From early spring, gardeners and summer residents begin their boisterous activities associated with sowing and germinating seedlings. It is not so easy to get healthy and strong shoots that easily adapt in the open ground and will continue to please a good harvest. The main condition for their growth, and, consequently, the basis of the future harvest is the correctly selected or prepared independently land.
Soil for seedlings: do it yourself
Some novice growers do not think about how to properly prepare the soil for growing seedlings, but simply take the land from the garden and sow seeds into it. What is their disappointment when the long-awaited seedlings never appear or grow slowly. And by the time of transplantation into the open ground, they are still fragile and weak. Such plants, most likely, will not tolerate the stress associated with planting on beds, and die within a few days.
Before proceeding with active actions, you need to responsibly approach the question of how to prepare the land for seedlings with your own hands.
Soil preparation should not begin in the spring, but from August-September. Pure garden soil in its pure form will not work, but it can become the basis for a nutritious soil mixture in which seeds will be sown. Do not ignore such a stage of preparation as disinfecting the soil for seedlings, if you take it from the garden or from the garden.
What danger lurks in the garden earth
Why can’t you just pick up seedlings from a garden in a tank and grow seedlings in it? Some will say that this will be the right decision, because it is in such a land that seedlings will grow after transplanting. This is partly true: it is good if the soil for seedlings is prepared from garden soil and is similar in composition to it. In this case, young plants when planting on beds adapt faster. But if you take garden soil in its pure form, without additional fertilizing and loosening components, then it will be far from ideal for planting seedlings. Since it is very dense and does not contain the required amount of nutrients.
The second drawback of garden or garden land is the presence of a large number of small pests that can destroy seeds and weak roots of young shoots.
Composition and structure of soil for seedlings
Choosing and combining the components of the soil mixture, you must adhere to certain rules. Primary requirements:
- Porous (air) structure. It is necessary to minimize the clay, which clogs the pores and leads to the formation of lumps.
- The presence of a sufficient number of useful components (organic and mineral fertilizers). But in this case one should not cross the line. Excessive content of mineral fertilizers slows down the process of seed germination and can lead to diseases of seedlings.
- The absence of pests, larvae, eggs of insects. The soil must be disinfected, but not completely sterile. In any soil mixture, the presence of beneficial microflora is mandatory.
For the destruction and prevention of pests, it is necessary to study the question of how to disinfect the land for seedlings, and to take the necessary measures to disinfect the soil. But its structure and composition directly depend on the correct selection of components and their proportions.
The most popular universal soil composition for seedlings is prepared on the basis of garden soil (2 parts), peat (1 part), humus (1 part). Pure coarse river sand or sawdust may be a baking powder. Mineral fertilizer will be ash or charcoal. All of these components are carefully sieved and combined. Even a novice who previously did not know how to properly prepare the soil will cope with such a task. Soil for seedlings made in this way can be suitable for indoor plants.
What is our next step? What do we do after we have prepared the land? Disinfect the land for seedlings, this will avoid all the troubles associated with diseases and pests of young shoots.
Soil disinfection as an important element of preparation
Even the most correct soil composition for seedlings can be useless if it has not passed the disinfection procedure. In this case, the soil may contain pathogenic flora, eggs and larvae of pests, spores of weeds and mold. All of the above begins to develop rapidly and manifest itself as soon as a favorable environment is created for the germination of seedlings. This can cause permanent damage to the seedlings. To avoid such problems, you need to know how to disinfect the land for seedlings.
There is an erroneous opinion that the land from the packages does not need disinfection and is completely ready for use. In fact, it can contain exactly as many dangers as it does in the garden, as, in fact, it is waste soil from greenhouses and greenhouses, mechanically cleaned and enriched.
Soil disinfection methods for seedlings
How to disinfect the land for seedlings? This is a simple question, because there are a lot of ways to sterilize the soil. Experienced gardeners sometimes themselves invent new methods or improve existing ones.
Mechanical methods of disinfection: calcination and freezing of the soil
Soil calcination is one of the most popular methods for soil disinfection. It is based on heat treatment. It can be produced in many ways.
Firstly, the soil can be roasted in the oven by decomposing it on a brazier. The temperature should be 180 ° C, and the time should be about 40 minutes. The method is very affordable and simple, but not suitable for large volumes of land.
Secondly, you can calcine the soil in the microwave. In this case, the wet substrate is placed in a glass dish and left in the microwave for 10 minutes at maximum power.
Thirdly, a water bath is suitable for thermal soil treatment. The method is effective, but, as in previous cases, it is designed for small volumes.
If you have prepared the soil for seedlings since the fall, you can disinfect a large amount of soil without much effort, just leaving it in an unheated room or on the balcony during frost. Winter cold will help you destroy almost all the harmful microorganisms in the ground.
Biological soil disinfection
The whole point of biological disinfection is to populate the soil for seedlings with beneficial microorganisms that displace harmful ones.
The most popular biological products today are Phytosporin, Phytop, Barrier, Barrier, Trichodermin. When using biological preparations for disinfection, it is important to carefully follow the instructions, clearly observe the dosage and shelf life.
With the correct use of biological products, they not only destroy the pathogenic flora, but also accelerate the growth of seedlings.
Chemical soil disinfection
Chemical disinfection of soil for seedlings is best used only in exceptional cases. As in the situation with biological products, it is important not to violate the instructions. Some of these drugs not only destroy pathogenic flora, pathogenic bacteria and fungi, but also inhibit plant growth.
The most harmless, but also ineffective method of chemical disinfection is potassium permanganate. It eventually turns into potash fertilizer.
By disinfecting the soil for seedlings by mechanical or chemical means, we deprive it of not only pathogenic flora, but also beneficial bacteria. They can be restored by adding bacterial fertilizer to the soil (Rizotorfin, Azotobacterin, Phosphorobacterin). Some gardeners use ordinary yeast for this purpose.
Purchased soil mixture. How to improve the quality of the finished land
It is worth noting that all of the above procedures for the preparation and disinfection of land for seedlings are not suitable for "lazy" gardeners. Self preparation of the substrate takes time and effort. It is much easier and faster to buy a ready-made composition for sowing seedlings. Those who choose this option should remember the existing pitfalls.
Unfortunately, far from always the manufacturers honestly write truthful information on the packaging. It happens that, choosing a package with the best composition, you get poor soil based on peat. When planting seeds in such a composition, there is a high risk of remaining disappointed with the result. Seedlings either will not emerge at all, or even if seedlings appear, they are unlikely to meet expectations. Therefore, one should not be excessively economical in this matter, but choose the products of well-known companies.
Even if you have such a poor-quality peat-based mix, try fixing it yourself. To do this, mix it with garden soil, previously disinfected. How to disinfect the land for seedlings, we considered earlier in our article. Next, be sure to check the resulting substrate for acidity, and if it is higher than normal, we correct this problem. Soil acidity is reduced by adding chalk or dolomite flour. Since such a soil mixture lacks its own nutrients, additional mineral fertilizers must be added.
It is necessary to approach the issue of preparing land for seedlings very seriously and scrupulously. Experienced gardeners know that the correct soil composition is 80% success when growing seedlings.