Leek among garden crops is not a guest, but a permanent resident in the beds. All growers, without exception, grow it. He is unpretentious, it does not require special care. But the benefits that it brings are invaluable - it is a storehouse of vitamins necessary for the human body.
Growing leeks from seeds: when to plant?
Dates of landing are different. They vary by region. In the warm climate that characterizes the southern regions, the land warms up earlier, the summer is longer. Here, onions are planted immediately in the ground. The seedless method is used. This, of course, saves a lot of time. The middle strip of Russia, for example, Moscow Region, is characterized by frequent return frosts. In addition, stable warm weather is established late. Given that leeks have a long growing season (about six months), in this area it is bred using seedlings.
Growing onions for seedlings occurs in mid-February. This period is extended in time, therefore, it continues until the middle of the next month. But this is not a mandatory time for all varieties. For a variety such as Karantan leek, seed cultivation at the indicated time is not suitable. Gardeners dream to grow seedlings healthy and in due time. The further development of plants and the production of crops depend on this. If you plan to grow leeks from seeds, when to plant planting material in this case? It is better to do this at the very end of the first month of spring.
In which containers and soil should I plant?
Capacities for landing can be bought at the store or something adapted for them, for example, plastic boxes. But it is better if peat tablets are used for this. In this case, the seedlings do not have to dive.
To successfully grow leek from seeds, you need to plant it in a light, nutritious soil. If it is dense, clayy, you can not wait for the crop. Some people buy a ready-made soil mixture, but it’s better to cook it yourself. To do this, mixed garden soil and peat in 1/4 part and humus in double amount. Before filling the landing tanks with soil, it should be decontaminated: spill with boiling water or boil in the oven.
Features of seed preparation
In order for the planting material to germinate well, it should be processed - this is a prerequisite for any planting method: seed or seedling. It is important to know that the seeds will germinate together if their shelf life does not exceed three years. When growing leeks from seeds, their preparation is carried out using different methods.
- You can do this: wrap the seeds with a soft cloth, place in warm water for a day, then take them out and dry.
- Put the seeds in a thermos with water at a temperature of 40 ° C for three to five hours. After this time, remove, rinse with room temperature water and dry.
- You can simply treat the seeds with the Rostock solution.
Sowing seeds for seedlings
Growing leeks from seeds to seedlings is carried out in different ways. It depends on what size the capacity will be. If the sowing is carried out in a separate container, then one seed is placed in each, but it is better to have a few for safety (they do not suddenly sprout). When sprouts appear, remove everything except the strongest. The pick in this case is not needed. When growing leeks from seeds in a common box, they are scattered on the surface of the soil and buried in the soil. When shoots appear and grow a little, they pick. The technology for sowing seeds is as follows:
- First you need to fill the containers with the substrate, having previously moistened it.
- Then make grooves of small depth - one and a half centimeters.
- Fill the seeds four to five centimeters from one another and cover it with earth.
- Sprinkle with sand and pour over. The layer should be half a centimeter thick, not more.
- Cover the crops with a film of polyethylene and put in a room with a temperature of 21-25 ° C.
Sowing seeds in open ground
This method of growing onions is used in southern regions with a warm climate. With the onset of spring, when the weather is established, the soil warms up and there is no threat of return frosts, you can start sowing seeds on garden beds. The technology is as follows:
- Seeds are processed in any way.
- The beds are being prepared. To do this, they need to be dug 20 cm deep, add 40 g of urea, potassium salt, superphosphate and four kilograms of compost per square meter of area. After this, the site is again dug up.
- Then grooves are made, seeds are placed in them 10 cm from each other and filled with soil.
Seedlings: care after planting
Growing leeks from seeds at home is a common practice for gardeners. When shoots appear, and this happens after 14-21 days, the seedling containers should be transferred to a cool room in which the temperature reaches 15-17 ° C during the day and 10-12 ° C at night. This mode is maintained for one week. After this time, the temperature is again raised to 18-20 ° C during the day and 13-15 ° C at night. This mode should be maintained until the seedlings are transplanted to a constant place of growth. For plant development to be good, they need 12 hours of daylight. In early plantings, seedlings should be provided with additional lighting from artificial sources.
Watering seedlings
Small plants need watering, which should be plentiful and frequent. Their stems are tender, so the procedures must be carried out carefully. When watering, the earth settles, you need to periodically pour it into the tank, otherwise the bulbs will form incorrectly. For good growth, leek needs moistened soil, so it should not be allowed to dry out.
Onion stalk pruning
When exactly one month after the appearance of the sprouts, they must be thinned out, leaving between them three or four centimeters of free space. For the normal growth of seedlings, it is very important that the roots develop well, and the stems become thicker. This is achieved by cutting plants with a frequency of at least two times every 28 days. But you can not get carried away, the height of the bow should remain at the level of 10 cm.
Feeding seedlings
Plants grow well in the presence of nutrients in a nutrient medium. It is enough to carry out only two top dressings. The first time this is done 14 days after the first shoots appear. The next top dressing is done seven days before planting seedlings at a constant place of growth. For this, ready-made complexes are used, for example, Kemira Universal, or self-prepared fertilizer. Potassium chloride (5 g), superphosphate (20 g), urea (10 g) are dissolved in water with a volume of 10 liters. But it is better to feed the plants with bird droppings: half a kilogram of dry matter is taken per 10 liters of water, everything dissolves and mixes. Watering the soil, the seedlings must remain dry.
Seedling hardening
If leeks are later grown in the garden, the plants must get used to the environment. For this, they are hardened. A week before planting, containers with seedlings should be taken outside, first for a short time. When the plants get used, they can be left in the fresh air for a longer time, but always in the shade. The sun should not fall on the stems.
Pick
If the seeds are immediately planted in separate cups, this procedure is not needed. If the cultivation of leeks from seeds is carried out in a common capacity, pickling seedlings is carried out with dense plantings. Before the procedure, the soil is watered. It is necessary to give time so that the water is well absorbed. Then, very carefully, they take out the plants together with a lump of earth and transfer them to a separate cup or plant them in a box, but at a sufficiently large distance from each other so that the roots are not crowded.
Planting seedlings in the ground
If leek will be grown indoors for the entire time, the seeds are sown so that then the seedlings do not dive. Plants from the very beginning to the end grow in one place. But if it is planned to plant seedlings grown from seeds on beds in the garden, then this must be done when three or four leaves are formed on the plants, that is, 55-65 days after the appearance of sprouts. It is advisable to prepare the soil in the fall, but if it doesn’t work, you should not be upset, there is still spring left. The entire plot is first divided into separate beds, which are dug together with fertilizers introduced into the soil.
Leek on soils with acidic reaction does not grow. This crop needs neutral soils. If you are not sure about the soil acidity needed for onions, it is better to play it safe and add dolomite flour or limestone, but grind it first. Good neighbors for this crop are beets, strawberries, carrots, celery. Garden beds should be alternated. But in any case, the place of onion planting must be changed every three years.
Before planting the tops and roots of the seedlings should be pinched. So the plants will take root faster, and the greens will be better. In each hole you need to make a little humus and ash. To plant seedlings, dig holes 11-13 cm deep after 15-20 cm from one another. Row spacing should be 35-45 cm. With this scheme, it will be easy to grow beds.
Plant care
It doesn’t matter where the onion grows, indoors or on the garden, caring for it consists of the following procedures:
- Watering.
- Top dressing.
- Loosening and weeding.
- Hilling.
- Treatments for infections and pests.
In leek care, the most important is hilling. Thanks to this procedure, the lower part of the stems is bleached. Plants can be earthed when the thickness of the stems reaches a little less than a centimeter, but you need to sprinkle the earth under them carefully so as not to break. Only two months after the seedlings are planted in a permanent place can plants really be spudded. This should be done four to five times per season. If you ignore this procedure, the “trunk” will grow green with an unpleasant taste.
Leek should be watered frequently. In order for his feathers to be juicy, this must be done every four to six days. In dry weather - more often, but there should be no stagnation of water, as well as drying out of the soil. This leads to diseases. Throughout the entire period of life, onions need nutrition. It is better to use organics, in particular bird droppings. To prepare the solution, one part of the substance and 20 of water are taken. In addition to the above procedures, onions need regular weeding from weeds and loosening the soil.
Late grades
They are distinguished by a long vegetation period - up to 200 days, therefore they are not bred in areas and areas with a cold climate. In warm climates they need shelter if the plants grow on the beds. At home, there are no problems with this, the culture grows in its usual mode.
- Leek "quarantine": the ancient Egyptians and Romans were engaged in growing from seeds, but on our table a tasty and healthy vegetable appeared relatively recently. The leek of this variety is a two-year-old plant; it differs from its counterparts in terms of ripening, appearance, and taste. During the first year of life, leaves form: they are wide and long - up to one meter in height. Later, a stem is formed, which is called "false." This part of the plant is considered the most valuable and delicious, and for the sake of it the vegetable is cultivated. The white part has a cylindrical shape, length up to 25 cm, diameter - four centimeters. By the second year, a stem one and a half meters long with spherical inflorescences is formed. Seeds are small in size and black in color. Their germination lasts two years. Greens are formed before frost. It is used to make salads. In the southern regions it is grown by seeds, in the middle lane - by seedlings.
- Leek “autumn giant”: gardeners of our country are successfully engaged in the cultivation of seeds from this culture of Dutch selection. The variety is distinguished by a large white "leg", its length reaches 30-40 cm, diameter - eight centimeters. Harvesting lasts about two months, remains for a long time without changing the taste and marketability.
- Leek "Russian size": growing from seeds on a bed is possible only in a warm climate or at home. Seedlings obtained from seeds are planted in open soil. This is due to the long growing season, as in all late varieties. It is distinguished by the presence of a white, weakly expressed bulb, which has the ability to gradually turn into a false stem with a light green color and long leaves. Stem length - 60 cm, diameter - seven. Each plant forms up to 15 leaves. They and the stem are used as food, they are very useful, since they contain trace elements of almost the entire periodic table.
Mid-season varieties
They are called autumn. They form a "leg" 30-40 cm in length, it is powerful and thick. Varieties are characterized by large leaves with a touch of a bluish tint, the general color is blue-green. Leek of mid-ripening varieties is stored for up to two and a half months. When wintering in the garden, it grows in the spring and gives seeds.
- Leek "kazimir": growing from seeds directly to the ground is rarely used. Mostly they get seedlings, which are planted on beds in the garden or continue to grow at home. This variety is highly productive. The bleached “leg” is dense, with high quality, its length is 30 cm, the onion formation is weakly expressed. In a tall plant, the leaves are arranged vertically, do not lie down. Because of its size, the leek needs a lot of water, so you need to water it often.
- Leek "winner": by growing from seeds is meant their sowing to obtain planting material, since this variety is bred by seedlings. It is grown as an annual and perennial culture. The leaves have a gray-green color with a bluish tinge. The white part is up to 20 cm long and four in diameter. The variety has high frost resistance, so it is grown in regions with a cold climate.