Contents
Undoubtedly, some of the most popular vegetables are tomatoes and peppers. They have excellent taste qualities, they contain many vitamins and useful microelements. In addition, you can grow tomatoes or peppers in any climate zone. The variety of varieties and hybrids is such that it is simply impossible to count them. In addition to those included in the state register, there are many varieties of peppers and tomatoes of the so-called folk selection. Often they are in no way inferior to varieties bred by experienced specialists. Everyone who has even a piece of land grows tomatoes and peppers. Feeding seedlings of tomatoes and peppers with folk remedies is of interest to many, our article is devoted to this.
Conditions necessary for the successful cultivation of peppers and tomatoes
Tomatoes and peppers belong to the same family, Solanaceae. They originate from the hot, dry regions of Central and South America. In their requirements for growing conditions are largely similar, but there are significant differences. Let’s dwell on this in more detail. After all, in order to grow a healthy plant, you need to know its needs.
Temperature
Both cultures have similar preferences here. Tomatoes and peppers love warm weather without sudden temperature fluctuations during the day. They do not like heat more than 35-36 degrees, a long cold snap below 12-16 degrees, although a short-term decrease in temperature can be tolerated painlessly.
Seedlings need to be kept warm, because at low temperatures, their development stops, and the absorption of nutrients decreases.
Lighting
Tomatoes need a long daylight hours of at least 12 hours, they do not like cloudy weather. Seedlings need additional lighting, because their development occurs at a time of the year when daylight hours are short, and the weather does not indulge in sunny days.
Pepper is a plant with a short daylight hours, it needs light no more than 8 hours a day. But additional illumination of seedlings is also necessary. Subsequently, we will plant pepper in the ground so that the sun’s rays reach it only during part of the day, otherwise we will not wait for a full-fledged harvest.
Watering, air humidity
Peppers and tomatoes do not like overflows and cold water. Moreover, pepper in this sense is a real sissy – watering with water with a temperature below 20 degrees can cause problems. Tomatoes, if watered unevenly, will yield a crop with cracked fruits. Moreover, tomatoes do not tolerate high humidity – it contributes to the development of phytophthora.
Fertilizers and fertilizers
Tomatoes and peppers do not take out so much fertilizer from the soil, and pepper is a lover of potassium, and tomatoes are phosphorus. Both plants do not like fresh manure and high doses of nitrogen.
Ground
Tomatoes and peppers prefer loose, air- and water-permeable soil, moderately fertile, with a neutral reaction. Tomatoes can grow in slightly acidic soil. Both plants do not tolerate dense loams, acidic soils.
Pick, depth, planting density
Here, the features of pepper and tomatoes are fully manifested. Tomatoes love:
- Frequent transplants – if the roots are damaged, they quickly recover, grow even more;
- Deep planting – a part of the tomato stem, buried in the ground, is overgrown with adventitious roots, increases the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbplant nutrition;
- Free planting – plants should be well blown by the wind, this prevents the development of phytophthora.
Now let’s see what peppers DO NOT like:
- Frequent transplants – damaged roots recover for a very long time, the plant stops developing;
- Deep planting – part of the stem that is underground can rot and the plant will die;
- Free planting – for successful fruit ripening, they must be in light shade, which is facilitated by a slightly thickened planting.
Feeding seedlings of pepper and tomatoes with folk remedies
On the shelves of stores, we see a lot of preparations intended for feeding peppers and tomatoes. But more and more people, especially if they grow vegetables only for themselves, are trying to feed them with folk remedies. You can argue for a long time about the dangers and benefits of mineral fertilizers, but there is no doubt that good nutrition for seedlings can be provided without the use of chemicals. The main disadvantage of non-traditional (maybe it is more correct to call them alternative) dressings is their lack of instructions. Let’s figure it out together.
Importance of fertilizers
Whatever we feed the seedlings of vegetables – folk remedies or mineral fertilizers, their nutrition must be balanced. They must receive a certain amount of nutrients in measured proportions. Just feeding vegetables with natural fertilizer is not enough – you need to know what nutrients it contains, whether it is suitable for seedlings.
- Nitrogen is vital for plants, it is involved in photosynthesis, with its help peppers and tomatoes increase their green mass.
- Phosphorus is needed by the plant for flowering and fruiting. Its deficiency causes the ovary to fall off. If it is not enough in the means used for feeding, we will not get a full-fledged harvest.
- Potassium is essential for the development of the root system. If potassium is not enough, peppers or tomatoes will simply die.
The advantages of natural dressings include the fact that almost all contain trace elements, they often cost nothing, are well absorbed by seedlings. To the disadvantages – we can never know exactly the dosage of the main elements.
The basic principles of feeding seedlings with folk remedies are the same as when fertilizing with mineral fertilizers:
- It is better to give the seedlings a smaller dose of fertilizer than to exceed it.
- Top dressing is carried out only on wet soil.
- Seedlings are fed in the morning.
- Liquid top dressing should have a temperature of 22-25 degrees.
Signs of a lack of batteries:
- The leaves brighten starting from the bottom, the turgor is preserved – lack of nitrogen.
- Seedlings acquire a purple hue – lack of phosphorus.
- The leaves dry out starting from the edge – potassium starvation.
- The leaves begin to turn yellow between the veins – iron deficiency.
- The leaves wither even with sufficient watering – perhaps a copper deficiency.
Ash
The most common folk fertilizer is ash. It is recommended to be used at all stages of plant life. It contains all the nutrients needed by the plant, however, in varying concentrations. Ash is remarkable in that it nourishes seedlings, protects them from diseases. For example, dusting the earth with wood ash is used for overflow, the first signs of a black leg.
They can become a real disaster and destroy the seedlings. It is enough 3-4 times in the morning after watering to thickly powder the aerial part of tomatoes or peppers with wood ash, leave until the next watering. Make sure that the ash remains on the plant for no more than 4 days – otherwise we will overfeed the plant. For the northern regions, or if the conditions of detention allow watering peppers or tomatoes every few days, a single dusting may be enough.
Immediately make a reservation that wood ash itself is suitable for feeding seedlings. It is often asked whether the ash left after barbecue or barbecue is suitable for fertilizing plants. The answer is that it is suitable if you did not use gasoline or other aggressive chemicals when lighting a fire.
It is remarkable that the ashes of different plants contain different doses of chemical elements. If possible, when feeding seedlings of peppers or tomatoes, consider this:
- Hardwood ash contains a lot of calcium.
- There is a lot of phosphorus in the ashes of coniferous trees.
- The ash of the vine or herbaceous plants is the record holder for the content of potassium.
- Peat ash contains a lot of lime, but little potassium, often (but not always) such ash includes a lot of iron.
- The best ash is obtained by burning birch chips, dried stems of Jerusalem artichoke, sunflower.
It is better to give ash in the form of an extract – pour a glass of ash with 8 liters of boiling water, leave for a day, then strain.
Natural stimulants
Soak pepper or tomato seeds before planting in the following natural stimulants:
- Aloe juice is an excellent natural stimulant. An aloe leaf is cut, wrapped in gauze, placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 2 weeks or 2 days in the freezer. Then the juice is squeezed out (it should not come into contact with the metal), diluted 1: 1 with water, the seeds are soaked for a day.
- Ash infusion. Pepper and tomato seeds are soaked for 6 hours in an ash extract prepared as described above.
- Dry mushrooms. Dried mushrooms pour boiling water, let cool. Soak the seeds in the solution for 6 hours.
- Honey. One teaspoon of honey is dissolved in a glass of warm water, the seeds are poured for 6 hours so that they only get wet.
- Potato juice. Peel a few tubers, put in the freezer for 2-3 days. Squeeze out the juice, soak the seeds of pepper or tomato for 8 hours.
Fertilizers that can be applied to the soil
Some products can be applied to the soil before sowing pepper or tomato for seedlings – they improve the structure of the soil, feed the seedlings.
Sleepy coffee grounds. If you love good coffee, don’t throw away your used coffee. In addition to great scrubs, it will make a good addition to the soil.
Ash. Add a small amount of ash to the soil when sowing seeds – it will not only serve as a top dressing, but also protect against many diseases.
Fertilizers applied with irrigation
Feeding pepper or tomato seedlings with folk remedies begins when two true leaves appear, and ends no later than two days before transplanting into the ground. Watering with infusions enriched with useful elements is done every 10-14 days. Here it is important not to overfeed the plant.
If you are not sure of yourself, it is better to use mineral fertilizers. The most important assistant here can only be experience.
You can feed seedlings of pepper or tomatoes, in addition to wood ash, with the following self-prepared preparations:
- Banana peel is an invaluable source of potassium. Just put the skins from four bananas in a three-liter jar and fill with warm water. After 3 days, the infusion is ready.
- Eggshell. Slightly crush the shell of 3-4 eggs, put in a three-liter jar, fill with warm water. After a few days, infusion can be watered seedlings.
We offer for viewing a short video about feeding seedlings of tomatoes and peppers with folk remedies:
What folk remedies can not feed seedlings
There are a lot of excellent fertilizers that you need to use in open ground, but they are not suitable for pepper or tomato seedlings:
- Any humus, green fertilizers, herbal teas are not suitable for seedlings due to excess nitrogen.
- Yeast – firstly, they decompose potassium, and, secondly, they contain a lot of nitrogen, stimulate growth, and we do not need peppers or tomatoes to stretch.
- Sleeping tea – contains tannins. When used outdoors for adult peppers or tomatoes, their effect is not so noticeable, but the development of seedlings, sleeping tea can greatly slow down.
It should be noted that experienced gardeners successfully use the “forbidden” top dressings listed above when growing seedlings. But they do it very carefully, knowingly, often guided by intuition. With the experience gained, you may also use them.
Say goodbye to seedlings in advance and experiment. Thus, you will gain invaluable experience, and the harvest will not suffer. Perhaps the best seedlings will be in this box.
Good luck to you!