2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetable crops, both on our dining tables and in our backyards. And although a tomato is a thermophilic plant and it is almost impossible to grow it by sowing seeds in open ground in our latitudes, summer residents still manage to collect enviable yields thanks to growing through seedlings. What are the rules for growing tomatoes you need to know in order for tomatoes to grow wonderfully?
Careful selection of seeds is an important factor on which the quality of the crop depends
There are no trifles in growing tomatoes. And already at the stage of selecting seeds for sowing, it is very important to carefully calibrate those specimens that have the greatest potential.
Calibration should be done using a two-step method. First, an external seed assessment must be carried out. To do this, the contents of the bag or sachet are completely poured onto a sheet or saucer. Small, broken and other seeds with obvious defects are discarded and thrown away.
After that comes the second step. The remaining seeds must be soaked in a saline solution. To do this, take a teaspoon of salt with a hill for one glass of pure water. Tomato seeds are placed in a glass with a solution. Since the seeds are often taken dry for this procedure, you need to give them time to get thoroughly wet in the water. For this, five to seven minutes are enough. Only those that have sunk to the bottom of the vessel with salt water are left for sowing. And the rest on the surface are sent to the trash bin.
How justified is such extravagance? The point is that weak seeds produce weak shoots. Then low-quality seedlings grow from them, and subsequently - low-yielding bushes. Does it make sense to litter your beds with such vegetables, especially when the area of the site is limited, and this place can be used for planting other excellent crops? The question is rhetorical.
If you have already carried out planting seeds without calibration, there is a subtlety that will distinguish weak shoots from stronger ones. The first ones will look out of the ground without dropping the cotyledons.
Calculation of the timing of sowing seeds for seedlings
Provided that the crops are provided with optimal conditions, it is customary to take the following terms for growing seedlings as a basis:
• tall varieties, the seedlings of which are sent to a permanent place of cultivation in protected ground, must be sown in time 70 days before this moment;
• undersized varieties intended for open ground are sown 50 days before moving to the beds.
Therefore, at the end of February it is time to start work on growing seedlings. In addition, you should also not lose sight of the fact that in order to obtain high-quality friendly seedlings, it is useful to germinate seeds before sowing. Therefore, it is worth adding another five days to the above-mentioned terms for these purposes.
Presowing seed preparation
It is also worth carrying out pre-sowing seed preparation. Everything you need for this can be found in your home medicine cabinet.
The day before the upcoming event, an ash infusion is prepared - 1 table. a spoonful of ash in a glass of boiling water. Instead of ash, you can take 5 tablets of activated carbon for the same volume. The next day, the seeds are first treated in 3% hydrogen peroxide for 20 minutes. After that, they are washed with clean water and dipped in the ash infusion prepared the day before. Boric acid is added there at the tip of the knife. In this composition, the seeds are left for a day.
Conditions for growing high-quality seedlings
Often, gardeners complain that their seedlings are stretched out. In most cases, this is due to the fact that the optimal temperature regime for growing tomatoes is not maintained. Of course, overgrown tomato seedlings can be saved by planting them in the greenhouse at an angle. However, why go to such tricks later, if this phenomenon can be prevented in advance.
What is a quality seedling? The main criteria are as follows: the plant should be in the range of 30-40 cm and have 9-10 leaves. Is it possible to achieve this if you grow a tomato for 70 days? It is quite possible if the seedlings are provided with a temperature of about + 20 … + 22? С. But as soon as it rises a couple of degrees, the seedlings immediately begin to stretch.
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