Some gardeners prefer not to spend a lot of time and effort and buy seedlings at markets or retail outlets. Very often they are very disappointed. The seedlings must be grown by ourselves, the only way you can be sure of the future harvest, especially since there is nothing complicated about it. Be sure to try.
When choosing planting material - what we pay attention to
When you are faced with a choice - to buy ready-made seedlings or grow it yourself, the second option is more successful, since the quality and survival rate of such seedlings will be better. But how to choose the right planting material? The answer to this question will not be difficult. Always pay attention to the variety you are going to purchase and the quality of the purchased seeds.
An important point will be the choice of a variety that is suitable for planting in your latitudes. It often happens that people start overseas varieties, but they simply do not take root here.
An inexperienced gardener can be advised to grow several varieties of tomatoes at once in order to gain some experience in growing them and then make a rating of the best for themselves.
There is a huge selection on the planting material market in our country. If we are talking about Russian seeds, then give preference to such suppliers as Gavrish, Russian Ogorod, Poisk, SeDeka, Ilyinichna and others. These seeds are considered to be of sufficient quality, however, as with any live product, punctures sometimes occur. But such cases are infrequent, 1 in 10.
When is the best time to sow
If you are going to sow the purchased seeds for the first time, then first you need to follow all the recommendations on the back of the package. As a rule, the supplier always lists this information there. Many factors will affect the planting of seedlings: temperature conditions, air humidity, illumination, etc. But if you want to find out for yourself for the future, then try planting the same variety in three passes:
- ahead of time;
- within the specified period;
- later than the specified date.
If you are going to grow your tomatoes in the open field, then the timing of sowing seedlings at home will be a little later than when growing tomatoes in a greenhouse. Typically, tomato seedlings are planted from late February to early April. Everything here will depend on the variety you choose.
What soil to choose
In principle, you will not degrade the quality of the seedlings if you do not choose the soil very carefully. Tomatoes are not so demanding, and even soil with high acidity will also work for them. But do not forget about top dressing, tomatoes will thank you for this in the future.
A good option for soil for tomatoes will be peat, purchased in a specialized store.
Preparing seeds for sowing
In fact, you can prepare seeds for sowing in various ways: dressing, treatment with drugs, germination and many others. However, it is possible not to resort to these methods, since if a strong variety is chosen, it should show good survival without additional processing.
How to sow correctly
There is nothing difficult in the process of sowing seeds. The seed should not be buried too deep. It is necessary to make small holes 1-1.5 cm deep. Having sprinkled them a little with soil, you need to moisten the soil a little with a spray bottle from above.
There are a huge number of sowing containers today. It can be boxes, and individual cups, bowls.
How to care
First, the sown seeds need to create a greenhouse effect. For this purpose, they are covered with foil. Condensation from such a film must be constantly removed. The air temperature should not fall below +23 degrees.
It is recommended to water with a spray bottle first, as soon as the soil is dry. When three full-fledged leaves appear on the sprout, you can water it with a stream of water, but carefully, right under the root.
In order not to grow one-sided seedlings, do not forget about the illumination, unfold containers with seedlings around its axis, change their position.
Read also: How to say goodbye to ants in the garden
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