A good tomato crop directly depends on the health of the seedlings. Proper seed preparation, temperature, light, soil. All this affects the growth of tomatoes, resistance to diseases and pests. Only the best tomatoes have excellent flavoring properties, they are also chosen for collecting seeds in order to sow and get the desired result again in the future. How to grow tomato seedlings and what you need to know for this?

Content

1. Soil for tomato seedlings
2. When to plant tomatoes for seedlings  video
3. Caring for tomato seedlings
4. Temperature mode
5. Pick of tomato seedlings  video
6. Seedling hardening
7. Planting tomatoes  video

Soil for tomato seedlings

For seedling production, a mixture of peat (enriched with macro- and microelements) with sand in a ratio of 4: 1 is used. A small amount of perlite or vermiculite is added to the finished soil, which will improve air exchange.
  Another variant of the substrate is peat with the addition of compost. Compost has a significant drawback, over time it condenses peat, reducing the supply of oxygen to the roots, the addition of perlite or any other porous material will weaken this undesirable manifestation.

Suitable for seedlings and ordinary garden soil with a pH of 6.0-7.0 loose texture, pre-treated with hot steam, to destroy sleeping pests and diseases in the soil. A large selection of soil for seedlings is provided in retail chains. Before sowing, the finished substrate should be at room temperature. For the initial sowing, plastic trays are used, the soil layer for seeds is 6-10 cm.

When to plant tomatoes for seedlings

Before sowing, the seeds are disinfected for about 20 minutes in hot water (50C), and disinfection with drugs approved for agriculture is possible. Tomato seeds for seedlings are sown in mid-March, seedlings will be ready by mid-May, on average, cultivation takes 50-55 days. Sowing is carried out in boxes in the interval of 3x3 cm, at a depth of 0.5-1 cm.

Caring for tomato seedlings

After seeding, the container is placed in a well-lit place, covered with glass until the first sprouts. At the early stage of growing seedlings, a lot of light is required, especially for a large number of future seedlings, window light will not be enough here, use high-pressure sodium lamps (600 W per 10 m2 lamp) or daylight lamps.

Beat frequent watering, excessive humidity stimulates the growth of the aerial parts, while the root system does not develop. Seedlings are watered only by spraying as the soil dries.

Temperature mode

Tomato seeds germinate at a temperature of 20-27C in 5-7 days. Immediately after seed germination, farmers recommend lowering the temperature during the day to 15 ° C, at night to 12 ° C, and holding it until these two leaves appear, then the temperature is increased to 18 ° C. This procedure allows you to get the best flowering and high productivity, in a week, seedlings, you can dive.

Pick of tomato seedlings

About 2-3 weeks after the germination of seeds, tomato seedlings are ready for picking, during which time seedlings acquire 2-4 leaves. Tomatoes are transplanted into peat pots or any other container with a volume of at least 8-10 cm, this will allow the root system to develop freely, and also plants grown in large pots begin to bear fruit earlier.

The substrate for the container is universal soil for vegetables and compost in the calculation of 2: 1, sometimes compost is replaced with fertilizer in granules, vermiculite is used as drainage. After 10 days, the first top dressing of the plants is carried out to strengthen them before planting in open ground.

Ready-made fertilizer mixtures are added to the substrate, ash (2 tbsp per seedling), superphosphate (20 g), yeast (10 g yeast per 5 l of water), bird droppings (50 g per 5 l of water) are suitable for this purpose.

Seedling hardening

Healthy, ready to transplant tomato seedlings, at home it reaches 15-30 cm in height, has 5-8 well-developed leaves, leaves are uniform green in color, without signs of disease. The hardening procedure begins a week before planting in a permanent place, this will allow seedlings to better adapt to new conditions.

Tomatoes are less often watered, gradually lowering the temperature to 15C, the pots are taken out for 15 minutes, increasing this time every day by 10 minutes. After 4 days, seedlings can be left on the street at night, if there are no frosts.

For transplanting seedlings, the air temperature should be above 8C at night and not lower than 12C during the day, otherwise, seedlings are left in pots to an acceptable temperature, but not more than a week, because overgrown seedlings are poorly received and die.

Planting tomatoes

When choosing a place for tomatoes, avoid soil rich in nitrogen, it reduces the yield and aroma of fruits, the best soil option for all varieties of tomatoes is sandy loam. When planting seedlings, it is advisable to treat the tools with boiling water in order to prevent the infection of the earth with fungal diseases. Tomatoes, sun-loving plants, do not plant seedlings where the sun does not fall for more than half a day and a cold wind blows.

  Prepare the place 2 weeks before transplanting. The soil is fertilized with compost and mineral fertilizers. Plants are planted in the holes in depth and volume a little more than the root system, the distance between seedlings is on average 40 cm, between rows 60 cm. Then, the plant is watered, after two weeks the tomatoes are fully strengthened.