Step-by-step instructions for growing tomato seedlings at home

Selection and preparation of planting material

It is very easy to plant seedlings at home. There are several advantages of growing seedlings on your own. Firstly, you can use soil from your site, so houseplants will be prepared in advance for planting in the soil, they will quickly take root and begin to develop well. Secondly, you can plant and grow absolutely any variety of tomato, and not the one that the seedling seller chose. The video at the end of the recording shows how to properly plant seedlings at home. In order to plant seedlings at home, you will need a container for planting, soil and seeds.

Growing seedlings at home always begins with the selection of seeds for planting. There are a great many varieties of tomatoes on the market now, in which it is easy to get lost. Therefore, to begin with, select a variety that you have already grown earlier and add to it a few others that you like. When buying, pay attention to the indicated ripening dates, plant height and breeding purity.

Seedlings of tomatoes can be grown at home from varietal seeds and from hybrids. The latter always have the F1 mark on the packaging. Plants from varietal seeds are able to preserve and transmit properties "by inheritance", both positive and equally negative. From the grown fruits, it will subsequently be possible to collect seeds for the next planting.

Experts consider hybrids to be a better material for growing vegetables. they almost always show the best yield, resistance to diseases and weather conditions, ripen faster, which is an indisputable advantage for our short summer. True, the price for them will be higher than varietal seeds, and they are not suitable for subsequent reproduction, therefore, it makes no sense to collect seeds from the fruits of your favorite hybrid variety - you cannot grow anything of high quality from this, no matter how hard you try. It is best to plant hybrid varieties of tomatoes at home.

One important issue for him is seed producers. Nothing definite can be advised here - everything is achieved only by experience. Try to keep the purchased tomato packages to determine the quality of the seed. You can even write down your observations in order to repeat the success or abandon this manufacturer in subsequent years. Familiar gardeners will also be able to guide you, who will advise certain companies in which they have already purchased high-quality seeds for tomato seedlings at home. Hybrid varieties have been proven to work best for the home. This is confirmed by experts in many training videos.

So, let's say that you have chosen the seeds, purchased and are mentally ready for the process of home growing seedlings. However, before planting them in the ground, you need to take a number of measures to prepare them:

• We pour out the contents of the purchased sachet for visual observation. If there are empty seeds, broken or very small, we remove them completely.The emptiness of the seeds can be determined by throwing the material into a glass of salted soda for 5 minutes. Anything that has surfaced is not suitable for planting. These are empty seeds. For the further process, we need those that remained at the bottom. They should be carefully rinsed with clean water.
• Next, we disinfect the seeds by lowering them into a barely warm weak solution of potassium permanganate, and stand for 10-15 minutes. Potassium permanganate can be successfully replaced with hydrogen peroxide (we dilute 5 ml with 100 g of water), the solution should also be barely warm, 40 degrees.
• Some gardeners are engaged in seed hardening. You can try this method too, using some of the material to compare the results when harvesting. The method consists in keeping the swollen seed in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
• Next, we spread the seeds on a wet cloth for germination. Try to arrange them so that each seed lies separately and does not touch neighbors. You can soak the seeds in a solution of mineral fertilizers, this will increase their germination. Tableted types of micronutrients can be purchased at the store. Cover the tomato seeds with the same cloth, put them in a warm place and make sure that the cloth remains always moist. Can be covered with plastic wrap over fabric. In about 2-3 days you will receive the material completely ready for disembarkation.

Soil preparation and site

While our future home seedlings are preparing for planting, we will prepare the soil. The soil for a tomato can be prepared in several ways, the only prerequisite is that it must be loose. This is achieved by using various additives in the sod land, for example, peat or sawdust. Seedlings develop well in chopped coconut fiber, which is rich in minerals useful for plant development and actively resists the development of rot.

Here are two examples of soil for tomato seedlings:

1. We take in equal proportions the land from the garden, humus, peat. We add wood ash (up to 0.5 liters of ash will go for 1 bucket of the mixture), superphosphate (about 2 matchboxes per bucket of soil are enough) and always water for moistening.
2. We take in equal proportions the land from the garden, river sand, peat or compost. Next, we prepare an aqueous solution of fertilizers. For 10 liters of water, you will need 20 g of potassium sulfate, 10 g of carbamide and 30 g of superphosphate.

You can also use your regular store-bought potting soil mix, it is completely prepared and does not require any additives.

Now you need to prepare the container for seedlings. Here you should be guided by personal preference. Any pots, drawers, cups and other containers will do. You can purchase special mini-plates for this.

Tomato is a heat-loving vegetable, so try to find a sunny and warm place to grow your seedlings. The optimum temperature is +22 degrees.

A balcony for initial germination will not work if you do not have additional heating there. Thus, you already know how to plant seeds at home and how to germinate them. You can also watch the video at the end of the recording and reinforce your knowledge.

Sowing dates

Another important question to consider is when to start sowing. The sooner the thoughts, the better you drive them away. Seedlings planted in January or February will turn into something unknown before the time of planting in the ground. Experienced gardeners recommend March as the optimal month. Mid-March is the ideal time to plant tomato seeds. At this time, there is already a fairly long daylight hours, the sun often appears in the sky, and the plants will be in comfortable conditions for themselves and automatically "programmed" for a good harvest.

You can be late with landing until the beginning of April. This time is calculated based on the needs of the plant. It is recommended to keep tomatoes in seedlings no more than 60 days, optimally - 50-55. Therefore, you can calculate the terms yourself.If planting is carried out in the first decade of May in a greenhouse, then we take 45 days for the growth of seedlings, minus about a week for seed germination. Earlier varieties of tomato can be planted in early April.

Sowing

The seeding process is simple. We fill the selected container with prepared soil, moisten it well, cover it with a film for a while in order to achieve uniformity of moisture. Leave for 5-6 hours. Tomato seedlings, covered with foil

For sowing in boxes - we make shallow grooves of 1 cm, for sowing in pots - small indentations. Carefully lower the seed into the ground. You can use a toothpick for this. When planting in grooves, maintain a distance of 2 cm between seeds and 5 cm between furrows. Gently sprinkle with earth and moisten the planting site with a spray bottle.

For quick germination, the container with seeds is covered with a film, creating greenhouse conditions. As soon as the plants grow, it is about 5-7 days, the film must be removed.

Seedling care

Seedling care is the most important stage in growing a tomato. At the initial stage, the air temperature of the room in which the plants stand should remain + 22-23 degrees. If necessary, irrigate with filtered or settled water from a tap at room temperature. Rainwater will do as well.

After about a week, we begin to gradually reduce the temperature by 5-7 degrees to + 17-19. Already during this period, you can ventilate the room, but avoid the formation of drafts. When the plants have developed well (the first true leaf has grown by 5 cm), the tomatoes need to be transplanted. In this case, it is recommended to cut the main root by a third in order to stimulate the formation of a developed root system. Re-planting is carried out with a deepening to the cotyledon leaves.

What if there are few sunny days and you are afraid that the seedlings will develop poorly? Then we use additional fluorescent lighting. We turn on the lamp for 18 hours. But many vegetable growers do not do this, and their seedlings are not at all worse.

Do not forget to regularly water the seedlings at intervals of about once a week so that the tomato root system develops well. If you notice that the seedlings are too elongated, then you should reduce watering and reduce the temperature in the room. You can feed the seedlings a little with superphosphate or ready-made fertilizers for vegetables "GUMI" or "Baikal EM-1". Before planting, the plants should be hardened by increasing the ventilation. You can then transfer the finished seedlings to the greenhouse and leave for several days, opening the vents for a short time. After hardening, the plants are completely ready for transfer to a permanent place of growth. Now you are familiar with all the main stages and subtleties of how to grow tomato seedlings at home. Therefore, we wish you excellent results and good yields.

Video "Growing tomato seedlings"

After watching the entry, you will learn how to grow healthy tomato seedlings at home and how to grow it correctly and in what time frame.