Tomatoes are one of the favorite crops that summer residents grow in their plots. The amount of the future harvest depends on what kind of seedlings are planted in a permanent place, be it a heated greenhouse, a small laundry room or an open bed.

When growing seedlings at home, you must adhere to the basic recommendations. Observing them, you can get strong, hardened plants that are not afraid of acclimatization after transplanting to a permanent place and minor temperature drops.

Tomato seedlings at home - growing conditions

To grow good seedlings a number of rules must be followed. First of all corresponding to the place of cultivation (open ground, heated greenhouse, cover bed). The selection of seed material must correspond to the climatic zone.

Take care of a high-quality soil mixture for seedlings. You can prepare it yourself in advance or purchase it from a specialist gardening store. At the end of winter, many formulations are sold for various types plants.

Determine the place where the seedlings will be grown. It should be not too sunny, but not shaded either. When landing in early dates, during a short daylight hours, it is necessary to purchase special lamps for illumination. Otherwise, the plants will stretch out due to lack of light. He will tell you about beekeeping for beginners.

Prepare fertilizers for feeding in advance. It can be ordinary ash or special compounds.

For sowing seeds, boxes or special containers with drainage holes in the bottom are prepared.

It is better to take separate dishes for each variety or prepare markers with the variety name if all seeds are sown in one container.

Perhaps someone prefers to sow in ready-made peat tablets or in small tofu pots. In this case, sowing is done one at a time. This is quite convenient when transplanting seedlings into a more spacious container, so they are less injured. It is also necessary to take care of the cups for picking plants.

When to plant tomato seedlings

Planting tomato seeds for seedlings depends on the ripening period of tomatoes, the area where it is planned to plant in a permanent place(greenhouse, roofing bed, open ground) and climatic zone.

All should be ready by mid-February. necessary materials: seeds, boxes, soil, fertilizers.

Exists several options for composing nutritional mixtures:

• three measures of peat, two - sod land, four - humus or compost, one - old sawdust or river sand, to give looseness to the soil;
• humus, sod land, sawdust or sand - taken in equal proportions;
• 5 parts of compost take part of sawdust and 3 parts of peat.

When preparing, all components must be mixed well, adding a handful of wood ash for each measure of soil composition. If the mixture has not been frozen, then it must be disinfected before planting seeds in it. Most often, the soil is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, hot water with addition copper sulfate or steamed in a water bath. Good result is obtained by heating nutritious earth mixtures in the oven, sprinkling them on a baking sheet or placing them for a minute at full power in the microwave.

After that, the soil must be shed with warm, settled water and left for 10-12 days for the development of microorganisms in it. Some people prefer to buy ready-made soil soil compounds in specialized stores. They are already completely ready for sowing seeds. The prepared soil is laid out in prepared boxes, lightly tamped, watering warm water, and start sowing.

The rules for planting tomatoes are not complicated:

• shallow grooves are made at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other (from 0.5 cm);
• the seeds are laid out in the grooves with tweezers at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other;
• sprinkle with earth on top, slightly pressing, so that when watering the seeds are not washed out;
• boxes or containers marked by grade are covered with glass or foil on top and set in a warm place.

Seedlings should appear in a few days, depending on the variety of tomato. At this time, the boxes should be kept warm, the maintained temperature should not be higher than 25 degrees.

After the appearance of the first seedlings, the film or glass is removed, the seedlings are transferred to a well-lit place, the ambient temperature drops to 18 degrees.

How to water

Periodically, as the earth dries up, it is moistened with a spray bottle, but without fanaticism, otherwise the seedlings may get sick. plants need to be taken well-settled. You can take melted snow. Watered with warm water in the morning, trying not to wet the seedlings. As the seedlings grow, it must be fed with nutrient solutions. This can be done by combining it with watering.

Correct feeding is better in a simple way: First, slightly watered with warm water, then the fertilizing mixture is added, then watering again with warm water. This is done in order to wash off the fertilizer, and not to burn the seedling or its roots.

How to feed seedlings to be strong

For feeding unpickled seedlings can be prepared with a weak solution of "Kemira-Lux". it universal fertilizer, suitable for all types of plants, and for indoor flowers, so you can direct it without fear that you will not be able to use it up.

The solution is kept for a long time.

Seedlings respond well to feeding with infused ash. A tablespoon is taken for one liter, infused for 4-7 days. After that, the infusion is added to the water for irrigation, at the rate of 1: 1.

When the seedlings are pulled out strongly, watering is reduced or stopped altogether., the ambient temperature is reduced to 10-12 degrees.

Picking tomato seedlings: is it necessary?

After the appearance of two true leaves, tomatoes must be unpacked into separate containers. So they will have more space for root formation, which means they will grow and develop faster. The seedlings will have enough space and light, which means they will stretch less. The composition of the soil mixture can be taken the same as for sowing seeds. On the eve of the picking, the seedlings are watered, so it will be easier to transplant and it will more easily tolerate the procedure.

The picking process can be carried out as follows:

• the glass is half filled with soil, slightly compacted;
• seedling, removed from the box with a fork or stick;
• placed in a cup and sprinkled with earth, gently rammed.

Separate the plant from others, removing it from the box, you need to be careful, trying not to damage the roots, with a small lump of earth. You need to fill it with soil until the real leaves. After transplanting, all plants are watered with warm water and placed in a shaded place for 2-3 days.

Diseases of tomato seedlings

When picking for further cultivation, you need to take only healthy, undamaged seedlings. At this time, the plant is fully visible - both its roots and the aerial part.

After transplanting, the seedlings should be periodically examined for diseases and fungal infections. All diseases are divided into two main groups: excess or lack of fertilizer and resulting infections. By balancing the feeding, you can avoid both underdevelopment of seedlings and fattening of plants. dark spots with light edging on the leaves and stripes on the stems. The disease can be prevented by disinfecting the planting soil, the seedlings are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid.

The lower leaves first fall ill with white spot. They darken, black dots appear on them, then the leaves dry out and fall off. It can be cured in the same way as with late blight. If this is not a rare variety, then it is better to destroy the diseased plants.

When to plant tomato seedlings in the ground

In a heated greenhouse, seedlings are planted in accordance with the climate of the region. So much for middle lane In Russia, it will be the end of April-beginning of May. In simple glass or polycarbonate greenhouses - in late May-early June.

Covering beds and it is better to transfer tomatoes to open ground after the threat of recurrent frosts. This is usually early to mid-June. Depending on the climatic zone and the current weather, the timing may vary in one direction or another.

By this time, the seedlings are usually reaches a height of about 30-35 cm, depending on the variety. It should be a well-developed and leafy strong plant if the cultivation was carried out in accordance with all the rules of agricultural technology. The distance between the planted tomatoes should be at least 35-40 cm. Two rows are usually made on the ridge. For better lighting tomatoes are recommended to be planted in a checkerboard pattern.

It is better to transplant seedlings to a permanent place in open ground in the afternoon or in cloudy weather. Overgrown seedlings are planted obliquely or twisted the stem in a ring in the hole. This must be done very carefully, since the plant can be broken.

It is better to tie tall tomatoes directly to a peg installed in a dug hole.

For the first few days (about a week), the plants should be left alone for acclimatization. They should not be watered, much less feed or loosen the soil near the bushes. Growing strong, healthy and seasoned seedlings is certainly not easy, but observing all the recommendations and rules of agricultural technology, it is quite possible to provide yourself with delicious fruits for summer salads and winter preparations.

At home, sowing tomatoes for seedlings is better at a later date than in professional greenhouses. Not all books and reference books take into account the peculiarities of growing tomato seedlings at home, so be careful!

In the Moscow region experienced gardeners observe the approximate sowing dates:

• early tomatoes for open ground - early April;
• early tomatoes for planting in the ground under film shelters - the second half of March;
• tall tomatoes for greenhouses - end of March;
• undersized tomatoes for greenhouses - early to mid-April.

It is better to sow within these periods, even if the book or article you read recommends otherwise. Maybe it was written off the recommendations for professional farmers who grow seedlings in heated greenhouses. These methods do not suit us. The conditions in greenhouses are different from a residential building, where seedlings are usually grown for their own use. It is dark and hot at home, even in the window, and tomato seedlings will "toil" for a long time if sown too early. Therefore, it is better to be a little late than to rush.

How to prepare tomato seeds for sowing

There are many ways to prepare tomato seeds for sowing: soaking, germinating, dressing and much more. There is no significant difference in them. Experience has shown that if a tomato variety does not give vigorous shoots from dry, untreated seeds, its vitality and productivity are in question. We are not fighting for weak varieties and hybrids, but we buy several varieties of tomatoes with the necessary characteristics for safety net.

Regardless of what the regulars of Internet forums may say, the leading Russian suppliers of tomato seeds keep their mark. Have Search, Gavrish, Ilyinichny, Russian Garden, SeDeca and others famous brands seeds usually excellent quality... In one case out of 8-10 there are "punctures", but this is normal. Seeds are a living commodity, it may show self-will or simply not fit the specific growing conditions.

It is not necessary to pickle purchased seeds from pathogens - they are already pickled. It makes sense to pickle varietal tomato seeds collected in your own garden. Etch in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes, wrapped in cotton pads:

After soaking in potassium permanganate, rinse the tomato seeds well in several waters before sowing.

Ideal soil for sowing tomato seeds: how to do it yourself

Seedlings of tomatoes are undemanding to the soil - relatively resistant to drought, not gluttonous, tolerates increased acidity. It grows well in self-prepared soil (with the addition of loam, humus and compost). And also in purchased peat soil - if only it is a bona fide product.

It is believed that self-prepared soil needs to be steamed, but purchased soil is not needed. This is correct, but only on condition that you perfectly follow the technology of growing tomato seedlings: temperature, illumination, feeding. In fact, this condition is almost impossible to fulfill: seedlings at home are highly stressed and vulnerable even to rather harmless mushrooms. Therefore, it is best to steam all soil, regardless of origin. It won't get any worse.

Sowing technology of tomato seeds for seedlings

It is convenient to sow large tomato seeds one by one with tweezers. Spread them out on the compacted soil with tweezers, every 1 cm. Mark each groove with a tag with the name of the variety. Sprinkle on top with soil with a layer of 0.5-1 cm, water and cover the crops with foil. Keep the bowl at + 20 ° C. As soon as shoots appear, place it on the windowsill and remove the film.

Before picking, you do not need to feed tomato seedlings, just water. Tomatoes dive in the phase of 2 true leaves.

It's time to pick tomatoes.

Dive the tomatoes one at a time into individual pots, burying them almost to the cotyledonous leaves. Add a tablespoon of complete mineral fertilizer for 5 liters of the mixture or 3 tablespoons to the soil for picking.

2 weeks after picking, feed the seedlings

Tomatoes are a favorite vegetable on our table with excellent taste and nutritional qualities. The variety of varieties allows it to be widely used both fresh and processed. Fruits of some varieties are preferred to be added to salads, while others - to pickles and marinades.

To obtain good harvest tomatoes from your garden, you need to know and follow the rules of growing. First, even in the fall, it is advisable to prepare a nutritious soil. Then you need to carefully select and prepare seeds, which should also be planted in the ground according to certain rules... And the seedlings must be properly monitored and looked after.

It is permissible to plant tomato seeds directly on the beds. And in order to fresh tomatoes were on the table as early as possible, you should use the seedling method of growing tomatoes.

Depending on how you plan to grow tomatoes in a permanent place, you should select the sowing time.

1. Greenhouse seeds are planted from 15 February to 15 March.
2. Seedlings, the seeds of which were planted in the first two decades of March, are subsequently planted on open beds, for which you need to build a shelter for the first time.
3. For plants that are planned to be planted in open ground without any shelters, seeds are planted from March 15 to March 31.

In other words, if the seedlings are intended for further cultivation before harvesting from the greenhouse, then the sowing of the seeds should be done approximately one and a half to two months before transplanting. If the seedlings are supposed to be transferred to open ground, then sowing the seeds is desirable for a period of two to two and a half months from the planned date of planting.

Important! V climatic zones, where there is a likelihood of late frosts in the spring, it is better to wait until the time when the risk of exposure to this negative factor is minimal with planting seedlings.

Step-by-step instructions for growing tomato seedlings at home

Table. How to grow tomato seedlings at home.

Soil preparation. Planting seeds

Some points of our step-by-step instructions need explanation. Let's consider them in more detail.

It is best to use soil prepared in the fall for tomato seedlings. Vermicompost, sand and other additives are mixed into the soil, including peat, sod land and humus. Proportions component parts are selected depending on the incoming ingredients. Tomatoes love soil that absorbs moisture well, allows air to pass through, is not acidic and is quite nutritious.

If the seeds are supposed to be sown in boxes, then in the future it is necessary to dive. In this case, the seed boxes are filled with soil by two-thirds. Before actually sowing, it is recommended to moisten the seed pits. Nutrients can be added to the water.

It is advisable to grow tomato seedlings at home without further diving. The fact is that during the picking, the roots of plants are damaged. It takes about 7 days for tomatoes to settle down in a new place and restore the root system. Therefore, the fruits from such plants can be obtained a week later.

If you do not plan to grow tomatoes on an industrial scale, then sowing seeds is best done immediately in separate plastic or peat pots. In this case, when transferred to open ground or a greenhouse, the plants will immediately begin to grow and develop rapidly.

Sowing early tomatoes should be done only in pots or pots with a volume of at least 500 ml.

You can grow tomato seedlings at home, using special ones for this, if in the future it is planned to plant it in a greenhouse. Then you can do without picking or sowing directly into pots. Seedlings grown in a similar way are transferred directly to the greenhouse.

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Sowing rules

1. Sowing in boxes is carried out with an interval of 5 cm between seeds. It is also necessary to make indents of 10 cm between the rows. Such measures are needed in order to avoid thinning the seedlings.
2. It is advisable to deepen the seeds by no more than 1.5 cm. Otherwise, you can get rare and weakened seedlings.
3. After sowing, the container must be covered with a film, after moistening the air under it with a spray bottle. Keep in a dark, warm room until sprouts appear. Seedlings can begin to appear after 3 days. When sowing in open ground or a greenhouse, it takes longer to wait for seedlings.

How to care for seedlings

In the first two weeks after sowing the seeds, the night temperature in the room where the boxes are installed should not exceed + 15 ° C. During the day, it should be no more than + 20 ° C.

After two weeks, hardening is carried out, in which the temperature is maintained at no more than + 10 ° C at night, and no more than + 15 ° C during the day.

Indoor air should be humidified to 65%.

When the plants have two true leaves, it is recommended to thin out the seedlings. For further growth, it is required to maintain strong plants with a thick stem and bright leaves, removing all weak seedlings 5 ​​centimeters in diameter from them.

Produced when the third true leaf begins to appear on the seedlings. To support the root system, which will inevitably suffer during this procedure, the plants are watered the night before with a solution of water and superphosphate at the rate of 2 granules per 1 sprout. When diving, the soil is taken the same that was used for sowing.

If you are late with the dive, then the yield indicators will decrease by about a quarter. When diving directly into the greenhouse, it is necessary to maintain an interval between plants of about 10 cm.

How to care for seedlings

Young seedlings require daily morning watering, as well as strict adherence to the permissible temperature regime. The room in which it will grow must be regularly ventilated to prevent disease.

At this time, the plants will develop very intensively, so the seedlings require additional lighting. With a lack of light, it can stretch. We recommend purchasing for organizing highlighting. When using them, it must be borne in mind that seedlings should not be illuminated for more than 12 hours a day. If the seedlings are grown without additional lighting, the flow of natural light can be increased. To do this, the container with plants is installed at an angle to the window, the reverse side of which is covered with a light reflecting canvas. For these purposes, a mirror or a layer of foil may be suitable.

Advice! When the plants have 5 leaves, split off the first 2. In this case, the seedlings will grow more slowly upward.

When the daytime temperature reaches + 14 ° C and above outside the window, it is recommended to start taking seedlings to Fresh air... This is done so that she gets used to the sun. At first, leave it in the shade for half an hour, gradually increasing the time interval.

1. The first feeding is carried out 10 days after the dive. For fertilization, a solution of 5 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of potassium sulfate, mixed with 15 g of superphosphate and diluted in 5 liters of water is taken. Watering with a lukewarm solution.
2. 7 days before transferring seedlings to open ground, they should be fed again. For seedlings good quality with bright green leaves for fertilization, a solution is prepared of 20 g of superphosphate and 12 g of potassium sulfate per 5 liters of water.

With a lack nutrients the seedlings will look bad. Their greens will be pale, and a purple tint may be noticeable on the stems.

Tomatoes are a crop that, before planting in open ground, in a greenhouse or in a home flower pot need to germinate. There are many options for obtaining quality seedlings, and each of them has its own supporters. For example, seeds can be planted:

• dry or pre-soaked (pecked);
• hardened or not;
• with different options glaze;
• feeding or without additives.

Let's consider one of these options, which is simple, affordable and gives 100% results.

Buying seeds

This is currently not a problem. The main thing is to choose a variety that will take root well in your climatic conditions. It is also important to pay attention to the production date. It is optimal for the seeds to be harvested for the previous harvest. Germination and other indicators are standardized by law.

Seed preparation

After you have selected high-quality seeds from the bag, you need to prepare them for planting. You can plant tomato seeds in dry form - this method has enough fans. Moreover, it is believed that hybrid varieties do not soak. But most gardeners still prefer to pre-soak the seeds.

You need to do the following:

• we disinfect - we keep it for a day in 0.8% acetic acid, treat it with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, rinse;
• start growth - wash with hot (about 60 ° C) water for 30 minutes;
• soak - put in warm (25 ° C) water for a day;
• we harden (this increases the resistance to temperature extremes) - we leave it in the refrigerator for 24 hours, it is possible for two days.

Useful: exist special mixtures for disinfection of seeds, as well as compositions for watering seedlings, which include the necessary antiseptic impurities.

After that we select the right amount best of all sprouted (hatched) seeds and plant them in the ground.

Priming

There are enough mix options in stores for vegetable crops, there are also specific soils for seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. You can also make your own soil mixture, mixing in equal proportions:

• ordinary garden soil;
• humus;
• peat.

It is advisable to feed the soil with superphosphate, wood ash, pour mineral fertilizers... The latter should be added in the following proportions:

• potassium sulfate (contains sulfur, calcium, potassium, magnesium) 20 grams per 10 liters of water;
• urea - 10 g / 10 l;
• superphosphate - 30 g / 10 l.

Important: if you buy ready-made soil, these fertilizers and top dressing may already be included in its composition. Then you don't need to add anything.

Landing dates

Tomato seedlings are considered the best if they were planted 50-60 days before planting in open ground or in a greenhouse. So, for central Russia:

• early varieties should be sown in mid to late February;
• greenhouse - in the first week of March;
• usual - in the last week of March.

But, of course, you need to be guided by the climatic conditions and the thermophilicity of the variety.

We plant seeds in the ground

A variety of containers can be used for tomato seedlings. Most often, seeds are sown in a common container, for example, plastic or even carton boxes, purchased and homemade boxes... Later, the plants are planted - dive. But you can plant each seed in its own container, although this complicates care and slows down the development of the root system. The procedure is as follows:

1. We pour a layer of expanded clay into the box so that the water does not stagnate.
2. We pour in the soil 5–6 cm, tamp it a little, water it a little, loosen it.
3. We make grooves 1–1.5 cm wide and deep at a distance of about 5 cm from each other.
4. We spill the soil, and especially the grooves, with water or nutrient mixture with a temperature of about 50 ° C.
5. We place the seeds at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other in the groove, slightly (!) Crushing them into the ground.
6. We fill the grooves from above with loose soil, lightly crush it, but not much.
7. Sprinkle with water from a spray bottle. Everything should be slightly moistened, abundant watering is unacceptable.
8. We close the box on top with a greenhouse film, glass or just transparent polyethylene.
9. We put the container with the future tomato seedlings in a place with sufficiently high illumination and a temperature of about 22-25 ° C.

What to do when shoots appear

After the shoots appear (hatch), and this should happen in 3-10 days, the top cover of the box must be removed and the plants moved to a cooler room. Optimum temperature- 17–20 ° C during the day and 15 ° C at night. The insolation should be very high. Then the "loops" of the sprouts will very quickly unfold the first leaves - cotyledons, and later real leaves will appear.

Table of approximate terms of emergence of sprouting seeds.

The most powerful are the seedlings that appear on the 6-7th day at a temperature of 25 ° C. They must grow together. Those that are far behind can be cut off immediately, if, of course, you have enough seedlings. Just do not "uproot" them, as this will disrupt the root system of other plants.

How to water and feed

After sowing the seeds, the first watering will take place around the 10th day. By this time, mass shoots should appear and take shape well. For a start, 1 teaspoon of water for each plant will be enough.

Further, before the appearance of the first true leaves, watering is carried out approximately once every 5-6 days. The soil should be moist, but not wet. V otherwise oxygen will not flow to the roots, and this will slow down their development or even cause decay. Before picking, somewhere in 2 days, tomato seedlings can be fed with mineral fertilizers and watered.

Important: picking is carried out when the soil is slightly dry. So the last watering before it needs to be done somewhere in 1-2 days.

Picking

When the first two true leaves appear in tomato seedlings (the lowest ones are false and are called cotyledons), it is possible and necessary to carry out a pick - planting plants in individual pots. For this:

1. We take out the group with the earth from the box.
2. We carefully disassemble the clod of earth, separating one plant.
3. We pinch the main stem root (this can be omitted if the tomatoes grow on arid soil, which will rarely be watered).
4. We transplant the plant into an individual container with a volume of about half a liter. There should be holes at the bottom of the pot for water drainage. We fill the container with soil about 2/3, make a hole in which we place a young tomato. At the same time, it is necessary to take it away from the group with a lump of earth, since the roots already have lateral processes - hairs that can be damaged by knocking down the earth.
5. Sprinkle the stem of the plant with earth about 1/2 or 2/3 from the root to the cotyledon.
6. Gently crush the ground around the seedling.
7. We water the plant too much.

Video - Tomato seedlings: from seedlings to picking

What to do with seedlings from picking to planting in the ground

1. Plants need to be watered regularly, but the first watering after picking can be done no earlier than 4 days. At first, tomatoes are irrigated about once a week, but as the seedling grows, the frequency of watering increases. It is necessary to pour enough water to soak the entire earthen lump. The next watering is only after the soil has dried out. Before planting in the ground, the tomato will require daily watering. The water temperature is about 22 ° C, it is advisable to defend the water.
2. You need to feed the plants with nitrogenous, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. It is better for novice gardeners to purchase ready-made mixtures, dilute them in water and water young tomato seedlings. If you want to prepare the solution yourself, then its composition for 10 liters of settled water should be as follows:

• ammonium nitrate - 10 g;
• superphosphate - 35 g;
• potassium sulfate - 10 g.

The first feeding is carried out on the 12th day after the pick. You can repeat feeding after 10-15 days.

Important: Phosphorus and potassium are found in regular ash, so proponents of "pure" fertilizers can use a solution of 1 tablespoon of ash per liter of water.

1. Daylight hours for young tomato seedlings should be about 12 hours. It is desirable that the plants are oriented "towards the sun" in the same way that they will be oriented on the site.
2. The ideal temperature for tomatoes is 22-24 ° C during the day and 14-16 ° C at night.
3. Hardening of seedlings is an important process, because it is impossible to achieve ideal conditions in the natural environment. So 10-12 days before planting in the ground, you need to gradually lower the temperature to 14-15 ° C. The temperature can be set between 12-13 ° C in 4–5 days. Airing, cloudy weather, changes in humidity - all this will accustom the plant to future real conditions of existence.

As a result, a tomato seedling should have 7 or more leaves, the trunk thickness should be about 7 mm, the height should be no more than 25 cm, the root system should be well developed.

Let's summarize

Before planting tomatoes in the ground, they must be germinated at home. To do this, prepare seeds and land, sow, dive after the appearance of two leaves, feed, water and maintain the correct temperature and light conditions. And then all the plants will necessarily take root, and the gardeners get a good harvest of tomatoes.

In most regions of our country climatic conditions do not allow growing tomatoes completely outdoors. To speed up the beginning of the fruiting period, the technique of growing tomato seedlings at home is used.

How to grow good tomato seedlings at home, how to avoid common mistakes?

We bring to your attention the technology of agricultural technology, which includes recommendations for sowing, picking seedlings, watering and timely feeding fertilizers.

The tomato belongs to the southern crops with a long growing season, therefore, in the middle zone with a short summer, the harvest of fruits can only be obtained with seedling method cultivation. Under production conditions, tomato seedlings are grown in greenhouses or film greenhouses. At home, the process of growing good seedlings is much more difficult, but the practice of amateur vegetable growers shows that this is quite possible. For these purposes, well-lit window sills, glazed balconies and loggias should be used. Before growing tomato seedlings at home, prepare the appropriate conditions.

Selecting the exposure of windows for placement of seedlings

• In the absence of southern exposure windows, north-facing windows can also be used, but in this case additional lighting should be used with the help of 40-watt fluorescent lamps (tubes), which are suspended above the plants at a distance of 10 cm.
• As the lamps grow, the lamps rise and the tomato seedlings at home receive enough light. These lamps give light in spectral composition close to daylight, so the seedlings under them grow normally.
• The duration of additional lighting is 7-8 hours a day. For 1 m2 occupied by seedlings, it is recommended to give a total lamp power of 120 watts.

Sowing tomatoes in seedlings: when to plant

To prepare standard seedlings for planting in open ground in early June, at least 55-60 days are required, therefore sowing of tomatoes for seedlings is usually carried out in early April. If the seedlings are planted in an unheated film greenhouse on May 5-10, then the seeds are sown in late February - early March, that is, 65-70 days before planting. This way you can determine when to plant tomatoes for seedlings.

Before sowing, the seeds are pickled in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, after which they are thoroughly washed in running water and for 12-24 hours soaked in a solution of micronutrient fertilizers. 0.2 g is taken for 1 liter of water boric acid, 0.5 g of zinc sulfate and 0.2 g of copper sulfate. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings, soaked seeds are kept in a cloth under a cup or glass at a temperature of 20-22 ° C until they are pecked.

Methods for preparing tomato seeds for sowing read

To obtain friendly shoots and increase plant resistance to low temperatures, it is advisable to harden the seeds. For this purpose, the soaked seeds are first kept for 3 hours at 18–20 ° C, and then for 14–16 hours at minus 1–3 ° C (exposure to variable temperatures is carried out for 5 days). The essence of seed hardening is that under the influence of elevated temperatures, the cells divide intensively, and then young cells under the influence of low temperatures hardened. Hardened seeds produce short, strong sprouts. Hardening not only increases the cold resistance of plants, but it also speeds up fruiting and increases yields.

Soil preparation for tomato seedlings

Tomato seedlings are usually grown with a pick. Seeds are sown in boxes of any size. They are filled with soil mixture 1 cm less than the height of the box. The composition of the potting mix may vary. How to prepare the ideal seedling soil read

• The soil mixture is watered with warm water a few hours before sowing,
• carefully align,
• lightly compact and mark the seed furrows 1 cm deep every 4–5 cm from each other.
• Prepared seeds are laid out on the bottom every 2-3 cm.
• Then the groove is covered with a mixture of sand and humus,
• after that, the ground is lightly watered with warm water.

• The box is covered with glass or foil to prevent the upper horizon from drying out and placed in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at + 23–25 ° C.
• When seedlings appear, the shelter is removed, after which the box is placed in the brightest place to prevent stretching of the plants.
• The first 4–6 days after germination, the temperature should be reduced to 12–15 ° C during the day and 8 to 10 ° C at night.
• This contributes to the formation of strong seedlings with well-developed roots.
• In the future, the temperature during the day in sunny weather is maintained at the level of 20-23 ° C (in cloudy weather 3-4 ° C lower), and at night - reduced to 10-13 ° C.
• To reduce the temperature at night, if the seedlings are grown at home, open the window.

Picking tomato seedlings

When the seedlings get stronger, the cotyledon leaves will take a horizontal position and the first true leaf will appear, but the first true leaf has not yet developed, then they begin to pick tomato seedlings.

• Seedlings dive into boxes filled with a fertile mixture with a layer of 8 - 10 cm, or into pots with a diameter of 8 - 10 cm.
• The composition of the nutrient mixture in boxes and pots can be used the same as for growing seedlings.
• For growing seedlings, it is advisable to purchase plastic pots with a diameter of 10–12 cm, which can serve for many years. There are also disposable pots on sale, the walls of which are made of fibrous peat. In the absence of such, you can make pots from pieces plastic film or thick paper.
• Seedlings grown in pots, when transplanted, completely preserve the root system, easily take root in a new place and yield a harvest earlier than without pot seedlings. Potted seedlings give the greatest effect when planting them in greenhouses and film shelters.
• When diving into boxes, the seedlings are placed according to the 8x8 or 10x10 cm scheme.The greater the distance between the plants, the better the seedlings will be (lower and thicker the stem, better developed leaves), but more space will be required for its cultivation.
• When picking, pinch the tip of the main root of the seedling, which will contribute to the formation of a more branched root system. The seedlings are immersed in the ground almost to the cotyledonous leaves, the roots (and not the stems!) Are carefully squeezed with a peg or index finger.
• The cut seedlings are watered with warm water and kept for one or two days for better survival in diffused light, after which they should be in a well-lit place.

When to feed tomato seedlings: fertilizers

Feed tomato seedlings twice:

• The first feeding is carried out 10-14 days after the pick... Can be recommended for feeding next lineup: 10 g of urea, 20 g of superphosphate and 10-15 g of potassium chloride per 10 liters of water.
• The second time is fed in two weeks(depending on the condition of the plants). The fertilizer rates are doubled. It is better to use completely soluble complex fertilizers in dressings, dissolving them no more than 50 g in 10 liters of water (so that there is a 0.5% solution). When to feed tomato seedlings, each grower decides for himself.

You can also apply organic fertilizers for feeding tomato seedlings:

• mullein, diluted 1:10,
• or bird droppings - 1:15.

These fertilizers for feeding tomato seedlings are prepared as follows:

• half fill the bucket with them and add water almost to the top, mix well and let stand for 2-3 days.
• In this case, the decomposition occurs organic matter, as a result of which the nutrient elements of the fertilizer pass into a form accessible to plants.
• Before use, the prepared nutritive mass is diluted with water to the desired concentration.
• 10 liters of the prepared solution is used for feeding seedlings on an area of ​​1–1.5 m2.
• You need to feed only on wet soil.
• After fertilizing, the plants should be sprayed clean water to wash off fertilizer residues from the leaves.

Tomato seedling care: watering

Watering tomato seedlings should be carried out infrequently, but abundantly, so that the water well wets the entire volume of the pot or box. Water with a temperature of + 18–22 ° C is used for irrigation. It is better to water in the first half of the day; after watering, the room must be ventilated. It must always be remembered that for tomato plants, the soil must be moist and the air dry. Caring for tomato seedlings is reduced to watering, feeding and timely transplants.

Growing conditions tomato seedlings at homeconditions

For growing strong, not overgrown tomato seedlings exclusively great importance has compliance temperature regime and it is much more difficult to regulate this mode at home than in greenhouses or greenhouses.

• The temperature should be 18-22 ° C during the day and 10-12 ° C at night.
• To reduce the temperature, you need to open the vents or windows, and when the weather permits (the outside temperature should be at least 10 ° C).
• The seedlings should be taken out onto the balcony, placed on an open window, the frames should be removed from the greenhouses, and the side fences should be raised in the greenhouses, and the plants should be gradually accustomed to direct sunlight, otherwise they may have burns after disembarkation.
• The first 2-3 days, seedlings should be shaded from straight sun rays, and then you can leave it open for the whole day.
• 4-6 days before planting in open ground, the seedlings are kept on outdoors and at night.
• Seedlings grown in conditions of strong lighting and low temperatures stretch less, become strong, resistant to open ground conditions, that is, hardened. It takes root easily and yields earlier.

Now you know how to grow good tomato seedlings at home. .

In order to restrain the growth of seedlings, watering during the "hardening" period is reduced, but at the same time the wilting of plants should not be allowed.

Preparation for planting in the ground

Shortly before planting, they give a starting top dressing so that the plants do not lack mineral elements for the first time after planting. Doses of fertilizers give the same as for the second feeding, but exclude nitrogen fertilizers... The technology for growing tomato seedlings includes the preparation of planting in the ground.

On the eve of planting, the plants are watered abundantly. It is advisable to spend before disembarking preventive treatment seedlings with Bordeaux liquid or other copper-containing preparations.

How to prepare your greenhouse for the new season read

If potless seedlings are grown, it is recommended in the phase of 3-4 leaves to cut the ground in the box with a knife into squares. This operation should be repeated 5–6 days before disembarkation (along the same cuts). Root system the tomato is easily restored. As a result of the cuts, the roots branch out strongly and penetrate the entire square. Such seedlings are easily removed from big lump land, and it quickly takes root after transplantation.

• By the time of planting in open ground, the seedlings should have 7–9 leaves, a thick gray-gray (but not green) stem 20–25 cm high, the first flower cluster formed.
• For planting in a greenhouse, potted seedlings should have a plant height of 30–35 cm, and already a flowering brush or even small ovaries.

Video: How to grow healthy tomato seedlings at home?

How to grow healthy tomato seedlings at home?

A detailed story about , how to properly prepare tomato seeds for sowing and sow seeds.

Video: Pick and growing tomato seedlings

Picking and growing tomato seedlings.