2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Growing seedlings is a very laborious process, and it does not always proceed as we would like, and it is partly our fault. Alas, no one is immune from mistakes, even the most experienced gardener, and most of them can be avoided without much difficulty - for this, you just need to follow a few simple recommendations. So what are the most common mistakes and how can they be avoided?
Incorrect watering
This is one of the most annoying mistakes made by enthusiastic summer residents. It never even occurs to many of them that by watering the soil in pots immediately after sowing the seeds, they are making a gross mistake. You can't do that! In this case, the seeds can be removed along with the life-giving moisture into the very depths of the soil, as a result of which they either do not sprout at all, or begin to germinate much longer than usual. Ideally, the soil in a container for future seedlings is spilled with warm water right before sowing. And when the seed is in the soil, it is only allowed to lightly spray the soil with a previously prepared spray bottle.
The emerging seedlings also need to be watered very carefully, trying in every possible way to avoid both excessive moisture and extremely undesirable drying out of the upper soil layer. In an overly wet substrate, seedlings may begin to rot of the roots, as a result of which they are affected by the ill-fated black leg and subsequently die, and drying out of the soil is fraught with the death of the hatched seeds and the gradual withering away of the roots in young seedlings.
Another important taboo - it is strictly forbidden to water the seedlings with cold water poured from the tap. The water prepared for irrigation of seedlings should settle well (at least for a day), and its temperature in all cases cannot fall below twenty-two degrees.
Some summer residents believe that the best measure to prevent accidental overgrowth of seedlings is to drastically limit watering. In fact, this technique almost always brings only harm instead of benefit - seedlings experiencing a water shortage stop their development and wither. So it is best to restrain the growth of seedlings by reducing the temperature and doses of fertilizing, or by reducing the percentage of soil saturated with nutrients.
Contrary to popular belief, watering the seedlings before going with it to the place of planting is not recommended, otherwise the likelihood of accidental damage will increase significantly - juicy stems with flowers are always much more fragile than their slightly withering comrades.
Density of crops
This error also does not entail anything good. In the event that the seeds have been sown too thickly, tiny seedlings will begin to develop very unevenly. In addition, they will be very fragile and will stretch quite decently as a result of a lack of light. And weakened seedlings are most susceptible to attacks of all kinds of dangerous ailments, including black leg.
In order to avoid such troubles, it is extremely important to maintain certain intervals when sowing seeds - they are completely different for each crop, so before proceeding with sowing seeds, it does not hurt to further study the developmental features of all crops that I would like to grow on the site (some of them an individual container is generally required).
Growing very large seedlings
And this is also fraught with trouble. For seedlings of any of the crops grown, strictly defined indicators are characteristic. High-quality seedlings of early tomato varieties or hybrids suitable for transplanting into open ground should be fifty to sixty days old and seven to nine leaves each, and cabbage seedlings should have four to five true leaves and thirty five to fifty five days old.
The period for growing seedlings of pumpkin crops is usually from twenty-five to thirty-five days, while a couple of true leaves should form on the seedlings. All plants should be rather compact in size, as well as have a healthy appearance and a well-developed root system - alas, overgrown seedlings will take root after planting in the ground much longer and more problematic.
If it was not possible to avoid the overgrowth of the seedlings, it is recommended to first deepen their stems (during planting) to the level of the cotyledon leaves, and then sprinkle the stems with a moistened substrate - such a maneuver will contribute to the appearance of additional roots, as a result of which the seedlings will take root much better and move into growth much faster !
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