The Main Mistakes When Growing Seedlings

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The Main Mistakes When Growing Seedlings
The Main Mistakes When Growing Seedlings

Video: The Main Mistakes When Growing Seedlings

Video: The Main Mistakes When Growing Seedlings
Video: 5 Biggest Mistakes When Growing Seedlings and Transplanting into the Garden 2024, March
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Growing seedlings of any vegetable crop is a rather complicated process that requires your attention and care. Therefore, before trying to grow seedlings on your own, think about: do you have enough time, do you have all the possibilities - a place, supplementary lighting lamps, feeding, seedling containers, etc., in order to get fully developed plants, which can then be planted in a greenhouse or open ground. Isn't it easier to buy seedlings?

The main mistakes when growing seedlings
The main mistakes when growing seedlings

If you nevertheless decide to grow seedlings on your own, then today we will tell you about the main mistakes of growing seedlings, avoiding which you can get high-quality plants, and in the future, with proper care in the open field, and a good harvest. After all, properly grown and planted seedlings are, although only half the success, but a very important half.

1. Errors when storing seeds

So, the first mistake is the wrong way of storing seeds, as a result of which they lose their germination partially or completely. Most often, gardeners, especially beginners, do not even think about where to store the seeds collected from varieties (but not F1 hybrids), put them in a plastic bag and place them in a kitchen table drawer or on a shelf. As a result, the seeds are stored in a rather moisture-rich and very warm room, which sometimes has a very negative effect on their germination.

In the warmth, the seeds can very quickly lose their germination, literally a couple of months may be enough, and if they also lie in a place where air is available, say, poured into a box without a lid, then, most likely, a month will be enough for them to come to disrepair.

Remember: seeds are best stored at positive, but low temperatures (usually up to +10 degrees). At the same time, another important factor should be taken into account - the air humidity in the room where the seeds are stored. It is noticed that if the humidity is high (more than 85%), then the seeds will deteriorate as quickly as if they were stored in a dry room, but at temperatures above 20 degrees above zero.

Some gardeners advise keeping seeds frozen, that is, placing them in the freezer of a standard household refrigerator. There, the seeds are really stored longer, they do not lose germination or are lost, but slowly. This is good, but at the same time, the seeds literally go into hibernation and do not germinate when sown if they are not awakened. You can wake up the seeds by banal heating - by placing them in water with a temperature of about 40 degrees for a couple of hours.

The most optimal conditions for storing seeds are those in which the temperature is in the range from +7 to +10 degrees above zero and does not jump, depending on the weather outside the window, either up or down, and the humidity is no more than 60%.

2. Errors in preparing seeds for seedlings

Gardeners who buy seeds in stores or from friends try to protect future plants as much as possible from the possible impact of negative factors on them in the form of, for example, fungal diseases. To do this, they dress the seeds with all kinds of poisons, often without thinking about the concentrations of these very poisons.

Remember that the concentration of toxic substances must be observed in strict accordance with the instructions indicated on the packaging of these drugs (and be neither higher nor lower than indicated, because in the second case there will simply be no effect). In this case, it is necessary to use only preparations permitted and adapted for dressing the seeds of certain crops. The same applies to growth promoters, otherwise you will simply kill the seeds.

When buying seeds for seedlings, be sure to read the description and on their packaging, nowadays many companies sell already treated with protective compounds, growth regulators or pickled seeds, which must be written on the packaging. Of course, this is an attempt to stand out among the mass of seed manufacturers, but in this case it is a good attempt and it suits you. You can even overpay for such seeds a little, but you will not have to mess with them in the future.

3. Incorrect seed hardening

Another mistake regarding seeds is their improper and untimely hardening. Experienced gardeners generally often recommend abandoning seed hardening, because, as they believe, there is no point in this, because the seedlings usually grow in the most comfortable conditions for them. Given this circumstance, hardening of the seeds may not be carried out, but if you decide on it, then harden the seeds, without seedlings, after soaking, but before pecking, otherwise there is a risk of ruining the delicate sprout, and nothing will grow out of the seed …

4. Error in sowing dates

The timing of sowing seeds for seedlings is very important: if you sow seeds too early, then the seedlings will not be ready for planting in the ground, because it will still be cold outside, then it will outgrow, waiting for suitable conditions. If you sow late, then it will not develop sufficiently by the time of planting in the ground, so there may be delays in obtaining a crop, and in some cases you may not get it at all.

Usually, the seeds of most vegetable crops for seedlings are sown no earlier than the end of March and the beginning of April, but if we are talking about heat-loving crops, say, bell pepper or eggplant, then seedlings can be sown earlier - for example, closer to mid-March. In addition to stretching or not growing to the desired size and degree of development, seedlings with incorrect planting dates may also suffer from unfavorable light conditions - they will begin to stretch up to the degree of lodging, or there will be delays in the formation of brushes (as, for example, in tomato).

Seedlings of tomatoes
Seedlings of tomatoes

5. Mistake in the choice of soil for seedlings

When sowing seeds for seedlings, be sure to pay special attention to the composition of the soil in which you will sow the seeds. Never use "worn out" soil, dense clay and taken from places with an "unknown past". It is better not to take the soil from somewhere at all, because you can subsequently infect your site with quarantine pests. You do not have to buy soil in the store due to additional financial costs, but simply prepare it yourself, especially since it is not at all difficult.

It is best to prepare the soil for growing seedlings in the autumn period, that is, in advance, almost six months in advance. There is a universal mixture in which the vast majority of seeds of a wide variety of crops will germinate. Such a mixture consists of a couple of parts of humus or compost, one part of semi-rotted sawdust (they should be gray) and one part of sand (it is better to take river sand of the middle fraction, it would be nice to rinse it). All this is thoroughly mixed, and seeds are sown in such a mixture.

6. Thickened planting

We have come to sowing seeds, it would seem, what mistakes can there be? But they are, for example, excessive thickening during sowing. Of course, the ideal option is to sow one or two seeds in peat-humus pots, but more often the seeds are sown in boxes, covering the soil with an almost even layer of seeds. Naturally, with a thickened planting, they will grow weakly, compete for food and moisture, stretching out, they will strive to "grab" more light for themselves, from which, as a result, the seedlings will be curved and weak.

Do not forget about diseases: in thickened seedlings, a black leg is wielding, capable of destroying from half to all the plants in the box. To understand what distance during sowing is considered optimal, pay attention to the packing of seeds, it is sure to say about it there. Different cultures prefer different distances, which must be taken into account.

7. Seeding depth

The same can be said about the depth of planting of seeds, there is a universal rule of the gardener "the depth of planting of one or another seed corresponds to its two diameters." In fact, this is indeed the case, and if the seeds are sown very deeply, they may not sprout. And here the instructions on the seed packaging should again come to the rescue: the embedment depth must be indicated there, especially if it is a company that deserves respect and is striving to break out on the market, ahead of its competitors.

8. Insufficient lighting for seedlings

After sowing, the seedling care period begins and it begins with the installation of additional lighting. While the seedlings have not yet emerged, there is no need to hide containers or boxes in the dark, just place the box on the southern windowsill and wait for the shoots to emerge. As soon as the seedlings appear on the soil surface, it is necessary to provide them with additional illumination, artificially lengthening the daylight hours and bringing it with the help of additional lighting to 11-13 hours (depending on the culture).

Lamps are turned on, as a rule, 1-2 hours before sunrise and 1-2 hours after sunset. Sometimes during the day. It is very simple to check whether the backlight is needed during the daytime, you just need to turn on the lamp in the daytime, if it becomes noticeably brighter, then additional lighting is needed, but if it is a sunny day outside the window and nothing should change, then there is no need for daytime lighting.

9. Incorrect watering

Water is life. But water can also be deadly to seedlings if poured in too much. For example, too much water does not need to be poured directly after sowing the seeds. During this period, it is enough to spray the soil from a spray bottle, only slightly moistening, and so that the moisture does not evaporate, cover the container on top with cling film. With strong watering after sowing, you can literally "drown" the seeds or even deepen them somewhat, which will delay the appearance of sprouts on the soil surface. Of course, sowing in completely dry soil does not bode well either, so the substrate should be moistened even before sowing the seeds (it will be better this way).

In the future, while the sprouts are small, you can use the same spray bottle, and as soon as they grow up, switch to standard watering, for example, from a glass. At the same time, it is important not to overfill the soil with water, and not to allow it to dry out, this is no less dangerous than overflow - the roots of the seedlings will simply dry out (and not rot, as in the first case) and the plants will die.

Do not use heavy water to water the seedlings, especially from the tap. Firstly, it is quite cold there, and secondly, chlorine additives can be harmful to plants. Water can be used rain, thawed or settled for at least a day. Before watering, warm it up to room temperature so that there are no differences during watering.

It is possible to sharply limit watering, up to its complete cessation, only when there is a day or two left before planting seedlings on the site. The fact is that plants saturated with moisture are more fragile and, when transplanted, may suffer more severely than plants that have slightly lost their turgor and more sluggish specimens.

Seedling cabbage
Seedling cabbage

10. Incorrect feeding

When growing seedlings, feeding is also important, you should not think that the seed contains all the necessary substances and is capable of forming a full-fledged plant by itself. Top dressing is needed, but in rather small quantities and in a timely manner.

For example, before picking seeds into separate cups, it is better not to feed the seedlings at all, then, 4-5 days after picking, you can feed them with nitroammophos by dissolving a tablespoon of this complex fertilizer in a bucket of water. About a liter of such a solution is needed per square meter of the seedling box. Depending on the growth rate and development rate of seedlings, feeding can be carried out at least every two weeks, but more often it is not recommended.

If you abuse fertilizers and keep the seedlings at home for a long time, then it can outgrow to one degree or another, and this will also negatively affect its further growth and development after transplanting to a permanent place in the ground. At the exit, the seedlings should be stocky, with a thick stem, a powerful root system, but not elongated, high, up to lodging.

11. Lack of hardening of seedlings

Remember the phrase - "if you want to be healthy - temper"? Indeed, hardening helps to increase immunity, and strong immunity is the key to human health, and seedlings as well. Given this, you should not send seedlings directly from the windowsill to the garden. It is imperative to carry out hardening, gradually worsening the "living conditions". The first days, seedlings can be taken out on a balcony or terrace for just a couple of hours, increasing the time of her stay there every day by only 2-3 hours, and so on - up to a full day. If there is no balcony or terrace, then try to expose the seedlings under an open window or window as described above. Only after hardening can the seedlings be planted in the ground.

These are, perhaps, all the mistakes that are possible when growing seedlings. If I forgot something, write about it in the comments. Both me and the readers will find additional information very useful.

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