Every year in January-February-March this, exciting for every gardener, period begins - sowing seeds for seedlings. We sow tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, white cabbage for seedlings of 55-60 days of age for planting in a greenhouse or open ground. But, before sowing, it is necessary to engage in the preparation of seed material. What do you need to do first? First, buy seeds or revise old stocks, clarify storage periods, seeding rates. And only then directly start cooking them. Preparation of seed material for sowing involves the following steps: soaking, bubbling, heating, hardening, disinfection or dressing.
Seedlings of early vegetables are grown in a potted or potted way. The first option contributes to better preservation of the root system, an earlier harvest.
Seedlings can be grown with or without picking. When growing with picking, seeds are sown densely with a row spacing of 4-5 cm, and when the phase of 1-2 true leaves is reached, seedlings dive (transplant) in separate pots with an area of 7 × 8, 8 × 8 cm. When grown without picking, seeds are sown with the distance between the rows is 8 cm, between the grains in the row - 7-8 cm.
What containers can be used, what to plant seeds for seedlings
Now shops for gardeners offer many products for growing seedlings:
- peat or plastic pots of different sizes;
- plastic cassettes with pallets with drainage holes open or made on the principle of small greenhouses with transparent covers;
- peat tablets of various diameters.
You can choose any type of containers, pots or peat tablets if they are at least 5-8 cm in diameter and have drainage holes. If the cell size of the containers is smaller, then the seedlings after the appearance of 2-3 real leaves should be transplanted into a large bowl.
When growing seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, I use peat tablets, and then, after the appearance of 2-3 real leaves, I transplant them into large containers. Peat pots or plastic cups should be at least 7-8 cm in diameter. You can use plastic cups or paper packaging from yogurt, dairy products or juices, from which the top with a lid is cut off and drainage holes are made at the bottom.
I do not recommend the use of egg packaging, because, firstly, they are small in volume, and secondly, they dry out too quickly, in addition, cardboard draws moisture from the soil mixture.
Square or rectangular containers make more efficient use of space and provide better conditions for the development of the root system of plants than round ones.
When growing, you can use pots made by you from several layers of newsprint. It will cost you inexpensively, and labor costs are small. The method is also good because you can plant seedlings without removing them from homemade newspaper cups. The only drawback is the quick drying of the soil. But I solve this problem like this. I add vermiculite, perlite, sphagnum moss or hydrogel (I buy what is for sale) or cover the bottom of the pallet with a capillary mat.
I usually use an earthen mixture. You can buy it or prepare it yourself. Preparing a different composition of the soil mixture. Its composition depends on the type of vegetable crops.
The best soil for seedlings is the ground under birches. But security measures for stretch marks still need to be taken. Put the soil in a wide container, for example, a basin and pour boiling water over it so that the water passes through the ground to the bottom. Before watering, drop several potassium permanganate granules into a teapot or watering can with boiling water so that the solution turns pink. You can add peat and ash. Let the soil stand like this for 3-4 days, and then you can sow seeds, plant seedlings or indoor plants.
For example, for cabbage take the same amount of humus and sod land. For 10-12 kg of the soil mixture that you want to prepare yourself for growing seedlings, add 1 tbsp. a spoon of nitrogen, 2-3 tbsp. l phosphoric, 1/2 tsp potassium fertilizer and mix thoroughly.
Ordinary garden soil is not a good choice, as it often contains weed seeds, harmful fungi, and also condenses too quickly.
The soil for growing seedlings should be well moist, but not wet. It should be friable. Before sowing, it is necessary to fill the containers, containers, cups with earth on a finger below the edge.
Seeds are very finicky when it comes to choosing a sowing depth. Some need complete darkness to germinate, and some love light. This information is usually written in packages. If the package does not contain any information, the rule is - the seeds are planted two to three times deeper than their size in length.
Seeds should have high germination, germination energy, purity (the percentage of seeds in the main crop seeds is for those that are sold in large packages for wholesalers). These properties of the seed material depend on growing conditions, cultivation technology, shelf life. Upon purchase, it is necessary to specify the shelf life, which should not exceed permissible norms.
Seed storage time
- no more than two years - parsnip;
- three years - dill, parsley, celery, onions;
- four years - sorrel, carrots, lettuce, peppers, spinach;
- five years - radishes, cabbage, beets, turnips, rhubarb;
- six years - pumpkin, zucchini;
- seven years - tomato, peas, sweet corn;
- up to nine years old - eggplant, cucumber, melon, beans.
The viability of seeds and plants depends on the methods of pre-sowing treatment.
To assess the potential ability of the seed to produce strong, healthy seedlings, and then crop plants usually pay attention to their size and weight.
Large seeds of each culture give plants with increased viability, that is, with higher productivity. To do this, they are divided into fractions using special sieves or sieves, selecting larger ones (cabbage, radishes, table beets, lettuce, peas, onions, carrots, etc.).
They are also selected by weight (cucumber, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, melon, watermelon, tomato, pepper, eggplant). Put in clean water or 3-4% solution of sodium chloride. Stir, let stand 2-5 minutes. The grains that have surfaced are thrown away, and those who have sunk to the bottom are taken for sowing - they have the highest viability. Then they are dried to flowability - so it will be easier to sow them.
Preparing seeds for planting - soaking
To get friendly seedlings, the seeds can be soaked using bags, gauze or a saucer with a thin layer of water. Grains moisturize often. Sometimes they are moistened even every 2-4 hours, avoiding overdrying. The amount of water in this case should be equal to the mass of the seed material.
The duration of soaking at room temperature should be:
- cabbage and legumes - no more than 15-20 hours;
- nightshade (tomato, pepper, eggplant), beetroot - 24 hours;
- watermelon, melon, onion, celery - 24-36 hours.
Before sowing, seeds can be soaked in solutions of mineral fertilizers, microelements, growth regulators, sonicated, and exposed to electromagnetic fields. This increases the viability of seed and vegetable plants.
Here are some tips for preparing for sowing:
- It is useful to wrap the seeds of cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkins in moss, put all this inside a transparent plastic bag, pour a little water there. Tie a bag and leave on the windowsill. After a day, the grains will hatch. And after a day they can be planted in the ground (depending on what kind of spring). After three days, seedlings will appear. Survival is one hundred percent. Moss can be taken directly from the stones. It is very easy to remove with a roll. In the same way, you can germinate the seeds of beets, radishes and any flowers.
- Another way will help to get good seedlings when sowing seeds. It is necessary to cut off a large leaf from a scarlet flower. With a knife, make an incision along the sheet on the upper concave side and put in dry grains. Put the scarlet leaf in a plastic bag. You can leave them there for three hours, or you can leave them for a day - the more time the seeds spend in aloe juice, the faster they will sprout. Practice has shown that shoots of tomatoes appear on the 3-4th day, pepper - on the 7-8th, if they are kept for at least a day inside the aloe leaf.
Bubbling Seeds
The essence of the technique is keeping the seeds in water through which oxygen or air is passed. You can use an aquarium compressor or sprayer for this purpose. The duration of the air treatment depends on the culture. At a temperature of 20 degrees, it should not exceed:
- watermelon - 24-48 hours;
- peas - 12-16 hours;
- melon - 18-20 hours;
- onions - 14-24 hours;
- carrots - 18-24 hours;
- cucumber - 15-20 hours;
- pepper - 24-36 hours;
- parsley - 12-24 hours;
- radish - 8-12 hours;
- salad - 10-15 hours;
- celery - 20-24 hours;
- tomato - 15-20 hours;
- dill - 12-20 hours;
- Spinach - 24-30 hours.
Bubbling contributes to a more friendly germination, increases germination, productivity by 13-24%.
Seed warming
Warming up the seed material, especially pumpkin crops (cucumber, zucchini, squash, watermelon, melon, pumpkin), contributes to the emergence of more female flowers, allows you to destroy a viral infection, increases productivity.
Growing seedlings at home, I put the seeds on the heating battery. First I put them on plywood, then I move them to a thick layer of newspapers, gradually reducing their thickness. The temperature rises gradually. Mix the seeds periodically so that they warm evenly. Seeds lie there all day. But, of course, the exposure time depends on the temperature of the heating battery. You can apply air-solar heating of seeds for 5-10 days, periodically mixing them.
Seed hardening
Seed material is hardened 2-3 weeks before sowing. Initially, it is steeped until single seedlings appear (1-3%), then put on ice or placed in a refrigerator at zero temperature for 3-5 days. Hardening increases the resistance of young plants to adverse conditions, increases productivity.
Seed disinfection (dressing)
The presence of pathogenic microflora in the soil, on seeds, inside them necessitates disinfection. This is a must.
But, before proceeding with this operation, carefully read the information on the package. Now often agricultural companies sell seeds that are already processed, pickled. You don’t have to do anything with them. They are ready for seeding.
But if you bought seeds that did not pass through disinfection, or if it was collected, prepared by you, then I advise you to definitely do it. With the exception of this technique, germination is significantly reduced, the risk of damage to seeds and seedlings, and, therefore, future plants by diseases, is increased.
To disinfect the seeds, heat treatment (heating), etching with fungicides is used, they are kept in a solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate). Now potassium permanganate has become very difficult to buy. Pharmacies sell it only with a prescription. And some pharmacies do not have a license to sell potassium permanganate, i.e. You can’t buy potassium permanganate in every pharmacy.
What can replace potassium permanganate during seed disinfection?
You can replace:
- a solution of hydrogen peroxide 2-3%. To disinfect the seeds, the solution is preheated to 38-40 °. In this solution, they stand for 7-8 minutes.
- boric acid. Prepare a solution - 1/2 teaspoon of boric acid (in powder) in 1 cup of water. In this solution, the seed should be soaked for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 25-30 ° C. Then rinse them under running water.
For disinfecting seeds of vegetable crops, you can use such disinfectants as:
- Benlat (against rot and fusarium wilting of tomatoes, 5 g per 1 kg),
- tigam (for the purpose of dressing the seeds of most vegetable crops, 3-4 g per 1 kg),
- tiram (for the purpose of processing cucumber seeds - 4 g per 1 kg, table beets - 4-6 g per 1 kg),
- fentyuram (for the purpose of processing seeds of carrots, onions, cucumber, cabbage, rhubarb, 3 g per 1 kg),
- any others that are freely sold by specialty stores.
For disinfecting containers, seeds and soil surfaces, it is quite possible to use hand sanitizers - they are sold by pharmacies and large supermarkets.
In order to disinfect the seeds, as well as stimulate the growth of seedlings, instead of potassium permanganate, you can successfully use the preparations Fitosporin, Maxim or HOM.
Timely acquisition of seeds, preparing them for sowing, the ability to correctly determine the timing, planting method, sowing rate, seed depth allows you to get friendly seedlings, establish optimal plant density, get a higher crop of vegetable crops.
Seedling lighting
No matter how lighted the room where your seedlings are located, she definitely needs additional light. Indoor lighting is always less intense than sunlight.
Light, regardless of whether it comes from the sun or from artificial sources, consists of different lengths of light waves. In a normal state, our eyes perceive these waves together as white light. Everyone is familiar with the spectrum of colors, when white light is refracted by drops of water - we see a rainbow.
Plants use red and blue light wavelengths. Red is used by plants for photosynthesis, and blue affects their growth. Now garden shops sell special lamps that emit red and blue rays of light. This is not bad, but if their value matters to you, then ordinary fluorescent lamps cope well with the task of additional illumination of plants.
I grow seedlings on the southern windows of the apartment. But I have only two such windows. In addition, not even the southern windows are always brightly lit by the sun - there are cloudy days after all. Space on the windowsill is not enough. During the growing of the cassette, boxes with seedlings are not all placed there. I use chairs, stools, mounted to the window. This seedling of light gets little even in bright sunshine. How do I get out of this situation? Read the article "How to grow seedlings at home."
Seedling Care - Maintenance Temperature
One of the main recommendations for the conditions of seedling maintenance is a nightly decrease in the temperature of the room where you grow it. In addition, the temperature should be reduced not only at night, but also when it is cloudy. That is, the maximum temperature (within the optimal norm for each type of plant) is maintained on a sunny day. In the cloudy - slightly reduced (by 4-5 degrees). And in the dark, the temperature is maintained at the minimum acceptable for this plant. For example, cucumber seedlings for open ground the best temperature on a sunny day is 25-26ºС, cloudy - 18-22ºС, at night - 16-18ºС; for tomatoes, respectively, 20-26ºС, 18-20ºС, 12-16ºС; for early white cabbage - 14-18ºС, 12-16ºС, 8-10ºС.
Each type of plant has its own temperature regime of growth and development. When growing seedlings in a room on the windowsill, it is quite difficult to maintain the optimum temperature for different types of plants. Therefore, if possible, the pots are placed in different places, at night more cold-resistant (for example, cabbage, celery) I transfer to where it is cooler (closer to the balcony door, to the veranda, etc.).
Why are plants recommended to lower air temperature when light energy is reduced?
The process of formation of organic substances by cells with the participation of light energy is called photosynthesis. Using photosynthesis, plants produce carbon and oxygen from the air. That is, plants in the afternoon, when it is light, breathe and at the same time carry out photosynthesis. In the process of respiration, cells spend part of the products formed during photosynthesis. In the dark time (cloudy weather, at night) under natural conditions, the strength of solar energy (light) decreases, photosynthesis slows down or completely stops, the temperature of the environment decreases and, as a result, the intensity of respiration (oxidation) slows down. Therefore, only part of the substance obtained per day is oxidized in the plant, and the rest is used for accumulation.
If, however, the ambient temperature does not decrease in the greenhouse or on the windowsill, the respiration rate does not decrease, but there is an increased consumption of accumulated organic materials (starch, glucose, etc.). Plants weaken, seedlings are frail.
Unfortunately, very often beginner gardeners do not pay due attention to observing the temperature regime when growing seedlings, especially when there is not enough sunlight at night.
Tomatoes - sowing seeds for seedlings - timing
When calculating the time for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings, you need to know the time of the beginning of flowering and ripening of fruits. With optimal soil temperature (24-26 degrees) and sufficient moisture, good tomato seeds germinate on the 4th-5th day. From germination to flowering usually takes 50-60 days.
The first inflorescence is already beginning to grow and develop (this depends on the variety and external conditions) on about 15-20th day after germination, when the second and third leaves appear in the plant.
Flowering begins gradually, from the bottom up from the first inflorescence.
From the beginning of flowering to ripening, 47-60 days pass.
The optimal dive time is the appearance of the 1-2nd true leaf. This usually happens on the 10-14th day after germination.
Errors in sowing seeds and seedlings
The video “Garden and Orchard. Errors in planting seeds and seedlings. "