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A good vegetable grower knows about three things that are necessary for the growth and harvest of tomatoes: quality seeds, the right growing conditions (temperature, warmth, light) and the right soil for tomato seedlings. The last component is the most important, since the root system develops in the ground, and the whole plant is nourished. We will talk about its correct preparation in the article.
Soil composition
Soil for seedlings of tomatoes can be purchased or made by yourself. The risk of purchasing a product of poor quality makes gardeners make it with their own hands. Independently soil for seedlings of tomatoes is made on the basis of humus, sawdust and soddy land. It should be harvested in the fall so that the black earth will freeze in winter.
Soil for tomato seedlings should be taken from a site where garden crops have not been grown for 2-3 years, or from a forest. Be sure to remove grass, weeds and other waste, sift through a sieve so that the earth mass is loose and soft. This will ensure the formation of a powerful and developed root system.
Vegetable growers recommend forming black soil, taking it from the place where nettles grow. This plant does not have strong roots, does not allow the neighborhood of weeds, so this mass is useful for vegetables.
The ideal land for tomato seedlings is the actual soil mass, humus or peat and sand in equal proportions. Peat is better to choose from a depth, since the surface is saturated with acids. If there is nothing else besides it, then add ash or lime. For 100 kg of peat, you need 4 kg of wood ash or lime. You will significantly fertilize peat with the addition of 2% phosphate fertilizers.
Be sure to form the soil for tomato seedlings from sand. This is an important element that performs such functions: loosening the mixture, drainage and seedling formation. Acidity also affects the condition of the tomato – if it is elevated, then dolomite flour should be added to the soil mass in the following proportion: for 1 kg of soil – 15 g of the substance. In order to improve the quality of tomato seedlings, add fertilizer with magnesium and lime to the land mixture.
The correct composition of the black soil and the use of fertilizers with trace elements and minerals will reduce the period of growing seedlings to 2 weeks. Peat-based soil contains long fibers, the function of which is to deoxidize the fertilizer, because it has an increased acidity. It will be even better to fertilize with grated eggshells, potassium or nitrogen.
The preparation of soil mass for planting tomato seedlings does not involve the use of an ordinary earthen mixture taken from the garden. It is very dense, so it will be difficult for tomatoes to develop.
Some vegetable growers mix some of their own black soil with purchased ones. With a lack of time or lack of experience, you can contact a specialized store. If you have decided on the purchase of ready-made mixtures, then choose the following: Flora, Humimax, Gardener, Gardener, Fortress. Carefully choose an outlet, do not take the first one that comes across in order to avoid fakes.
Soil preparation
The main rule – be sure to sift the ground. It may contain sticks, pebbles, roots or fibers that will be dangerous when diving tomatoes – injuring the roots. The finer the soil for tomato seedlings, the better they will survive when planted in open ground or when diving.
It is necessary throughout the winter to alternate the temperature regime for the earth mass: after the cold, bring the tomatoes into the heat and vice versa with an interval of 5 weeks. After such a “thermotherapy”, the composition should be fertilized by adding urea in the amount of one teaspoon. Before this, the soil mass must warm up. Then take half a glass of ash and 2 tsp. superphosphate. After mixing, you need to pour in the manganese solution. Then you stand for 14 days and plant tomatoes there.
Disinfection
The process of preparing the mixture for seedlings includes an important point – the vegetable grower needs to remove pathogenic bacteria and larvae from the soil mass in order to get a good harvest and prevent plant death.
The temperature cycling mode described above eliminates the problem. Treat the chernozem for cultivation with a solution of potassium permanganate (3 grams per bucket of water). It is necessary to check whether the level of acidity is sufficient, because slightly acidic soil mass contributes to the infection of blackleg and clubroot. To prevent diseases for seedlings, dolomite flour or lime is added in such quantities – 17 grams per 1 kg of soil mass.
There are several ways to determine the acid-base balance of the earth mass:
- submit to laboratory tests;
- check with special litmus paper;
- determine with wild grasses: many of them prefer a certain type of ground surface.
If everything is clear with the analyzes – you need to dig holes and place the contents in a bag with a signature and coordinates, then using the third method, pay attention to indicator plants. Chernozem with high or neutral acidity is preferred by couch grass, heather, plantain, pikulnik, veronica. European euonymus, larkspur, ash and pine grow on an alkaline surface. Wild strawberries, bird buckwheat, field bindweed, white gauze, creeping buttercup will develop on any mass.
Gardeners use the folk method – moisten the lump with vinegar. With low acidity, it will make noise. Special tests are sold in stores: if the surface is acidic, the paper will turn red, and if it is alkaline, it will darken.
An effective method for disinfecting the mass is steaming. Take a pan or other metal container, pour 1-1,5 cm of water. Using an elastic band, fasten the edges of a clean, preferably natural, fabric and pour the earth mixture into it. Put the container on a slow fire for 20-30 minutes, let the water boil away. In this way, the action of high temperature will kill the larvae and other pathogens.
Video “How to prepare soil for tomato seedlings”
A video on how to prepare a nutritious soil mixture for tomato seedlings at home, how to check the acidity level and how to fertilize it.
