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Growing nightshade crops from seeds to sprouts includes not only top dressing, compliance with light and heat conditions, hardening, but also watering. Today we will talk about watering tomato seedlings. Any living organism, including these vegetables, absorbs water, otherwise their lives are interrupted. Tomatoes, like other plants, mainly absorb water from the soil through their root system. Plant productivity depends on proper, but not frequent irrigation. How to water tomato seedlings so that they bear fruit, read on.
Watering frequency
Each period of development of tomato seedlings requires different care and watering. The following describes how often to water tomato seedlings after picking and sprouted seedlings.
seedlings
For the first time after sowing, it is necessary to feed the soil with moisture after 2-3 days from the moment of mass seedlings of the vegetable. This is especially necessary if the top layer is dry. Spraying does not threaten gentle nightshade, so it is recommended to produce it. But remember that excess moisture should not get on the seedlings.
In the following days, moistening of the soil mass in the box with seedlings should be carried out when the earth dries. Maintain the measure: do not flood the culture, but do not let the soil dry out. These vegetables are susceptible to the regimen. It is possible to do fertilizer irrigation using substances stimulating growth and development no more than once a month.
When the picking time comes, you need to feed the soil mass for a day or two so that it dries out slightly and is crumbly. Remember that in boxes, cassettes or pots in which tomatoes are planted, there must be drainage holes at the bottom where excess liquid would drain.
After the picks
Do not water tomato seedlings after diving for 4-5 days. Further, the regime of water replenishment depends on the age of the dived crops, the size of the bush: approximately once a week or 10 days. As the vegetables grow, they will absorb more water. To avoid mistakes, you need to monitor the condition of the plants and the surface of the garden or greenhouse.
The soil for tomatoes after picking can be moistened from the pallet. The result of this method will be the appearance of a branched and powerful root system, since the roots will stretch down for water.
Before planting tomatoes in a greenhouse or garden, that is, in a permanent place, it is necessary to carry out abundant watering of tomato seedlings. This ensures that the integrity of the roots is maintained when dug up.
In the open field
The main rule on how to water tomato seedlings after landing in a fixed place is to prevent flooding. Excess moisture in the soil mass, as well as in the air, contributes to the development of diseases, especially late blight. Landings need moisture when landing in a permanent place. Then the plants are left without water for 2-3 weeks, regardless of weather conditions. When this period has passed, you need to moisten the soil under the root, avoiding the liquid on the leaves. Then watering the tomato seedlings should be carried out between the rows. When fruits appear, tomatoes should be watered over the entire surface of the earth. Stick to just such a scheme: it is due to the growth and increase in the root system of tomatoes, which every day covers a large area.
How often to water tomato seedlings? Do this procedure in the early morning or after sunset. Avoid irrigating nightshades when the sun’s rays are intense, and keep the leaves clean as they don’t absorb heat from the sun afterwards.
It will be useful to loosen the soil under the tomatoes – so the moisture is absorbed by the roots better. The vegetable does not tolerate frequent flooding with cold water – its temperature should be at least 23 degrees Celsius. Often, gardeners resort to moisturizing with a water hose, but the harm is obvious: the acid balance is disturbed and the root system is damaged. Rainwater is ideal for tomatoes because its chemical composition nourishes plants, accelerates their growth and increases yields.
How to determine adequate watering
To determine when to water seedlings of tomatoes, you need to knock on the container in which they are planted – if the earth is dry there, the sound will turn out loud, and if the soil is wet, the wall of the pot will sound muffled.
You can pierce the earthen mass with a stick or try with your finger at the edge of the pot. Many gardeners are accustomed to determine the humidity “by eye”. If the soil is dull or pale brown, then it is necessary to moisten it, when the color is dark brown, then there is enough liquid. This method does not always work: the top layer can be dried, while the middle and bottom layers can be wet. There is a danger of pouring tomatoes and causing disease.
There is such a rough way – you need to lift the pot. Dry soil will weigh less than wet soil. The first signal of a lack of moisture in the garden or in the greenhouse is wilted and darkened lower leaves of tomatoes in hot weather.
It is not possible to give a specific recommendation on the amount of water needed to moisten the earth. The gardener must experimentally determine this value, because it depends on the ability of the soil mass to retain water, the weather, the age of the tomatoes and their height, mulching. It is usually recommended to spend 3-5 liters of liquid per plant. The main rule is that the soil should be moistened at a depth of 9-12 cm equally for all bushes.
The ideal humidity for seedlings is 85-90%. There is such a way to determine whether tomatoes receive enough water: you need to take a handful of soil from the garden at a depth of 10 cm and squeeze it into a lump. If it has formed, and the earth crumbles easily, then the plants receive enough liquid.
Video “How to water tomato seedlings?”
Video on how often and how to water tomato seedlings.
