2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
When growing seedlings, it is extremely important to ensure that they do not start to outgrow - overgrown plants either die quickly or simply do not give a good harvest. Overgrown seedlings are a fairly common nuisance, but with a competent approach to the current situation, you can also save the future harvest. What if the seedlings already show all the signs of overgrowth?
How to understand that the seedlings are outgrowing?
Healthy seedlings can always boast of the correct shape, fairly dense stems, an adequately developed root system and a juicy uniform color of all leaves. If the stems of the seedlings have become very elongated and brittle, the roots are weak, and the leaves are small, light green or even slightly yellowish, then we can safely talk about the outgrowth of the seedlings.
Why are the seedlings overgrowing?
Most often, sowing too early leads to the overgrowth of seedlings - in this case, the seedlings are at home for too long. That is why it is necessary to correctly calculate the timing of sowing seeds, guided not only by the weather forecast for the spring, but also by the planned time of planting seedlings in a greenhouse or in open ground. By the way, for the calculation, you can always use the formula: A = B-C-D, while A is the date of sowing seeds for seedlings, B is the date of planting seedlings in the ground, C is the period of growth of seedlings, and D is the number of days it will take for soaking seeds and their subsequent pecking. As a rule, tomatoes "move" to the beds two months after their germination, eggplants - after fifty to seventy days, peppers - after fifty to sixty, cabbage - after thirty five to fifty five, and cucumbers and other pumpkin crops can be safely moved to open ground in twenty-twenty-five days.
Another important reason for the overgrowth of seedlings is non-observance of the proper temperature regime: in the room where the seedlings are located, heat should be completely excluded, and especially at night. The lack of lighting is no less harmful for seedlings - trying to be closer to the light sources, the plants will gradually begin to stretch out. True, this problem can always be successfully solved by resorting to the help of artificial light - the modern market abounds in a wide variety of seedling lamps (both sodium and LED or fluorescent, etc.).
Excessive care of growing seedlings can also harm them, especially with regard to an excess of all kinds of fertilizers and, of course, water. Watering should be moderate, and top dressing should be applied only as needed. Ideally, it is recommended to water the seedlings with a moderate amount of warm water through the pan, and this should be done only when the soil mixture is completely dry.
The overgrowth of seedlings cannot be avoided even if the seeds were sown too thickly - in this situation, the leaves of growing crops begin to shade their neighbors. In order to avoid thickening of the crops, seedlings should be dived and thinned in a timely manner, and such procedures are necessary only in relation to those crops that adequately tolerate them: for example, eggplants and peppers with cucumbers should be sown immediately in individual cups or pots, but tomatoes belong to seating is more than loyal.
What can be done to slow down the growth of seedlings?
If the seedlings suddenly began to outgrow, in order to contain this extremely undesirable process, it does not hurt to transfer the containers with it to a sufficiently dark room, removing all additional sources of lighting. You should also reduce the volume and frequency of watering and completely stop the introduction of mineral dressings. Sometimes it helps to simply transplant seedlings into larger containers (especially for tomatoes) and transfer the seedlings to a cooler room or lower the temperature in the room in which it is currently located. Treatment of vegetation with high-quality growth regulators is also allowed - while, of course, you should not deviate from the instructions.
If it is too late to restrain the growth of seedlings, you can divide the stems into two or three parts, with each segment placed in a small container with water - this approach will allow you to get several healthy ones instead of one weakened seedling. To do this, just wait until the roots appear on the segments. True, the ripening of the fruits in this case will occur about two weeks later.
And if the plant has time to release inflorescences, they are immediately cut off near the very bases, leaving only a couple of lower leaves. Soon, the formation of new stems will begin from the dormant buds, respectively, the chances of getting an eye-pleasing crop from overgrown seedlings will noticeably increase. At the same time, it is important not to forget that shortened seedlings need more nutrition, that is, they must either be transplanted into fertile soil, or provide them with systematic feeding with good complex fertilizers. Such simple manipulations will surely help preserve the harvest!
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