2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The advantages of growing seedlings at home are obvious: this solution will extend the growing season for heat-loving vegetables, as well as get an early harvest. Most often, seedlings of eggplants, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes are grown at home. When growing seedlings at home, of course, it is necessary to provide her with the most favorable conditions for keeping and proper care. You cannot do without appropriate training
When is it advisable to grow seedlings at home
Growing vegetable seedlings at home saves a decent amount of time - four to six weeks compared to growing crops right on the site. In addition, such a solution allows you not to become dependent on weather conditions, that is, it is absolutely not necessary to wait for the soil to warm up to the required temperatures. Well, if you want to plant as many crops of the same variety as possible, then the home option of growing seedlings will also have a very beneficial effect on the family budget. Moreover, it will not be difficult to grow plants of the desired variety, and at the same time it will not be necessary to be limited only to the varieties offered on the markets.
It is no secret that in areas with very hot summers it is sometimes extremely difficult to get a decent harvest of cauliflower and white cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and peas. All of these crops react negatively to high temperatures and require a sufficient amount of moisture. In regions with short summers, getting an excellent harvest is no less problematic. Heat-loving watermelons, eggplants and tomatoes do not always have time to ripen on time and delight gardeners with their juicy fruits.
What is required
First of all, you should decide on the place in the house where the seedlings will be placed. The sunny side is by far the most preferable. You cannot do seedlings without suitable containers, which you need to take care of in advance by purchasing them or making them yourself. Yogurt cups, peat pots, plastic cassettes and trays, paper cups - the choice is simply huge. In homemade containers, the main thing is not to forget to make holes for draining the water.
Better, of course, to move away from the traditional cultivation of seedlings in shared trays. With this option, you can sometimes miss the moment of stretching the plants, after which they are transplanted into more spacious containers. Separate cultivation of seedlings is good because it does not injure the root system and save time for repeated transplants. This is very important, because cucumbers and melons, for example, tolerate even tiny damage to their root system extremely painfully.
Perfect for growing seedlings, cassettes with 40 cells, 7 cm deep and 5 cm wide and 5 cm long. Firstly, plants will have much more space for rooting, and secondly, such containers are very convenient to place on windows. It is worth noting that it is not worth using the entire tray completely for one culture, it is still better to alternate them: 5 tomatoes, 5 peppers, 5 cucumbers, etc.
Water-soluble fertilizers, clear polyethylene bags, or plastic clear film for food, a pencil or a pen for taking notes (it is better to choose pens with moisture-resistant ink) may also come in handy. Flat sticks made of wood or plastic will also come in handy, on which you can make appropriate notes (for example, indicate the planting time, varieties, etc.). Instead, you can take wooden ice cream sticks.
And, of course, you should prepare in advance disinfected and high-quality seeds for planting, soil mixture for planting them (you can either buy it in stores or prepare it yourself), calculate the required amount of seedlings, and also take care of creating a good microclimate (temperature, humidity) and excellent lighting. Only with the combination of all these components can the desired result be achieved, which will not be long in coming.
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