Growing vegetables is a troublesome business. Each of them requires certain knowledge and skills. To obtain a good quality harvest at an earlier date, a seedling method of cultivation is used. It is used for vegetable and annual flower crops. Grown seedlings allow you to get the necessary "run" to obtain high-quality ripe products. At the same time, the fruiting period increases, as well as the yield and the possibility of ripening the fruits of heat-loving plants.
Seedling age
Vegetable crops are plants that can be cold-resistant and heat-loving. Depending on this, the age of the seedlings for each of them is different. Therefore, we sow vegetables for seedlings at a certain time.
The group of plants whose seedlings are forty-five or fifty days old when planted in open ground are all varieties of early cabbage. For late-ripening varieties, this period is 30 days. Headed lettuces and Beijing cabbage are planted with seedlings, the age of which will be from twenty-five to thirty days. But for seedlingscucumbers, zucchini and watermelons, it is from thirty to forty days. The longer period that will be required to obtain seedlings will be sixty or seventy days for such plants: onions and leeks, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, celery.
Sprouting
Various number of days will be required for seeds to germinate.
| Vegetables | Emergency, days |
| Tomatoes | 4-5 |
| Cucumbers | 3-7 |
| Pepper | 8-10 |
| Salad | 4-10 |
| Onion | 5-12 |
| Eggplant | 6-7 |
| Cauliflower | 3-8 |
| Headed cabbage | 3-10 |
| Celery | 7-14 |
When to plant seeds?
This question cannot be answered unambiguously.
The peculiarities of climatic zones make their adjustments. The time to sow in each of them may be different. However, the principle of determining this period is the same, which will allow you to accurately calculate what to sow in March for seedlings, and which vegetables sooner or later.
When calculating should take into account:
- the onset of favorable conditions forlanding on the beds;
- required seedling age;
- germination period after sowing.
Determining these parameters is easy. For example, let's try to figure out when to sow lettuce. The required age when planting in the beds is twenty-five days after germination, which appear five or ten days after the seeds hit the ground. Suppose favorable weather conditions for planting lettuce fall on April 25th. We determine the date of moving the seedlings to the beds. The formula is simple and applicable to any climate zone. The date of sowing the seeds of any vegetable is determined as the difference between the date of planting of the plant (April 25) and the age of the seedling (25 days), taking into account the period of germination (10 days). As a result of simple arithmetic operations, we obtain the desired number. In this case, it turns out March 21st. Similarly, you can determine the date of planting seedlings for any type of vegetable. Moreover, this formula is applicable both for growing in open ground conditions and for film greenhouses.
Ready to transplant seedlings
Seedlings when planted on the beds should be strong and well formed. Such planting material quickly takes root and does not get sick. The readiness of the seedling is determined by the number of well-formed true leaves.
| Vegetables | Number of leaves, pieces |
| Cucumbers | 3-4 |
| Zucchini | 3-4 |
| Patissons | 3-4 |
| Tomato | 8-11 |
| Pepper | 8-12 |
| Eggplant | 8-12 |
| Cabbage | 5-6 |
Growing seedlings of tomatoes
Good planting material is the key to a quality harvest. Seedlings can be purchased from the market or grown independently. We sow tomato seeds for seedlings in March. The landing day is determined taking into account a particular climatic zone. So, in central Russia, when growing tomatoes in greenhouses and greenhouses, planting material will be needed in early May. Sowing seeds falls on the third month of the year.
When to sow tomatoes in March?
The timing of sowing seeds is affected by the precocity of the variety, which determines the number of days from germination to planting. They will be stretched throughout March.
Sowing seeds is as follows:
- late-ripening - early March;
- medium-mid-March;
- early - end of March.
Many gardeners take into account the favorable days indicated in the lunar calendar. However, when you start sowing tomatoes in March, you should first read the description of the selected varieties. Some gardeners make the mistake of sowing seeds ahead of schedule. For example, tomatoes sown in early February by the time they are planted in the ground are verystretch out and outgrow. At the same time, the survival rate of planting material is significantly reduced. As a result, the productivity of the plant is deteriorating.
Features of cultivation
Tomato seedlings can be obtained at home.
To do this, observe the light and temperature regimes. Crops are produced in pre-prepared containers filled with specially prepared soil. It should be reasonably fertile with good aerobic qualities. The seeds are treated before sowing. This event includes: sorting, disinfection, soaking and other methods that will improve the quality of planting material. Close up the seeds to a depth of no more than 1.5 centimeters. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, seedlings are covered with plastic wrap. The room temperature is maintained between 22 and 25 degrees Celsius.
After germination, the plants are moved to well-lit places. The lack of light leads to the rapid stretching of the tomatoes. For early dates, you can use varieties that are not demanding on illumination. Plant care involves moderate watering. Excess moisture can lead to blackleg disease. A month later, the seedlings dive, pinching the lower part of the root. Tomatoes are thermophilic plants. Landing in the ground is possible with the onset of stable favorable weather.
Pepper seedlings: planting dates, cultivation features
The ripening of the fruits of a heat-loving crop, depending on the variety, occurs in the period from 95 to125 days. The seeds of this plant germinate for a longer period than those of tomatoes. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings, it is necessary to carry out seed treatment. What to sow in March for seedlings among the many varieties of pepper? Only early maturing varieties are suitable for this period. They are sown in the first days of the month. Mid-season and late varieties will require a longer growing period. Sowing of these varieties occurs in February. Each vegetable crop has its own characteristics of cultivation. When sowing seeds, it should be taken into account that they have a long germination period and a low percentage of germination. It is recommended to carry out their processing in order to obtain better quality sprouts and reduce the germination period. The soil must be highly fertile with a full range of trace elements.
Pepper does not tolerate damage to the root system when planted in open ground. Therefore, it is advisable to grow seedlings in separate cups without picking. After germination, observe the temperature regime:
- day temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius;
- night temperature is 15-18 degrees Celsius.
It also provides high humidity, which should be 70-80 percent. Pepper is neutral to light. Unlike tomatoes, it does not require additional lighting. Before planting in the ground, pepper seedlings are hardened.
Eggplant seedlings
What to sow in March for seedlings? In addition to planting material for tomatoes and peppers, eggplants are grown in the third month of the year. It is thermophilic andlight-loving vegetable crop.
It is planted in open ground in late May or early June. Therefore, for central Russia, the date of sowing seeds falls on the last week of the month. Growing seedlings of eggplant and tomatoes are similar.
Cabbage seedlings
One should not rush with cabbage planting material. She, like a tomato, will stretch with a lack of light. The result will be planting material unsuitable for growing quality heads of cabbage.
What varieties of cabbage to choose? What to sow in March for seedlings? For these dates will be suitable: early and mid-ripening white cabbage, early-ripening cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and early-ripening savoy cabbage.
Flower planting material
The seedling method is suitable not only for growing vegetables. It is quite often used by gardeners to obtain seedlings of annual plants. When to plant flowers? There is no need to rush in this matter. Many annual garden flowers are photophilous plants. When sowing seeds in the early stages, special additional lighting will be required. Therefore, the most suitable month will be March. Already from its middle, you can grow good quality seedlings of such flowers: sweet peas, sweet tobacco, gazania, hibiscus, petunia, salvia, levkoy, snapdragons and others.
Many gardeners successfully get seedlings of their favorite annual plants. At the same time, it is important to know not only when to sow flowers, but also small ones.tricks of their agricultural technology. Often the mistakes made by novice gardeners do not allow growing high-quality planting material. What to pay attention to? First of all, these are seeds. They are picked and sorted. Do not forget about the shelf life. Expired seeds should not be used. It's a waste of time. Seed treatment will be useful. Sowing is carried out in specially prepared seedling containers. They are filled with earth collected in the garden. Sowing should not be thickened. Particular attention is paid to emerging shoots. Ensuring favorable conditions is the key to obtaining high-quality, viable flower seedlings. This is regular watering and air temperature, which should be at the level of ten to twenty degrees Celsius. If the seedlings are thickened, they are thinned out, culling poorly developed plants.
Plants that have a very weak root system are sown in individual cups or special cassettes. Petunias, snapdragons, and kochias suffer from root damage. Growing in cups avoids this. In contrast, asters, annual dahlias, marigolds and other flowers have a fibrous root system. Bulk plastic containers will be suitable for these plants. At the age of at least seventy or eighty days, the flower planting material is ready for placement in the flower bed.
