Each summer season begins with the cultivation of seedlings. Everyone understands why this is being done - you can significantly increase the growing season and get not only an earlier, but also a much larger harvest. On the territory of our country there are regions in which heat-loving vegetables cannot be grown in any other way.
As the first stage of development passes, so the subsequent ones will continue - this is the law of nature. To improve the development of plants, many gardeners and gardeners use peat pots. How to use these little helpers? Should I buy them for growing seedlings? Consider the pros and cons of such cups.
What are they made of?
Before you buy peat pots for seedlings, find out what they are made of. Such devices are made from peat, to which cardboard or wood is added. Most of all, gardeners praise cups with a ratio of the main substance of 70% and additives of 30%. Beware of low-quality goods, it happens that unscrupulous manufacturers increase the percentageimpurities, or even use only cheap cardboard. Before buying agricultural equipment, read what is written on the package.
Environmental case
Peat products have many advantages over their counterparts made of plastic, paper or ceramics. For plants, this will be a real environmentally friendly home. The peat used for the manufacture of containers for growing seedlings does not contain pathogenic microflora, there are no weed seeds. In such products, the content of harmful toxic substances, such as heavy metals, benzopyrene residues and pesticides, is significantly lower. The concentration of such substances will be several times lower than the norms acceptable in agriculture for growing plants and crops. Peat, light in weight, is safe to use, it does not contain pathogens of various diseases of vegetable and flower crops.
When choosing peat pots for growing seedlings, carefully inspect them. For good quality products, the wall thickness should be one to one and a half millimeters. Such walls will be strong enough to last the entire period of plant development, but at the same time, seedling roots will be able to develop unhindered. After planting in the soil, a quality pot will begin to quickly disintegrate, thereby facilitating the work of harvesting the fields. The decay period for quality products lasts approximately 27-32 days.
Peat pots for seedlings. Benefits of using
- Due to the porous walls, the best air-water regime of the root layer is provided. During planting insoil plants freely take root through the walls and bottom.
- These containers do not contain pathogens and toxic substances, while they have high mechanical strength both wet and dry.
- When planting seedlings together with a pot in the ground, the survival rate reaches almost 100%. Later, when decomposed, the pot will serve as fertilizer.
- Due to the accelerated survival of seedlings, an earlier harvest is harvested, mainly for this, seedlings are planted in peat pots.
How to use? General requirements for the use of peat pots
- Capacities are filled with pre-slightly moistened nutrient soil, slightly crushed. After that, planting seedlings in peat pots begins. You can sow seeds, plant bulbs, cuttings or seedlings.
- Place the prepared cups on trays, pesos, plastic wrap, gravel or soil.
- Seedlings should be watered frequently to keep the soil moist.
- We must not allow the peat pots to dry out. How to use them correctly? Wrap each unit with foil - this will help prevent drying out. Otherwise, the s alt contained in the earth may crystallize and, in concentrated form, be dangerous to tender seedlings.
- When the plants begin to grow, the pots should be placed more freely to increase light, aeration. In addition, with a more spacious arrangement, the interweaving of the root systems of neighboring plants is prevented.
- Growing seedlings in peat pots ends with planting in the ground. Plants do not need to be dug up, plant them directly with the old container.
Seedlings of zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, eggplants, squash
Seedlings of these crops do not like transplantation. In order for the plants to take root, take peat pots for growing. How to use them? What size would be preferable?
For seedlings of cucumbers intended for planting in protected ground, pots with a diameter of 11 cm are suitable. Cultivation duration is approximately 30 days. How to plant in peat pots? One germinated seed is sown in one cup.
If you are going to plant vegetables in open ground, then for seedlings of zucchini, squash and cucumbers, you should choose containers with a diameter of 8 cm, 11 cm is better for pumpkins. Seeds are germinated and planted one at a time in each pot. Planting depth 1 cm. Cucumbers can be planted 2 pieces in one container.
Pumpkin seedlings will be ready on average in 20 days, and other vegetables in a month. You can calculate the optimal landing time yourself.
Ready-made pots are put on pallets close to each other, watered thoroughly and left in a warm place where the temperature is maintained at 25-30 degrees until germination. When yellow-green sprouts appear, the temperature should be reduced to 20-22 degrees. This temperature regime is maintained for 2-3 days.
Irrigation
Cucumber seedlings should be watered warmwater heated to 25-30 degrees. If there is cold watering, the plants may get sick or even die.
Hardening
To prevent plant diseases after transplanting into the ground, they are hardened - 7-10 days before planting - they often ventilate the premises, reduce the temperature to 15 degrees, water less often.
Landing in open ground
Prepared plants are planted in the soil directly in pots. Some gardeners break cups before planting or pull out seedlings along with an earthen clod. That's how you can do it too. However, gardeners who used peat pots for growing seedlings leave the following planting reviews - they believe that it is better to make holes in the containers beforehand. As the cups decompose, they will nourish the plant, helping to get a big harvest.
Cabbage seedlings
In March, cabbage is sown in special boxes. After the appearance of seedlings, they swoop down, and planting in peat pots begins. Cups with a diameter of about 7 cm are suitable. You can use round specimens or peat blocks, in which there are 6 cells at once. At the end of April, you can start landing in open ground.
Lettuce seedlings
Lettuce seedlings for planting in protected ground are prepared with picking seedlings into pots. Suitable pots measuring 50x50 mm or, as they are also called, peat cells. In about a month, the seedlings will be ready for planting in a greenhouse or greenhouse.
The roots of many plants can penetrate the bottom and walls of peat cups. However, most gardeners do not wait for this - they are guided by the size of the above-ground part of the seedlings.
Experienced gardeners claim that if, before planting, immerse peat pots in warm water until the release of air bubbles from the walls stops, then the soaked walls and bottom will not create obstacles and will be easily processed by soil inhabitants.
Disadvantages of peat pots
- Not all plants tolerate the acidic environment that is inherent in peat. Some manufacturers add special mineral fertilizers, as well as lime and chalk, to reduce acidity.
- Mandatory frequent watering required.
- Evaporating from the surface of the pots, water greatly cools the soil, as a result, the root system develops much worse.
- Some plants can't break through peat walls and have to be taken out of their pots when transplanting.
- Often, mold appears on low-quality pots, the walls collapse
- The high cost of peat cups, especially when growing large volumes of seedlings.
Unfortunately, some unscrupulous manufacturers give out pots made from ordinary cardboard as high-quality peat products. Gardeners complain that sometimes when digging up a plot in the fall, they find undecomposed pots with the remains of roots.
