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The idea of using disposable self-disintegrating containers for seedlings of cucumbers and other garden plants with a long growing season has been in the air for a long time, and was realized 35-40 years ago. Seedlings develop in peat pots under conditions of increased aeration of the root system. Peat tablets appeared on the market later, but are no less known.
Benefits of growing seedlings in peat pots
The seedling method of growing cucumbers for a gardener brings the time for obtaining the first fruits by at least 2 weeks. Young plants tolerate transplants painfully, so seedlings are grown in peat pots, and peat tablets are the only possible way to transfer a plant with a clod of earth into open ground without disturbing underdeveloped roots.
For the manufacture of peat pots, high-moor peat is reinforced with recycled ground cardboard in the ratio of 70% natural component, 30% auxiliary. An increase in the proportion of cardboard leads to a strengthening and reduction in the cost of production, but cucumber seedlings with overgrown roots are not able to break through dense cardboard walls.
Why do gardeners choose cucumber seedlings for forcing?
- Air permeability of peat – the soil is aerated from the side of the walls;
- Peat is a natural mineral fertilizer;
- Stability of cone pots;
- An abundance of standard sizes, the selection of cassettes for a mini-greenhouse is facilitated;
- Plants are planted in the ground in a pot.
Seed preparation
Worries about the new crop of next year begin in the summer: lovers of their own seeds select large cucumber fruits without visible flaws on lashes that are ahead in growth and development for growing seed plants. Preparing your own seed material is justified: it becomes possible to select large seeds that will give strong viable seedlings. Engage in selection work, improve the quality of the variety, productivity.
Hybrid varieties of cucumbers with the letter F1 are not able to produce full-fledged seeds with full preservation of the properties of the variety. Annually you will have to buy seeds with a margin – the rejection of small seeds is justified. Seedlings lagging behind in development will give weak plants, unable to bring a bountiful harvest.
Long before the onset of planting seedlings of cucumbers, the seed material is calibrated by size. Saturated saline solution is an unmistakable indicator for checking seed density. Floating seeds are ruthlessly discarded. Be sure to check the seeds for germination. Seeds of each variety are selected and germinated. According to the results of the test, a conclusion is made about the suitability of the lot for planting. Seeds with a germination rate of less than 90% do not differ in viability, they will fail.
Soil Preparation
Ready-made soil mixtures do not tempt the sophisticated gardener. The peat-based substrate is not compacted, breathable, able to feed seedlings, but poor in minerals. A mixture of several components with the obligatory addition of ripe humus from your own site will allow you to get strong seedlings of cucumbers.
The components are mixed and subject to disinfection. Pathogenic microflora, larvae and ovipositors of insects that can eat roots are destroyed by pouring boiling water or roasting in the oven. The substrate, ready to accept the seeds, is cooled, moistened and filled with peat pots.
Peat mixtures are characterized by an acidic environment, and cucumber seedlings prefer a neutral or slightly alkaline soil reaction. The addition of crushed chalk or lime will correct the situation. Watering with hard water is possible: add a pinch of chalk to the water settled for irrigation.
Soil for seedlings of cucumbers:
Planting seeds for seedlings
The timing of sowing seeds in peat pots is determined by the feasibility of plant protection on the site during daily temperature fluctuations, cooling. A stationary greenhouse or a reliable greenhouse allows you to sow seeds for forcing seedlings in early April, so that in a month the hardened seedlings of cucumbers will grow in protected ground.
Disinfection of cucumber seeds is traditionally carried out using potassium permanganate. Dissolve 2 g of potassium permanganate in 200 g of warm water. Each batch of seeds is kept for 20-30 minutes in solution. After this procedure, the seeds are rinsed in running water.
In a damp cloth or paper napkins, germinate cucumber seeds on saucers. A vessel with water is placed next to it. A feeding wick is placed in each saucer from it so that the seeds do not dry out and are not under a layer of water. Seeds that have not germinated within 3 days are removed.
Forcing seedlings of cucumbers in a mini-greenhouse
A dilemma arises: cucumber seedlings are painfully transplanted, so it is advisable to plant the germinated seeds in a permanent place in peat pots with a volume of 0,7–0,9 liters, where it will develop branched roots for a month of growth in unconstrained conditions.
Practice has shown that a mini-greenhouse with cassette rectangular peat pots creates acceptable conditions for the development of seedlings of cucumbers, significantly saves space. Through the glassy plastic cover, it is convenient to control the growth and moisture of the plantings.
The final transplant into pots suitable for the development of the roots is painless due to the preservation of the integrity of the earth coma on the roots.
Drainage from washed river sand or expanded clay is laid at the bottom of the mini-greenhouse container, preventing waterlogging of the substrate, 1 cm high. The bottoms of peat pots are perforated. Pots are filled with soil to 2/3 of the volume. Germinated seeds are placed in holes 1,5 cm deep, the substrate is slightly compacted. Prior to germination, lighting is not required. The recommended room temperature is 20-25 degrees.
The appearance of the first shoots signals that the time has come to allocate space on the windowsill. In cloudy weather and on the northern windows, additional lighting is required so that the seedlings of cucumbers do not stretch. A mini-greenhouse, grown seedlings in peat pots are turned 180 degrees daily.
Watering is desirable drip, loosening seedlings of cucumbers are carried out with caution every 2-3 days. As the plants grow, precipitation and soil compaction, the substrate is poured until the pot is filled. After the leaves unfold, the cover of the mini-greenhouse is removed, the plants are hardened at room temperature.
Transplanting into larger pots
Transplanting cucumber seedlings into spacious pots is technically not difficult, but the weakness of the roots and the content of cardboard in the walls of peat pots require the following manipulations:
- The bottom of the smaller pot is cut off;
- The side walls are cut in height from edge to edge.
Due to the breathable structure of peat, evaporation occurs not only from the surface of the substrate. And moisture evaporates from the walls of the pots, which leads to overdrying of the soil. Excessive watering of plants causes the opposite effect – the walls of the pot become moldy. Experienced gardeners fill the voids around peat containers with a neutral, non-moisture-intensive substrate. Sawdust and soil residues are suitable material that will come in handy for improving the soil on a cucumber ridge.
The final transplantation of cucumber seedlings into a greenhouse or open ground follows the same pattern with dissection of the walls and removal of the bottom. It is impossible to determine the ratio of the composition of the mixture of peat and cardboard by eye, and risking the development and growth of plant roots is excessive arrogance.
Cucumber seedlings, planting in a greenhouse:
Peat tablets
Peat tablets are used for growing most types of vegetables through seedlings. A disk made of pressed peat 8–10 mm thick and 27–70 mm in diameter with a recess for seeds increases in volume by 5–7 times, swelling when wet. The growth of the volume goes vertically, the mesh holds in the horizontal direction.
Peat tablets are adapted for forcing seedlings of various crops. The gardener chooses the acidity of the substrate from acidic to slightly alkaline. Conclusion: the substrate is suitable for growing seedlings of cucumbers. Impregnation by the manufacturer of peat tablets with a balanced composition of complex fertilizers increases the value of the substrate.
In mini-greenhouses, cucumber seedlings are grown in small-volume peat tablets, followed by transplanting into a spacious pot with prepared soil. In the homogeneous breathable structure of the tablet, the roots of the plant grow freely.
Transplanting cucumber seedlings into the ground is non-traumatic for the roots: the mesh securely holds the substrate lump. It is worth considering purchasing peat tablets. Such comfortable conditions for the development of roots in other soil cannot be achieved.
We plant cucumbers in peat tablets:
Conclusion
Plastic pots and containers are strong and durable. But environmentally friendly materials based on high-moor peat for growing cucumber seedlings are in ever-increasing demand among gardeners. The reason is known.