To obtain a rich harvest tomato seedlings must be grown correctly

Growing seedlings in our climate is an integral part of the cultivation of many vegetables and berries, but the most popular crop is the tomato seedlings that are found in spring almost in every apartment of the inveterate gardener. The tomato seedlings do not require complex care, and in summer and autumn this plant is able to please its owners with a plentiful harvest until the frosts. If you take into account the fact that now in the shops tomatoes are not cheap even in the harvest season, the benefit from their growing is obvious.

The beginning of cultivation of seedlings of tomatoes depends on the variety and climatic features of the region. In order to get seedlings of early varieties, you need to start sowing seeds a few weeks earlier than the seeds of mid-season tomatoes. The farther south the region, the earlier it is necessary to begin preparing for the garden season, because in the southern regions the earth warms up earlier, which means that the vegetation period for the plants will last much longer, and during this time it will be possible to harvest a larger crop. In the south of the country, the seeds of early tomatoes can begin to be sown already from the middle of February, and in the central region - only from the tenth of March. Later varieties are sown two to three weeks later. It is advisable to plant the seeds for a day in the water at room temperature or in a damp cloth to facilitate their germination before planting. It is possible to use special nutrient compounds for germination, but you can do without them. Then, if the seeds are in the water, they need to be moved to moist gauze or other moisture-retaining medium and keep them there until the seeds germinate, testing several times a day.

How to care for a tomato seedlings

For tomatoes, seedlings need a special soil, so it is better to purchase special ready-made soil mixtures for seedlings of tomatoes in advance . As the seeds germinate, they must be transferred to a seedling tray with pre-prepared moist soil and sprinkled with a dry layer of up to one centimeter, so that the germ can breathe and can quickly penetrate. The process of germination and transplantation can last for several days, but it's better than waiting for all the seeds to germinate - overgrown rootlets can grow into tissue and break if you try to extract them from there.

In order to obtain a rich harvest in autumn, the tomato seedlings of this crop need certain conditions from the very beginning. In particular, it needs a lot of light, otherwise the plant will be formed incorrectly and can not bear fruit abundantly. If there is not enough light in the room, you need to install artificial light, the most effective of which are fluorescent lights or energy-saving lamps. At night, plants must be given a period of rest and try to protect them from excess light that is inevitable in urban conditions, for example, cover them with opaque material from above or from the window, otherwise during the night they will still be drawn to the source of light, albeit weak, And the wrong formation of the crown can not be avoided.

After the true leaves begin to appear, seedlings are usually hardened, that is, placed for a few days in a cooler place, without changing the level of illumination. From this the tomato seedlings slow down the growth of the ground part and strengthen the root system. This will allow seedlings to be prepared for transplanting into the soil, and also contributes to obtaining a higher yield due to the fact that a more developed root system can extract more nutrients from the soil.

When these leaves grow, and there will be two of them, sprouting seedlings. Usually this happens two weeks after planting. Pikirovannye plants are transplanted either into individual cups, or two in one and placed in conditions of shading for a couple of days.

Somewhere in a month and a half after the picking, plants can be planted in the ground. Before planting to prepare for transplanting into the soil, it is also customary to season seedlings, placing it on a night in a cool room for 5-7 days. Planting seedlings tomatoes should be made under suitable weather conditions, when the night temperature does not fall below zero.