When to sow tomato seedlings? Spring has come - and gardeners and gardeners are again full of worries. Starting from January-February, there is a selection of varieties and types of tomatoes, cucumbers and other garden crops for sowing. And, of course, each gardener reflects on the topic: when to sow seedlings for tomatoes and other crops? It is very difficult to predict which year will stand out. Will the spring be cold or warm, will the summer be dry or rainy? This is even meteorologists are unlikely to tell you.
Today we will talk about seedlings of tomatoes, because in our gardens it is one of the most beloved crops.
It is easiest for a novice gardener to follow the directions on the seed packages. Although, of course, this is by no means a panacea for all ills. The timing when planting tomato seeds on seedlings is optimal, when to plant seedlings in the ground, as well as the ripening dates there are given approximately and in a very wide range. So there is always the risk of planting too soon or too late.
In the first case, the seedlings will “sit out” in pots on the windowsills, will be elongated and will probably “move to a permanent place of residence” not only after a dive, but already with flowers. The bushes will have to get used to the bed at a more mature age, and the gardener will take care of the props.
In the case when you sow seedlings for tomatoes late, you lose precious warm days. Others already have strong tomato bushes flaunt in the garden, and you still have a full window sill of pots.
How to be? Here the advice of experienced gardeners and breeders come to our aid. So, for example, the famous Oktyabrina Alekseevna Ganichkina recommends when to plant tomatoes on seedlings. According to her many years of experience, for central Russia the optimal time for planting tomato seeds for seedlings is mid-March, about 10-15. It was at this time that she suggested filling peat pots with cooked, vitriol-treated and fertilized earth. They plant one seed and put in a warm place (22-25 degrees Celsius).
After emergence, the plants are vernalized - they are kept in the light for several days, but at a low temperature (about 16 degrees Celsius). Then the temperature is raised, the requirement for high illumination remains. In pots or cups, seedlings spend 50-60 days, depending on the variety and growing conditions. Landing is carried out simultaneously with picking, while the plant already reaches a height of 20-25 centimeters, has not only 5-6 true leaves, but often already branches (forms stepsons) and has an ovary or flower brush.
Of course, for the hydroponic (balcony) tomato culture, as well as for the northern regions, the period when sowing seedlings for tomatoes is shifting to an earlier one - at the end of February – beginning of March. At the same time, planting tomato seeds on seedlings for warmer regions does not change significantly, this is the same mid-March. Only the ripening rate will change, and the varieties are likely to be less cold resistant.
Our grandmothers and mothers also decided the question of when to plant seedlings for tomatoes in favor of mid or late March. True, there was no talk of peat pots. More often, milk bags with a cut sidewall or flower boxes were used (then the seeds were sown often with the whole package). Also no less popular was the planting of tomato seeds for seedlings in glasses from sour cream or yogurt. But here, more often, several seeds were planted in one hole, and after thinning was performed. Vessels with seedlings first settled on a battery board in city apartments or in another warm place. Then, window sills, and often windows with the help of different shelves, "overgrown" with young plants.
Some benefit in determining when to plant seedlings for tomatoes can also be obtained from the Lunar Calendar. Now even electronic versions of this faithful assistant gardener have appeared. Just do not forget about common sense, of course. The decision - when to plant tomatoes on seedlings - still depends on you. And only you decide how and when you embark on this fascinating adventure with all the unknowns.