Growing tomato seedlings - this is what gardeners do as soon as the "spring smells." In what only seedlings are not grown - in peat tablets, in makeshift containers, in "diapers", in sawdust. In the Krasnodar Territory, tomatoes are one of the leading vegetable crops. This is not surprising. Growing tomatoes is one of the main directions of development of Kuban agriculture. Not a single private garden is complete without tomatoes.
By the number of vitamins, mineral salts, tomatoes are superior to oranges, cherries, strawberries, peaches. Fruits of tomatoes contain up to 12% sugars, citric, malic acid. The more sugar with enough acid, the better the taste of tomatoes. The best combination of sugar-acid is 8: 1.
The fruits of tomatoes grown in the Krasnodar Territory are among the best in the world.
Tomatoes - growing seedlings from seeds
In order to get good seedlings, you need to prepare the seeds for sowing. For this purpose, the required amount of seeds is immersed in water or a 3-5% solution of sodium chloride, kept there for 3-5 minutes to separate by specific gravity. All this time they must be constantly interfered so that they are completely moistened. The most full-bodied will go down, and they must be used for sowing.
After separation of the seeds in a salt solution, they must be thoroughly washed with running water. Then the seeds are etched with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate (1 g of potassium permanganate crystals: 100 ml of water) for 30 minutes. Instead of potassium permanganate, you can use a 2-3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide - the seeds can withstand 7-8 minutes, a solution of boric acid (1/2 teaspoon of boric acid powder: 1 glass of water) - the seeds can withstand 2-3 hours. Then they must be washed under running water.
If possible, they can be enriched with oxygen (sparging), which accelerates the emergence of seedlings. This technique is especially necessary for tightly germinating vegetable seeds (peppers, eggplant, parsley, celery, carrots, etc.). You can use a compressor or a sprayer used for aquariums for this purpose. Instead of a compressor, an air-charged chamber is used. Sparging of tomato seeds spend 10-12 hours.
Before sowing, they are slightly dried and sown to obtain seedlings. For 1 square. meter sown no more than 10-12 g of seeds. To do this, make grooves through 4-5 cm with a depth of 1-1.5 cm, in which seeds are sown in rows.
When calculating the period of sowing tomato seeds to obtain seedlings, you need to know the timing of the beginning of flowering and ripening of fruits. With optimal soil temperature (24-26 degrees) and sufficient moisture, good seeds germinate after 4-5 days. From germination to flowering usually takes 50-60 days.
When to sow or how to accurately calculate the date of sowing tomato seeds for seedlings?
If you plan to plant seedlings on May 7-9, then from this date you need to count 55-60 days according to the calendar. 55-60 days is the age of seedlings that produce buds. And we add 5 days - so much time is needed for seedlings to emerge from the earth. We get the date March 3-8. So, in this period of time you need to sow seeds. And if you live in the south and want to plant seedlings, for example, in open ground on April 20-25, then counting back 60-65 days, we get the dates - February 19-24.
Growing tomato seedlings in a greenhouse or under film shelter
For the central zone of the Krasnodar Territory, the best time to plant tomato seeds for growing seedlings is the first decade of February. For the northern, northeastern regions - 10-15 days later, that is, mid-February to early March. After sowing boxes, cassettes with sown seeds of tomatoes are installed in a room with a temperature of 22-25 degrees. As soon as single shoots appeared, the boxes are carried out into a cool, bright room (a glazed balcony, a veranda, the most well-lit window) with a temperature of 8-12 degrees. A decrease in temperature during the emergence of seedlings prevents the extension of tomato seedlings.
After emergence, the temperature regime should be as follows: during the daytime in sunny weather - 18-20 degrees, when overcast - 16-18, at night - 8-10 degrees. Watering is not worth it. Tomatoes do not tolerate waterlogging of the soil. Tomato seedlings are rarely watered before you see that the plants are about to begin to wilt. Water temperature is 25-28 degrees.
If you do not have a greenhouse, but want to grow strong seedlings of tomatoes, then in the second decade of March you need to start preparing a place for a dive. For this purpose, the brightest place is chosen, protected from the north, northeast by buildings, trees from cold winds. A trench is dug up with a depth of 18-20 cm (on the bayonet of a shovel) 70-90 cm wide or across the width of the film, which will be used to shelter the seedlings. The bottom of the trench for isolation from cold soil is covered with a heat-insulating layer 10-12 cm thick. Straw, sawdust, old leaves, other wastes are an excellent material for thermal insulation. Nutritious soil is poured on top, the same as was used for growing seedlings. In its absence, you can apply the soil, taken out when digging a trench.
In order to warm the soil, it is covered with a film 5-7 days before the dive. For this purpose, through 60-70 cm from each other, arcs of 6-8 mm wire, willow rods are installed. After the soil warms up well, plant seedlings of tomatoes that have one or two true leaves.
A few years ago, I experimented with the timing of transplanting seedlings: the first planting is the beginning of the third decade of March (March 20-23), the second is the end of this decade (March 26-30). Experience has shown that tomatoes planted under film shelter in late March give an earlier, higher yield. I think that this is due to a more favorable temperature and light conditions.
Seedlings grown under film shelter or in a greenhouse are better suited to tolerate adverse climatic conditions when transplanted into open ground than grown under glass.
In some years, when growing tomato seedlings under a film, there is a danger of freezing it from low night temperatures. Now a plastic film is being produced, which saves 1.5-2.5 degrees from frost. In order to reduce heat loss, you can cover the second layer of film. To do this, set the second row of arcs so that between the first and second layers there is a space 5-8 cm wide. And as you know, air is a poor conductor of heat. With this shelter, the seedlings can withstand frosts to minus 7-8 degrees.
The way to increase and maintain the temperature in the greenhouse or under the film
Sochi Institute of Mountain Horticulture and Floriculture proposed an original method of increasing the heat-holding ability of film shelters. Its essence is the friction of two polymeric materials with different dielectric permittivities produces an electric field that constantly holds air directly at the surface of the film. This layer of air retains the heat radiated by the soil, which increases the temperature difference between the air under the film and the surrounding air by 5-8 degrees, thus ensuring the protection of plants from death at low temperatures.
To do this, on top of the film shelter (greenhouses, tunnels), a grid of another polymer material, for example, nylon, is superimposed. When the film and the nylon mesh oscillate from the wind, an electric field is created that holds the air.
The magnitude of the charge depends on atmospheric conditions, the size of the mesh cells. The finer the mesh, the stronger the vibrations of the film or mesh from the wind, the greater the magnitude of the charge, and, therefore, the heat-holding properties of the film increase.
Growing tomato seedlings on sawdust
It is known that growing any seedlings in peat tablets, cups reduces the loss of the root system when transplanted into open ground. And transporting plants in pots increases its volume and weight. In addition, it is necessary to specially prepare or buy soil mixtures for peat or plastic cups.
In this regard, an original method was proposed for growing tomato seedlings on a sawdust substrate, which is devoid of the disadvantages noted above. The technology of the method of growing tomatoes on sawdust is simple. Here is her description.
In seedlings of a greenhouse, a greenhouse, tunnel shelters, sawdust is poured onto a leveled surface of nutrient soil with a layer of 6-8 cm, pre-fermented and seasoned with full mineral fertilizer. Fermentation is necessary for fresh sawdust of coniferous species containing resinous substances that adversely affect tomato seedlings, other plants, too. During fermentation, the sawdust is moistened with a 2% solution of ammonium nitrate, kept moist for 10-12 days until the tar smell disappears. Old, stale sawdust does not require fermentation.
Before laying on the ground, every 100 kg of sawdust is seasoned with fertilizers: 250-300 g of superphosphate, 180-200 g of ammonium nitrate, 150-200 g of potassium salt or 500-600 g of wood ash (better ash from burning stems, sunflower baskets), which replaces potash fertilizers, simultaneously neutralizes the acid reaction of sawdust. It is better to make nitrogen fertilizers with liquid, since they are difficult to evenly mix with sawdust.
Then, on the leveled layer of sawdust, the soil nutrient mixture is evenly poured with a layer of 4-5 cm, consisting of turf land and humus, a ratio of 1: 1. In this soil layer, sowing of tomato seeds or picking of 20-25-day-old tomato seedlings is carried out. Soil poured on top of sawdust, as a result of biological combustion, is 1-2 degrees warmer than soil without sawdust.
Initially, plants develop due to the nutrients contained in the bulk soil, and then the root system penetrates the fertilized layer of sawdust and freely develops there. Ready for planting tomato seedlings when sampling from a greenhouse or greenhouse almost does not lose the root system. Therefore, it is almost not inferior to that grown in pots or peat tablets, and even surpasses it in yield in the early stages. Experience has shown that seedlings grown on sawdust on July 10 yielded a yield of ripe fruit 1.7 times more than on ordinary soil.
Seedling "in the diaper film"
This is a very simple, uncomplicated method of growing seedlings. You need to cut a plastic film, for example, from packages that you come from the supermarket with ribbons, strips. The width is approximately 10 cm, and the length depends on the number of seeds of a particular variety. Cover the film with a strip of toilet paper of the same width and length. Spray water over the paper so that it is evenly wet. On moist toilet paper, you need to carefully spread the tomato seeds after 2-3 cm, and on top you should step back 1 cm. Then, on top of the laid out seeds, lay another tape of toilet paper. The last layer is again film. Seeds are between two layers of toilet paper and between two pieces of film - this is our “diaper”.
Then, fold the resulting ribbon like a roll, and place it in a container so that the edge with the seeds is at the top, for example, in a plastic cup, into which you pour a little water to the bottom. Water is needed to keep the paper moist. Put the improvised greenhouse on the windowsill or other, not necessarily bright, place. It is advisable to change the water periodically. In water, you can add a plant growth stimulator (Heteroauxin, Kornevin, Epin, Zircon, others). Do not add it to a cup with seedlings, but first prepare the solution according to the instructions. I added a solution of HB-101 (1-2 drops per 1 liter of water). In 5-7 days, the first sprouts will appear. Now for your "diaper" you need to choose a bright place.
After the appearance of two or three true leaves, you can dive into pots with soil. How to do it? We need to deploy our roll. Then remove the upper strip of film. You will see that the sprouted tomato seeds lie in diapers with roots 5-7 cm long. You can visually consider which plants have strong stems and which ones with weak ones. The paper is so wet that it will not interfere. So dive along with her
This method of growing seedlings "in diapers" is attractive because it does not take up much space. No dirt when diving.
Just do not twist the rolls too tight. If oxygen is not supplied to the seeds, they may not sprout. In addition, water will stagnate in heavily twisted rolls - seeds can rot.
Hardening method for growing tomato seedlings
For early planting tomatoes need seedlings that can tolerate the adverse conditions of early spring.
When growing it, the use of triple quenching is of great importance. This is a 5-6 day seed hardening according to the Voronova method. For this purpose, tomato seeds are soaked in warm water (25-28 degrees) for 6-8 hours. Then they are placed in a damp cloth in a warm place until a single seed pecking.
From this period, the hardening process itself begins. Bent seeds are placed in the refrigerator for 16-18 hours at a temperature close to zero. After this time they are taken out of the refrigerator, kept for 6-8 hours at a temperature of 18-20 degrees. So harden the seeds for no more than 5-6 days.
Then hardened seeds are sown in prepared boxes with sod-humus soil. After sowing, the box is placed in a warm room with a temperature of 22-25 degrees. With the advent of mass shoots, boxes with plants must be taken out into a bright room (greenhouse, greenhouse, balcony, put on a window facing south), the night temperature must be reduced to 6-10 degrees, and the daytime temperature should be maintained at 18-20 degrees.
This mode is maintained for 2 weeks, that is, until the first true leaf appears. Plants need a lot of light. There is a temperature-light quenching of seedlings.
Two weeks after germination, the temperature is increased at night to 10-16 degrees until the plants form a second true leaf, that is, it will be ready for picking.
Then tomato seedlings are dived into the soil of a greenhouse, a greenhouse, a tunnel shelter according to the scheme 7x7, 8x8 cm, closing it to the very cotyledon leaves, watered with warm water, shaded from the sun. After a dive, especially after a dive under a film shelter, mulching between rows is performed with humus, peat with the addition of Maxim fungicides, TMTD (tetramethylthiuram disulfide), or other dressing fungicides for disinfecting seeds or agricultural crops. crops, or 3-5% wood ash, lime, which increases the resistance of tomato seedlings to damage to the black leg, and other diseases.
After a pick, when the seedlings take root, the temperature must be maintained during the day with cloudy weather at 18-20 degrees, in sunny weather - 22-25 degrees, and at night - 10-12 degrees. When 3-4 real leaves appear near the seedlings, it is again subjected to hardening with low positive temperatures: at night - 8-10, in the daytime - 18-20 degrees for 2-2.5 weeks. After that, the temperature is maintained at night - 14-16, in the afternoon 20-22 degrees.
10-12 days prior to landing last hardening is carried out. The temperature is reduced to 2-5 degrees if possible. At first, the film is slightly opened or tucked, and after 2-3 days it is first removed during the day, and then completely for the entire time before disembarkation. Plants with such education grow stocky, strong, with short internodes.
The temperature regime created during quenching is close to temperature fluctuations in the open field in early spring. Therefore, such tomato seedlings tolerate transplanting well, and the established plants withstand cold weather, even short-term frosts of minus 1 degree of air and minus 1.5-2 degrees on the soil.It can be planted in open ground 7-10 days earlier than generally accepted terms.
But here it should be specially noted that lighting when growing seedlings is important, it greatly affects the early harvest. The most favorable light regime develops under film shelters, better than glass that transmits ultraviolet rays.
Hardened seedlings are recommended to be grown with active ventilation and moderate water supply, that is, for the entire time of cultivation, carry out no more than 2-3 irrigation. With frequent, plentiful watering (5-6), it is more susceptible to black leg disease, quickly grows, fruit yield decreases by almost 20%.
Topping tomato seedlings, care for her
While plants grow, they are fed 2-3 times. The number of top dressings depends on their condition. It is best to carry out top dressing, timed to watering.
The first top dressing is carried out after seedlings of tomatoes after a picking take root. For 10 l of water, 8-12 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate, 7-10 g of potassium salt are taken. A bucket of solution is consumed by 2-3 square meters. meter.
The second top dressing is carried out in 8-10 days after the first. It is better to carry out fermented chicken manure or slurry, diluted 10-12 times, with the addition of 60 g of superphosphate to a bucket of water or some mineral fertilizers per 10 l of water - 15-18 g of ammonium nitrate, 70-80 g of superphosphate, 20 -25 g of potassium chloride or potassium salt.
The third top dressing is carried out 3-4 days before the seedlings are sampled (for 10 liters of water - 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate, 60 g of potassium chloride. It must be borne in mind that superphosphate is very poorly soluble, therefore, 2-3 days before top dressing extract from it, that is, dissolved separately.
If during feeding, the solution got on the leaves, it must be washed off the leaves with clean water. When growing tomato seedlings under a film, as a rule, the air humidity is higher than under a glass, so you need to pay more attention to preventive treatments against diseases, and often airing.
To prevent stretching of seedlings when it is impossible to land it in time due to adverse weather conditions (rain, snow, late cold spring, etc.), it is treated with a 0.1-0.2% solution in the phase of 4-5 leaves TUR preparation (chlorocholinchloride) - 10 g per 10 liters of water, or a 0.07% solution of hydrol - 7 g per 10 liters of water, with any plant growth regulator, for example, Athlete, HB-101, Epin Extra. If necessary, spraying can be repeated after a week.
To prevent diseases with fungal and bacterial diseases, tomato seedlings are sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid before adding to open ground or a greenhouse with 2 g of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) per 10 l of solution or with any copper-containing preparation, for example, Oksikh, Tsineb. For better fertilization of flowers, it is also useful to add 1-2 g of boric acid there.
A day before sampling, tomato seedlings are abundantly watered, when sampling is sorted, underdeveloped, diseased plants are discarded. The root system is dipped in a solution of Heteroauxin, Kornevin.