Growing tomato seedlings at home. Adviсe

At home, it is better to sow tomatoes for seedlings in more late dates than in professional greenhouses. Not all books and reference books take into account the specifics of growing tomato seedlings at home, so be careful!

In the Moscow region, experienced gardeners follow the approximate sowing dates:

early tomatoes for open ground - early April;
early tomatoes for planting in the ground under film covers - the second half of March;
tall tomatoes for greenhouses - late March;
low-growing tomatoes for greenhouses - early to mid-April.

It is better to sow within these times, even if the book or article you read recommends otherwise. Perhaps it was copied from recommendations for professional farmers who grow seedlings in heated greenhouses. These methods do not suit us. Conditions in greenhouses differ from those in a residential building, where seedlings are usually grown for personal use. The house is dark and hot, even on the window, and the tomato seedlings will “suffer” for a long time if they are sown too early. Therefore, it is better to be a little late than to hurry.

How to prepare tomato seeds for sowing

There are many ways to prepare tomato seeds for sowing: soaking, germination, dressing and much more. There is no significant difference between them. Experience has shown: if a tomato variety does not produce strong shoots from dry, untreated seeds, its viability and productivity are compromised. big question. We do not fight for weak varieties and hybrids, but buy several varieties of tomatoes with the necessary characteristics to be on the safe side.

No matter what the regulars of Internet forums say, the leading Russian suppliers of tomato seeds keep their mark. U Search, Gavrisha, Ilyinichny, Russian Vegetable Garden, SeDeka and other well-known brands of seeds usually excellent quality. In one case out of 8-10 there are “punctures”, but this is normal. Seeds are a living commodity; they can be capricious or simply not suit specific growing conditions.

There is no need to treat purchased seeds against pathogens - they are already treated. It makes sense to treat the seeds of varietal tomatoes collected in own garden. Etch in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes, wrapped in cotton pads:

After soaking in potassium permanganate, rinse the tomato seeds well in several waters before sowing.

Ideal soil for sowing tomato seeds: how to make it yourself

Tomato seedlings are undemanding to soil - relatively resistant to drought, not gluttonous, and tolerate high acidity. It grows well in soil prepared with your own hands (with the addition of loam, humus and compost). And also in purchased peat soil- unless it is a bona fide product.

It is believed that soil prepared with one’s own hands needs to be steamed, but purchased soil does not need to be steamed. This is correct, but only on condition that you perfectly follow the technology for growing tomato seedlings: temperature, lighting, feeding. In fact, this condition is almost impossible to fulfill: seedlings at home are highly susceptible to stress and vulnerable even to fairly harmless fungi. Therefore, it is better to steam all soil, regardless of origin. It won't get any worse.

Technology for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings

It is convenient to sow large tomato seeds individually using tweezers. Place them on compacted soil with tweezers, every 1 cm. Mark each furrow with a tag with the name of the variety. Sprinkle a 0.5-1 cm layer of soil on top, water and cover the crops with film. Keep the bowl at a temperature of +20°C. As soon as the shoots appear, place it on the windowsill and remove the film.

There is no need to feed tomato seedlings before picking, just water them. Tomatoes peak in the phase of 2 true leaves.

It's time to pick tomatoes.

Dive the tomatoes one at a time into individual pots, deepening them almost to the cotyledon leaves. Add a tablespoon of complete mineral fertilizer per 5 liters of mixture or 3 tablespoons to the soil for picking.

2 weeks after picking, feed the seedlings

Guarantee bountiful harvest tomatoes are seedlings that were strong and healthy. Planting tomatoes for seedlings is not very difficult, but novice gardeners make mistakes when planting seeds and growing seedlings. Which, in turn, will affect the fruits of an adult plant. There are no trifles in such matters!

Let's take a closer look at all the stages of growing tomatoes for seedlings from seeds. It is important to study all the stages, starting with calculating the sowing date, and before planting the bushes in boxes (if the tomatoes will be grown on a balcony or in a greenhouse) or open ground(if you plan to grow tomatoes in open ground).

After 30 minutes, the seed coat will turn brown. Then the seeds need to be removed from the solution and washed under water.

After this, they prepare a solution: water (1 l) + boric acid powder (1 g). The tomato seeds should remain in this solution for 24 hours for some time.

Attention! Tap water is not suitable for these purposes! Chlorine, even in small doses, can harm fetuses.

3.The next step is hardening the seeds. It is this process that causes a lot of disagreement among gardeners.

4.The last step is to germinate the seeds. You need to wet gauze or cotton cloth and wrap tomato seeds in it. Place on a flat surface (such as a tray) and place in a warm place.

Attention! Cannot be placed on a battery!

After 4 days, the tomato seeds will begin to germinate. By day 5, the container required for planting and the soil for growing seedlings should be prepared.

How to plant tomato seeds for seedlings

Tomato seedlings are planted in containers that the gardener has on hand. Some are planted in boxes, others in plastic cups. They also use for these purposes: cut plastic containers, cassettes from the store, etc.

It is imperative to disinfect the container from the inside using a strong manganese solution.

Using a weak solution of potassium permanganate, you will also need to disinfect the filled substrate. It is first compacted. After this, you need to water the soil and loosen it.

How to grow seedlings in tablets

If you use peat plates, then you will not need to pick tomato seedlings, because this procedure is very painful for them. The seeds are under stress.

To grow tomato seedlings, tablets with a diameter of 4 cm are suitable. They need to be filled with water in advance so that they swell (the water should be warm). As soon as the excess water has drained, you need to arrange it in cells. They must be larger in diameter than the plates. Then they need to be placed in a transparent container, no less than 10 cm high.

You can sow 2-4 seeds in one such plate. If the gardener is confident in the high quality of the material for sowing, he can (at his own peril and risk) sow 1 seed. There is a “plus” here - you won’t have to deal with thinning the seedlings.

A depression of 1 to 1.5 cm is made in the middle of each peat plate. A tomato seed is placed there. Sprinkle with earth. Vermiculite can be used. It is advisable to cover the top with either glass, a translucent lid, or cellophane.

Placed in the place where they were created for germinating seeds, all necessary conditions. After the young plants emerge, the cover can be removed.

Features of growing tomato seedlings in cassettes

Most gardeners use cassettes with a tray to grow tomato seedlings. What are the “advantages” of this?
In this case, the procedure is easier, since the “bottom watering” method is used when a tray is used.

Cassettes can be used more than once. They are made of polystyrene High Quality. They are easy to wash and clean.
Cassettes with seedlings will not take up much space. On one windowsill, all the seedlings intended for planting in open ground can easily fit.

With this growing method, tomato seedlings will not have stress, since there is no need for picking, and this procedure, in most cases, harms the roots of the seedlings.

Cassettes sold in the following sizes:

180 x 135 x 60 mm for 4 cells. Each of them has the following size: 80 x 60 mm, and a volume of 240 ml.

Some people buy a cassette of the same size so that there are more cells, but smaller ones. For example, so that the cells are 60x55 mm and their volume is 155 ml.

The stores have cassettes for 9 and 12 plants. Experienced gardeners prefer a cassette with large cells. It is better to choose the cassette that is in the box for growing young seedlings.

In such a cassette, the tray is made of plastic dark color, and the lid is translucent. It is the lid that prevents moisture from evaporating, creating a greenhouse effect, and light passes through it well.

How to grow tomato seedlings using cassettes? When choosing cassettes as a container, certain nuances must be taken into account.

Since the cells are small in volume, the soil in them quickly becomes dry and immediately begins to need nutrients.

That is why experts advise using agroperlite + high-moor peat as a substrate, in a ratio of 1:3. It is necessary to deoxidize the peat in advance. To do this, ten buckets of peat are mixed with chalk (1000g), ammonium nitrate (50g), magnesium sulfate (30g), potassium nitrate (100g), superphosphate (150g).

Do not forget! Disinfect the resulting soil mixture before adding fertilizers to it.

If the cassettes are disposable, then there is no need to sterilize them. If you use cassettes that have already been used, then disinfection is necessary.

After the disinfection procedure, you need to place a cassette on a pallet and pour wet soil mixture into the cells. Compact it. Make holes. Their depth should be from 1 to 1.5 cm. Place the pre-processed seeds in them. Cover with soil.

The easiest way is to use peat discs to grow seedlings. They must first swell in water. After which they must be arranged into cells. After this, just as in the previous case, the seeds are sown.

Tomato seedlings in a greenhouse

Seedlings should be watered no more than once every 7 days. It is permissible to water more often than after 3 or 4 days, when 5 leaves have already appeared on the plants.

If the seeds were planted in a substrate purchased in a store, you do not need to fertilize them. As a rule, fertilizers containing all the necessary components are applied 2 times.

The first feeding should be done after 10 days. The second is carried out after 14 days. They use both a solution that is made with their own hands and complex products containing microelements for growth.

How to pick tomato seedlings

As soon as two true leaves appear on the plant, the seedlings should be watered abundantly. After this, it must be dumped into previously prepared containers. These are pots or plastic cups. Cover vegetables with soil for cotyledon leaves.

Many people are interested in learning about the rules for picking after germination. Containers that contained fermented milk products are not suitable for planting tomatoes. The fact is that they very quickly develop lactic acid bacteria - pests of the root system.

As soon as the transplanting of the seedlings is completed, it is allowed to move it from the illuminated place. After 3-4 days you can put the plant back in its place.

Planting seedlings in open ground

First, the soil is inspected to determine the degree of readiness of the seedlings for planting. The finished seedlings should have a strong stem. Its height should be 30 cm, no more. There should be 6 or 7 leaves. The seedlings should have short internodes and a flower cluster.

About 7 days before the upcoming process, hardening is carried out. To do this, you need to take the grown tomato seedlings into a cool room for 5-7 hours. This could be a balcony or a street. Tomatoes should be planted only when there is no risk of night frosts.

Usually, suitable dates are last days May, and the first days of June. We must take into account the region and climate. Before planting in open soil, you need to form beds. They are made keeping a distance of 35 to 45 cm in each row.

Innovative plant growth stimulator!

Increases seed germination by 50% in just one application. Customer reviews: Svetlana, 52 years old. Simply incredible fertilizer. We heard a lot about it, but when we tried it, we surprised ourselves and our neighbors. The tomato bushes grew from 90 to 140 tomatoes. There is no need to talk about zucchini and cucumbers: the harvest was collected in wheelbarrows. We have been dachaing all our lives, and we have never had such a harvest....

Before planting, 1.5 hours before planting, the plant is watered abundantly. This will make it possible to save root system, in the process of transplantation. The lump of earth will not have time to crumble.

The seedlings must be placed vertically in the holes. Then you need to sprinkle with soil up to the cotyledon leaves. After this, the soil should be compressed and watered abundantly.

Near the recesses you need to dig pegs, the height of which is 50 cm (no less). This is necessary so that after 14 days the crop can be tied up. If overgrown seedlings are planted, they are planted lying down and the holes are made deeper.

Is it worth it to buy tomato seedlings?

If a gardener, due to certain circumstances, did not have time to grow tomato seedlings, he will need to buy them. It makes sense for him to go to a nursery with a good reputation.

There the risk of deception is minimized. You don’t have to worry about purchasing the wrong variety. You can also consult there about the nuances of growing seedlings.

They can deceive you in the market and sell low-quality goods, then grow healthy and strong seedlings There won't be any tomatoes. If, nevertheless, you have to buy on the market, then you need to adhere to the following recommendations:

It is necessary to give preference to seedlings whose age is from 45 to 60 days. They should be 30 cm in height, no less. If the seedlings low-growing varieties, then it should have from 6 to 8 leaves, if tall - from 11 to 12 leaves.
The stem of the seedlings should be strong and as thick as a pencil. The color of the leaves should be bright green. The roots must be fully formed and free from mechanical damage.
It is necessary to examine the leaves, especially their inner side. It is necessary that there are no pests or their eggs there. If the leaves of grown seedlings look damaged or wrinkled, this may be a sign of infectious disease.
The stems of seedlings also deserve attention. You cannot buy goods if: they have black or brown spots, at least one plant shows signs of disease, pests or signs of their vital activity are visible.
In the case when the seedlings are externally healthy, but the edges of the green leaves turn down, this is a signal: the seedlings were grown at a fast pace, and there is a lot of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. These tomato seedlings are also not worth buying.
Fresh healthy seedlings are usually sold in boxes with soil.

It doesn’t matter what kind of tomato seedlings a person buys at the market, seedlings grown at home - the best option.

Diseases of tomato seedlings and their treatment

Tomato seedlings turn yellow

This phenomenon may have different reasons. The leaves take on a yellow tint because the room is cold, or there is a lack of soil in the box, or there is poor lighting. It happens that during the transplantation process the roots formed a dense lump. Then the seedling cannot eat normally.

It happens that the leaves turn yellow after the transplantation process, or because the roots were injured. Even if just a little. Seedlings may turn yellow due to lack of nutrients in the soil. Perhaps it needs nitrogen, or maybe it needs other elements. Yellowness may also appear due to spotting or black legs.

Tomato seedlings are rotting

Often, the fact is that the seedlings rot due to excessive watering of the soil. Especially in cases where there is no drainage. You should not allow watering rules to be violated.

If a rotting process is detected, it is necessary to eliminate diseased plants, loosen the soil, and sprinkle wood ash on top. The most important thing is to start watering correctly. Seedlings begin to rot due to diseases.

On a note! To make it easier to remove or separate diseased plants, it is advisable to grow them using separate containers: cups, cassettes, pots. And we need to give up boxes.

Diseases of tomato seedlings

Blackleg, brown and white spot, and black bacterial spot are considered diseases that most often affect tomatoes. Tomatoes also often suffer from late blight, bacterial cancer, and mosaic.

What is blackleg?

This - fungal disease. It is transmitted through the soil. Arises due to high temperature air, and high humidity.

If the plant is affected by this disease, the base of the stem will first darken and then turn black. A constriction appears on it. As a result, the seedling leans towards the ground, and the root system begins to rot.

How to help the plant? It is necessary to add wood ash to the soil with tomato seedlings. ABOUT preventive measures, in the process of growing, cannot be forgotten.

Before sowing tomato seeds, the soil mixture must be disinfected and the soil moisture monitored. Plants that are affected by the disease must be eliminated.

White leaf spot

Forget about blood pressure problems forever!

Most modern medications for hypertension do not cure, but only temporarily reduce high pressure. This is not bad, but patients are forced to take drugs for the rest of their lives, exposing their health to stress and danger. To remedy the situation, a drug was developed that treats the disease, not the symptoms.

How is it defined? A dark border appears on the lower leaves, and dirty white spots with black dots appear on them.

Then the leaves will begin to darken, dry out, and fall off. The infection comes from contaminated soil. As soon as the first signs of the disease appear, all affected seedlings are removed.

Treatment and prevention: The soil is watered with a solution of manganese and sprinkled with wood ash. The remaining healthy specimens are treated with Bordeaux mixture or a fungicide containing copper.

How to identify brown spot

On the upper side of the leaves you can see the appearance of yellowish spots, and lower leaves covered with an olive-tinged coating. As the plant grows, the spots will darken and spread across the entire leaf. The raid will acquire dark brown color. Diseased leaves will dry out and fall off.

The infection is removed by treating the seedlings with a fungicidal solution. Plants affected by the disease must be removed.

Late blight

Another name for this disease is late blight. This is a fungus. The method of transmission is through contaminated soil and airborne droplets.

Seedlings that suffer from a lack of substances such as potassium, iodine, manganese, and copper become ill with this disease. You can get rid of this problem by using a fungicidal solution.

But you will have to repeat the processing, since it may not work the first time.

How to recognize black bacterial spot

Its causes are in unsterile soil or seeds. Black spots appear on the ground organs of the plant. As soon as the disease is detected, the affected seedlings are urgently disposed of.

The soil is disinfected with a manganese solution, and wood ash is sprinkled on top. It is necessary to treat the seedlings with a fungicide that contains copper.

What is bacterial cancer?

This disease “hits” the vascular system of plants. As a result, they wither. It is recognized by the appearance of round spots, the center of which gradually darkens. It becomes like the eye of a pizza.

As soon as the disease is discovered, the affected specimens are destroyed. The remaining seedlings need to be treated with a fungicide.

Streak (streakness)

A flawless lawn at your dacha all summer long!

Nadezhda Nikolaevna, 49 years old. I have been planting grass near my house for many years. Therefore, we even have experience in this area. But my lawn has never looked as gorgeous as after using Aquagrazz! Like heaven and earth. The lawn is lush and dark green even in the heat. Requires minimal watering.

The cause of the disease is a virus. This means that there is no cure for this disease. The virus passes from infected specimens to healthy ones. If the seedlings are sick, streaks, stripes, and dots of a brownish-red hue appear on them. The leaves gradually die. The petioles become fragile.

Mosaic

The cause is a virus. The disease affects fruits and all plants in general. Often, mosaic disease is transmitted through unsterile seeds.

This means that it is very important not to ignore the process of treating seeds in a manganese (1%) solution.

The disease can be diagnosed by pale spots on sheet plates and fruits. The leaf can change its shape, the ovary stops. The plant begins to turn yellow and dry out. There is no point in treating mosaic. Sick tomatoes from the garden urgently need to be removed and then burned.

For preventive purposes, seedlings should be watered with a manganese solution (1%). The procedure is carried out twice a day. After 21 days, repeat.

Effective method– spray the seedlings using low-fat milk. You need to add 1 tsp to it. urea per 1 liter of milk. Every 10 days, it is necessary to process tomatoes.

Video: Sowing tomatoes for seedlings in a “snail”. Stratification of tomato seeds by freezing

Baranova Oksana, especially for

When fully copying or partially using the material, an active link to the site is required!

Growing strong and stocky tomato seedlings yourself is not difficult. You just need to fulfill 9 conditions.

Many gardeners, especially beginners, complain that the seedlings are stretched, overgrown, have a pale appearance, and are affected by diseases and pests. Avoiding these problems is easy.

Condition one – quality seeds

Your future harvest depends on how responsibly you approach the choice of seeds. Take the time to research all the seed available on the market. Read reviews about seed manufacturers on the Internet, consult with neighbors and friends.

Find out the characteristics of the varieties, their requirements for growing conditions and disease resistance. And only after that, go to the store for the most the best seeds tomatoes.

Condition two – correct soil

Experienced gardeners begin preparing the soil for growing tomato seedlings about a week before sowing the seeds. Regardless of what the seedlings will grow in - purchased soil or garden soil - the soil must be disinfected before sowing (spill with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate, steamed in a water bath or heated in the oven).

If you grow tomato seedlings in soil prepared from your own garden soil (necessarily disinfected!), the plants will experience less stress when planted on permanent place, therefore they will take root faster and easier than those that “spent their childhood” in a purchased substrate.

For those who prefer prepare the soil yourself, we offer several options for soil mixtures ideal for growing tomato seedlings:

Peat (4 parts), turf land(1 part), mullein (0.25 parts). For every 10 liters of soil mixture add 3 liters river sand, 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 2-3 g of superphosphate and 1-1.5 g of potassium chloride.
Peat (3 parts), steamed sawdust (1 part), mullein (0.5 parts). For every 10 liters of the mixture add 3 liters of river sand, 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 2-3 g of superphosphate and 1-1.5 g of potassium chloride.
Humus (1 part), peat (1 part), turf soil (1 part). For every 10 liters of mixture add 1.5 tbsp. ash, 3 tbsp. superphosphate, 1 tbsp. potassium sulfate and 1 tsp. urea.

If you are going use purchased soil, consider some important points:

the main component of such soil (especially universal soil for seedlings) is peat, which is highly acidic and poorly permeable to water;
to make purchased soil suitable for growing seedlings, mix it with the same amount of disinfected garden soil, substrate for indoor plants or soil from flowerpots with missing flowers;
to reduce acidity add dolomite flour or chalk at the rate of 1-2 tbsp. per 10 liters of substrate.

For the last two years I have been preparing the soil myself: garden soil + humus + peat, adding ash and a little complex fertilizer. It sits in bags on the street, freezing. Before sowing, I bring it into the house. I noticed that plants hardly notice being transplanted to a permanent place if the seedling soil differs little from the permanent one. I grew seedlings in purchased soil for one year, took almost a month to take root, and the harvest was not great. (Toma Drobova, Latvia)

Condition three - preparing seeds for sowing

To increase the germination of tomato seeds, before sowing they should be kept in a solution of Epin, Heteroauxin, Zircon, Bud and another growth stimulant (according to the instructions). Or you can use improvised means - aloe juice or honey water (1 teaspoon of honey per glass of water), pickling time - 30 minutes.

Then it is recommended to germinate the seeds. To do this, you will need a piece of cloth, a cotton pad, gauze or a paper napkin. Moisten the material with water, sprinkle tomato seeds of the same variety on one half of it, cover with the free part, place in plastic bag and place in a warm place.

Make sure that the material does not dry out. When the tomato seeds sprout, start sowing. Place a 1-1.5 cm layer of drainage (sand, fine gravel, expanded clay) at the bottom of the seed container, and a 4-5 cm layer of soil on top. Lightly tamp it down and pour water on it.

At a distance of 3 cm from each other, make grooves 1-1.5 cm deep and sow tomato seeds in them. Sprinkle with soil, cover the containers with cellophane or glass and transfer to a warm (23-25°C) place.

I dilute aloe juice and soak the seeds until they germinate. They do not protect against diseases, but the seeds germinate much faster. (Larisa Sidorova, Republic of Mordovia)

Condition four - optimal temperature

For a more friendly emergence of seedlings, crops should be kept at a temperature of 23-25°C. But as soon as the first shoots appear, the containers should be immediately moved to a colder place (with a temperature of 12-16°C during the day and 10-12°C at night). They should stay there for 6-7 days. If this condition is not met, the tomato seedlings will become very elongated. The plants are then returned to warm room(22-24°C during the day and 20-22°C at night).

Condition five - proper watering

Until the seedlings grow and become stronger, they can only be watered with a spray bottle. Subsequently, for these purposes, you can use an ordinary watering can for indoor flowers.

The principle of watering tomato seedlings is simple: do not allow the substrate to dry out or become waterlogged. Water exclusively with settled water, the temperature of which is not lower than 22°C.

Tomato seedlings should never be watered. cold water from the tap. This is fraught with the development of dangerous diseases, such as blackleg And root rot.

Condition six - timely dive

Picking tomato seedlings begins as soon as the plants have the first pair of true leaves (about 12-18 days after emergence).

They do it as follows. First, the plants are watered well, and then carefully dug out of the box one by one using a teaspoon or a picking peg. The central root is shortened by about 1/3 and the plants are planted in separate containers or again in a box according to the 6x6 cm pattern.

Condition seven - mandatory feeding

It is impossible to grow strong and healthy tomato seedlings without fertilizing. The main thing in this matter is to do everything on time.

First time The seedlings are fed after diving (the plants must take root and begin to grow). To do this, 8-12 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate and 7-10 g of potassium salt are diluted in 10 liters of water.

After 8-10 days, tomato seedlings are fed second time. For this purpose, use either fermented chicken manure (1:10-12) with the addition of superphosphate (60 g per 10 l of solution), or a mixture mineral fertilizers– 15-18 g of ammonium nitrate, 70-80 g of superphosphate and 20-25 g of potassium chloride per 10 liters of water.

Third feeding carried out a few days before planting in the ground. 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate and 60 g of potassium chloride are dissolved in 10 liters of water.

Tomato seedlings are fertilized after the next watering. The same amount of nutrient solution is used per plant as water for irrigation. If fertilizer gets on the leaves, they are immediately washed with clean water.

Condition eight - good lighting

The optimal place for placing seedlings in an apartment is the window sills of southern or southwestern windows. If there are none, you will have to resort to tricks - place containers with seedlings further from each other so that the plants do not compete for light, or use additional light sources - reflectors, fluorescent lamps, etc.

Otherwise, the plants will become very elongated and will have a pale color.

Condition nine - hardening before planting

Hardening is mandatory agrotechnical technique when growing tomato seedlings. This procedure allows plants to adapt to differences in day and night temperatures, bright sun, wind and will reduce the stress they experience when changing their “place of residence.”

They begin to harden tomato seedlings a few days before planting in a permanent place. First, open the window window on which the seedlings are standing for 1-2 hours. Gradually this time is increased to 6-8 hours. Then the containers with seedlings are taken outside for a while so that the plants get used to the open air.

Only after undergoing the hardening procedure can tomato seedlings be considered ready for planting in a permanent place. At this point, the plants should have 8-10 true leaves and a height of 25-35 cm.

Follow the rules described above to grow high-quality tomato seedlings that can produce a good harvest.

Growing tomato seedlings at home allows you to obtain strong and hardened plants that are resistant to climatic changes and diseases.

But in order to get a good harvest, you need to know the procedure for processing and planting seeds and the rules for caring for tomatoes.

Guarantee good harvest tomatoes are healthy and hardened seedlings. To get it, you need to study in detail the stages of cultivation, starting with preparation seed material and ending with planting young plants in the beds.

Timing for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings

Tomato seeds begin to be sown 7 - 8 weeks before planting. When grown plants are transplanted into beds, greenhouses, greenhouses or balcony boxes.

The first seedlings appear on average after 5 - 7 days (black earth period).

To prevent the growth of adult plants from slowing down, which will subsequently reduce the yield of the bushes, seedlings should not be kept on window sills.

To do this, you need to focus on the approximate date of the end of the last spring frosts in your area. Counting 50 - 60 days from it, you can easily plan the optimal date for planting the seeds.

Pre-treatment and germination of seeds

Before growing tomato seedlings at home, a stratification procedure is carried out. This is done so that the planting material has good germination, more than 80%.

Before this, it is necessary to carry out disinfection so that the seedlings do not get sick. These procedures are aimed at strengthening the plant and its development in the future, and therefore can affect the quantity and quality of the harvest.

Disinfection

No purchased seeds required additional training Before sowing, producers themselves carry out their disinfection. If the material is collected manually, pathogens (fungi, viruses and bacteria) should be removed.

Soak tomato seeds in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate or ash solution (1 tsp per 1 liter of water).

You can use specialized preparations for treatment: “Bud”, “Drops”, “Effecton” (they should be dissolved in water according to the instructions on the package). It is necessary to soak for at least a day at room temperature and in cotton bags, if available.

After finishing the soaking, place the still wet seed for hardening in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days.

Tomato seed stratification

Preparation of planting material also includes the germination stage.

Take a flat container.

Line with 2 - 3 layers of gauze or fabric.

Place the seeds in one layer.

Cover with the same layer of fabric and pour warm water(40 - 45 0 C), so that the fabric is damp, but the liquid does not stand on the surface.

Store in a warm place (temperature not lower than 23 0 C).

Tomato seeds will germinate in 2 - 3 days. During stratification, you need to check the seed material, since seeds with long roots are often damaged during planting.

Those whose seedlings have reached a length of 3 - 4 mm can be sown in a prepared container with soil.

Rules for sowing tomatoes for seedlings

Before planting seeds, prepare containers.

Suitable for tomato seedlings:

small boxes;
peat pots;
cassettes made of a mixture of sawdust and peat.

The container for tomato seedlings must be filled with a damp earthen mixture and grooves 1 cm deep must be made in it, maintaining a distance between rows of 3 - 5 cm. The seeds are placed at intervals of approximately 2 cm from each other, and sprinkled with soil on top.

To provide tomatoes with a suitable microclimate and consistently high humidity, containers with seed material are covered with glass or transparent film(you can use mini-greenhouses on the balcony).

The ideal temperature for keeping crops is 25 - 30 0 C, so it is better to place seedling containers near the battery.

As the earthen clod dries out, spraying should be carried out, and if it becomes waterlogged, the film should be opened to dry the soil and prevent mold from appearing on it.

Following these simple rules, the first shoots of tomatoes can be seen 3 - 4 days after sowing.

Growing tomato seedlings at home

In order for the seedlings not to die, but to grow into strong bushes prepared for replanting, they need to be provided with proper care.

Humidity and watering

Dry air is contraindicated for young tomato seedlings, so they must be kept in sufficient high humidity. It will be possible to remove the film from the cassettes or pots a couple of weeks after the emergence of seedlings, but this should not be done suddenly.

The improvised greenhouse should be opened slightly every day, allowing the seedlings to get used to the new conditions.

You need to water growing tomato seedlings sparingly based on the condition of the soil, pouring water carefully under the stem of the plants. Her upper layer should not dry out - there is still an undeveloped root system there.

Fertilizer application

Tomato seedlings can begin to be fed approximately 2 - 3 weeks from the moment the first shoots appear. Fertilizers should be applied once every 10 days, using natural organic matter: rotted manure or fermented grass.

Judging by the reviews experienced gardeners, at home it is most convenient to use purchased fertilizers prepared on the basis of vermicompost, bird droppings, and humic acids.

For young tomato seedlings, it is enough to apply only half the dose recommended by the manufacturer in the instructions for a particular preparation.

Ventilation

For good development Sents need Fresh air. When the temperature outside reaches 15 - 20 0 C, open the balcony windows or take the tomatoes outside.

For the first time, five minutes is enough for air hardening. Then the ventilation time can be increased daily by 5 minutes.

Lighting

It is impossible to grow hardy and strong seedlings without good lighting. With the appearance of the first shoots, you need to prepare a place on a well-lit windowsill.

Tomatoes sown in late February - early March will inevitably experience a lack of sun. It is advisable to illuminate under a fluorescent or phytolamp. The duration of daylight should be at least 16 hours.

Picking and planting in open ground

You can start picking tomatoes when the plant is growing. A seedling is called an adult after it has two leaves. 1 - 2 days before picking into separate containers, you need to stop feeding, limiting yourself to regular watering.

Tomato picking procedure

For seedlings, you will need to select a container of suitable size (0.5 liter volume). Smaller containers are not recommended, as you will have to do another transplant before planting in the ground.

You can pick tomatoes one or two plants at a time, deepening them into the soil up to the cotyledon leaves.

The first option is preferable, since this way you are guaranteed to get healthy tomatoes with a well-developed root system. When picking, you need to add a complex compound to the soil. mineral fertilizing(nitroammophoska).

Features of seedlings of tall varieties

If you decide to plant tomatoes in pots in pairs, after the seedlings grow to 10 - 15 cm in length, they will need to be tightly tied together.

After growing together (and this almost always happens), you need to carefully pinch the top of the weaker plant to form one bush with a reliable stem.

This method works best for tall tomato varieties, so you'll get a larger harvest.

Transplanting tomato seedlings into open ground and greenhouses

Plants to be transplanted should have a fairly thick stem, 1 - 2 flower clusters, as well as 5 - 7 leaves.

1 - 2 weeks before planting tomatoes in the beds, tomatoes need to be hardened by gradually lowering the temperature to 15 degrees Celsius and periodic ventilation.

A day before transplanting into open ground, boxes of tomatoes can be left outside so that they have time to change their physiological properties and get used to new, harsher climatic conditions.

It is better to transplant tomato seedlings into open ground in cloudy and windless weather, choosing a cool day. For transplantation, prepare holes 10 cm deep; the soil in them is pre-moistened. Superphosphate is added to the irrigation water at the rate of a teaspoon per hole.

After 10 days, you must remember to add a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, adding nitroammophoska to it (half a teaspoon per liter). The same procedure can be repeated every two weeks to prevent the tomatoes from getting sick.

To place seedlings in the ground, you need to deepen their central stem by 2 - 3 cm. From it, soon after transplantation, adventitious roots are formed, which will allow the root system to become more resilient and powerful.

Bottom line

Growing tomato seedlings at home is not difficult if you put into practice the tips and recommendations presented in the material.

By preparing planting material, you can always be sure of its quality and environmental friendliness, as well as the varieties of tomatoes and their taste characteristics.

After they have been correctly selected and planted in compliance with all the rules, you need to think through all the aspects of growing seedlings before planting them in a permanent place. Tomato seedlings should be healthy and beautiful.

Tomatoes are so popular and beloved today that they grow in literally every garden. And gardening in general is not an activity for the lazy. Tomato is a capricious and labor-intensive crop. It does not grow like a weed and requires at least minimal care.

It’s snowy and cold outside, but the planted seeds are already sprouting on the window or on the table next to the window, in common containers. Let’s say right away that there are gardeners who plant one or two seeds at a time in an individual container - and they also have the first tomato sprouts.

You need to be careful and not miss the moment of germination, so that when the first shoots appear, immediately remove the film or glass that covered the containers, boxes, and containers.

If this is not done, then the delicate, fragile plant, driven by the heat, will rush upward in search of light and in 2-3 hours will spend almost its entire reserve of strength on this jerk. As a result, the leaves will weaken and a thin, long, thin stem will form. Nothing good will grow from such a seedling.

Tomato seedlings sense spring and that summer is just around the corner. Before our eyes, we see the first loops of newly hatched tomatoes turning into healthy, beautiful and strong plants. And you definitely need to take care of this.

So, the first greenery has appeared in our container, which means we need to immediately move it to a bright place. Such a place should not be hot; during the day it should be 15 degrees, at night up to 11 degrees.

Such a place for the night can be found on the floor of front door, either at the balcony door, or on a glazed and insulated balcony. If you do not reduce the temperature, the plants will quickly begin to stretch and may very likely develop blackleg.

After 4-5 days, when the subcotyledon of the seedling is sufficiently strong, it can be placed in a bright and warm window where there is no cold draft. After all, it is the draft at night that cools the soil in the container to low temperatures. This is especially dangerous when the ground is not just wet, but too wet.

Important rules when working with seedlings

Good tomato seedlings require quality seeds. If it is not possible to choose the seeds for planting yourself, then it is better to buy them in specialized stores. On bags with planting material The variety, number of seeds and expiration date must be indicated.
Do not sow seeds in a dense soil mixture whose origin is unknown. It is better to use a mixture prepared in the fall.
Do not water the seeds after they are sown in the soil.
Do not thicken the seed sowing, otherwise the plants will become elongated, long and weak, and may also be affected by blackleg.
Do not forget that seedlings need to maintain temperature conditions.
Do not use containers that do not have drainage holes for sowing.
Do not place the seedlings far from the light, as a lack of lighting leads to the elongation of the seedlings and deteriorates their quality.
Do not be late with picking seedlings.

How to properly water sprouted seedlings?

Do not rush to water the seedlings, even if the soil above has dried out, remember that below it is still quite wet. It’s a familiar situation when, in the bright sun, tomato sprouts slightly wilt during the day. Experienced gardeners know that in a few hours the sun will go away, and the tomatoes will remain overnight in the cold, damp soil.

And there is no guarantee that it will be sunny tomorrow. and the day after tomorrow it may well be cloudy. It won’t take long to ruin the seedlings.

If you did everything correctly and your seedlings receive enough heat and light, then after 5 days you will see the first two true leaves on it. The next pair of true leaves appears on tomatoes two weeks after germination. And the sprout itself resembles a short, stocky oak tree with green and strong leaves.

In a month, the tomatoes will delight you with the first trusses of flowers, which means that in 10-15 days there is only one way - to the greenhouse for growing. And there is no need to hesitate - you can lose the harvest.

The fact is that if tomatoes grown on a windowsill in a relatively small container enter the greenhouse at the age of 30-40 days, then they have time to accelerate and grow into full-fledged plants. And if you leave the tomatoes on the window for even ten days, they will have time to bloom. Consequently, the development of the plant switches from vegetative to generative growth (ensuring the growth of fruits), and is unlikely to produce a normal harvest.

But if there is still a need to keep the seedlings on the window for more than 45-50 days, then keep each plant in a container with a volume of at least 1 liter. And even better - from 1 liter to 1.5-2 liters.

Conclusion: To obtain good seedlings, optimal conditions are needed. This is slightly damp, not flooded soil, the temperature is around 20-25 degrees during the day and about 18 or lower at night. Low night temperatures promote the early initiation of flower clusters and a large number flowers on them. And yet, you need a lot of light.

Picking - transplanting seedlings into an individual container

Simply put, picking is transplanting seedlings from a common container into an individual container. The purpose of picking seedlings is to cull unsuccessful seedlings, discarding weak and diseased ones and leaving strong and promising ones.

After picking, the plants receive large area nutrition, which contributes to their growth and development. Picking also refers to the removal of the final part of the taproot from a young seedling in order to stimulate branching of the root system.

This process is both simple and very responsible. Carelessly carried out picking can stop the development of tomatoes for a whole week. And a week is a missed harvest.

So, we made a decision - each plant has a separate container so that the tomato seedlings improve their living conditions. Let's think carefully: on the 5-7th day the first true leaves will already appear, but there is no need to rush - let a few more days pass, because the delicate and thin stems of tomato plants are very easy to damage during transplantation.

In general, picking is not a tricky matter - there would be enough space on the windowsill. It is precisely its lack that does not allow us to plant our tomatoes immediately in full-sized half-liter containers. This can be done later, when it is warmer outside during the day and then all the cups with seedlings will move to the balcony.

In the meantime, let's transplant our small seedlings into containers measuring 100-150 ml. Tomatoes will live quietly in small apartments for a couple of weeks.

As a piece of advice: do not rush to dive the babies into containers with a volume of 0.5 liters or even larger. In an earthen coma that is not covered by roots, fungi can develop or the earth can turn sour. Later, when the roots take over the entire volume of the pot, such problems do not arise.

And it is very important to prevent the seedlings from overgrowing. Otherwise, the plant will begin to create a powerful root system in a very small volume of the nutrition zone. This means that it will be worse to eat and develop. Besides, most of As the roots develop, they will encounter the walls of the pot and will grow along them or, even worse, will turn inside the pot, into an already depleted zone of soil occupied by other roots.

And even if such seedlings are transplanted into a pot bigger size or directly into the garden bed, it will develop slowly, belatedly developing new feeding areas.

If this does happen, then for the benefit of the plant, you will have to straighten its roots when replanting. This work is painstaking and time-consuming, and is not without losses. Therefore, it is better to improve the living conditions of the future tomato harvest in time.

It is better to water the plants 1-2 days before picking or 2-2.5 hours before transplanting (according to science). But if the soil is watered on the same day, it will be heavy, you will lift the plant, and a heavy and wet lump of earth can simply break off and tear off the precious roots. On the contrary, if you do not water for a long time, the dry soil will fall off the roots, and bare roots are easily damaged during planting.

Since our seedlings are still small and tender, they require gentle handling. In order not to damage either the stems or roots, you need to carefully dig up the ground with a wooden skewer and separate the plant from the general lump. Do not touch the green part of the plant - only manipulate everything around the root.

It is best to transfer tomato seedlings to a new location in a teaspoon. The plant has a temperature environment, approximately 20-25 degrees. Your finger has a temperature of 35 degrees. If you take small plant fingers, it experiences the deepest temperature shock. It’s the same as if water was suddenly splashed on you at about 50 degrees.

When picking, you need to bury the tomatoes almost to the very cotyledon leaves. They will then stretch to the optimal length of the stem, but there will be more roots in the ground. And be sure to make sure that the roots do not bend.

To avoid the formation of voids around the root system, the soil around the picked tomato must be compacted and watered with warm water. Immediately place the pot, cup or box in the place where the seedlings will wait for the next picking or planting in the ground.

After about a week, when it becomes obvious that the tomato seedlings have taken root and started growing, it is worth carrying out the hardening procedure.

Gardeners are sometimes interested in the question: Is it necessary to pinch the central root? A root two weeks old almost always gets damaged on its own, losing its very thin, almost invisible tail during transplantation. Such a loss will not harm the plant. Well, if the root is really long, then you can pinch it a little.

Picking seedlings in<<пеленки>> made from film

To do this, take regular film and cut it into pieces measuring 15 x 25 cm. Pour 1 tbsp in the center. spoon of soil and place the seedlings on it so that the leaves are above the top edge of the film.

Pour another 1 tbsp on top. spoon of soil and swaddle it like a baby, but at the same time the lower edge of the film needs to be barely tucked in so that the soil does not spill out. We put an elastic band on the film so that it does not unfold.

Do not fold the edge at the very ends of the roots - this will prevent them from growing downwards. With this picking method, the central root is not pinched, so that when transplanted into place, it immediately begins to grow deeper into the soil.

Pour 1 teaspoon of water into each film and place all the bags next to each other in a shallow pan. When the plants have 5-6 leaves, unroll the bag, add a couple more spoons of soil to it and wrap it again.

Tomato seedlings, with this method of cultivation, take up little space, require little land, and are easy to transport.

As a tip: In this way you can sow seeds and grow seedlings without picking at all. To do this, roll up balls from a small sheet of film (12-15 x 20-25 cm), fill them with damp soil for seedlings and sow tomato seeds in each. Secure the balls with a paper clip to prevent them from unraveling, then place them in shallow containers close to each other.

In the future, you just need to unfold the seedlings and add 1 tbsp. spoon of soil when it has about 4-5 true leaves. Watering seedlings is always done sparingly.

After any picking, you need to place the plants in the shade for a couple of days, because in the light they can simply wither.

Tomato seedlings and their cultivation using fertilizing

The first feeding can be done 10-12 days after picking, the second - 2 weeks after the first. Each gardener has his own fertilizing recipe. You can take 1 liter of mullein infusion, 1 glass of wood ash, 1.5 tbsp. spoons of double superphosphate and fill it all with 10 liters of water.

With the appearance of the first ovaries, the tomatoes are fed with the mixture: 1 liter of mullein, 2 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate, 2 cups of ash and 1/3 teaspoon copper sulfate- fill everything with 10 liters of water.

Our goal is to grow good seedlings with a thick short stem and a low-lying first flower raceme.

Tomatoes need not only organic, but also mineral fertilizers. Preparing mineral fertilizer: For 10 liters of water you need to take 15 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of potassium chloride, 60 g of superphosphate.

In any case, fertilizing must be done very carefully, observing all the norms, because both a lack and an excess of organic and mineral fertilizers have an equally bad effect on tomatoes.

Have you noticed what color the stem of your tomatoes is? It can be red, purple, or violet. If the tomato seedlings have a purple stem, this is the first sign of phosphorus deficiency. But there is no need to rush to add superphosphate, because during the seedling period a slight phosphorus starvation will not harm the tomatoes.

Sometimes blueness is not a lack of phosphorus, but simply cold temperature air where the seedlings stand. And as soon as the air and soil warm up, plants without additional help will return to normal color.

On a note

A large amount of vermicompost and compost promotes the formation of thick beautiful leaves and gives impetus to the tomatoes beginning to fatten, increasing their green mass to the detriment of the harvest.

Due to excess nitrogen, their leaves will become like crumpled paper, turn yellow, curl and break. Before planting in a greenhouse, such plants can still be saved by adding more potassium, phosphorus and wood ash to the soil - this will help the tomatoes get rid of excess nitrogen.

Hardening off tomato seedlings

The time will come when the seedlings will leave their cozy place on the windowsill and will acquire a new place of residence - in the garden bed. So that this move does not become an unexpected surprise for the tomatoes, they need to be prepared for it, in other words, hardened.

If you have the opportunity, take the tomatoes out onto the balcony.

This procedure begins gradually, no earlier than 5-10 days before planting in the ground. So that 2-3 days before transplanting the plants are actually in the conditions in which they will end up in the garden. But not before the air outside warms up to 10 degrees.

In the first days, seedlings should be taken outside at the warmest time - at noon, gradually increasing the time the plants stay outside from 9 a.m. to 4-5 p.m. Sometimes give the seedlings time to spend a little time in the sun.

The same must be done with seedlings grown in mini-greenhouses, which must be opened at the appropriate time and subsequently left open during the day and even at night.

Ideally prepared tomato seedlings are plants that, at the time of planting in the ground, are on the verge of forming buds. Then after the transplant, their formation will slow down a little, but nothing more. And the plant will bloom and form fruits under conditions of normal, plentiful and nutritious nutrition.

Therefore, it is so necessary to carefully regulate the growth rate of seedlings and slow it down as necessary by lowering the temperature.

When the threat of frost has passed, tomato seedlings are planted in a greenhouse or open ground. If you have grown the seedlings correctly, then when planted in the ground it should be a strong plant 30-35 cm high with a stem 8-10 mm in diameter. The plant should have 7-9 leaves and the first flower cluster.

After planting, water the plants generously and mulch the soil. It is better to choose cloudy and windless weather. Although if the seedlings are hardened, then, as a rule, they do not require special shading.

How to properly grow tomato seedlings for a large harvest - video

Video on how to grow tomato seedlings without picking

So, we have gone through all the step-by-step steps for proper cultivation homemade tomato plants. And now, the tomato seedlings, having the first flower cluster, are ready to be transplanted into the garden bed (in a greenhouse or in open ground). Good luck to you, dear gardeners, and good luck!