Proper cultivation of tomato seedlings is the key to a good harvest

Tomatoes - one of the most thermophilic vegetable plants, and therefore they can only be grown by seedlings, especially in regions with a temperate climate.

Content:

• Selection of the best varieties of tomatoes for growing by greenhouse and open method
• Soil, seed preparation and planting dates
• Sowing tomatoes in containers for seedlings
• Seedling picking
• Rules for caring for tomato sprouts
• Requirements for transplanting plants into soil

Selection of the best varieties of tomatoes for growing by greenhouse and open method

Before purchasing tomato seeds for seedlings, you need to know which varieties of vegetables will give high yields, are excellent in taste and storage.

If varieties for growing outdoors are needed, then they must be resistant to temperature changes from extreme heat to low temperatures, to drought or excess moisture. The following varieties of tomatoes have such qualities:

• The Early Riddle will delight you with round tasty fruits, suitable for salads and for pickling. The plant does not require pinching.
• The varieties Anastasia and Urozhainy are considered rich in fruits, up to almost 10 kilograms per bush.
• The Raspberry Giant is also good: each fruit can reach a weight of up to five hundred grams. Attracts the resistance of the variety to disease.
• Frost resistant and not exposed diseases tomato Gribovsky. Its small fruits are good for pickling.

Tomatoes for growing in greenhouses bred by breeders are many, but the most popular are:

• Low-growing varieties Jane, Sanka, Volovye's ear, Nastenka are resistant to diseases, ripen quickly, are hardy and unpretentious in leaving.
• Tomatoes of an early ripening variety Bring big harvests Fairy's Gift, Hurricane.
• For those who love large fleshy fruits, tomatoes King of Giants, Oxheart, Great Warrior are suitable. They are tall and therefore require special care.

When choosing a particular variety, it is necessary to build on whether or not the growing conditions that will be created for him are suitable

Soil, seed preparation and planting dates

Sowing soil components seed tomato should promote the development of strong root system plants and getting healthy seedlings. You can prepare the soil yourself or purchase ready-made soil for growing tomato... But humus and sod must be present in it, and for looseness they bring in a little sawdust or peat. Adding wood ash to the soil will allow the seedlings to get potassium for better growth. Coconut substrate is an excellent material for the accelerated growth of healthy seedlings. Growing seedlings in peat tablets, you can do without the subsequent dives seedlings.

Before planting, the soil must be warmed up and, by watering with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or boiling water, disinfected. The preparation of vegetable seeds begins with the rejection of old and non-similar material. After keeping in a weak salt solution, the seeds are placed on a damp paper towel, covered with a film and left in a warm place overnight. The swollen seeds are ready for planting.

The timing of planting seeds depends on the variety of tomato.

For sufficient growth, tomato seedlings need at least 45-60 days. Taking into account the time of emergence of sprouts, tomatoes are usually sown in the last decade of March, not later. If early varieties of tomatoes are prepared for planting, then the first days of April will be the best time for planting seeds for seedlings. According to the timing of planting, it is better to stay a little longer than to sow ahead of time.

Sowing tomatoes in containers for seedlings

For sowing a tomato drawers are most commonly used, although pots and peat cups will work as well. Putting drainage on the bottom of the container, fill it with prepared soil. Seeding is carried out to a depth of one centimeter, with a distance of about two centimeters between them, and up to four between rows. So that there is no seed left on the seedlings of tomatoes, on their leaves, it is necessary to sprinkle the soil with a millimeter layer of river sand or water it abundantly with warm water during the first days.

The containers covered with film or glass are placed in a place where it will be warm, above twenty degrees.

A week later, under the condition of a comfortable temperature and illumination, seedlings will appear. Then you can transfer the containers with sprouts to a cooler place. Observing the rules landing, you can be sure that tomato seedlings will appear quickly and will be of high quality.

Seedling picking

As soon as two leaves appear on the shoots, they begin pick plants. It will be successful if peat pots or cups with a volume of at least half a liter are then used for seedlings. By pinching the main root of the plant, you can achieve the growth of the roots and their strengthening.

The pick is made in two ways:

1. Planting a single plant will strengthen its rhizome and stem. Deepening of seedlings goes almost to the cotyledonous leaf.
2. When two plants are planted in a pot and they reach a height of 10 centimeters, their stems are tightly tied with a strong thread. When the stems grow together, you can remove it and pinch the top of the weaker sprout. This method is suitable for tall tomatoes and increases the yield from the bush.

After the pick, the plants are fed mineral fertilizers.

Rules for caring for tomato sprouts

Watering tomato seedlings should be moderate due to their dislike of waterlogging. Many people advise not to water the ground until the first leaf appears. But here it is necessary to observe the condition of the soil. If you find it dry, watering required. When developing seedlings, they are watered once a week with warm water, and when more than five leaves appear, twice.

The humidity in the room where the seedlings are located should not be high. When watering young plants, avoid getting liquid on the leaves. Good illumination is beneficial for seedling growth. If it is insufficient, potash is added fertilizers.

When about 15 days are left before planting seedlings in a greenhouse or open ground, they begin to harden it, reducing watering.

Young plants need to get used to direct sunlight and a slight drop in temperature. At this time, the seedlings are fed with a weak solution of Bordeaux mixture or ammonium nitrate dissolved in water. Failure to comply with the temperature regime and illumination will immediately affect the plants: they will stretch and turn yellow. The last 3 weeks before transplants into the ground.

Requirements for transplanting plants into soil

Determine readiness seedlings tomato for transplant in open ground on such grounds:

• Plant height no more than 35 centimeters with a thickened stem and six leaves, as well as short internodes.
• The appearance of one flower cluster in varieties of medium and late ripeness and up to two in early ripeness.
• The root system of the plant is strong with many processes.

To select a landing site tomato take into account its protection from the wind, good illumination and warmth. Seedlings take root perfectly where legumes grew, onion and cabbage. But on the site where nightshade crops were once grown, tomatoes will feel bad. The vegetable loves fertile soils, so it is imperative to fertilize them with humus annually.

It is necessary to change the location of tomatoes in the garden every three years.

Before planting seedlings, it is necessary to prepare holes and spill them with water. Plants with a thick, strong stem are placed straight in the holes, and those with a weak stem are tilted. Having covered the sprouts with earth and tamped it a little, they put a peg next to it, which later serves as a support for the stem. The distance between the holes should be at least 40 centimeters, and between the rows - up to 60. As soon as the threat of night frosts has passed, which usually occurs in the second decade of June, tomatoes can be planted in open ground.

More information can be found in the video.