If the tomato seedlings outgrow, and it is still too early to plant them in the garden, you can try to remedy the situation by adjusting the care of the plant. Before deciding what to do with elongated shoots, you need to find out the reason why this is happening.
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Reasons for outgrowing
Overgrown seedlings have a thin long stem and few leaves, which are located at a great distance from each other. There may be several reasons for this:
- the seeds were placed close to each other, while the shoots stretch upward, since they do not have enough light;
- planting material was sown too early;
- poor lighting in the room where the seedlings are grown;
- excess moisture;
- make a lot of nitrogen fertilizers;
- the room temperature is higher than + 25˚С;
- after the seeds had sprouted, they were not taken out to a cool place;
- there is no difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures.
Do not be upset if the tomato seedlings are overgrown, you can try to slow down growth.
How to slow down the growth of seedlings
It is not necessary to throw away long shoots, with the help of special means you can save them. The drug "Athlete" is considered effective, after its application the growth of the stem stops, the root system is strengthened. The herbal remedy is available in ampoules, the contents of 1 pc. dissolves in 300 ml of water. The agent is sprayed evenly over the entire shoot. After a week, the procedure must be repeated.
You can do without chemicals. Elongated plants are carefully transplanted into another, deeper container. In this case, the roots must be deeply buried in the ground. This will activate the appearance of new lateral roots.
You can try 1 more method: the top of the stem with 4 leaves is cut off and placed in a container with water for rooting. After a while, the cut off top with roots is planted in a container with earth. Side stepchildren appear on the remaining main stem.
If tomato seedlings are not only stretched out, but also turned pale, this is a sign of a lack of nitrogen. In this case, the plants must be fed with a urea solution at the rate of 1 tsp. l. means for 5 liters of water. Seedlings are watered with a nutrient solution and transferred to a cool room. After such feeding, the growth of shoots is suspended, and the leaves acquire an emerald color.
If the plant stretches and then withers, it is likely that it is affected by blackleg disease. Such seedlings will still die, they must be removed from the containers and destroyed in order to prevent the defeat of other specimens.
Before reuse, the contaminated soil must be treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or "Fitosporin".
How to plant correctly
Overgrown young tomatoes will easily take root on the site if they are planted correctly. A long ditch is dug in the garden bed and watered well. The lower leaves on the shoots are removed, the seedlings are placed in the furrow in a semi-recumbent position. No more than 30 cm of the seedling should be left on the surface.
The ditch is covered with soil and watered again. When all the water has been absorbed, the soil in the garden bed is mulched to retain moisture and oxygen to the roots. The process is laborious, but it allows you to preserve the seedlings and get a good harvest of tomatoes.
Do you know what are the reasons for the overgrowth of tomato seedlings?
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Read about feeding tomato seedlings in the following article:How to feed tomato seedlings on a windowsill