Shelf for seedlings on the window with your own hands. Seedling racks: successful decisions by FORUMHOUSE users When to put seedlings on the windowsill

Often, everything that comes to hand is used as pots for growing seedlings: milk bags, yogurt cups, plastic bottles, and some craftsmen manage to grow seedlings even in plastic bags and eggshell.

But there are also more technological containers for seedlings, in which it is much more convenient and easier to grow strong seedlings. What modern devices for seedlings will help to get big harvest, we were told by the head of the Garden Center of the OBI hypermarket New Riga - Sonya Kasimova. PEAT PILLS


You can grow seedlings without the use of soil, in special tablets. They consist of 100% peat and have a special coconut coating. Such a tablet must be poured with water, as it absorbs moisture, it swells and increases in height by 5-7 times. After that, seeds can be sown from above, they germinate quickly enough in a nutrient medium. Due to the fact that peat passes air and moisture very well, the root system of plants develops rapidly.
Peat tablets are suitable for small seeds- petunias, lobelias, strawberries and plants grown from 1 seed - peppers, tomatoes, pelargoniums.

“The main thing is to keep the tablets always moist. So that the peat does not dry out, it is better to place them in plastic cassettes for seedlings, and not leave them open in a tray, ”advises OBI expert Sonya Kasimova. Seedlings grown in a tablet can be immediately planted in the ground without injuring the still fragile root system of young plants. The coconut shell will dissolve easily, and the peat will serve as an additional fertilizer.
The cost of peat tablets with a diameter of 3.5 cm starts from 449 rubles for 50 pieces.
MINI GREENHOUSE


It is very convenient to grow seedlings in a mini-greenhouse for a windowsill. It consists of three parts - a pallet, cassettes for seedlings and a transparent cover, which creates the effect of a greenhouse. Benefits of this a simple fixture appreciated by many summer residents, and every year mini-greenhouses are becoming more and more popular, because they allow you to maintain required level humidity and heat, and also protect seedlings from drafts and other troubles. The mini-greenhouse is very convenient for transportation: the lid reliably protects young sprouts and prevents them from breaking.
The simplest mini-greenhouse for 12 cells costs only 69 rubles, but it saves gardeners a lot of trouble and is suitable for reusable use.
PEAT POT

An alternative to conventional seedling trays can be peat pots. They are very easy to use: just pour nutrient soil for seedlings inside, water a little and plant seeds. Due to the fact that peat perfectly passes air and moisture, the roots of plants develop quickly and correctly. It is very important to ensure that the earth in such pots does not dry out, but also not to flood it; for safety net, they can be placed in a mini-greenhouse. Main advantage peat pots the fact that seedlings can be planted in the ground directly in them without injuring the roots. The pots will completely decompose, and the peat will become good fertilizer for young plants and will give additional protection from diseases and pests during the survival period. Seedlings grown in such pots are always quickly accepted and give early harvest. You can buy 20 of these pots for 59 rubles.
POT WITH REMOVABLE BOTTOM

If you do not want to buy disposable seedling containers, you should pay attention to plastic pots with removable bottom. They have two important advantages - they are durable, will serve you for more than one season and, thanks to the removable bottom, do not injure the roots when planting seedlings in the ground. When choosing, it is important to look at the material from which the pots are made. It is better not to take seedling containers made of polyvinyl chloride, they can release poisonous chlorine, which will not be useful to either your body or plants. Therefore, it is better to opt for polypropylene pots, it is absolutely safe for health, besides, this material is very light, which is important during transportation, and durable: products made from it last more than 10 years.
A set of 12 pots with a pallet will cost about 200 rubles.
PHYTOLAMP


Modern gardeners know that it is very difficult to grow strong seedlings in mid-latitudes without a special fitolamp. In February and even in March, plants do not have enough sunlight, so seedlings grown on the windowsill without additional lighting are often weak and develop incorrectly. Phytolamp compensates for the lack of sunlight and emits a spectrum specially selected for the proper development of plants. “As a result, the seedling grows stronger, does not outgrow and gives leaves correct form. You need to choose a phytolamp based on the area that you need to illuminate, also pay attention to energy-saving features, since the lamp should illuminate the plants almost around the clock. From this point of view, the most best option - LED bulbs. They do not contain harmful substances, do not heat up, so they can be placed almost close to plants, and are very economical, as they consume little electricity,” advises the OBI expert.
Prices for phytolamps start from 2 thousand rubles, but they are very durable and designed for more than 40 thousand hours of use.

I remember my first experience of growing seedlings, it was both exciting and joyful at the same time: a new exciting hobby appeared - vegetable growing. Raised in the first year good seedlings tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, leeks.
In the article I collected my observations as a beginner, I hope it will be useful to read to beginner summer residents.

Preparing the land for seedlings

Preparation of land for seedlings begins in the fall. Don't be afraid to stock up too much land, there's never too much of it. If you prepare 10 buckets for seedlings, you certainly will not lose. It is convenient to prepare the composition in buckets, and pour it into double tight tie bags for transportation home. You can store the earth on an unheated balcony or loggia, Siberian frosts under -40 will thus disinfect the soil, it’s lazy for me to warm the earth in the oven.

Composition: well-ripened humus 2 parts (determined visually - black, as on black soil, without the remains of undecayed plants), simple garden soil 1 part (it is best to take from the beds where legumes or green manure grew). For peppers, you can take more humus, for eggplant even more, they are the most demanding on the fertility of the land. Add a glass to a bucket of mixture wood ash and about 1 kg of clean sand. Instead of half the dose of ash, you can add 25 g of superphosphate, if there is no ash at all, you can add 50 g of superphosphate instead. It is important to check if there are earthworms in the ground - they are useful only in the country, and in small containers they can ruin delicate roots. Ideally, you can sift the earth.

Grab some clean sand, it will come in handy for sprinkling around drooping stems in case of seedling overflow and the first signs of illness appear. blackleg».

If you did not have time to prepare the soil mixture yourself, then the purchased earth and sand will also work. I tried and special formulations for each type of vegetable, and universal soil - I liked everything.

The earth must be brought from the balcony 5-7 days before the start of work, so that it thaws well. When weeds begin to sprout in the ground, it is considered ready for sowing. 4-5 days before the sowing date, you need to decompose the earth in containers and spill hot water with potassium permanganate, a proportion of about 2 g per 10 liters of water.

Prepare containers of different sizes in advance. Many people buy peat pots, but I read that the earth often dries up in them. I use containers 8-10 cm high for leeks, for peppers with eggplants and tomatoes before the first pick - disposable 200 ml cups and 250 g plastic packaging from sour cream. Transparent cups are best placed in an opaque box, as plant roots are better off in the dark. I experimented with the sizes of containers and came to the conclusion that both large ones - 7-8 cm in height, width, length, and ordinary 200 ml cups are suitable for peppers and eggplants; for tomatoes from the first pick to the second, 200 ml cups are also suitable, but after the second pick, large containers are needed so that the roots have room to grow, for example, cut 1 liter tetrapacks from milk.
It is highly desirable to pierce the bottom of the containers: you can use an awl, 2-3 punctures. Regarding drainage: I tried to grow without it, and with expanded clay drainage, I did not notice a difference.

What else can be useful for seedlings

An opaque film is required for covering the boxes and a container for settling water, you can use a watering can. I specially measured the hardness of our tap water - it turned out to be very hard, it leaves stains on the surface of the earth. A spray gun with a regulator for two positions turned out to be convenient - one trickle and spray. Old trays will come in handy so as not to carry cups one at a time to the loggia and back, and so that the drain from the cups occurs on pallets, and not on window sills. Also, a room thermometer came in handy for me - for a beginner it is difficult to determine by eye the air temperature on the windowsill, loggia, and for plants it is very important to observe the temperature regime.

If the windows do not face south, you will need a fluorescent lamp for illumination, but rather several.

If you intend to feed and do not mind mineral fertilizers, then you will need potassium permanganate, "Ideal", superphosphate, urea, nitrophoska, boric acid. For the preparation of Bordeaux liquid for the prevention of phytophthora in tomatoes: copper sulfate, slaked lime or soda ash (100 g blue vitriol dissolve in 1 liter of water, bring the volume to 5 liters, in another container, dilute 100 g of slaked lime in 5 liters of water or soda ash, mix slowly, pour the first solution into the second, not vice versa; Bordeaux liquid is not subject to storage).

How for a beginner to decide on seed varieties

The most reliable thing is to consider vegetable plantings with experienced dacha neighbors, ask them about the characteristics of the varieties, and also read the advice of experienced summer residents in your region. The image on the seed packaging is always beautiful, but you need to know how the culture will behave in the conditions of its native land. Do not forget to write down the names of varieties after excursions to neighboring areas.

For safety, it is better to choose not one or two, but several proven varieties - with good germination, friendly ripening, and resistance to many diseases. Read the seed packets carefully.

Pick up mid-season and early-ripening varieties of peppers, eggplants and tomatoes to treat yourself to your first fruits as early as the end of July, or maybe even earlier. If there are greenhouses, summer passion and time - buy late-ripening tomato varieties. Late-ripening peppers and eggplants in Siberia do not have time to ripen, therefore, if there is no heated greenhouse, then it is not worth the risk.

For myself, I wrote out the following most touted varieties, but also bought for the sake of experiment and 1-2 varieties of each crop just according to the label I liked.

Peppers: Red Knight (aka the Red Knight), Beladonna (aka the White Lady), Swallow, Atlant F1 (the prefix F1 means a hybrid, usually high-yielding, not requiring pre-sowing treatment, but subsequently seeds from hybrid fruits are not used to produce their own), Star East, Shanghai, Aristotle, California miracle (although the latter has low germination). These varieties are thick-walled.

eggplant: Epic F1, King of the North F1, King of the Market F1, Mirabella, Black handsome.

Tomatoes for salads and general purpose: Bull's heart (similar to Cow's ears), Wonder of the earth, Mazarin, Orange, Malachite box, De Barao, Scarlet candles, Golden king. These are all greenhouse varieties.

pickled tomatoes: Intuition, Cascade, Nocturne, Kostroma, Icicle, Parsley Gardener, Black Moor, Red Giant, Labrador, F1 Jury (aka Bipop), F1 Intrigue. Most are greenhouse.

Tomato for long-term storage : Martha - for open ground.

Tomatoes for open ground, early ripening: Wonder of the World, Early 83, Heart of Gold, Banana Red, Apple Tree of Russia, Snowdrop, Little Red Riding Hood, Spool, Buyan (Fighter).

Leek: the most win-win variety is Tango.

Sowing dates, the influence of the lunar calendar, folk signs

The very first, in mid-February, they sow peppers because they are hard to come up. Then eggplant- they can be sown in mid-late February, and in the first decade of March. By the time fruiting begins, the height of the plants will still be approximately the same, I checked.

Peppers sown in mid-February, on the right, in mid-March, on the left.

Eggplants in early May, sown in mid-February (middle among peppers).

Eggplant in early May, sown in mid-March.

All eggplants and peppers in the greenhouse in July, the growth is the same.

seeds tomatoes divide into three piles: late-ripening interdeterminant (with unlimited growth) sow in the first days of March, mid-season - in the first decade of March or even in the middle of March, i.e. 60-65 days before planting in the greenhouse, early ripe determinant (the height of such is limited to 40-70 cm, they do not grow higher) for open ground - in early April, for 45 days of planting in open ground, usually these tomatoes are planted after the last frost, i.e. in early June.

If there is a desire to experiment with tomatoes and achieve a tall trunk, which can then be deepened into the ground when transplanted into a greenhouse and achieve a lot of shoots from the trunk (there are such intensive methods), you can sow at the end of February, but be prepared for overgrowing seedlings, difficulties during transportation tall plants to the cottage I tried to grow the Dimensionless and Golden Rain tomato varieties using intensive methods, only Golden Rain succeeded, despite the fact that it is not large-fruited. But it took a lot of time for the garter and pinching in the greenhouse, as well as for the hassle of backlighting and worrying about the pallor of the seedlings. Of course, if the top of a tomato has broken off, it is easy to revive it by putting it in water for several days, the tomato stem easily sprouts roots, but these are all unnecessary worries.

The broken off top of the tomato will quickly give roots in the water.

Sow the leek at the end of February, anyway, it will not outgrow much and is not so picky about the light.

If you believe in moon calendar, then the basic rules are as follows: plants whose fruits ripen above the ground are sown on the growing moon, and those that ripen underground - on the waning one; on the full moon and new moon, as well as 1-2 days after and before them, the earth and plants are given a rest.
But our grandmothers followed one simple rule: landings are made on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. It was believed that the plants planted on these days would bear fruit well, since the names of the days of the week are nouns. female, called such days of the week "women's days".

It is also useful to take a closer look at the weather outside the window: if it is still cold and cloudy, a snowstorm means that nature “does not feel well”, it is too early to sow, wait a couple of days.

Determining the number of seedlings

Plan in advance how many cups and boxes with seedlings you can place on the window sills, maybe you will need to make an additional “window sill”, under which you will need another lamp for illumination, substitute a table to the window. Racks are now popular, especially among flower growers who grow several hundred roots each. beautiful flowers. For vegetables, greenhouses will also be needed in the country, especially in Siberia, but an unlimited number of roots will not go there, this must also be taken into account.

The seeds are soaked in cloth bags in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes, removed, washed for 2-3 seconds in running water. It can be soaked in the Ideal solution for a day, or in water obtained from melted clean snow, it is called “alive”, but it is better to soak in wet gauze so that the seeds “breathe”. Then it is useful to harden the seeds by putting them in the refrigerator at a temperature of + 2 + 4 degrees for five nights, maybe less (you need to take it out and keep it at room temperature during the day). Don't forget to label the seed varieties. There are also methods for heating the seeds - on a battery, in a thermos, etc. But, I think it’s difficult for a novice summer resident, you can forget to control, overheat the seeds, “burn” them, the above preparation methods are enough.

Sowing seeds

It is necessary to sow each variety of seeds in separate container, as the varieties germinate differently. The earth is tamped a little, spilled, waiting for the water to be absorbed, making holes with a pencil, laying seeds, falling asleep with dry loose earth from above to a height of 0.5 to 1.5 cm, depending on the size of the seeds. The smaller the seeds, the lower the backfill height, Golden Rule plantings - the depth should be as three times the width of the seed.

Since I am growing peppers and eggplant without picking (this is transplanting plants into a more spacious container with pinching the root), as cultures with delicate roots, easily damaged when picking, then I sow 2 seeds in one cup, then I discard the least developed. And seed germination is not 100%.

Tomatoes picking is needed, this gives impetus to the development of lateral roots, the more there are, the better the nutrition for the fruits. Also, a pick (more precisely, two picks) gives a little respite to tomato seedlings, it does not stretch as much as without a pick. Therefore, tomatoes can first be planted in boxes - containers about 8-10 cm high.

Do not forget to sign the names of the varieties on the containers with an indelible marker, you can use a code so as not to write the full name of the variety on each cup; note the date of sowing for subsequent control of seedlings.

Labeled cups with pepper seedlings:

Next, the crops are covered with an opaque film, cleaned in a warm place, where the temperature is about 23-25 ​​degrees for tomatoes, and for peppers and eggplants it can be even higher - about 25-28 degrees. You can spray once from a spray bottle if the earth is dry. Mode on the spray gun - spray (spray). Do not water with a jet, so you can accidentally move the seeds that have begun to germinate. After that, do not immediately close the drawers, let it ventilate better.

Leek can be spread out on clean snow laid out on compacted ground, put in a cold place, and when the snow melts, sprinkle with earth with a layer of about 0.5 cm, cover with a film.

seedling light

Before germination, you need to air the plantings for several minutes once a day. Tomatoes sprout quickly, for 3-5 days, as soon as you notice the first shoots, they look like a plump loop - put them on the windowsills, under the backlight. You can use a time relay, including a lamp in the morning from 7 am to 8-9 am, in the evening after sunset and up to 21-22 hours, and more in cloudy weather. With the increase daylight hours, in the first decade of March, the lamp may no longer be used. Also, to increase the light, wash the window at least from the inside.

Tomatoes are especially demanding on light. I have only one fluorescent lamp, so at first peppers and eggplants grow under it, then, closer to mid-March, I move them to the windowsill without lighting, they will no longer reach for the light much. And on the windowsill with a lamp I put out the tomatoes that have just risen, because tomatoes are planted starting at the beginning of March.

Light for Peppers and Eggplants

Watering seedlings

Watering should be moderate as soon as upper layer the earth will become dry, only with warm water, in order to avoid diseases, about once a week. Ideally, it would be good to water so that the water does not touch the stems of the plants. To do this, use a spray gun, put the spout in the stream position (stream), direct the jet away from the stem of the plant, for example, on the walls of the cup.
When overflowing and drooping stems, carefully sprinkle sand around the stem, as if "salt". Make sure all cups have drain holes.

If it is not possible to water the seedlings in a timely manner, use a hydrogel, it is mixed with the soil during planting.

Seedling temperature

The temperature for pepper should be about + 16-18 degrees during the day in the first week after germination, for eggplants + 17-20 degrees. At night - up to +10 degrees. Further, the temperature can be increased: in the afternoon - up to room temperature, and at night up to + 15-18 degrees.

Tomatoes, after the emergence of seedlings in the form of a “loop”, can be transferred to the windowsill, gradually removing the film, and as soon as you see the cotyledon leaves, we put them in the coldest and brightest place, even temperatures of + 5 + 10 degrees are not terrible at night, in the afternoon + 13- 15 degrees. After 3-4 days, the temperature can be raised to +17-20 degrees during the day and up to +15 degrees at night.

Leek can be grown in a cool place, like tomatoes, but you still need to be careful that the sprouts do not look oppressed.

You can regulate the temperature by simply moving the drawers with cups to and from the window, opening the window for a short time in calm weather. You can cover (loosely) the cup trays with something, especially in the first couple of weeks after germination. Do not forget to fold back the shelter after closing the window. Especially do not be zealous with opening the windows, the seedlings are easy to freeze. Control the temperature.

If you don’t like some plants in appearance, don’t rush to throw them away, just mark them (I drew pluses and minuses on the cups with a marker). Sometimes seemingly weak hybrids with an increase in daylight hours grow better than beautiful strong men. Observe them, write down the results of observations, in next year it will be interesting to check the results of the last sowing.

Seedling feeding

Feeding peppers and eggplants can be done a couple of weeks after the appearance of two or three true leaves, at the first pick. Proportions are always written on fertilizer packages. For example, for the first feeding, this is about 1.5-2 grams of superphosphate and 1-1.5 grams of potassium salt per bucket of water, 1.5-2 grams of urea. Feeding is done after regular watering with warm water. Two weeks after the dive, one more top dressing is needed. And a week before planting, you need top dressing with potassium salt, as well as foliar (sprinkling on the leaves) top dressing, one liter for about 100 plants: half a gram of potassium permanganate, 0.3 grams of copper sulfate, 0.3 grams boric acid for 1 liter of water.

Tomatoes are fed 7-10 days after picking, and also as soon as the first flower bud appears. Proportions for the first feeding: 1 teaspoon of urea, 40 grams of superphosphate, 15 g of potassium salt per 10 liters of water, this is enough for about 200 plants. Top dressing is done on wet ground, after top dressing you need to water it again, if the soil is waterlogged at the same time, spread the top dressing for 2-3 days. The second top dressing: potassium and phosphorus are doubled, nitrogen (urea) is added only if the leaves are pale green and the lower ones have not turned yellow.

The general rule for feeding: it is better to do it in warm weather outside the window so as not to provoke plant diseases.

The day before planting, peppers and eggplants can be sprayed with Epin's solution. If flowers have already appeared in tomatoes 4-5 days before planting, the plants should be sprayed with a solution of boric acid - 1 gram of boric acid per 1 liter of water, while spraying is carried out only in cloudy weather, in the morning, since sunny leaves may appear on the leaves in the sun. burns.

Also, for prevention, it is necessary to treat the seedlings 1-2 times with 1% Bordeaux liquid, the preparation is described above, and immediately before planting, spray with skim milk, a ratio of 1:10 with water.

Leek is fed with complex mineral fertilizer 2-3 times.

Pulling out seedlings turns them into thin-stemmed, pale green, subsequently the fruits will not receive enough nutrition from the soil, so it is important to ensure that the seedlings do not stretch.

A pick of peppers and eggplants I don’t produce, I wrote the reasons above, but it’s still necessary to make sure that the seedlings do not stretch. To prevent stretching of plants from lack of light, you can pinch a part of seedlings of peppers and eggplants after the fifth or sixth true leaf (we don’t count cotyledons), the plant will stop growing for a couple of weeks, give more fruits, albeit later for a couple of weeks. Unpinched seedlings will give even fewer fruits, but earlier, so we don’t pinch all the peppers, but a part if we want to try the harvest early. If we pinch the seedlings after planting in the ground, then there may not be enough time for the development of side shoots.

Tomatoes dive is absolutely necessary. The first picking is carried out in the phase of two true leaves, two hours before the process, watering is carried out.

In a new cup, a recess is made with a finger or a pencil, the size is so that the spine does not bend. The lower part of the spine is plucked off with nails or scissors by about a third. We hold the plant by the leaves, and not by the stem, as you can break the thin stem. We transfer it to the recess, deepen it almost to the cotyledon leaves, carefully fall asleep, lightly tamp around the stem.

Two days after that we do not expose the plants to the sun, we maintain the temperature + 18-20 degrees during the day, at night + 15-17, if it is hotter, the plants will outgrow. On the second day after picking, carefully loosen the ground - with a toothpick, fork, lower the temperature again.

The second pick is made when the crumbs become cramped in the cup, we simply transfer the plants, without clearing the roots from the ground, we do not touch the roots anymore.

On the left, 8 cups of tomatoes between the first and second picks, on the right, tomatoes immediately after the second pick.

Leek a couple of times I “cut” centimeters by 3-4 so that the bleached leg grows.

Cut leek in mid-April:

Plants need to be tied up as soon as they begin to slope. I liked to tie with twine to wooden skewers for homemade barbecue, skewers are cheap. The twine is wrapped in a “figure of eight” so that the trunk does not touch the skewers.

Garter for skewers.

A couple of weeks before planting, seedlings must be hardened off, both in the sun and in the cold, as well as in the wind.

First, they simply open the windows not only during the day, but also at night. Then, in warm weather, they take it out to the balcony for a period of 2-3 hours, and after a couple of days they leave it for the whole day. But at night, the first days are covered with a film.

To adjust the temperature, use a thermometer; the door to the room can be left open if it is very cool on the balcony or loggia on any of the days.

Before hardening, the soil should be spilled with warm water, so the seedlings will be warmer, but plants should never be watered at night! And also watering is not done in cloudy weather.

If the first signs of wilting of the top appear (black leg disease), sprinkle, like “salt”, sand around the stalk.
Make sure that the plants are not broken by the wind, so that the soil does not dry out - this happens faster in the wind and sun than in a warm apartment.

We harden on the loggia, not forgetting about temperature control with a thermometer.

Peppers and eggplant before planting, they should be no more than 20-25 cm high, with a thick stem (3-4 mm at the soil surface), there should be about 12-14 leaves, several buds.

Tomatoes before planting should be no more than 30-35 cm, the smaller the better. Well hardened seedlings have a slightly purple trunk. Buds are also welcome.

Peppers and eggplant before planting:

Leek before landing:

1. Very shallow or, conversely, deep seed placement.
2. Leave the plants that have hatched with a "hat", they will not give excellent harvest. If it is a pity to throw away such plants, then the cap must be removed, after wetting it.
3. Too frequent arrangement of seeds in a box, should be placed so that it can be easily picked out, that is, at a distance of 2.5-3.5 cm from each other.
4. Insufficient lighting, warm air - contributes to the stretching of seedlings. Too early sowing can also be attributed here, when all nature is still “sleeping” (January - the first half of February for peppers and eggplants, all of February for tomatoes).

Heavily overgrown tomato seedlings in mid-May (planted in January):

1. Excessive watering or, conversely, irregular.
2. Do not close the plants from a strong draft, so the plants "catch a cold" from hypothermia of the soil.
3. They often touch the plants, dig up the ones that have not sprouted to see if they have all sprouted. Control of crops can be done, but then sow, taking into account the percentage of germination. This is approximately 50-90% for different varieties and crops.
4. Watering unsettled tap water- there will be an accumulation of salts in the soil, plaque on the surface.
5. Excessive or insufficient hardening.
6. Closely spaced cups, because of this, the foliage does not receive enough sun. The crowns of plants should not be in close contact.

Plant in early March beautiful pot marigolds, 4-5 seeds will be enough. Flowers will grow quickly, will delight you in the process of caring for seedlings.

You can also indulge in growing indoor tomatoes. The capacity after the second pick should be large, somewhere around 3-5 liters. Of course, there will not be many fruits, but this is only to cheer up. Sowing can be done in early February or March, picks and everything else is done in the same way as for ordinary tomatoes. Varieties of indoor tomatoes are different, I found only Florida Petit for sale, I liked the results.

Tomatoes "Florida Petit" in mid-May (planted in early February):

I also tried to grow a cucumber on the windowsill, I didn’t wait for the fruits planted in December, the plant gave only flowers and 1-2 cm of the fruit germ, then everything dried up. But from the Libelle F1 planted in March, cucumbers grew, however, very small ones, with the little finger of an adult, and there were only 5-6 of them.

Cucumbers "Libelle" in mid-May (planted in early March):

Experienced summer residents have already begun to prepare for summer season. Now is the time to grow seedlings and plan future harvest. Often, everything that comes to hand is used as pots for growing seedlings: milk bags, yogurt cups, plastic bottles, and some craftsmen manage to grow seedlings even in plastic bags and eggshells.

But there are also more technological containers for seedlings, in which it is much more convenient and easier to grow strong seedlings.

Peat tablets

You can grow seedlings without the use of soil, in special tablets. They consist of 100% peat and have a special coconut coating. Such a tablet must be poured with water, as it absorbs moisture, it swells and increases in height by 5-7 times. After that, seeds can be sown from above, they germinate quickly enough in a nutrient medium. Due to the fact that peat passes air and moisture very well, the root system of plants develops rapidly.

Peat tablets are suitable for small seeds - petunias, lobelia, strawberries and plants that are grown from 1 seed - peppers, tomatoes, pelargonium.

“The main thing is to keep the tablets always moist. So that the peat does not dry out, it is better to place them in plastic cassettes for seedlings, and not leave them open in a tray, ”advises OBI expert Sonya Kasimova. Seedlings grown in a tablet can be immediately planted in the ground without injuring the still fragile root system of young plants. The coconut shell will dissolve easily, and the peat will serve as an additional fertilizer.

It is not possible to get a rich harvest of tomatoes without properly grown seedlings. Only by choosing the right tomato seeds, preparing them, sowing and growing seedlings, you can hope for successful cultivation tomatoes in the garden.

Purchased seedlings, even if their green mass is lush, cannot always give strong healthy plants in the future, as it is most often grown for sale on land with a high nitrogen content.

Growing seedlings of tomatoes at home allows you to grow exactly the variety that you like best.

Sowing dates

Sowing time depends on the varieties of tomato. On bags with seeds, the ripening dates of tomatoes are indicated, the countdown starts from the emergence of seedlings and lasts until the first ripened fruits. Tomatoes are early, late and mid-ripening.

Early (early) tomatoes ripen in 90-100 days, they should be sown in the middle lane in mid-March, if seedlings are supposed to be planted under film shelters. If you need to plant in open ground, then sowing is carried out in early April.

At the same time, mid-ripening and late tomatoes are sown. The maturation period for mid-ripening tomato varieties is within 110-120 days, and for late-ripening varieties - up to 140 days.

Sowing time is easy to calculate, you need to ripen, for example 100 days, add 4-7 days necessary for seedling germination and adaptation 3-5 days after planting in the ground. After calculating this period, you can get tomatoes in the required time frame.

Seed preparation

All tomato seeds must undergo disinfection, regardless of whether they are purchased or of their own assembly, so that pathogens are destroyed. Seeds are placed in a bandage and lowered into a dark solution of potassium permanganate for 15-30 minutes. Then they are washed with water and dried a little.

Seeds can then be sown, or can be placed for germination, so that shoots appear sooner. A folded paper napkin is spread on the saucer or soft fabric wetted with water with the addition of a growth stimulator, it can be aloe juice or Epin. The saucer is packed in a plastic bag and installed in a warm place. The napkin should not dry out.

Tomato seeds germinate for 3-5 days, you can not wait for their germination, but only withstand them during wet wipe 24 hours in the warmth, and then put in the refrigerator for two days. This procedure will harden the seeds, increase their germination and durability.

Soil for seedlings

Preparation of the soil mixture is carried out in the fall. To the garden land, and better earth from a forest or planting, you need to add humus, sand, ash. From mineral fertilizers, you can add superphosphate, urea, potassium sulfate.

You can simplify the task of preparing the soil for seedlings by purchasing ready soil, no problem now.

The soil must be steamed or heated in the oven (1000C) for up to 25 minutes. The soil must first be moistened and poured with a layer of up to 5 cm on a baking sheet.

Instead of soil, you can take a tomato for growing peat tablets or coco substrate. Many gardeners began to give preference to them.

Growing tomato seedlings

Containers for sowing tomato seeds can be different: cups, boxes, pots, cassettes, etc. When sowing in a large container, it is necessary to dive seedlings at a certain age into a separate container. Disposable cups are the best option.

Containers must have drainage holes. Then a drainage layer is poured onto the bottom of the containers (expanded clay, perlite, etc.). The containers are then filled with soil, which is then spilled warm water. When sowing in separate cups, you need up to three seeds per container. Seeds should be buried up to 1 cm.

In boxes, seeds are sown in grooves spilled with water, arranged every 5 cm, to the same depth as in glasses. Between seeds it should be kept in a row up to 1.5 cm. Seeds are sprinkled with soil without further watering.

Containers with crops are covered with a film, and kept in a bright place at 20-240C.

With the advent of seedlings, the film is removed, the containers are placed on the windowsills.

Watering should be done carefully and moderately so as not to cause diseases. It is very important to provide tomato seedlings with good lighting (at least 12 hours) to prevent them from stretching.

When the seedlings have 2-3 true leaves, you need to start diving. Elongated seedlings are buried to the cotyledon leaves. Weak seedlings should be removed immediately. Do not forget to sign varieties of tomatoes on containers.

The first two weeks, the growth of seedlings after picking slows down, but after rooting it picks up again. That's when you need to perform the first feeding diluted in 10 liters of water with urea (5 g), superphosphate (35 g), potassium sulfate (15 g). Two weeks later, a second top dressing of tomato seedlings is arranged with a solution with the same composition. You can use complex fertilizer for top dressing.

Seedlings at the time of planting are considered excellent quality, if the stem diameter is 1 cm, there should be 7-8 leaves on it, and the height of the seedling is 30-35 cm.

We described how to grow tomato seedlings on the windowsill, and if you follow all the recommendations, then this process will not be difficult and exciting.

Tags: Crop production, Tomatoes

Growing tomato seedlings in a city apartment is a common thing. Even with minimal experience and investment, you can get a good result.

First of all, you should prepare the seeds by discarding the pacifiers. To do this, they are dipped in a solution of ordinary table salt for several minutes. The quality seeds that have sunk to the bottom are separated and washed under running water in gauze.

Then the seeds are disinfected in a 1% potassium permanganate solution for 15 minutes and washed again.

Soaking is best done in a solution of trace elements, but ordinary water is also suitable.

Features of growing seedlings on the windowsill

The main thing is that it should not be chlorinated and not melted. In the city, snow cannot be called environmentally friendly. You can use melted ice from the refrigerator or even settled tap water. The same applies to water, which will then be used for irrigation.

Seeds when growing tomato seedlings are soaked for 12 hours

If possible, you can prepare the ground mixture yourself. For 1 part of humus, 1 part of sod land and 1 part of peat is taken. For 10 liters of the mixture, add half a liter of wood ash and two tablespoons of superphosphate. If it is not possible to prepare the soil mixture, it can be replaced with one that can be bought at the store.

Tomato seedlings are grown in two stages. At the first stage, it is sown in boxes, which are filled with soil mixture before sowing, properly moistened and allowed to stand for a day. Be sure to take care of the drainage holes.

The seeds are laid out with tweezers according to the 2x3 cm pattern and buried with a wooden stick into the soil (you can use a pencil). The surface of the soil is sprayed, the box is covered with a film.

Tomato seedlings during cultivation are sensitive to waterlogging.

Dive seedlings of tomatoes are done in the phase of cotyledon leaves or a little later. If the seedlings are weak, you can wait with this operation. The main thing is to provide lighting. If the seedlings are still stretched out, it can be sprinkled with soil to the level of the cotyledons.

For picking, a wide variety of containers are used, ranging from scraps of PET bottles to milk bags. However, it is often forgotten that growing quality seedlings requires cleanliness. Therefore, before filling with soil mixture, the dishes must be disinfected with potassium permanganate.

Tomatoes are very sensitive to nutrition, so during the cultivation of seedlings they should be fed twice. The first time this is done one and a half to two weeks after the pick, the second - two weeks after the first. Used for feeding ready solution complex fertilizer or 30 g of superphosphate, 4 g of urea and 10 g of potassium sulfate per bucket of water.

When the daytime air temperature reaches 10 ° C, the seedlings need to be gradually “accustomed” to the open ground. She is taken out to the balcony and at first protected from the sun with a film or paper. Before planting in open ground, plants should be treated with fungicides.

Not all plants grow successfully on windowsills, without additional lights and conditions.

Naturally, at home, there is no way to lower or raise the temperature for each crop.

On which window to grow seedlings?

I sowed different vegetables, greens, flowers. They all stood side by side, on the east and south windowsills. There was no additional lighting. Room temperature, on average +23 degrees.

One common minus of any window seedling grown without lighting is the thin long legs of the seedlings.

For some cultures this is bad, for others it is acceptable.

And one more thing: you will need additional care for seedlings at home. Since the seedlings constantly stretch towards the window, it is necessary to turn the seedlings 180 degrees every day. But it quickly becomes a habit and does not take much time.

Last year I harvested seedlings of different crops.

They grew quite well on my window: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, broccoli and Beijing cabbage, marigolds, strawberries, basil.

White cabbage had to be taken out into the street. There is a separate article about the preparation of her seedlings.

Too capricious were: celery, chamomile, lavender, cucumbers, watermelons, melons.

These plants clearly lacked illumination and uniform illumination. The stalks of the seedlings were too long, crooked and brittle.

When landing in the ground, some broke off. Others had to tinker with until they got stronger.

The most non-capricious I had were tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. They grow a little elongated, but when planted in the ground are quite stable. Moreover, these crops can be deepened during planting.

Marigolds grow well on the window.

But chamomile and lavender from seeds grew very thin, crooked, on thin legs. They clearly lacked light. After landing in the ground, they had to be protected and strengthened for a long time so that they would not break off. But in the end, wonderful bushes grew, and even bloomed in the first year, contrary to the information on the package.

Celery (root and petiole) stretched strongly from lack of light and showed that it needed additional illumination.

Strawberries from seeds were not very demanding on light.

Broccoli and Beijing cabbage - grew medium-sized, but stocky, strong.

Basil also stretched a little, but in moderation. His slenderness did not create problems during landing.

As it turned out, the most basic vegetables can be grown at home on the window. Do not be afraid in advance that the seedlings of vegetables at home will not grow in you. You have to try and experiment.

If something does not work out, there are many types of ready-made seedlings waiting for you on the market.

Based on past experience, this year I sowed only the main crops on the window for seedlings so as not to create unnecessary problems for myself.

What seedlings are best for you?

How to grow tomato seedlings on a windowsill at home?

Watch site news in groups:

We have already discussed the timing of sowing seeds for seedlings. Now, dear gardeners and gardeners, let me offer you a method of growing seedlings at home, quite effective and proven in practice.

Traditional start. We buy seeds of the flowers we like and sow them at the specified time at the specified depth. If the depth is not specified on the package, be guided as follows: we sow larger seeds deeper (up to 2 cm), smaller seeds - 1 cm. It is not necessary to cover such crops with cellophane, it is enough to keep the earth moist.

Too small seeds (petunia, fragrant tobacco, foxglove, lobelia) are better not to cover with earth at all, as they germinate well in the light. Pour the prepared soil, scatter the seeds, lightly press them to the damp ground, cover with glass or a transparent film and wait for the shoots.

Keep crops at room temperature until germination. As soon as the first "knees" of seedlings appear (even if there are only a few of them), start putting the boxes in the refrigerator overnight. It is better to do this at dusk. Take a place in the refrigerator in the vegetable storage area, since we need a temperature of about eight degrees Celsius. Remarkably for this purpose, shelves on the refrigerator door are suitable, both open and closed with a movable lid.

In the morning, return the boxes to the brightest place, especially good sunny window sill. It is not necessary to get up for this with the first rays, the main thing is not to forget about your “pets” when going to work or college.

Why do this, you ask? The reason lies on the surface. Most often, gardeners complain that seedlings are stretched and lie down. To prevent this from happening, it is important to follow a simple rule: the less light, the lower the temperature. And vice versa. Therefore: daylight begins - we drag seedlings to the windowsill, ends - we hide in the refrigerator. At low positive temperatures, the vegetation processes in plants are inhibited, which we do artificially after dark.

How long do we have to wear bowls? Until the time comes to seat our "kids" in separate pots.

Seedlings for five plus

It is generally believed that this should be done with the advent of the first pair of true leaves. However, practice shows that this can be done later, when there are more leaves (3-4). This is especially true for tiny plants - petunias, for example - which, at the stage of two leaves, can only be taken with tweezers.

Seated in separate pots, the plants will take up a lot of space and will not fit in the refrigerator. But, as a rule, by this moment in the European part of the Eastern Hemisphere, which we are focusing on, it is already quite warm, and the night temperature is not lower than in the refrigerator. So, for the first couple of days, hold the pallets with seedlings in a shady place, and then start to act according to the usual pattern: during the day, put tiny flowers on the windowsill (preferably in the sun), and at night - on the balcony.

As soon as the daytime temperature reaches 15-17 degrees, you can not bring flowers into the house at all. And, of course, keep an eye on the weather forecasts. If frost is expected, be sure to take the seedlings indoors.

We hope this method will not seem too troublesome to you. Beauty takes effort! As a result, you will get strong, stable seedlings. In addition, there is no need to harden the plants before planting in the ground.

A couple of last remarks. We did not refrigerate plants with very small seeds (see above). They just didn't take the risk. They seemed very delicate and tender to us. Therefore, they kept at night on the coldest windowsill. They did the same with flowers, which are characterized on packages with seeds as especially heat-loving and poorly tolerated. low temperatures. And yet - some plants in the cold can tie the leaves, but in the heat they quickly gain turgor (elasticity).

It is difficult to give recipes for all occasions. Therefore, experiment, gentlemen! We hope our tips will help you bring a floral riot to the measured garden schedule!

Not all vegetable growers and flower growers have a greenhouse facility that provides an ideal opportunity to grow seedlings. Most grow seedlings on the windowsill. This method is not very easy, since it is difficult to provide plants with light and thermal conditions on the windowsill. And yet, our gardeners can do everything! It is better to grow seedlings on the windowsills of windows facing southwest, southeast and south, and if there is a possibility of electric lighting, then it can be anywhere. If the window sill area is used wisely, then the seedlings High Quality, not inferior to the greenhouse, you will have.

Before you start growing seedlings on the windowsill, you need to study its microclimate and adapt it to the requirements of plants. You can arrange a room greenhouse on the windowsill, fencing it off from the room space with a film. This will help create optimal microclimate conditions for growing seedlings. You can also use foil to build a screen that will improve the illumination, thereby reducing the stretching of plants.

How to grow tomato seedlings at home: ways from the usual to exotic

The screen is placed from the side of the room. You can increase the illumination by placing several small mirrors, so that spotlights fall on the seedlings. To keep the seedlings warm on a cool windowsill, you need to fit foam tiles under the seedling boxes.

Cold air from the window cools the root system, and overdried room air, rising up, causes moisture to evaporate from the leaves. The cooled root system poorly supplies nutrient solutions and water to the vegetative organs, so watering should be carried out with water at 22-25 ° C, and it is better to place seedling boxes as far as possible from the window. When outdoor temperature Since the air temperature drops significantly, it is advisable to hang the window glass with paper, and when airing the room, the plants must be moved so that cold air does not get on them.

Growing peppers on a windowsill

The growth of the root system of seedlings and further of the plant itself depends on the nutritional value and friability of the soil mixture. For growing seedlings in a room, different soil mixtures, peat tablets are recommended. Let's look at the composition of one of the mixtures, which includes well-decomposed high-quality humus (2 parts) and earth (1 part). You also need to add sand to the mixture. If biohumus is also added, then its part should not exceed 1/6, since the physiologically active substances contained in it, introduced into in large numbers, can inhibit plants.

Two to three weeks before the upcoming sowing, the soil mixture must be brought into the house so that during this period at room temperature the microorganisms present in it are activated.

You need to start growing seedlings on the windowsill from mid-February: we start with peppers and celery, followed by eggplants, tomatoes, early white and cauliflower, lettuce, onions and other crops. Seeds for sowing are prepared as usual.

If you do not have a greenhouse - this is one way to grow seedlings

The temperature before shoots should be kept within 18-25 degrees, and as soon as shoots appear, the boxes with them should be moved closer to the light, and the temperature should be reduced to 10-16 degrees. In order for the seedlings to become stocky and strong, this temperature must be maintained for 3-5 days, and then begin to gradually increase it.

From how enforcement will proceed optimal modes nutrition, humidity, temperature and light depends on the success of growing seedlings. In winter, seedlings need lighting, which during this period is 100 times less intense than in summer, so you can prevent plants from stretching by applying additional lighting. To provide such illumination will help fluorescent lamps, conventional incandescent lamps can also be used, but carefully so that the plants do not burn them.

Pulling seedlings is the most common mistake novice gardeners make. main reason such a phenomenon is insufficient lighting. Plants need 14-16 hours of additional illumination: morning and evening illumination is necessary if the containers with seedlings are located on sunny windows, and if the whole day is cloudy and gloomy, or the windows are located on the northeast, northwest or north side, then - throughout the day. The length of the day, starting from the second half of March, will begin to grow, and the seedlings will receive more natural light.

Using a window sill seedling light:

Seedlings can also be pulled out due to thickening, so it is imperative to pick seedlings, placing seedlings at a distance of 6x6 centimeters from each other, seedlings of late terms - 3x3 centimeters.

Stretching of plants contributes to the violation temperature regime soil and air. It is difficult to control soil temperature at home. But you need to put warming materials under the containers with seedlings. Air temperature control when growing seedlings can be carried out using a conventional household thermometer.

High harvests to you!

Seedlings on the windowsill - without haste to a bountiful harvest

Long before the arrival of heat and the start of work on the land, many summer residents are already opening the season, starting to grow seedlings on the windowsills of city apartments. Since the quality of those grown in not the most comfortable conditions plants depends on the future harvest, the process does not require haste, but serious preparation for it is simply necessary.

How to grow seedlings on a windowsill?

Often summer residents start sowing almost in the middle of winter, motivating this by the desire to get large and strong seedlings, ready to continue growing and start bearing fruit without serious acclimatization problems. However, instead of this, in the spring, many summer residents have to take out overgrown, literally creeping plants with pale green foliage and with a root system tangled into a dense ball.

To prevent this from happening, you can follow one of two strategies:

1. The first is not to rush with sowing, but to create the seedlings the most favorable conditions for growth;
2. The second - at early dates sowing in every possible way to slow down the growth of seedlings in order to level negative consequences lack of light and prolonged cultivation.

Obviously, the first way is preferable. Firstly, daylight hours naturally increase in spring, which means that seedlings are less likely to be elongated and frail, on the other hand, it will not be necessary to slow down plant growth by reducing watering and temperature.

And lighting for seedlings on the windowsill is not a problem today. You can use both phytolamps and install economical fluorescent or LED devices to illuminate the plantings.

If, at the same time, the seedlings are provided with other optimal conditions: nutrition, watering, air humidity and temperature, then the plants will respond with friendly growth, will be strong and ready to give a good harvest.

Time to sow

According to this strategy, you can grow seedlings on the windowsill in the shortest possible time.

• Tomatoes of medium and late ripening from sowing to planting in the ground require from 55 to 60 days, early varieties and hybrids grow 10 to 15 days faster.
• Sweet pepper grows in 65 - 75 days.

  This crop is not as sensitive to stretch when growing seedlings on a windowsill. Pepper seedlings can also be planted with buds, however, it is better to remove the flowers.

• All types of celery are sown 70 - 80 days before transplanting into the ground.
• Eggplant needs 60 days.
• Head lettuce - about 40 days.
• Cucumbers. pumpkins, zucchini, as well as sweet gourds: melons and watermelons are ready for planting in a month. Moreover, with such rapid growth, it is better to immediately sow these crops in individual containers.
• White early-ripening and cauliflower is ready for transplanting to beds after 45 days, and mid-ripening or late varieties in forty days.
• All types of onions are sown in the third decade of March or a little earlier.

As for the second concept, growing seedlings on the windowsill starts very early, and in order to restrain stretching, the room temperature is reduced. Seedlings, such as cabbages, after hatching should be kept at 6 - 10 °, which is not easy to do in an apartment, which means they also reduce watering, giving the plants moisture when they begin to wither.

Obviously this is not the best way.

What do you need to grow seedlings on a windowsill?

But in any case, it is important to carefully prepare for this important matter. Namely:

• Calculate how many seedlings will be needed;
• Prepare soil and fertilizers;
• Stock up on containers for seedlings;
• Think about ensuring the proper level of humidity and temperature;
• Prepare seeds of decent quality and disinfect them before sowing.

AT minimum set equipment required by the summer resident to obtain healthy seedlings on the windowsill includes:

1. Shelves or racks for seedlings additionally fixed on the window;
2. Illumination system on phytolamps, LEDs or fluorescent light sources;
3. A timer that sets the duration of artificial lighting;
4. Trays for sowing and containers for planting plants after picking;
5. Mats for heating landing boxes;
6. Daylight lamps;
7. Chains or cords for adjusting the height of the fixtures.

The problem of lighting seedlings on the windowsill

The sprouts emerging from the seeds do not have much strength to grow. And if they get minerals from the soil, then organic matter must be produced during photosynthesis, which requires light.

How to prepare the soil for seedlings on the windowsill

Within a week or two after germination, the seedlings are ready for picking, however, with a lack of light, the plants turn out to be frail and more prone to root rot.

Ideally, seedlings in the first days require round-the-clock lighting, and then it is better for plants to provide 16-hour lighting. It is clear that March ten or April thirteen hours is not enough. Therefore, it is necessary by all means to ensure the access of light to plants.

How to arrange lighting for seedlings on the windowsill?

In nature, plants live in conditions solar lighting consisting of waves of different lengths. The blue and violet parts of the spectrum are designed to regulate growth, helping the sprouts to be strong. The red spectrum affects germination.

Therefore, the whole spectrum is important, and it is necessary not only to make the most of the light entering the room, but also to give the seedlings effective illumination. It makes sense to install a matte screen that makes the light diffuse, and use reflective structures, for example, from foil-covered insulating material.

However, without special artificial lighting not enough. In conditions middle lane illumination for seedlings on the windowsills of residential buildings and apartments is important until transplanting seedlings to the site.

At the same time, ordinary, with a tungsten filament, lamps are the worst choice, they give only a small fraction of the natural spectrum, but they more than compensate for this with an excess of thermal radiation, which makes the seedlings stretch.

The most effective are specialized phytolamps, fluorescent or LED devices, which also turn out to be more economical.

How to place seedlings?

It is logical that it is not worth growing seedlings on the windowsill located on the northern wall of the building. However, the health of the seedlings and the future harvest depend both on the area allotted to each seedling and on the volume of the container in which the plant's root system develops.

On a fairly spacious window sill measuring 1 meter by 30 cm, you can arrange about 40 bushes of tomatoes or peppers, but the needs of summer residents are usually much greater. The way out of this situation can be:

• Expansion of the window sill due to cantilever structures;
• Installing another shelf approximately in the middle of the window frame;
• Ready-made or homemade seedling racks on the windowsill

At the same time, the last two options are preferable, since all plants are easily accessible for care and watering, they do not interfere with each other and do not obscure the light, and it is easy to install a lighting system above the shelves.

Containers and seedling boxes

Any containers with a volume of up to 0.2 l, in which seedlings are often grown, are insufficient for the development of high-quality roots, they often intertwine, forming a dense ball, which, when transplanted into the ground, most die off. And, therefore, seedlings are more difficult to acclimatize and subsequently give a weak harvest.

In addition to sufficient capacity, containers for growing seedlings simply must have:

• Sufficient and very reliable drainage that does not allow moisture to stagnate;
• Opaque walls that protect the root system from overheating and cooling, as well as positively affecting its growth;
• Sufficient rigidity, ensuring a reliable position of plants when moving or any movement of the soil.

Watering seedlings

Until the sprouts hatch, the crops are watered daily with a weak solution of a biological cocktail or growth stimulator.

Then, depending on the air temperature and the condition of the soil in the containers, the plants are watered or sprayed up to three times a week.

To ensure sufficient moisture for each plant after picking, you can organize a kind of irrigation system from a pallet using plastic bottles and a thick woolen thread.

Air humidity

For most crops, an acceptable moisture level is around 70%. Unfortunately, in no residential area, especially when the heating is on, this level is difficult to achieve.

Therefore, due to the dryness of the air, seedlings on the windowsill accumulate an excessive amount of salts, and soil salinity occurs, which looks like a brown coating on the surface and provokes seedling diseases, especially cabbage.

To increase the humidity of the air, be sure to use household humidifiers or install a basin of water under the battery, into which a thick towel is lowered with one edge, while the other end is laid out on a heating device.

Seedling hardening

Before hitting permanent place seedlings grown on a windowsill must be hardened on a loggia, glazed balcony or in a simple greenhouse.

To do this, containers are exposed for at least two or three days for several hours in close to natural conditions.

Video - growing pepper seedlings on the windowsill

Gardeners start the planting season in early March or even mid-February, depending on the region. The growing period is very important, the future harvest depends on it. vegetable crops. Not everyone in the apartment or in the house has a special area for breeding seedlings with ideal growing conditions.

Many have to cultivate crops on window sills, despite the poor window opening conditions for plants. However experienced gardeners already adapted to this method of growing seedlings. There are quite a few tricks and tricks for successfully breeding seedlings on the windowsill. The main point is the preparation of a place for plants. It is necessary to create optimal growing conditions. How to do it and what the gardener will learn from this helpful guide. Following the advice and recommendations, even a novice gardener will be able to grow strong and healthy seedlings on the windowsill.

very popular, as often there is simply no other place in the apartment to install containers with plants. Moreover, the window is the only source of natural light. Therefore, in early spring, you can see peeping sprouts of plants on every second windowsill. Many beginner gardeners are wondering what kind of seedlings can be grown. The answer is simple - any. The main thing is to create certain conditions on it. In this case, any culture will grow and gain strength. Here, the question of in what order should be planted is rather important. The seeds are sown first, and.

The optimal sowing period for these crops is considered to be late February or early March.

In the middle or end of March, seed sowing begins,. In April, seeds can be sown. Planting, for example, tomatoes in February is impractical. They will stretch and outgrow even if good conditions cultivation - timely illumination, sufficient humidity and optimum temperature air.

Seedlings of not only vegetable crops, but also flowers are bred on the windowsill. Sowing is carried out depending on the variety of plants and the timing of planting in open ground. In the case of flowers and vegetable crops, they should be distinguished. Vegetables should occupy one window sill, and flowers another. When narrow window sills the space can be expanded with the help of tables - they are moved to the window and containers are placed on them. This expands the space for seedlings. The selection is important optimal types containers. The success of growing seedlings will depend on this factor.

Many crops require picking after seed germination. In this regard, many gardeners prefer to use separate peat pots, plastic cups or as containers. So the seedlings will not have to be disturbed by the picking process, and in the future it will be very easy to plant them in open ground.

Popular seedling containers:

• The best option for growing seedlings on the windowsill will be special cassettes made of plastic or peat. They are easy to cut and fit to the size of the window sill. For each seed, a separate "house" is provided. So you don’t have to deal with picking and the problem of transporting seedlings to the site is removed. Cassettes are very convenient for both growing and carrying seedlings.
• Peat pots or tablets. They are planted one seed per container. Such containers are impregnated with growth enhancers, the seedlings feel great in them. However, if the window sill is cold, it is better to resort to denser containers - wooden boxes, flowerpots. The first option is very easy to make yourself in accordance with the size of the window sill. In the case of a cold window opening, it is necessary to cover the container with foam plastic or other insulation. This is done so that the root system does not cool.
• Many gardeners sow seeds in plastic cups and put them in wooden boxes. The option is convenient in that the plants will not freeze on a cold windowsill, and the seedlings will be transported to the site without deformation and breaking of fragile stems. Plastic retains moisture and heat well, and wooden box will protect the glasses from hypothermia.

Having prepared containers for future seedlings, you can begin to create optimal conditions on the windowsill.

We create conditions for growing: temperature and lighting

Seedlings of any culture love warmth, humidity and good diffused light. On the windowsill, growing plants is complicated by a lack of light and humidity:

• Often a window opening is characterized by temperature differences, if it is not a euro window. However, the situation can be corrected. Optimal conditions on the windowsill are created with the help of improvised means that are in every home. To organize the lighting necessary for seedlings, reflective screens - foil, metal or mirrors - should be installed on the windowsill. Their installation is carried out from the side of the room. This is done in order to evenly illuminate the plants. Otherwise, the seedlings will stretch upwards, will be pale and weak.
• In an apartment or house, as a rule, very dry air. This factor does not contribute to growing strong and healthy. Therefore, a humid environment should be created in the area of ​​​​the window opening. It is very easy to do this. Wet towels are thrown on the radiators near the window. It is necessary to ensure that the matter is always damp and does not dry out. Above the seedlings themselves, water at room temperature is sprayed every day from a spray bottle. This will increase the moisture content. Today, many resort to the use of electric humidifiers. If the window sill is cold, the containers should be insulated with foam or other insulation.

For seeds, the air temperature must be maintained in the range from 22 ° to 24 °. As soon as sprouts appear, the temperature is reduced to 10 ° -15 ° for a couple of days. Then it should be raised again to 20 °. If the seedlings are sown in February, it should be highlighted with a special one for plants. The backlight is installed above the seedlings, and not on the side or below. Usually on standard window sill two lamps required depending on technical indicators equipment. Illuminate plants in winter in early spring follows from 2 to 4 hours - in the morning and in the evening.

This is how daylight is artificially added - plants should receive light for 14-16 hours.

If seedlings are grown on the north side, then it is necessary to highlight it all day. Lamps should be selected with red and blue light. It is these parts of the spectrum that promote plant growth. Always use a simple formula when choosing your backlight lamp. For full coverage of 1 sq. m will require a lamp power of 8,000 lux. Based on this indicator, choose lighting equipment.

Observing all the subtleties of organizing conditions for growing plants, the gardener will grow strong and healthy seedlings. She will not stretch, wilt and hurt. In addition to the created growing conditions, the gardener should take care of the seedlings.

If the plants receive enough light and moisture, this does not mean that you can forget about seedlings and wait for the season of planting them in open ground.

Care Tips:

• It is advisable to feed the plants with natural fertilizers - mullein, nettle or well-rotted humus, if it has not been introduced into the substrate.
• An important factor is regular plants. Use only settled water at room temperature for these purposes. You can not take water from the tap for irrigation.
• Make sure that the soil does not dry out, especially if the seedlings are planted in peat pots or tablets. Such a container does not hold moisture well. Therefore, you should constantly moisten both the substrate and the container at the same time. However, it is impossible to flood the plants - it will appear root rot or black leg. The ground should be moderately moist, not damp.
• Fertilizers are applied only after the appearance of at least three full leaves. Before applying mineral complexes for seedling growth, be sure to moisten the soil abundantly. The measure will protect the plant from burns.
• Keep an eye on air humidity. Throw on radiators wet towels or resort to an electric humidifier. As soon as a stable positive temperature is established outside, start hardening the seedlings.
• Take the containers to the balcony or terrace. At night, bring it back into the house to avoid hypothermia of the plants in case of unexpected frosts. The hardening procedure is carried out every day. So the plants will get stronger and will be ready for transplanting into open ground.
• Timely aeration of the room is of great importance. Ventilate the room periodically, but do not make drafts. It is better to do this in warm weather. At night, the windows do not need to be opened, the plant may become supercooled.
• Timely seedlings, if they were not originally planted in separate containers. Otherwise, the plants will be weak, they will not fully develop. Picking is best done in the late afternoon. Do this carefully so as not to damage the fragile.

Caring for seedlings is not difficult if optimal conditions for growing on the windowsill have been created.

One of the biggest benefits of growing seedlings on a windowsill is access to natural light. Even if it is not complete, but at the same time it plays the most important role in plant formation. It is very easy to organize the right environment for seedlings on the windowsill - a small area can easily be turned into a temporary greenhouse.

If you add special lighting for plants to the window sill equipped for seedlings, then strong and healthy planting material will grow. Therefore, window sills for growing seedlings should not be discounted. Sometimes the apartment simply does not have other places for breeding. planting material. The window sill will be the perfect place in this case. Seedlings will not be distinguished from those grown in special greenhouse conditions. The only thing the gardener will need to take care of is the creation certain conditions in the window opening.

Growing seedlings on a windowsill is still one of the most common ways to breed seedlings.

By choosing the southern direction of the windows for plants, the gardener will be able to grow full-fledged, strong and healthy seedlings, despite the skeptical views of modern growers. Our ancestors have always used this method and have never been left without a bountiful harvest. Modern equipment - lamps and air humidifiers - will only help in this difficult task of growing seedlings on the windowsill. The main task in the process of preparing for planting seeds is the organization of the place. This is the installation of reflective screens, heaters, in the case of cold window sills, and air humidifiers. Having done everything right, the gardener will definitely rejoice at strong and healthy seedlings!

More information can be found in the video.