How nice it is to eat meaty tomatoes or peppers grown by your own hands at the dining table at the backyard. The process of growing such moody crops is quite laborious, but worth it.
A lot depends on the quality of the seeds purchased, as well as on how strong and strong tomato and pepper seedlings will be grown. It is only necessary to remember that about two months pass before planting seedlings in open ground. During this time, the soil mixture used to grow seedlings is pretty depleted. To prevent this from happening, fertilizing seedlings of tomatoes (and peppers, by the way, too) should be done regularly (according to a certain scheme). Also, for each period, you need to choose the appropriate fertilizer. Otherwise, young plants will significantly lag behind in growth. And vegetables already in the open ground are also unlikely to please you.
Therefore, if you want to get a good crop of vegetables, then top dressing tomato seedlings (care involves producing it about 3-4 times) must be carried out without fail and not spare the time spent on it.
We prepare the soil mixture for seedlings
For growing seedlings of tomatoes and peppers, you can use ready-made soils, growing in which gives good results:
- Terra vita, or Living Earth. They are natural slightly acid soil mixtures with the addition of vermicompost.
- Soil soil (neutral) "Microparnic".
- Ready soil "Tomato".
- Gumimaks is a neutral sterilized soil mixture enriched with biologically active components.
Naturally, you can use the usual garden land. Previously, only it must be thoroughly disinfected and saturated with nutrient components.
Important! Remember that tomatoes do not like fresh manure at all. Therefore, it is better to improve soil quality with the help of compost.
Cooking planting material
Preparation of seeds before sowing plays an important role in the agrotechnical process of growing tomatoes. The following preparations are suitable for processing planting material:
- Bigus. We stand the seeds in solution for 5-6 hours.
- "Sprout" or "Carvitol". Soak the planting material in one of the preparations for one hour immediately before sowing.
- Ribav Extra. We spray the seed material.
- "Narcissus". For 11-12 hours, we maintain the planting material in solution.
- And you can use folk remedies. First, the seeds can be processed in a solution of potassium permanganate, and then subjected to soaking in a solution of melt water (1 liter) and ash (about 2 matchboxes).
Argumentation of the need for fertilizing
Maybe not bother feeding yourself? Maybe without them the seedlings will grow strong and strong? Those who think that way are mistaken. The fact is that correctly selected and timely applied top dressing of seedlings of tomatoes and peppers is the key to good development, growth and accumulation of useful trace elements and vitamins in vegetables. In addition, in peppers and tomatoes with proper feeding, palatability (for example, sugar content) improves.
The introduction of balanced fertilizers helps to strengthen the immunity of plants to pests and diseases. For example, with a lack of copper, tomatoes undergo such a fungal disease as late blight. The diseased plants are sequentially covered with brown spots: first the leaves, stems, and then the fruits themselves. Within a few days, the entire crop dies, that is, all the efforts in vain. Late blight is a real disaster for plants in the nightshade family. To avoid this, it is better to pre-process all the bushes and calmly wait for a decent harvest.
Both tomatoes and peppers need trace elements such as potassium (which contributes to the development of the root system), nitrogen (it is impossible to build up green mass without it) and phosphorus (it helps flowering and fruiting).
Varieties of Feeding
Fertilizing tomato seedlings can be in the following form:
- loose;
- liquid;
- granular;
- tableted;
- powdery.
There are three types of fertilizer components:
- inorganic;
- organic
- complex, which are enriched with organic additives and salts.
Which mixtures are better as top dressings
What is the best top dressing for seedlings of tomatoes and peppers: liquid solutions or dry? The answer is unequivocal - liquid fertilizers are preferable. The trading network presents a huge number of such mixtures - "Ideal", "Strong", "Effect", "Biohumus".
If you have dry fertilizers purchased earlier, simply dilute them with water, since the root system of peppers and tomatoes is not able to absorb mineral substances in this form from the soil.
How and at what time of day it is better to fertilize
What is the best way to fertilize tomato seedlings at home? There are two ways to fertilize the soil:
- Directly under the root of the plant. Despite the fact that such top dressing is subject to leaching at each subsequent watering and the root system absorbs only part of the nutrients, a similar method is quite popular.
- By spraying green mass (i.e., foliar). According to experts, it is this method that is most effective for feeding young plants, since all nutrients are instantly absorbed by the leaves. Having understood what trace element the plant lacks, a weak solution is prepared on the basis of this missing component and they are sprayed with green mass. Despite all the advantages of the method, it is not used very often.
Important! When growing seedlings of peppers, you should not use the foliar method for feeding plants. It is better to use the method of root dressing (that is, the first). If the mixture gets on the leaves, rinse them quickly with clean water.
After diving, it is recommended to alternate both types of top dressing, and in the second half of the growing season it is better to make fertilizers directly under the root.
When is it better to fertilize? Immediately after watering, fertilizing tomato seedlings is recommended. And in 2-3 hours after feeding with fertilizers, the topsoil should be loosened. Only this must be done very carefully.
Important! Do not use tap water for irrigation because of the high content of chlorine in it, which has a very negative effect on tomatoes. Better to use the rain. In extreme cases - tap water, but always settled.
What time of day is the feeding event preferable? It is better to do this work in the early morning. If you do this in the evening, then there is a great danger of the development of fungus in the soil due to lower temperature values ​​during these hours.
Top-up dates and their composition
Seedlings should be fed strictly according to the scheme:
- The first top dressing of tomato seedlings. They produce it after two real leaves have formed on the plant. This top dressing should include not only potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus, but also a whole set of additional trace elements. Such a complex fertilizer can be prepared independently: we mix one liter of settled tap water (1 liter), double superphosphate (2 g), any potassium fertilizer (0.5 g) and urea (0.5 g). All is ready. You can feed. After picking, you can fertilize tomato seedlings with the finished Nitrophos preparation: it is enough to dilute one tablespoon of fertilizer in one liter of warm, settled water.
- Next, we feed in 7-8 days. We prepare the solution in the same way as during the first feeding - we add the same components to a liter of water, we only double their dose. Or we use the Nitrophos fertilizer. We breed in the same way as described above.
Important! Before the second top dressing, it is necessary to assess the condition of the plants visually. If the seedlings are very stretched up, then we fertilize without nitrogen-containing components.
- After 14-16 days, we make the next feeding with ready-made mixtures such as Nitrophos, Fortress, Agricola or Mortar.
Important! If you use ready-made dressings, then without fail, before use, you need to read the instructions in order to have a clear idea of ​​the purpose of this or that fertilizer. By the way, if it is indicated that the mixture is recommended for feeding adult plants, then you can safely use it for young seedlings: you just need to reduce the concentration of the solution by half.
- A week before the seedlings are transplanted into the open ground, we carry out the final top dressing, which includes the following components: room temperature water (1 liter), potassium fertilizer (about 8 g), double superphosphate (4 g) and urea (1 g). You can use the drug "Effekton-O", which should be diluted according to the attached instructions.
Important! Do not abuse the feeding of peppers and tomatoes. Feed them only when the plants look stunted and weak. No wonder there is a saying that "the best is the enemy of the good." Remember: Excess fertilizers can cause harm comparable to their lack. It is especially necessary to be extremely careful with nitrogen top dressing of tomato seedlings: if you overdose them, you risk getting only lush bushes, and you will have to forget about the fruits.
Signs of micronutrient deficiency
The fact that the plant lacks some trace elements can eloquently say its appearance:
- A sign that there are not enough nitrogen-containing fertilizers in the soil are yellow and sluggish leaves, which subsequently simply fall off. It is possible, of course, that problems with sheet plates are due to a lack of light. Or maybe the reason is too high temperatures or, conversely, too low.
- Violet formations on leaf blades and the stem of a young seedling signal a lack of phosphorus.
- Asymmetric and small leaves on the bushes “scream” about zinc starvation.
- The presence of a pale leaf mass, with pronounced green veins, is nothing more than a lack of iron.
Signs of an oversupply
An overdose in top dressing tomato seedlings is extremely undesirable. In such cases, they say that the plants begin to "fatten". The main signs of this phenomenon may be:
- Excess magnesium can cause foliage to curl and significantly darken leaf blades.
- The result of excess calcium is inter-vein chlorosis of the leaves, which manifests itself in the form of pale spots with concentric circles filled with liquid (namely water).
- Excessive phosphorus leads to rapid aging of tomato bushes.
- Too much potassium leads to a slowdown in plant growth, as well as to lighten the leaves and their fall.
- An overdose of fertilizers, which include components such as boron, manganese and copper, will affect the total yield (in a negative sense) of both tomatoes and peppers.
- The defining feature of “fattening” plants is the presence of thick shoots, a large number of green tops and a low crop of vegetables.
On a note! An overdose of nitrate, urea and ammonium sulfate is unacceptable. Use such fertilizers must be strictly in accordance with the instructions attached to the drug by the manufacturer.
Ways to deal with fattening seedlings
You can correct the situation by applying a number of agricultural measures:
- Stopping “water procedures” of peppers and tomatoes for 8-10 days.
- Significantly reducing a procedure such as airing. The maximum that can be done is to open the window.
- Adding lighting to the bushes.
- Refusing to use fertilizers containing nitrogen.
On a note! As a top dressing for fattening seedlings, we recommend phosphate fertilizers, with which we spray not only green tops, but also apply them directly under the root of plants. Before top dressing, we must moisten the soil. It is recommended to add about 1 liter of superphosphate to one pepper or tomato plant.
Feeding seedlings of tomatoes and peppers folk remedies
Many gardeners prefer to fertilize vegetables using what is at hand (that is, folk remedies). The recipes for preparing such a make-up are quite simple and tested by several generations. Therefore, you can safely use them, and you will be able to grow healthy and strong seedlings. Dressing tomato seedlings can be done using:
- Onion peel. It promotes the growth of vegetable crops and helps in the fight against their pests. We do the tincture as follows: put the husks of five onions in a five-liter jar, pour warm water to the brim, close the lid, do not completely twist and put the container in a dark and warm place. After 4-5 days, filter the tincture and use it for disinfecting the soil and spraying the leaf mass of seedlings.
- Coffee grounds. First we collect and dry it. Then we make the ground in a small amount in the ground. The soil mixture becomes more loose, resulting in improved access of oxygen to the roots of the plant.
- Eggshell. It contains many useful trace elements that will be useful to young plants. We put a shell of 3-4 eggs in a jar, fill them with warm water (three liters). We close the lid, but we do not tighten it to the end so that there is little air access, and place it for 3 days in a dark place. The mixture will be ready when you smell bad.
- Ash. It can be straw or wood. To prepare the nutrition of tomato seedlings, ash (1 tablespoon) is poured with hot water (2 liters) and insisted for a day.
- Potato peel. Starch has a lot of nutrients, so potato decoction from peeling is perfect for feeding seedlings. It must be used chilled.
Finally
Now you have complete information on how to feed seedlings of tomatoes and peppers. And you have good chances to grow healthy and strong seedlings. Put a little effort and patience, and you will get an excellent crop of vegetables.