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After you have sown the seeds of tomatoes, and they have given tender sprouts, it is too early to relax: the time is approaching for the mandatory dive of seedlings. What is a picking of tomato seedlings, and how to carry it out correctly, we will tell you in detail today.
What is needed for
Growing tomato seedlings without picking is practically not practiced in our country. The fact is that without this procedure, the fruiting period will come (if it does) much later, and the root system of each seedling will not be able to fully develop, and, accordingly, it will be difficult for the plant to form good and high-quality fruits.
Tomato seedlings without picking can be grown only in those regions where there are certain problems with water supply: then the roots of the culture lie deeper, and they do not need frequent watering. But the stem of the plant will be developed somewhat worse, and the general condition of the tomatoes will be much less productive than those of plants that were grown with a pick.
When?
Many novice gardeners often ask themselves the question: when to dive tomato seedlings so as not to harm the plant, but on the contrary, help it get stronger faster? We answer: it is correct to dive seedlings of tomatoes not earlier than the seedlings form the first pair of true leaves. This usually happens about a week after germination. In no case do not disturb the tomatoes ahead of time – they are still too weak to painlessly survive such stress.
How to conduct
In order for the seedlings of your tomatoes to feel good after the picking procedure, you will need a special nursery: a special cassette with small pockets, where we will place the plant. Each pocket container must be filled with the prepared substrate (leaving about 1 cm of free edge). Do not forget to make special drainage holes at the bottom of the containers, if they were not provided for by the design – then your tomatoes are not threatened by stagnant water or soil rotting. Another important point is that you need to water the seedlings abundantly about 10 hours before picking.
Before taking out the plants, the soil around them needs to be slightly loosened. Now we proceed to the process itself: when answering the question of how to properly dive tomato seedlings, it is important to note that it is better to remove seedlings from the ground by carefully digging, so as to injure the root system as little as possible. When the sprout is removed, we make a small depression in the prepared container with the ground, lower the seedling into it to the cotyledon leaves, add it with soil and lightly squeeze it.
Do not forget to water the tomato – so it will take root faster. Do not deepen the plant unnecessarily – otherwise you risk provoking inhibition of the stem development process, because the bush will have to spend some time on growing an additional root system.
It is best to place the seedlings immediately in separate containers, then the next pick (or planting directly into the ground) will take place for the plant with minimal losses: you simply transfer the seedling along with the earthen clod. Another feature of self-grown and pickled tomatoes: immediately after the procedure, the plants need to spend 24 hours in the shade. If you put them in a sunny spot, the tomatoes will most likely not take root.
It will be better if watered immediately before the plant is immersed in the soil – in this case, one hundred percent survival is guaranteed. The degree of immersion along the cotyledon leaves is due to the fact that when the vegetable takes root, an additional root system will appear on the stalk. However, do not overdo it, otherwise deep immersion inhibits growth, so it will take some time to adapt and grow new roots.
Transplanting tomatoes into boxes requires the following arrangement of seedlings: 8 × 8 or 10 × 10. This means that tall hybrids need to be seated according to the last scheme. We make two furrows on the soil of the container and immerse the best and strongest plants in it; diseased or small seedlings are best left so that the seedlings develop evenly.
The distance between the tomatoes should be within 2 cm, and between the rows – in a checkerboard pattern, that is, the seedling of the next row should be between the hybrid of the previous row. This is done in order to better and evenly illuminate the sun in all rows.
After picking, you can not immediately put the seedlings in a sunny place, but let it stand in the shade for a day. Tomatoes are heat-loving vegetables, so for them the most comfortable daytime temperature will be 22-24 degrees, and at night – up to 16 degrees Celsius. 
What to do if growth stops after picking
For novice gardeners who are trying to grow tomato seedlings on their own for the first time, it sometimes happens that the seedlings stop growing for a while. This is because the procedure was not carried out in a timely manner, and the root processes need time to adapt.
Sometimes tomatoes do not want to develop, because they are planted in too cold soil, or there is too much soil, and the root system does not have time to master it. Try to solve the problem by adding a little superphosphate to the soil – this component will have the necessary stimulating effect on the plants.
Now you know what picking tomato seedlings is and how to grow seedlings so that they eventually give a bountiful harvest. But even if you still have questions, the video with detailed instructions for the procedure will surely dispel them.
Video “How to dive tomatoes ”
A video on how and when to dive tomato seedlings correctly.
