoes on the windowsill, the early varieties are most suitable, since their It is necessary to sow on seedlings early in the spring, in order to land in the ground after the end of the return freezing.
If it's too early to plant tomatoes on the seedlings, it will quickly grow and form, and the weather conditions will not allow you to land in the ground or under the film. Such a seedling will stretch out, become fragile, pale and painful, it will be difficult to survive in the ground and poorly bear fruit.
Sow late - get a small non-formed seedling. The timing of the planting of seeds depends on the weather conditions of the area where seedlings are planned to be grown, usually, for the cultivation of tomato seedlings, a month is needed.
By type of growth, all tomatoes are divided into two large groups:
- Determinant (weak).
- Indeterminant (vigorous).
For growing in greenhouses, usually pick up tall and strong-growing tomato varieties, as they are most productive in conditions of closed ground and yield a large harvest.
If you plan to grow tomatoes in the open field, grow a good seedling tomato can be made from low-growing varieties, they are less threatened by the risk of stretching and overgrowing. Such plants form squat strong bushes, often not requiring further tying to trellis or stakes.
How to plant tomato seedlings in a room?
To get good seedlings, you need to choose a healthy planting material, pick up suitable soil and containers for planting, observe the correct temperature and watering.
For planting, choose a healthy calibrated seed, picky and damaged throw out. There are two ways to sow seeds - in a common container with the subsequent picking and immediately into individual cups.
Since tomatoes are well tolerated picking and transplanting, in order to save money and area, you can sow tomatoes in boxes or other suitable containers. Subsequently, the seedlings are dived for the first time, planting for a longer distance, and then transplanted into separate containers, where the seedlings and resides before landing in the ground.
In the second variant, the seeds are sown 2-3 in pots or cups, the weaker plants are subsequently pulled out. This method is more expensive, planting will occupy a considerable area, a large number of seedlings in an apartment will not be able to grow.
As a container for planting seedlings, almost any non-soaking container can be used. Gardeners-amateurs successfully use for this purpose wooden and even cardboard boxes, lined with polyethylene film, disposable plastic or paper cups, containers from sour cream and yogurt, boxes from juices or packets from milk. For the container used, it is important to thoroughly clean the contents of the contents, otherwise it can corrupt, infect the earth and destroy the seedlings.
When deciding how to grow tomato seedlings properly, you need to remember that this plant is very demanding for indoor temperature, lighting and watering. Humid air to tomatoes is harmful, therefore, when we plant tomato seedlings, it is important to regularly ventilate The room where they grow, avoiding strong temperature and draft changes, destructive for this plants. Sprinkle with water crops are not necessary, they can easily get sick and die.
Tomatoes are sown in trays or boxes, lightly sprinkled with a sifted nutrient mixture and abundantly sprayed, covering with a film. Humidity is needed only until germination of seeds, and then the film is removed.
Land for seedling tomatoes should not be too acidic, that is, pure peat is absolutely not suitable for this plant. At home, clean the soil for seedlings from diseases and pests the easiest way by freezing. To do this, a bag or box with the earth is left in the open air, where the frosts will quickly kill all the disastrous for seedlings. The container with the earth should be covered from rain, which can wash nutrients from the ground.
Plant healthy seeds and germinate very quickly and within 2-5 days from the soil appear first "loops and then already and full-bodied cotyledonous leaves. At this time, the temperature in the room should not fall below 25 degrees, and then it is slightly reduced smoothly. Low temperatures are dangerous for this plant, already at 10 degrees serious damage starts - it turns yellow, buds and ovaries fall off, growth stops.
To seedlings of tomatoes on the windowsill was strong and green, it needs a lot of light. If there is a shortage of natural light, landing should be lightened, sometimes it needs to be done around the clock. Tomatoes should be provided with a stable and even watering without over-moistening and drying, which are equally pernicious for the plant.
Adult seedlings tomato is dived for the first time, and after the appearance of a pair of real leaves, a second pick is performed in the seedlings. When performing this operation, the young plant grows neatly along the cotyledonous leaves. To damage or, the more so, to tear off the cotyledons is not worth it - they are a source of nutrients for the plant that has begun to develop. Afterwards, they will fall off themselves when there is no need for them.
With the help of picking, you can slightly reduce the effect of stretching the plant in the early stages - by deepening the seedling and adding light, you can make the seedlings stronger and healthier. Part of the stem, which after the picking will be in the ground, will give roots and will feed the plant additionally. In order for the sprouted seedlings to quickly and losslessly settle down, the soil should be warm enough, and watering uniformly without pouring. If we plant tomato seedlings correctly, we eventually get plants with a strong, stable stem, juicy green leaves and a general healthy appearance.
Often the question arises: how to feed tomato seedlings?
During the growth period, plants need complex fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen and a mandatory content of microelements. Adult seedlings are more in need of potassium, with a shortage of this element, the plant becomes spotted, stretched, pales and falls ill.
Correctly grown seedlings tomato quickly takes root in the ground, forms a strong green plant, begins to bloom and bear fruit in the terms established for this variety.
