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The author of the article
Yakov Pavlovich
Professor, Head of the Department of Vegetable Growing
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153
Growing tomato seedlings is a complex and unpredictable process. The sprouts that hatch are often exposed to various diseases, which leads to their death. To get a high yield, you need to know how to properly prepare tomato seeds for planting seedlings. If you adhere to all the recommendations, not only germination will increase, but also the productivity of the plant itself.
Culling or sorting tomato seeds
The best seeds are visible to the naked eye. They differ in weight and size. Large seeds contain more nutrients, so they grow better quality plants that are well adapted to life. For convenience and speed of sorting, the seeds are dipped in a saline solution (200 grams of water - a teaspoon of salt). Those seeds that settle to the bottom are the very first to go for planting. They need to be rinsed with clean water and dried. And those that surfaced are either empty or very small. Most of these small seeds are of poor quality. But it is worth looking for the best among them.
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The harm and benefits of biostimulants
The use of biostimulants is aimed at the rapid awakening of embryos in grains. With their appearance on the market, all gardeners began to massively process any seed material before planting. There are many factory preparations, for example, "Zircon", "Gumat", "Ecopin" and others. Enterprising people immediately found many primitive means. Instead of purchased biostimulants, they began to use the juice of aloe, potatoes, and even the medicine "Mumiyo". However, over time, many vegetable growers have faced the problem of poor productivity of garden crops.
Important! It turned out that biostimulants awaken all weak and diseased seeds to growth. The tomato seedlings that have grown from them begin to hurt, take root poorly, and bring a small harvest.
Now many vegetable growers refuse to use biostimulants. Occasionally, the use of drugs is resorted to if it is necessary to revive highly overdried or long-stored seed material. Why is this needed? Everything is very simple. For example, for some reason, a favorite variety of tomatoes disappeared in the garden. It was not possible to collect the grains, they are not on sale either, and the overdried seeds of the year before last still remain in the storehouse. To revive your favorite tomato variety, you will have to resort to soaking in a biostimulator. After this procedure, without rinsing with water, the tomato grains are dried and immediately sown into the ground.
Disinfection of tomato seeds for seedlings
Disinfection is a prerequisite for preparing tomato seeds for sowing for seedlings, since as a result of this process, all pathogens on the grain shell are destroyed. The process of disinfection of seeds is popularly called dressing. The most common method for disinfecting tomato grains is to immerse them in a jar with a 1% manganese solution. After 30 minutes, the seed coat will turn brown, after which the grains are thoroughly washed under running water.
The second disinfection method is based on immersing tomato seeds in a jar with 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. The liquid should be warmed up to a temperature of + 40 ° C. The grains are disinfected in it for 8 minutes, after which they are washed with clean water.
Heat treatment
Many people ignore this stage, and in vain. Only the seeds of tomatoes grown in the southern regions and hybrids (marked on the F1 package) can not be heat treated. All other tomatoes for growing in the middle lane must be heat treated by any of the existing methods.
By the way. First of all, the heat treatment procedure will protect future plants from fungal diseases, but it will also increase the viability of the sprouts and resistance to climatic changes.
Healthy tomato seedlings
- The first way is the longest. It should be started long before planting, even in winter. It consists in the fact that the seeds in a bag of fine-mesh gauze are suspended from a radiator or near a heater for two months. The main condition is the temperature not lower than + 22 ° С.
- More often, gardeners choose another method - processing in the sun. In this case, you don't even need to hang anything anywhere, the seeds are placed on a sheet of paper on a sunny windowsill, and are there for a week. The material needs to be mixed periodically.
- Those who do not want to wait two months or even one week can use the express method. The seeds are poured onto a baking sheet, which is pre-lined with paper. It takes three hours to warm them up in an oven at a temperature of + 60 ° C, stirring every quarter of an hour.
After heat treatment
Germinating tomato seeds for seedlings
For tomato seeds to sprout faster and harvest early, tomatoes should be germinated prior to planting. To this end, you need to take a plate on which to place a damp cloth or gauze. The plate is placed in a room in which the air temperature is at least 20 degrees. Keep the gauze damp at all times. It should not dry, but also do not let the fabric get wet.
Do you need special preparation for sowing at home?
Important! Sowing dry, unprepared tomato seeds gives germination after about 20 days. This is a relatively long period that gardeners cannot afford.
In addition, it is possible that there is no seed germination at all, since it is often possible to find low-quality seed on store shelves.
That is why it is recommended to check seeds for viability and germination before direct planting. This will not only save you from disappointment, but also significantly reduce the expectation of the first shoots.
Hardening tomato seeds for seedlings
Since the tomato is a heat-loving plant, in order to increase its resistance to negative environmental influences, tomatoes should be hardened. This is done at the very beginning, after the seeds have sprouted.
Hardening is a sharp temperature change. It is arranged after the seeds have hatched. We put the seeds in the refrigerator overnight at a temperature of 2 degrees Celsius, and for the day we transfer them to a room with a temperature of 15-20 degrees. This procedure is repeated at least three times in a row.
Tomatoes, the seeds of which have been hardened, become resistant to temperature extremes, the fruits are more likely to set, and the yield increases by 30%.
In-store purchase
Before going to a specialty store for seed, decide on the variety of tomatoes. This culture is rich in varieties, choose the shape of the fruit you need, taste, ripening time, care features. The information you need is easy to find on the Internet.
Arriving at the store, take a good look at the seed packaging for the expiration date and the integrity of the bag. The shorter the shelf life of the seeds, the earlier the seedlings will appear.... For example, if the shelf life is 1 year, then the tomato will sprout in 4-5 days, if 3 years - in 7-10 days.
It is preferable to give a choice of varieties common in cultivation in your area.
Bubbling tomato seeds for seedlings
Sparging is used in industrial seed treatment. A tube from the compressor is lowered into a container with water and air is supplied. You can add fungicides and a complex of trace elements to the water. With normal soaking, the seeds lie at the bottom of the container, and with bubbling, as a result of constant bubbling of water, the area of influence on the seed increases, which makes it possible to reduce the soaking time from several days to several hours. At home, bubbling is impractical, it is enough to soak the tomato seeds and change the water often, the effect will be about the same.
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More about the soaking procedure
When asked whether it is necessary to soak tomato seeds before planting, an unambiguously positive answer will be given. Soaking tomato seeds is recommended for growth and high yield. If you skip this stage, then the seedlings will come out badly and the bushes will be susceptible to many diseases, as well as pests. The crop will also not please with its quality and quantity. Whether to soak the seeds is everyone's business, but the further result will depend on this stage.
Soaking tomato seeds can significantly reduce the risk of these problems. It is extremely rare for treated seeds to become susceptible to disease.
There are many recipes and ways to soak tomato seeds before planting. How much you can soak tomato seeds depends on the recipe and the ingredients used. What can you dunk the landing base in? Recipes that are popular and effective among agronomists and amateur gardeners.
- You can soak the prepared base in aloe juice. The product is safe, natural and nutritious. Increases plant resistance to disease, stimulates growth at any stage of development. How to soak seeds in aloe leaf juice? Fleshy leaves of aloe are placed first in a cold place. After that, the juice is squeezed out. Can be used neat or mixed with water. A tissue bag containing the contents is dipped in the solution for 24 hours.
- It is useful for seeds to brew in a composition of wood ash. 60 g of ash is dissolved in one liter of water and left for two days to infuse. After two days, the infusion is ready for use. In the infusion for enrichment with mineral components, it is necessary to leave the base for 4 hours.
- Tomato seed treatment can take place in a solution with Epin. This is a plant-based drug that not only stimulates plant growth, but also increases its resistance to various adverse factors (lack of light, cold weather). 5 drops of the preparation are added to warm water (100 ml) and left for about two days. Epin for seedlings is used to stimulate the germination process.
- You can soak tomato seeds in a chicory acid-based mixture. The preparation Zircon is a powerful activator of the growth of seedlings and their roots. It takes about a day to soak the seeds in Zircon.
- Fitosporin can be used to soak the seeds. It is a biological means of protecting grains from diseases. Add about 3 drops of the drug to a glass of water and soak the seeds for three hours. After the procedure, a protective film of beneficial bacteria forms on the seeds. It prevents the penetration of pathogenic bacteria inside.
You can soak tomato seeds in solutions with various ingredients that will positively affect the further development of a cultivated plant: honey, mushrooms, tea, onion husks. The main thing is to observe proportions so that care does not harm future seedlings.
Soil preparation for tomato seedlings
The basis of the soil for self-preparation of the substrate is usually land from the garden. To improve the qualities, various nutritional components are additionally introduced into it. The most effective soil mixtures for growing tomato seedlings include the following compositions:
Sod land in a ratio of 1: 4 with peat + mullein grass (0.25 parts). The second option: peat + wood sawdust (3: 1) + half of the mullein grass. 10 kg of the mixture is combined with 3 kg of coarse sand and mineral fertilizers are applied (superphosphate - 2 g, ammonium nitrate - 10 g, potassium chloride - 1 g).
Peat + humus + sod land + rotted sawdust. All in equal proportions. 10 kg of the mixture is mixed with wood ash (1.5 tbsp.), Superphosphate (3 tbsp. L.), Potassium sulfate (1 tbsp. L.), Urea (1 tbsp. L.).
Peat, soil from the garden, coarse sand in equal parts. The mixture is enriched with mineral fertilizers (superphosphate (30 g), potassium sulfate (20 g), urea (10 g)), dissolved in 10 liters of water.
All potting mixes use peat. And since this component is characterized by high acidity, it is recommended to add a little chalk (no more than 50 g) to 10 kg of soil for seedlings. You can not take peat at all, replacing it with compost or humus soil.
Care of tomato seedlings
The first and most important thing is to transfer the tomatoes to the lightest window sill of the apartment or a table near the lighted window. At the same time, there should be no gaps in the frame! Draft can kill tender shoots by cooling the soil in containers with seedlings to extremely low temperatures. This is especially fraught if the ground is too moist. Hence the following rule follows.
Do not pour young tomato seedlings! Even if the surface of the ground looks dry, it may still be moist at depth. Sometimes it happens that on a clear sunny day, tomato seedlings begin to wither, and a caring, but, as a rule, inexperienced gardener generously waters the plants with water. This is a mistake, since the sun will hide in a couple of hours, and the seedlings will remain overnight in wet, cold soil.
Germination test
The check is carried out using a test germination of tomato seed. To do this, take a plate or wide plastic dishes with low sides, put several layers of gauze in it, moisten it and spread the seed evenly over the entire surface, cover them with another layer of wet gauze on top.
In this case, they will constantly be in humid conditions, and will not dry out. It is necessary to control that the gauze is constantly damp. But it should not be allowed that the tomato grains are flooded with water, without air access, they will begin to rot, mold will develop on them, and they will die. At this time, you need to maintain the temperature within 22-25 ℃.
It is great if you cover the dishes with tomatoes with foil, making small holes necessary for ventilation. In this case, you will create an optimal microclimate for awakening the embryos, and the water will evaporate less and you will not have to frequently check their condition.
Top dressing of tomato seedlings
The first feeding with organic fertilizers will be needed only 2-3 weeks after the first shoots. It can be carried out both with purchased preparations, such as vermicompost, and natural fertilizers from grass or manure. In the future, you need to feed young plants every 2 weeks.
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How to properly water tomato seedlings
It is preferable to water the seedlings with settled or filtered water. You can also use melt water if you are not tormented by doubts about its quality, harmlessness of the chemical composition. Each drawer, pot must have Drainage holes to drain off excess water.
The frequency of watering depends on external factors (sunny or cloudy weather), the composition of the soil and the own needs of specific plants. Therefore, it is impossible to say for sure how often you need to water the seedlings - usually the number of waterings ranges from several times a day to once a week. Vegetables that like moist air (for example, cucumbers) are best watered in the evening, and those that prefer drier air (for example, bell peppers, tomatoes) - in the morning.
