How to grow tomato seedlings at home

Step by step instructions for growing tomato seedlings

To get good, strong seedlings, you must strictly follow a number of rules.

Terms of sowing

Many summer residents believe that the sooner they sow tomato seeds for seedlings, the faster the crop will ripen. But this is not true. The optimal age of tomato seedlings is 50-60 days (1). And another 5 days must be laid for seed germination.

It is possible to plant tomatoes in the garden under cover with a non-woven fabric from May 10, and in this case, seeds should be sown around March 10. And if you plan to grow tomatoes without shelter, then they can be sent to the garden no earlier than June 5th. Therefore, it is necessary to sow on April 5th.

Seed preparation

In the age of high speeds and technologies, summer residents are less and less bothered with pre-sowing seed preparation. Meanwhile, it is important, because in the future all these procedures will allow plants to better withstand colds and diseases.

The first thing to do is soak the seeds in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate overnight – it will kill the spores of pathogenic fungi that may be on the seed coat. However, you only need to soak your seeds – purchased ones, as a rule, are already pickled from diseases.

After soaking in potassium permanganate, the seeds must be washed, wrapped in a damp cloth and sent for hardening. It is carried out as follows: during the day, the seeds are kept in a warm place with a temperature of 18 – 20 ° C, and at night they are put in the refrigerator, where it should be 0 – 1 ° C. And so 5 – 7 days (2). At the same time, it is important to unfold the fabric every time and inspect the seeds – as soon as they pecked, it’s time to plant.

Hardening seeds will allow plants to withstand bad weather in the future. Indeed, in the middle lane, even in summer, night temperatures are very low, sometimes the air cools down to 10 ° C.

By the way, the germination rate of tomato seeds is 85% (3). This is important to consider when buying seeds – you should always take with a small margin.

soil

Few people bother with the soil either, many grow tomato seedlings in purchased soil. But this is not the best option. Often such soil is infected with pathogens. And it is based on peat, which dries out very quickly.

So it is better to prepare the soil yourself. The optimal composition is a mixture of turf (meadow) land with humus (1: 1). It is useful to add 1 cup of ash to a bucket of such soil – it will protect the seedlings from diseases.

But before filling boxes or cups with soil, it must be calcined in the oven – poured on a baking sheet with a layer of 5 cm and kept for 1 hour at a temperature of 180 ° C. This is important because there are always pathogens in the soil, and high temperatures will kill them.

Capacities

Tomato seedlings can be grown in boxes – so they take up less space on the windowsill. But when planted in the garden, her roots are torn, which delays the development of plants, and therefore, the birth will ripen later. Therefore, it is better to sow the seeds immediately in separate cups – plastic ones with a volume of 200 ml are suitable.

Seeds are sown to a depth of 1 cm (4), not smaller – otherwise they can sprout along with the seed coat, and this greatly delays the development of plants. In cups, seeds are sown 1 pc. In boxes – at a distance of 4 – 5 cm between rows and 1 cm in a row.

Growing conditions

Temperature. Before germination, the temperature should be 20 – 25 ° C. But as soon as shoots appear, tomato seedlings should be removed to a cool place: for 5 days during the day the temperature should be 10 – 15 ° C (not higher than 18 ° C), and at night – 6 – 7 ° C. Do not wonder! It is these low temperatures at the initial stage of plant development that make it possible to obtain healthy and stocky seedlings.

And then the seedlings should be placed in a warmer place, where it will be 18 – 25 ° C during the day, and 8 – 10 ° C at night. Achieving low night temperatures is quite simple – you can just open the window.

Shine. Tomatoes are light-loving plants, the most successful place for them is the southern windows. If they go to the other side of the world, especially to the north, the seedlings need to be illuminated with phytolamps – 12 hours a day. Otherwise, the seedlings will stretch.

Care of seedlings

Watering. Tomato seedlings should be moistened moderately – the soil should dry out between waterings. If the plants are transfused, there is a high probability that they will get blackleg, and this disease is not treated. In addition, if tomato seedlings are watered too often and abundantly, they will turn out juicy and fragile; even a small breeze can break them in open ground. Yes, and to carry such plants to the country is a complete hassle.

It is better to water the seedlings in the morning and in sunny weather, so that by the evening the topsoil has time to dry out – this again will protect it from diseases. And a week before planting on the beds, the tomatoes stop watering altogether – it’s easier to plant them that way, they won’t break.

Feeding. Tomato seedlings are fed twice. The first time – 20 days after germination. The second – 7 – 10 days before landing. The solution in both cases is prepared the same: 1 teaspoon of ammonium nitrate, 2 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate and 1 tbsp. a boat of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water.

Pick. If the seedlings are planted immediately in separate cups, she does not need a pick. In principle, it can also be grown in boxes without picking, but then plants need to be grown in open ground a little earlier, at the age of 40 days.

But in general, of course, it is better to pick it up. In some publications, it is often advised to plant seedlings in cups as early as possible, in the phase of cotyledon leaves. There is logic in this, because the sooner the plants are transplanted, the better they take root. However, tomatoes are very fragile and can be easily broken when they are too young. Therefore, picking is best done when the plants have 1 – 2 true leaves.

When transplanting seedlings into cups, the plants are deepened by cotyledon leaves – this is how additional roots form in the seedlings. Immediately after picking, the seedlings are watered, and then removed in the shade for 1 to 2 days.

Hardening. About a week before planting seedlings in open ground, it should be gradually accustomed to the street. First, the plants need to be taken out to the balcony in the shade and left for a couple of hours. Every day, the “walk” time is increased, and the day before the transplant, it can be left on the balcony and overnight, but provided that the temperature outside is not lower than 10 ° C.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing tomato seedlings with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova – they asked her the most pressing questions of summer residents.

Sources of

1. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.
2. A group of authors, ed. Polyanskoy A.M. and Chulkova E.I. Tips for gardeners // Minsk, Harvest, 1970 – 208 p.
3. Gavrish S.F. Tomatoes // M.: NIIOZG, publishing house “Scriptorium 2000”, 2003 – 184 p.
4. Pantielev Ya.Kh. ABC vegetable grower // M .: Kolos, 1992 – 383 p.