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Growing tomato seedlings in recent years has turned from a simple hobby into an urgent need for many, because, on the one hand, you can’t always find seedlings of exactly the kind of tomato you want to grow on the market, and on the other hand, its quality often leaves much to be desired.
It’s just that growing good strong tomato seedlings is not an easy task, especially in urban apartments. Very often, especially novice gardeners are faced with the fact that seedlings grow thin, frail, strongly stretched. What to do? And many come to the decision that it is necessary to feed it, and they begin to do this often and in disproportionate quantities. But feeding tomato seedlings is a very delicate matter, and it is easier to harm here than to help. Before you do anything, you need to figure out when, how and what is the best way to feed tomato seedlings, and whether it should be done at all.
When Feeding Isn’t Needed
If you planted tomato seeds in the soil made by yourself according to a proven recipe or in a specialized purchased soil of good quality from a reliable manufacturer, then most likely there is no need to think about how to feed the tomato seedlings until they are planted in the soil of the greenhouse or in the garden. It is quite enough for the good growth of those nutrients that were laid in the soil. Especially if, during picking, you changed the soil to a more nutritious one, and even added a spoonful of some organic fertilizer to each individual pot.
In most cases, it is precisely because of the violation of the conditions for keeping seedlings that its appearance is far from perfect. What exactly affects the growth and development of tomato seedlings the most?
There are three main factors that most gardeners, of course, know about, but for some reason they act on the basis of their purely human ideas about what is better and what is worse, and not from what plants really need, in this case, tomato seedlings .
Sunlight comes first. Or at least artificial light. But it should be a lot or a lot.
In further seedlings, a tomato simply needs a night’s rest, otherwise there will really be problems with chlorosis on the leaves. Without enough light, seedlings will be thin and elongated, and fertilizers are unlikely to help, except perhaps special means, such as immunostimulants (Epin, Zircon), which help plants survive adverse conditions.
Temperature is in second place. The most common mistake, especially beginner gardeners, is that they continue to keep tomato seedlings after germination at the same rather high temperature as when the seeds germinated. And if there is still little light, then such seedlings will never look thick and strong.
The secret to good roots and further rapid development lies in lowering the temperature of tomato seedlings immediately after germination by 5-6 degrees during the day and 8-10 degrees at night. The difference between day and night temperatures is also very desirable. This mode must be maintained for several weeks, until the first picking of tomato seedlings. In principle, there will be nothing to worry about if this period falls on sunny weather, when during the day on a sunny window the temperature cannot be lowered in any way. Sunlight will redeem it all. And at night in this case, the cool maintenance of seedlings is all the more desirable.
The third factor is soil moisture or watering. Here, the most common mistake is to overfill tomato seedlings in the first days, weeks and even months of her life. Not only that, it is overflow that is the most common cause of seedling death from the so-called black leg. If she still managed to survive, but the overflow continues, the leaves may begin to turn yellow.
And inexperienced gardeners may decide that the seedlings are starving and start feeding it urgently. Watering tomatoes is necessary only when the top layer of the earth is thoroughly dry.
It should also be noted that fertilizers for tomato seedlings are not needed until the first true leaves open, and this usually coincides with the first pick.
Tomato seedling starvation symptoms
Before you figure out what types of fertilizers exist for feeding tomato seedlings, as well as when and how they should be applied, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the plants. Usually, the condition of the leaves and stems already tells you what the tomatoes need (or don’t need) in the first place.
- If the seedlings look dull, and the lower leaves turn yellow and begin to fall off, there is a lack of nitrogen. It is this element that the plant can independently transfer from less needed areas (lower leaves) to more needed ones (upper leaves), in which intensive growth is taking place.
But it is also very important not to overdo it with nitrogen fertilization. Indeed, at best, the seedlings will look great with thick stems and fat and beautiful leaves, but it will bear fruit very poorly, and it is better not to count on a large harvest. And in the worst case, seedlings overfed with nitrogen, planted in the ground, will be attacked by many diseases and may even die, since overfeeding with nitrogen greatly weakens the immunity of plants. By the way, the symptoms of a strong overfeeding with nitrogen at the seedling stage are twisting of young leaves and their fragility.
- The lack of phosphorus is familiar, perhaps to many. Seedlings turn purple, primarily on the underside of leaves, stems, or leaf veins. The appearance of a purple hue is also a well-known sign that the roots of tomatoes are cold. But these are all links of the same chain, because of the cold, the roots cannot absorb phosphorus.
- Potassium deficiency is rare in seedlings before planting in the ground, but it manifests itself in the fact that the upper leaves become curly or wrinkled, and on the lower leaves along the edges, starting from the tips of the leaves, a light strip appears, which then turns black and the leaf dries.
- Iron deficiency (chlorosis) can occur just in those gardeners who believe that the more light, the better, and for a long time illuminate the seedlings around the clock. Namely, at night, in the dark, the processing and assimilation of accumulated nutrients takes place. Chlorosis appears as a yellowing, or rather whitening, of the leaf while the veins remain green. Usually starts from the top leaves.
- Magnesium deficiency also manifests itself in chlorosis, but unlike the symptoms of iron deficiency, the color of the leaves from yellow becomes darker, reddish or purple. The veins also remain green. The difference lies in the fact that chlorosis with a lack of magnesium begins with the lower leaves.
- The lack of boron can begin to appear at the flowering stage, while the fruits are poorly tied, the ovaries fall off.
- Calcium deficiency also rarely manifests itself in seedlings, it leads already at the stage of fruit formation to the appearance of tomatoes with top rot (gray or brown tip). Often, it is excessive doses of nitrogen that lead to a lack of calcium, as they prevent its absorption.
The lack of other microelements practically does not occur in seedlings and can occur only in developed fruit-bearing tomatoes.
Fertilizers: what to use and when
Asking the question “How to feed tomato seedlings so that they are plump and strong?”, All of the above factors must be taken into account. If the condition of the seedlings still worries you, then you need to understand that several types of fertilizers are used to feed tomatoes, which will be discussed below.
Mineral Fertilizers
Mineral fertilizers are one, two, three compound or complex, that is, containing all three main macroelements: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and many microelements.
If you do not know how to feed tomato seedlings, but you definitely want to do it, then it is best to use complex fertilizers. They have everything that tomatoes need, and you do not need to think about additional dressings. Complex fertilizers come in three types: liquid, granules, and water-soluble powder or granules.
Fertilizers of the first type are the most convenient to use, but often the most expensive. The most popular among gardeners are Effecton, Uniflor Rost, Gumi Kuznetsova, Agricola and Ideal. Some (Effekton, Gumi Kuznetsova) also contain humic acids, which increase plant immunity and have a beneficial effect on root growth.
Water-soluble granules or powder are easily diluted in water, and this ready-made solution is used for watering seedlings. The most popular fertilizers of this type are Kemira-Lux, Mortar, Krepysh.
Ordinary granules are used when transplanting seedlings or preparing a soil mixture. They are mixed with soil for planting tomatoes and their action is usually more prolonged than that of similar liquid fertilizers. The most famous fertilizers of this type are Universal and Senior Tomato. If you want to use these fertilizers as an additional top dressing, this can be done by mixing them with water, it is only necessary to take into account that they dissolve for a long time, several hours.
When choosing a particular fertilizer, keep in mind that the most optimal ratio of the main macronutrients in a complex fertilizer for tomato seedlings should be approximately the following: 25% nitrogen, 35% phosphorus and 40% potassium.
If it turned out that the seedlings lack a certain element, then it is imperative to use a single-component fertilizer for feeding tomatoes.
With a lack of nitrogen, a solution of urea or ammonium nitrate is used. Dilute two grams in 5 liters of water.
To compensate for the deficiency of phosphorus, a solution of superphosphate is used. 16 grams are dissolved in 5 liters of water.
With a lack of potassium, a solution of potassium sulfate is used: 6 grams per 5 liters of water.
To replenish phosphorus and potassium, it is very effective to use a solution of wood ash. To prepare it, 5 tablespoons of pre-sifted ash are dissolved in 5 liters of water. Insist 3-5 days.
Organic Fertilizers
The main types of organic fertilizers include the following:
- Manure;
- bird droppings;
- Humus;
- Compost;
- Sawdust;
- Peat;
- Biogumus.
The vast majority of these types of fertilizers are mostly intended for growing mature plants in the greenhouse and open ground. For feeding seedlings, only Biohumus is ideal, which, moreover, is often sold packaged in liquid form, therefore it is most convenient for use.
Folk remedies for feeding tomato seedlings
Have you thought about how to feed tomato seedlings? Why, for this you can use the simplest means that any hostess has at his disposal, and many simply thoughtlessly throw them away, not knowing what benefits they can bring.
For example, banana peels are a real source of the very potassium that tomatoes need most of all from macronutrients. To prepare a valuable top dressing for your tomato seedlings, you need to place the peel of several bananas in a three-liter jar of warm water, leave for 3 days, strain and water the plants with the resulting liquid once a week.
Eggshells are an excellent source of calcium and some trace elements. The shells of 3-4 eggs must be crushed, then soaked in 3 liters of warm water. Loosely close the lid and place in the dark for 3 days. When the solution becomes cloudy and an unpleasant odor appears (hydrogen sulfide is released), they can be watered with tomato seedlings.
Coffee lovers will certainly appreciate feeding seedlings with coffee grounds. It is usually mixed with soil when transplanting seedlings into new containers. Coffee grounds play the role of baking powder, and also enriches the soil with microelements.
An infusion of onion peel plays the role of more pest control than top dressing. However, soak 10 g of husk in 1 liter of water and leave for 5 days. Seedlings can be watered with this solution.
The use of iodine helps to accelerate the ripening of fruits, and is also a good prophylactic against late blight. You can use a pure solution of iodine – dissolve 3 ml of an ordinary alcohol solution of iodine in 10 liters of water. But it will be more effective to use an iodine solution in conjunction with serum. To do this, 1 liter of serum is mixed with 9 liters of water, 20 drops of iodine are added to the resulting solution, mixed well. It is good to spray both seedlings and adult tomato bushes in open ground with this solution.
Finally, ordinary yeast can be used as a growth stimulant for seedlings. Suitable for both fresh and dry. To do this, dissolve 100 g of fresh yeast well in 10 liters of water and immediately pour the seedlings with the resulting liquid. For dry yeast, there is a slightly different way to use it. One bag should be mixed with 2 tablespoons of sugar, add a little warm water, stir, and dissolve the resulting mixture in 10 liters of water.
General recommendations for feeding tomato seedlings
Now you know how you can fertilize tomato seedlings and you can choose the fertilizer that is most convenient for you. It remains to tell when and how best to feed.
Tomatoes should have a few true leaves by this time. At this point, it is best to use a complex fertilizer containing the main elements in approximately equal doses. In the future, if there are no obvious signs of starvation, which were discussed above, it is better to feed little by little, but more often. For example, once a week, water the seedlings with 1/1 of the dose recommended in the instructions for any complex fertilizer. You definitely won’t harm with such top dressing, and the tomatoes will get everything they need.
It must be understood that it is possible to feed seedlings only on wet ground, in order to avoid burns of the root system. Therefore, on the day of feeding, tomatoes must be watered a few hours before the procedure. If the soil is moist, then pre-watering is not required.
Ideal for both watering and feeding seedlings are the morning hours, so that on sunny days you do not get burned from drops on the leaves, and on cloudy days the plants have time to absorb moisture before the onset of a cold night.
Thus, if you combine the creation of favorable conditions for the growth and development of tomato seedlings with its top dressing, you will certainly get a rich harvest of tasty and healthy tomatoes.
