How pleasant it is to eat meaty tomatoes or peppers grown with one's own hands in the garden at the dinner table. The process of growing such capricious crops is quite laborious, but it is worth it.
A lot depends on the quality of the seeds purchased, as well as on how strong and strong the seedlings of tomatoes and peppers will be grown. It is only necessary to remember that about two months pass before planting seedlings in open ground. During this time, the soil mixture used to grow seedlings is quite depleted. To prevent this from happening, top dressing of seedlings of tomatoes (and peppers, by the way, too) must be done regularly (according to a certain scheme). Also, for each period, it is necessary to select the appropriate fertilizers. Otherwise, young plants will significantly lag behind in growth. And vegetables already in the open field are also unlikely to please you.
Thereforeif you want to get a good harvest of vegetables, then feeding tomato seedlings (care involves doing it about 3-4 times) must be done without fail and do not spare the time spent on it.
Preparing the soil mixture for seedlings
For growing seedlings of tomatoes and peppers, you can use ready-made soils, growing in which gives good results:
- Terra vita, or "Living Earth". They are natural slightly acidic soil mixtures with the addition of biohumus.
- Soil soil (neutral) "Mikroparnik".
- Ready primer "Tomato".
- Humimax is a neutral sterilized soil mixture enriched with biologically active ingredients.
Of course, you can use ordinary garden soil. Previously, only it must be carefully disinfected and saturated with nutrients.
Important! Remember that tomatoes do not like fresh manure at all. Therefore, it is better to improve soil quality with compost.
Preparing planting material
Preparation of seeds before sowing plays an important role in the agrotechnical process of growing tomatoes. The following preparations are suitable for processing planting material:
- "Bigus". Keep the seeds in solution for 5-6 hours.
- "Seedling" or "Carvitol". We soak the planting material in one of the preparations for one hour immediately before sowing.
- "Ribav-Extra". We spray seed material.
- "Narcissus". DuringWe keep the planting material in solution for 11-12 hours.
- And you can use folk remedies. First, the seeds can be treated in a solution of potassium permanganate, and then soaked in a solution of melt water (1 liter) and ash (about 2 matchboxes).
Argumentation of the need for top dressing
Maybe not bother feeding? Maybe even without them the seedlings will grow strong and strong? Those who think this way are wrong. The fact is that properly selected and timely applied top dressing of seedlings of tomatoes and peppers is the key to good development, growth and accumulation of useful trace elements and vitamins in vegetables. In addition, in peppers and tomatoes, with proper feeding, taste characteristics (for example, sugar content) improve.
The introduction of balanced fertilizers helps to strengthen the immunity of plants to pests and diseases. For example, with a lack of copper, tomatoes are exposed to such a fungal disease as late blight. Diseased plants are successively covered with brown spots: first the leaves, stems, and then the fruits themselves. Within a few days, the entire crop dies, that is, all the work is in vain. Late blight is a real disaster for plants of the nightshade family. To avoid this, it is better to process all the bushes in advance and calmly wait for a decent harvest.
Both tomatoes and peppers need micronutrients such as potassium (which contributes to the development of the root system), nitrogen (it is impossible to grow green mass without it) andphosphorus (it is he who promotes flowering and fruiting).
Varieties of dressings
Feeding tomato seedlings can be in the following form:
- loose;
- liquid;
- granular;
- tablets;
- powdered.
There are three types of fertilizer components:
- inorganic;
- organic;
- complex, which are enriched with organic additives and s alts.
Which mixes are best as top dressings
What is the best top dressing for seedlings of tomatoes and peppers: liquid solutions or dry ones? The answer is unequivocal - fertilizers in liquid form are preferable. The trading network presents a huge number of similar mixtures - "Ideal", "Fortress", "Effect", "Biohumus".
If you have dry fertilizers purchased earlier, just dilute them with water, as the root system of peppers and tomatoes is not able to absorb minerals in this form from the soil.
How and at what time of day is it better to fertilize
How best to feed tomato seedlings at home? There are two ways to apply fertilizer to the soil:
- Directly under the root of the plant. Despite the fact that such top dressing is subject to washing out with each next watering and the root system absorbs only part of the nutrients, this method is quite popular.
- By spraying green mass (that is, foliar). According to experts, this is the mosteffective for nourishing young plants, as all nutrients are instantly absorbed by the leaves. Having understood which microelement the plant lacks, they prepare a weak solution based on this missing component and spray the green mass with it. Despite all the advantages of the method, it is not used very often.
Important! When growing seedlings of peppers, you should not use a foliar method for feeding plants. It is better to use the root feeding method (that is, the first). If the mixture gets on the leaves, rinse them quickly with clean water.
After diving, it is recommended to alternate both types of top dressing, and in the second half of the growing season it is better to apply fertilizer directly under the root.
When is the best time to fertilize? Immediately after watering, top dressing of tomato seedlings is recommended. And 2-3 hours after feeding with fertilizers, loosening of the topsoil should be carried out. Just do it very carefully.
Important! For irrigation, do not use tap water due to the high content of chlorine in it, which has a very negative effect on tomatoes. It is better to use rain. As a last resort - tap water, but always settled.
What time of day is the best time to feed? It is better to do this work in the early morning. If you do this in the evening, then there is a high risk of fungal development in the soil due to lower temperatures during these hours.
Timingdressings and their composition
Feed seedlings must be strictly according to the scheme:
- First dressing of tomato seedlings. It is produced after two true leaves have formed on the plant. This top dressing should include not only potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus, but also a whole set of additional trace elements. You can prepare such a complex fertilizer on your own: mix one liter of settled tap water (1 liter), double superphosphate (2 g), any potassium fertilizer (0.5 g) and urea (0.5 g). Everything is ready. You can feed. Top dressing of tomato seedlings after picking can be carried out with the finished Nitrofos preparation: it is enough to dilute one tablespoon of fertilizer in one liter of warm, settled water.
- Further we make top dressing in 7-8 days. We prepare the solution in the same way as during the first feeding - we add the same components per liter of water, only we double their dose. Or we use the Nitrofos fertilizer. We breed in the same way as described above.
Important! Before the second feeding, it is necessary to assess the condition of the plants visually. If the seedlings are very stretched up, then we carry out top dressing without nitrogen-containing components.
After 14-16 days, we make another top dressing with such ready-made mixtures as Nitrofos, Fortress, Agricola or Mortar
Important! If you use ready-made dressings, then without fail, before use, you must read the instructions in order to have a clearidea about the purpose of a particular fertilizer. By the way, if it is indicated that the mixture is recommended for feeding adult plants, then you can safely use it for young seedlings: you just need to halve the concentration of the solution.
A week before transplanting seedlings into open ground, we carry out final feeding, which includes the following components: water at room temperature (1 liter), potassium fertilizer (about 8 g), double superphosphate (4 g) and urea (1 G). You can use the drug "Effekton-O", which should be diluted according to the attached instructions
Important! Do not abuse the feeding of peppers and tomatoes. Feed them only when the plants look stunted and weak. No wonder there is a saying that "the best is the enemy of the good." Remember: excess fertilizer can cause harm comparable to their shortage. It is especially necessary to be extremely careful with nitrogen fertilizing of tomato seedlings: if you overdose them, you risk getting only lush bushes, and you will have to forget about the fruits.
Signs of a micronutrient deficiency
The fact that a plant lacks some trace elements can be eloquently indicated by its appearance:
- A sign that there is not enough nitrogen-containing fertilizers in the soil are yellow and sluggish leaves, which subsequently simply fall off. It is possible, of course, that problems with sheet plates are due to a lack of light. Or maybe the reason is too high temperatures or, conversely, toolow.
- A lack of phosphorus is signaled by purple formations on the leaf plates and the stem of a young seedling.
- Asymmetric and small leaves on the bushes scream about zinc starvation.
- The presence of a pale leaf mass with pronounced green veins is nothing more than an iron deficiency.
Signs of overnutrition
Overdose in feeding tomato seedlings is highly undesirable. In such cases, they say that the plants begin to "fatten". The main signs of such a phenomenon can be:
- Excess magnesium can cause leaves to curl and leaf blades to turn brown.
- The result of excess calcium is interveinal leaf chlorosis, which appears as pale spots with concentric circles filled with liquid (namely water).
- Excessive amount of phosphorus leads to rapid aging of tomato bushes.
- Too much potassium leads to stunted plant growth, as well as lightening of the leaves and their fall.
- Overdose of fertilizers, which include components such as boron, manganese and copper, will affect the total yield (in a negative sense) of both tomatoes and peppers, too.
- The defining feature of "fatty" plants is the presence of thick shoots, a large amount of green tops and a low yield of vegetables.
Note! An overdose of s altpeter, urea and ammonium sulfate is unacceptable. Such fertilizers must be used strictly in accordance with the instructions attached.to the drug manufacturer.
Ways to deal with fattening seedlings
You can correct the situation by applying a number of agrotechnical measures:
- By stopping the "water procedures" of peppers and tomatoes for 8-10 days.
- Significantly reducing such a procedure as airing. The maximum that can be done is to open the window.
- Adding lighting to the bushes.
- By eliminating the use of fertilizers containing nitrogen.
Note! As a top dressing for fattening seedlings, we recommend phosphate fertilizers, with which we spray not only green tops, but also apply them directly under the root of the plants. Be sure to moisten the soil before fertilizing. It is recommended to add about 1 liter of superphosphate per plant of pepper or tomato.
Feeding seedlings of tomatoes and peppers with folk remedies
Many gardeners prefer to fertilize vegetables using what is at hand (i.e. folk remedies). The recipes for making such drinks are quite simple and have been tested by several generations. Therefore, you can safely use them, and you will be able to grow he althy and strong seedlings. Feeding tomato seedlings can be done using:
- Onion peel. It promotes the growth of vegetable crops and helps in the fight against their pests. We make the tincture as follows: put the husks from five onions in a five-liter jar, pour warm water to the brim, close the lid, do not completely twist it and put the container in a dark and warm place. After 4-5 days, we filter the tincture and use it fordisinfection of the soil and spraying the leaf mass of seedlings.
- Coffee grounds. First, we collect it and dry it. Then we make a thickening in a small amount into the soil. The soil mixture becomes more friable, as a result, oxygen access to the roots of the plant improves.
- Eggshell. It contains many useful trace elements that will be useful to young plants. We put the shells from 3-4 eggs in a jar, fill them with warm water (three liters). We close the lid, but do not twist it completely so that there is little access to air, and place it in a dark place for 3 days. The mixture will be ready when you smell an unpleasant odor.
- Ash. It can be straw or wood. To prepare top dressing for tomato seedlings, pour ash (1 tablespoon) with hot water (2 liters) and insist for a day.
- Potato peel. Starch has a lot of nutrients, so potato peeling broth is great for feeding seedlings. It should be used chilled.
In conclusion
Now you have complete information about how to feed the seedlings of tomatoes and peppers. And you have a good chance of growing he althy and strong seedlings. Put in a little effort and patience and you will get a great harvest of vegetables.
