Tomatoes are a favorite vegetable on our table, with excellent taste and nutritional qualities. The variety of varieties allows it to be widely used both fresh and processed. They prefer to add fruits of some varieties to salads, and others to pickles and marinades.

To get good harvest tomatoes from your garden, you need to know and follow the growing rules. First, in the fall, it is advisable to prepare nutrient soil. Then you need to carefully select and prepare the seeds, which should also be planted in the ground according to certain rules. And the seedlings must be properly monitored and cared for.

Tomato seeds can be planted directly into the beds. And in order to fresh tomatoes appeared on the table as early as possible, you should take advantage seedling method growing tomatoes.

Depending on how you plan to grow tomatoes permanent place, sowing dates should be selected.

1. Seeds of greenhouse varieties are planted from February 15 to March 15.
2. Seedlings, the seeds of which were planted in the first two decades of March, are subsequently planted on open beds, for which it is necessary to build a shelter for the first time.
3. For plants that are planned to be planted in open ground without any shelter, seeds are planted from March 15 to March 31.

In other words, if the seedlings are intended for further cultivation until harvest is obtained from the greenhouse, then sowing the seeds should be done approximately one and a half to two months before transplanting. If the seedlings are intended to be transferred to open ground, then it is advisable to sow the seeds within two to two and a half months from the planned planting date.

Important! In climatic zones where there is a possibility of late frosts in the spring, it is better to wait to plant seedlings until the risk of exposure to this negative factor is minimal.

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

Table. How to grow tomato seedlings at home.

Steps, photo	Description of actions
	Prepare the soil and fill the sowing boxes with it.
	Immerse the seeds in a five percent salt solution for 10 minutes. Then, after thoroughly rinsing, leave in water until it swells. Or you can simply soak the seeds in water. To do this, they need to be wrapped in damp cloth cotton or napkin and place in a shallow plate. Cover the top with something to prevent moisture evaporation and keep for a day in a warm room.
	One way. Sow the seeds in the grooves, the distance between which is about 5 cm. Lightly moisten the soil beforehand. warm solution, in which the seeds were kept. The sowing depth should be 1 cm, and the distance between the seeds should be no more than 2 cm. Do not water after planting. You can cover the top with film to speed up the process of seed germination.
	Transfer the sprouts to separate pots.
	Tomatoes need a lot of light. After the first shoots appear, special lamps should be installed above them.
	Tomato seedlings are watered in the morning. The water temperature should be +28°C. In sunny weather you need to do this every day. It is preferable to use soft water, for example melt water. If there is no sun, watering is done when the soil dries out. Seedlings need to start hardening two weeks before being transferred to the beds.
	To obtain a rich harvest, it is advisable to feed the seedlings with fertilizers. Fertilizing is carried out during watering.

Soil preparation. Planting seeds

Some points of our step by step instructions need clarification. Let's look at them in more detail.

It is best to use soil prepared in the fall for tomato seedlings. In soil containing peat, sod land and humus, add vermicompost, sand and other additives. Proportions components are selected depending on the incoming ingredients. Tomatoes love soil that absorbs moisture well, allows air to pass through, is not acidic and is quite nutritious.

If the seeds are supposed to be sown in boxes, then later it is necessary to dive. In this case, the sowing boxes are filled two-thirds with soil. Before actually sowing, it is recommended to moisten the seed holes. Nutrients can be added to the water.

It is advisable to grow tomato seedlings at home without further planting. The fact is that when picking, the roots of plants are damaged. It takes about 7 days for tomatoes to take root in a new place and restore the root system. Therefore, the fruits from such plants can be obtained a week later.

If you do not plan to grow tomatoes in industrial scale, then it is better to sow the seeds immediately in separate plastic or peat pots. In this case, when transferred to open ground or a greenhouse, the plants will immediately begin to grow and develop rapidly.

Sowing early tomatoes should only be done in pots with a volume of at least 500 ml.

You can grow tomato seedlings at home using special ones if you plan to plant them in a greenhouse in the future. Then you can do without picking or sowing directly into pots. Seedlings grown in this way are transferred directly to the greenhouse.

Prices for Zircon

Sowing rules

1. Sowing in boxes is carried out with an interval of 5 cm between seeds. It is also necessary to make 10 cm indentations between the rows. Such measures are necessary in order to avoid thinning of the seedlings.
2. It is advisable to deepen the seeds no more than 1.5 cm. Otherwise, you may get sparse and weakened seedlings.
3. After sowing, the container must be covered with film, after moistening the air under it with a spray bottle. Keep in a dark, warm room until sprouts appear. Shoots can begin to appear after 3 days. When sowing in open ground or a greenhouse, you have to wait longer for germination.

When sprouts appear, the film must be removed and the boxes with seedlings placed in the light. For example, on a well-lit windowsill.

After the cotyledon leaves open, you need to discard the sprouts that are not good enough, as well as those that have not gotten rid of the seed box.

How to care for seedlings

In the first two weeks after sowing the seeds, the night temperature in the room where the boxes are installed should not exceed +15°C. During the day it should not be more than +20°C.

After two weeks, hardening is carried out, during which the temperature is maintained at no more than +10°C at night, and no more than +15°C during the day.

The air in the room should be humidified to 65%.

When the plants have two true leaves, it is recommended to thin out the seedlings. For further growth, it is necessary to maintain strong plants with thick stems and bright leaves, removing all weak seedlings within 5 centimeters of them.

Produced when the third true leaf begins to appear on the seedlings. To support the root system, which will inevitably suffer during this procedure, the night before the plants are watered with a solution of water and superphosphate at the rate of 2 granules per 1 sprout. When diving, the soil is taken the same as that used for sowing.

If you are late with the dive, the yield indicators will decrease by about a quarter. When diving directly into the greenhouse, it is necessary to maintain an interval between plants of about 10 cm.

How to care for seedlings

Young seedlings require daily morning watering, as well as strict adherence to the permissible temperature regime. The room in which it will grow must be regularly ventilated to prevent diseases.

At this time, the plants will develop very intensively, so the seedlings require additional lighting. With a lack of light, it can stretch out. We recommend purchasing it to organize lighting. When using them, you need to take into account that seedlings should not be illuminated for more than 12 hours a day. If seedlings are grown without additional lighting, then the flow of natural light can be increased. To do this, the container with plants is installed at an angle to the window, reverse side which is covered with a light-reflecting cloth. A mirror or a layer of foil may be suitable for these purposes.

Advice! When the plants have 5 leaves, pinch off the first 2. In this case, the seedlings will grow upward more slowly.

When the temperature outside the window during the day reaches +14°C or higher, it is recommended to start placing the seedlings outside. fresh air. This is done so that she gets used to the sun. First leave it in the shade for half an hour, gradually increasing the time interval.

1. The first feeding is carried out 10 days after the dive. For fertilizer, take a solution of 5 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of potassium sulfate, mixed with 15 g of superphosphate and diluted in 5 liters of water. Water with a slightly warm solution.
2. 7 days before transferring the seedlings to open ground, they should be fed again. For seedlings good quality with bright green leaves for fertilizer, a solution is prepared from 20 g of superphosphate and 12 g of potassium sulfate per 5 liters of water.

If there is a shortage nutrients the seedlings will look bad. Their greenery will be pale, and the stems may have a noticeable purple tint.

Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops grown by gardeners. They are planted both in greenhouses and in open ground. This is a rather capricious plant that requires attention and care not only in adulthood, but also at the stage of growing seedlings. This is why newcomers to the world of gardening are afraid to get involved with tomatoes, preferring to work with other, easier-to-care crops. But you shouldn’t be afraid to cultivate these plants - experience will come with time, and you need to start somewhere. And we will start by learning how to properly grow tomato seedlings and how to care for them so that they grow into strong and strong fruit-bearing plants.

Growing tomato seedlings is a troublesome business

Good quality soil is perhaps one of the the most important conditions For proper cultivation quality seedlings. At the same time, when choosing soil, you can go in two ways. The first is to buy a ready-made one at a gardening store. The advantage of such soil is the optimal content of all substances necessary for young plants. However, such soil also has its drawbacks - it is often contaminated with midge larvae and other “living creatures” that can harm the seedlings. Therefore, it is better not to use such soil or to use it only after the disinfection procedure, but we will talk about this later.

Prices for soil for tomato seedlings

soil for tomatoes

The second way is to make the soil mixture yourself. It has been prepared since autumn. One of the main requirements for soil for tomato seedlings is lightness and looseness. It is also important to ensure that the soil is not only loose and nutritious, but also has a pH value in the range of 5.6-6. Therefore, simply collecting a bag of soil from the garden would be a wrong decision.

You can grow seedlings in several types of soil mixtures.

1. Soddy soil, pressed peat, humus are mixed in a ratio of 1:2:1, and two matchbox superphosphate and approximately 500 ml of ash (additives are calculated for 1 large bucket of soil).
2. Turf soil, black peat or compost, coarse sand are mixed in a ratio of 1:1:1, and then spilled with a solution of urea, potassium sulfate and superphosphate (10 g, 20 g, 30 g, respectively).

Note! Since peat increases the acidity of the soil, a little chalk should be added to the soil mixture. Peat can be replaced with humus soil.

In general, there is no single recipe for preparing soil for tomatoes - every gardener uses his own time-tested techniques, but for a beginner Any will do from the above recipes. Over time, everyone will learn to improve soil mixtures in their own way.

Note! Seedlings love coconut substrate, rarely rot in it and develop well. Coconut fiber can be purchased at a gardening store. You can also purchase for growing tomato seedlings.

Prices for coconut substrate

coconut substrate

After the soil has been prepared in the fall, it is removed to a place where it will be very cold - the next stage of preparation, called “disinfection,” begins. In the cold, the ground will freeze well, and most of the fungi and bacteria that can cause harm to your plantings will die.

A few days before planting the seeds, the soil is subjected to heat treatment. It is carried out in different ways. The most popular are steaming and calcination.

Steaming is done very simply - the soil is placed in a metal container with holes in several places (usually in an old bucket) and placed on bricks placed in another, larger metal tank, filled with water to about 5 cm. Covering the large container with a lid, it (the container ) put on fire and keep on it for about two hours.

You can also steam the soil a little differently. To do this, the soil is poured into a fabric bag, which is placed on a grid installed above the water tank. By heating the tank over a fire, we get steam, which envelops the bag of earth. So it takes about 45 minutes to disinfect the soil.

Now a few words about how calcination takes place. To do this, pour the soil mixture into a metal container, pour boiling water over it, mix it and pour it onto a baking sheet. The latter should be placed in a hot oven for 25 minutes.

Attention! After heat treatment, be sure to keep the soil in the cold for about a week so that it can rest. Only then use it.

The last stage of preparing the soil for tomatoes is its disinfection with a solution of potassium permanganate. This method will help protect young plants from diseases. We dilute about 3 g of potassium permanganate crystals in a bucket of water and spill the resulting solution onto the soil.

Note! The soil from the store must also undergo a disinfection process. Even if there is a note on the package that the soil has been disinfected, it is better to play it safe and do it again. There won't be any harm for sure.

The container for tomato seedlings can be anything - boxes, plastic and peat pots, homemade containers, etc. It is very convenient to plant seeds in small plastic pots with a bottom that resembles a round plate. It is convenient to remove plants from such containers in the future and plant them in the ground. In addition, individual planting will save you from picking seedlings.

One of the most important stages– disinfection of containers for seedlings. And it doesn’t matter whether you bought new pots or are using old boxes - everything needs to be processed. The easiest way is to wash the containers, then dip them in a solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes and rinse again with clean water.

Selecting seeds and preparing them

Very often, disappointment in trying to grow tomatoes occurs when the gardener simply chose the wrong seeds. First, you need to decide what you need tomatoes for - for salads, for pickles or for other needs. The choice of variety will largely depend on this.

It is also important to pay attention to indicators such as ripening time, yield, keeping quality, and endurance. Usually all this information is written on the seed package, and it will not be difficult for you to choose the best variety for you.

When purchasing, pay attention to how well the seeds are packaged and what their expiration date is. Do not take old ones - tomatoes remain viable for about 4-5 years, no more. Give preference to those varieties that are adapted to climatic conditions region in which you plan to grow them.

Growing tomatoes in greenhouse conditions allows you to get a good and (if necessary) early harvest. Not all varieties are suitable for greenhouses. Preference should be given to those that are resistant to diseases. More details in .

Before planting tomato seeds for seedlings, you should check them for germination. It happens that even the most good producers they make a mistake and there are “dummies” in the packaging with planting material. Pouring the seeds with salted water (10 g per glass) for 5-10 minutes will help to weed out the defects. All the bad ones will float to the surface, but the good ones will remain at the bottom.

This procedure is followed by seed disinfection. Don't be surprised - even the highest quality seeds can be contaminated with pathogens. Disinfection is carried out as follows: tomato seeds are placed for 10 minutes in a solution of water and hydrogen peroxide, which is easy to prepare - for this, 3 ml of a disinfectant is diluted in 100 g of water, then heated to 40 degrees.

The next stage is seed germination. To do this, you will need a soft cotton cloth that is moistened with water. Seeds are laid out on one edge and covered with the other, the fabric is placed in a container, covered with polyethylene so that there is a gap for air access. The film is completely removed 3-4 times every day to planting material could breathe. You can plant seeds after 4-5 days.

Prices for tomato seeds

tomato seeds

Planting seeds

Typically, tomatoes are planted for seedlings around the end of February or mid-March, but depending on the variety chosen, the timing may vary. Therefore, it is best to check the planting schedule shown on the packaging of the planting material.

Step 1. Fill the washed and disinfected container for seedlings with treated and prepared soil.

Step 2. Level, compact and moisten the soil with water at room temperature.

Step 3. Make neat furrows about 1 cm deep on the surface of the soil at a distance of at least 3-4 cm from each other. In individual pots, make recesses also 1 cm deep.

Step 4. Place the tomato seeds in the grooves at least 2cm apart. Place one seed in each pot.

Note! Remember that the less often the seeds are planted in boxes, the longer you will not have to resort to the picking procedure.

Step 5. Gently cover the holes or furrows with soil.

Step 6. Cover containers with plastic or a piece of glass to retain moisture and heat.

Step 7 Place the containers in a warm place - for example, near a radiator.

Note! The air temperature for tomato seeds to sprout must be at least 25 degrees.

Step 8 Wait for the shoots. The first sprouts will appear within about 3-5 days.

Video - Sowing tomato seeds for seedlings

Caring for tomato seedlings includes ensuring and maintaining several factors at the proper level environment. These are humidity, temperature, presence of fresh air, lighting.

Table. Conditions for growing tomato seedlings.

Factor	Required level
	While the seeds have not yet hatched and sprouted, the soil moisture should be checked daily, and when dry, the soil should be sprayed with a spray bottle. The first shoots are watered very carefully warm water, while the second watering is carried out approximately a week later. It is important to remember that young shoots should always be kept moist, otherwise they will die, so the timing of watering is very relative. Watering the seedlings is done with a pipette under the stem; do not pour on the leaves.
	Pots with tomato seedlings should be placed in the most illuminated place - usually the brightest window sill. It is also important to organize additional lighting with lamps. It is recommended to illuminate the plants around the clock for the first 3 days after emergence, and then at least 16 hours a day.
	In order for the seeds to germinate, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature at +25-28 degrees, a week after the sprouts appear - +20-25, and after a couple of weeks the temperature can be reduced to room temperature.
	While the plants are under the film, it must be periodically lifted to remove excess moisture. Remember that excess moisture can cause mold. Getting rid of the latter is simple - remove the affected soil and water the soil with potassium permanganate. The film is completely removed only 1-2 weeks after the first entries, during which time the plants should be accustomed to the fact that soon the container with them will be completely open. To do this, lift the film or glass for a while every day.
	The first feeding is carried out approximately 10-14 days after the appearance of the first shoots, then weekly. It's time to fertilize the soil when the sprouts have one leaf with teeth. Fertilizing can be done with the drug “Effect”, using it according to the instructions on the package.

Picking is a procedure for planting seedlings growing in boxes into individual 10*10 cm containers. Picking is carried out when young tomatoes have 2-3 true leaves.

When picking, you can use a regular teaspoon

At this time, sick and frail plants are discarded. When transplanting, the stems of the bushes are buried almost under the very leaves.

Planting in a greenhouse

Before the most important thing happens - transplanting tomato seedlings into a greenhouse or open ground, it is important to harden the plants. To do this, the seedlings should be taken out onto the balcony or open veranda. The first “walk” is carried out on a windless and warm sunny day and lasts no more than 5 minutes. Then the time limit is increased daily by 5 minutes.

Healthy tomato seedlings guarantee a bountiful tomato harvest. The mistakes that novice gardeners make at the stage of sowing seeds and growing seedlings will certainly affect the fruiting of an adult plant. There can be no trifles in this matter! Let's try to understand all the stages of growing tomato seedlings, starting with determining the sowing time and ending with planting the bushes in open ground (in boxes - if growing on the balcony is planned).

Approximately, tomato seeds should be sown 55-65 days before planting seedlings in open ground or a greenhouse. The seeds germinate quite quickly - 5-10 days after sowing. That's why average term keeping seedlings on a windowsill (from emergence) is 45-60 days.

It is important to determine the timing correctly so as not to overexpose the seedlings on the windowsill. This is fraught with inhibition of the growth of an adult bush and a decrease in yield.

Average sowing time for tomatoes:

• in the southern regions of Russia and Ukraine - from the 20th of February to March 15 (landing in the OG - from April 15 to May 20);
• in the central regions of Russia - from March 15 to April 1 (landing in the OG - from May 10 to the first days of June);
• in the northern regions (Siberia, Ural) - from April 1 to 15 (landing in the OG - from May 25 to June 15).

To accurately answer the question of when to plant tomato seedlings, you need to know about the end date of spring frosts in your region. By counting 55-65 days back from this date, you can accurately determine the date of your desired planting.

If you plan to plant tomato seedlings not in open ground, but in a greenhouse or on glass balcony, then sowing work can begin 2-3 weeks earlier.

Conditions for growing tomato seedlings

When growing tomato seedlings on a windowsill, create conditions for the seedlings with:

• plenty of light - it is desirable that the windows face south and are not shaded by trees (if there is insufficient natural light artificial additional lighting with lamps is required);
• high humidity - spray tomato seedlings 1-2 times a day, use air humidifiers, etc.;
• warm - during the day optimal temperature for tomato seedlings the temperature is 18-25°C, at night – 12-15°C.

Tomato seedlings: growing at home

Step 1. Preparatory work

Preparatory work may include:

• seed disinfection;
• soil preparation and disinfection.

Packaged seeds famous manufacturers do not require additional pre-sowing treatment. They have already undergone the necessary disinfection at the enterprise. It’s a completely different matter if the tomato seeds used were collected with your own hands or purchased in bulk at the market. Such material can be infected with pathogens of various bacterial, viral and fungal diseases.

To eliminate the infection, use one of the following disinfecting solutions:

• 1% solution of potassium permanganate (1 g per 100 ml of water). Wrap the seeds in gauze and soak in this solution for 15-20 minutes. It is not recommended to keep it longer - the germination of seeds is reduced. After processing, rinse the seeds with water.
• 0.5% soda solution (0.5 g per 100 ml of water). Soak tomato seeds in it for 24 hours. In addition to disinfection, soda solution promotes earlier fruiting.
• Aloe juice solution (1:1). Ready-made aloe juice can be purchased at a pharmacy or squeezed from the leaves yourself (previously, they are kept in the refrigerator for 5-6 days). Soak the seeds in aloe juice diluted in water for 12-24 hours. Tomatoes from seeds that have undergone this treatment are characterized by increased immunity, improved yield and quality of fruit.
• Fitosporin solution. When using liquid Fitosporin (in a bottle), prepare the solution as follows: dilute 1 drop of liquid in 100 ml of water. Prepare a solution of Fitosporin powder in the amount of 0.5 tsp. per 100 ml of water. Soak the seeds in the solution for 1-2 hours.

The soil can also be contaminated, especially if it is dug up from the garden. Soil purchased pre-packaged is safer. flower shops. But even here there may be unpleasant “surprises”, so the best way To protect yourself (and your seedlings!) from surprises is to till the soil yourself.

The most popular methods of disinfecting soil for seedlings:

• calcination in the oven (10-15 minutes at 180-200°C);
• heating in the microwave (1-2 minutes at power 850);
• disinfection with boiling water (place soil in a pot with drainage holes and pour small portions of boiling water over it);
• disinfection with potassium permanganate (spill the soil with a strong solution of potassium permanganate).

Disinfection of tomato seeds in potassium permanganate

All these methods can be combined with each other to obtain the most sterile and safe soil for seedlings.

You should not start planting tomatoes for seedlings immediately after preparing the soil! Moisten it and keep it there positive temperature 10-12 days. During this time, bacteria beneficial to plants will begin to multiply in the sterile soil. Only after this can sowing begin.

Step 2. Sowing tomatoes for seedlings

Fill containers (cassettes, peat pots, plastic cups, cottage cheese boxes, shallow boxes) with prepared moist soil and make grooves in it about 1 cm deep. The spacing between grooves is 3-4 cm. Place seeds in them at a distance of 1-2 cm, more is possible. The less often the seeds are sown, the longer it will be possible to keep the seedlings in a seedling container without replanting them. Sprinkle the grooves with soil.

Tomato seeds are sown in the ground to a depth of 1 cm

You can make it even simpler: place the seeds on the prepared soil and cover them with a centimeter layer of soil.

Cover the top with film or glass to provide the seedlings with a constant microclimate with a humidity of about 80-90%. In order for the seeds to germinate, their temperature should be 25-30°C. Therefore, place the seedling boxes near a radiator or other heat source.

Check the soil moisture every day. When dry, spray it generously with a spray bottle. At excessive humidity– open the film (glass) and wait for it to dry. Sometimes high humidity leads to the formation of mold on the soil surface. Then carefully remove the top infected layer and spill the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate or an antifungal drug (Fundazol, Fitosporin).

The first tomato shoots appear after 3-4 days at a surface air temperature of 25-28°C, at 20-25°C - after 5-6 days, at 10-12°C - 12-15 or more days after sowing.

Cotyledon leaves of tomato seedlings emerging from the ground

More details about when to sow tomatoes for seedlings, how to choose tomato seeds and sow them correctly in the ground are shown in the video:

Step 3. Caring for tomato seedlings

Lighting

Growing tomato seedlings is impossible without good lighting! Therefore, after germination, place the pots with seedlings on the brightest windowsill. In February and early March, there will not be enough light for the seedlings in any case, so, if possible, use additional lighting with fluorescent lamps.

There is a version (author - Tugarova T.Yu.) that better development of tomato seedlings can be achieved if the seedlings are illuminated around the clock for the first 2-3 days after germination. After this, you can switch to the usual additional lighting mode - 16 hours a day (total daylight hours).

Humidity and watering

Young shoots should be kept at high, almost extreme humidity; drying is unacceptable. Therefore, do not rush to immediately remove the film (glass) from the seedling container. Open it a little every day so that the seedlings get used to the fresh air, but at the same time remain in the “greenhouse”. After 1-2 weeks, the cover can be completely removed.

Tomato seedlings growing under a film at home may not need watering for a long time. Look at the condition of the soil: do not create a swamp, but at the same time do not allow the top layer to dry out (while the roots of the sprouts are still small and in top layer soil, so drying it will mean drying out the roots). Tomato seedlings should be watered carefully, under the stem. To avoid damaging the sprouts, you can use a syringe (without a needle) or a pipette.

After removing the film, the frequency of watering tomato seedlings should be proportional to the amount of heat and light. With increasing temperatures and lengthening daylight hours, tomatoes begin to grow and quickly “drink” moisture from the soil. Accordingly, the soil dries out faster and watering is required more often.

It is important not to dry out young tomatoes. Often, inexperienced gardeners encounter the following problem: when they come home from work in the evening, they notice their seedlings are completely wilted, although they still looked quite normal in the morning. You need to check the seedlings in the morning, when there is no hot sun yet. If you notice that the sprouts are a little sluggish, water them immediately. Otherwise, at noon, the rays of the sun can dry out the still weak young seedlings.

Bays can also be dangerous. It’s bad that flooded and dried tomato seedlings can look the same: the stems lose turgor, the leaves wither. When you see these symptoms, pay attention to the soil. If it is wet, do not add water under any circumstances - you will ruin the seedlings. Place the seedling container in a place protected from direct sunlight, do not water until the soil dries out. In the future, adjust the amount of watering.

Cold window sills combined with damp soil are especially destructive for young tomato sprouts. Therefore, watering in the evening (February-April) is not recommended. At night, the temperature can drop significantly, the sprouts will freeze and begin to hurt.

Fresh air

As soon as it’s a warm, windless day, take the seedlings out into the fresh air: onto the balcony, outside, or just open the window. Even in March, on a sunny day, on open balcony Temperatures can reach up to 15-20°C! If such a day coincides with the emergence of seedlings - great luck! Take the sprouts out to bask in the sun. The fact is that tomato sprouts on the first day after germination are protected from UV rays, which prevents them from burning. Such sprouts will be heat-resistant, hardened from infancy and can be “walked” in the sun regularly.

If you did not have time to expose the seedlings to the sun on the first day, then you can no longer do this after 1-2 days - the innate hardening has disappeared. In this case, you will have to gradually accustom the sprouts to the sun. The first day – 5 minutes is enough. Then, every day you can increase the duration of your walks by another 5 minutes.

Tomato seedlings, which were exposed every day sunny balcony(into the yard), by the time it is planted for permanent residence, it quickly catches up in growth with the seedlings that were sown a month earlier, but kept on the windowsill behind glass and without lighting.

Feeding

Tomato seedlings need feeding 2-3 weeks after the first shoots. In the future, fertilizers will have to be applied every week. It is best to use natural organic fertilizers, for example, from manure or grass. Good store-bought fertilizers include specialized guano-based fertilizers, humic fertilizers, vermicompost, etc. Use half the dose indicated for a specific fertilizer to fertilize seedlings.

Step 3. Picking (transplanting into large cups, pots)

The first true leaves of tomato sprouts appear on days 7-10. At this age, if the seeds were sown too crowded in one container, you can pick the seedlings in individual cups. Despite the fact that tomatoes tolerate transplantation well, this must be done carefully. Replant the sprouts with a clod of soil on the roots. Some gardeners advise pinching the central root of tomato seedlings when picking. However, we do not recommend doing this - the roots in any case, even with the most careful transplantation, are still damaged. There is no need to further injure the plant. Moreover, it can be harmful: pinching up to 1/3 of the root will delay the development of seedlings by 1 week.

When picking tomato seedlings, a lump of earth on the roots should remain

The first transplant is carried out in small cups of 200 ml.

After 2-3 weeks, the seedlings can be planted a second time - into larger pots. If the seeds were initially sown in individual containers (cups, cassettes), then this transplant will be the first. It is not recommended to use pots smaller than 0.5-1 liters. Professional gardeners prefer even larger volumes - 3-5 liters per plant. But, you must admit, not every window sill can withstand such seedling plantations, especially in a city apartment. Yes, this is not necessary: ​​1 liter of soil for 1 plant is enough!

Picking tomato sprouts into peat pots

You can learn how to grow tomato sprouts and plant seedlings by watching the video:

Step 4. Preparation for planting for permanent residence (in a greenhouse, on a balcony, in a greenhouse)

At the age of 1.5 months, tomato seedlings at home expel the first flower clusters. As soon as you notice them, know that after 10-15 days the seedlings need to be planted for permanent residence - in a greenhouse, on a balcony or in a greenhouse. You cannot delay replanting, otherwise it will lead to a decrease in yield.

If you decide to keep tomato seedlings on the windowsill for more than 45-60 days, then they should be provided with at least 1 liter of soil per plant. If you keep tomatoes in relatively small containers even 10 days longer than they should and allow them to bloom, they will stop their vegetative growth and will forever remain “undergrown.” Even in exhaust gas they will no longer be able to accelerate and will never turn into full-fledged plants. Accordingly, expect from them full harvest you don't have to either!

This problem can be partially solved by removing the first flower brush. The next cluster will appear only in a week, that is, it will be possible to delay planting seedlings for permanent residence for a week.

Before planting, good tomato seedlings should have thick stems, large leaves, a strong root system and developed buds.

Characteristics healthy seedlings tomato: powerful bush, large juicy leaves, thick stems, developed root system

Step 5. Planting tomato seedlings in the ground

The distance between tomatoes in a greenhouse or greenhouse should be 30-40 cm. If you decide to grow garden plantations on the balcony, then for each tomato bush you need to allocate 4-12 liters of land. 4-5 liters will be enough for low-growing “balcony” varieties: “Balcony Miracle”, “Dwarf”, “Hummingbird”, etc. Large garden varieties, suitable for OG (“Sashenka”, “Sunrise”, etc.), are grown in containers of 10-12 liters.

For tomatoes, fertile garden soil (chernozem) mixed with “Universal” or “For vegetables” peat soil in a 1:1 ratio is good.

It is best to plant tomato seedlings for permanent residence on a cool, windless and cloudy day. Plant the seedlings, deepening the central stem a couple of centimeters. After a few days, additional roots will begin to form along the buried stem. Overall, the root system will become more powerful and stronger.

After planting, water the tomato seedlings with warm water and wait for the harvest!

Planting tomato seedlings in a balcony box for permanent residence

And, finally, in order to better understand the intricacies of growing tomato seedlings and transplanting them for permanent residence in open ground, a greenhouse or on a balcony, we suggest you look short video posted below:

Tomato, or tomato, is a plant from the Solanaceae family, native to South America. Europeans became acquainted with it only after the discovery of the New World and the tomato, like everything new, “took root” quite difficult and for a long time. Despite this, the tomato is now one of the most popular and sought after vegetables all over the world. It's hard to imagine any of the national cuisines, where no tomato would be used. Some dishes cannot be imagined without tomatoes - just remember Ukrainian borscht, Italian pizza, Mexican chili, American ketchup and much more.

An important condition for obtaining a plentiful and high-quality harvest is correct landing tomato for seedlings. Only strong and healthy ones will quickly and easily take root in the soil or in a greenhouse, begin to actively bloom and set large and tasty fruits.

In order for tomato seedlings at home to be healthy and of high quality, you need to follow simple but very important rules:

• Correct timing for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings.
• Temperature maintenance.
• Stable water balance.
• Competent selection of soil.
• Selection of varieties for open ground and greenhouses.
• Proper planting of tomatoes in the ground.

When to sow tomatoes for seedlings according to the growing season?

Tomatoes come in early, mid-ripening and late varieties. Between these three varieties there are intermediate ones with a difference in ripening of 5-15 days, but basically this division is competent and correct.

• Early tomato varieties have the shortest growing season from sowing to flowering, therefore, they bring the earliest and most valuable harvest. Early seedlings The tomato produces delicious fresh vegetables, but requires more care and effort to grow.
• Medium-bearing varieties produce fruits at the height of the season; they are the most delicious and healthy. The growing season is longer than that of early tomatoes.
• Late tomatoes bear fruit from the second half of summer until late autumn; in warm weather, tomatoes remain fresh on the bushes until frost. These tomatoes have the longest growing season.

Usually early tomatoes- a pleasant delicacy for the table after a long winter; mid-ripening ones accompany food throughout the season, and late ones are used for preservation and processing.

When is the best time to plant tomato seedlings?

For growing tomato seedlings on a windowsill, they are most suitable early varieties, since they need to be sown as seedlings early in the spring, in order to be planted in the ground after the end of return frosts.

If you plant tomatoes as seedlings too early, they will quickly grow and form, and weather conditions will not allow planting in the ground or under film. Such seedlings will stretch out, become fragile, pale and sickly, will have difficulty taking root in the soil and will bear fruit poorly.
Sowing too late means getting small, unformed seedlings. The timing of planting seeds depends on the weather conditions of the area where it is planned to grow seedlings; usually it takes 1.5-2.5 months to grow tomato seedlings.

According to the type of growth, all tomatoes are divided into two large groups:

1. Indeterminate (vigorous).

For cultivation in greenhouses, tall and vigorous varieties of tomatoes are usually selected, since they are the most productive in conditions closed ground and give a large harvest.
If you plan to grow tomatoes in open ground, grow good seedlings tomato can be made from low-growing varieties, they are less in danger of being pulled out and outgrown. Such plants form squat, strong bushes that often do not require further tying to a trellis or stakes.

How to properly plant tomato seedlings indoors?

To get good seedlings, you need to choose healthy planting material, select suitable soil and containers for planting, maintain the correct temperature and watering.

Healthy calibrated seeds are selected for planting; puny and damaged ones are thrown away. There are two ways to sow seeds - in a common container, followed by picking, and directly into individual cups.

Since tomatoes tolerate picking and transplanting well, in order to save money and space, you can sow tomatoes in boxes or other suitable containers. Subsequently, the seedlings are planted for the first time, planted at a greater distance, and then transplanted into separate containers, where the seedlings remain until planted in the ground.
In the second option, seeds are sown 2-3 in pots or cups; weaker plants are subsequently simply pulled out. This method is more expensive, planting will take up a significant area, and it will not be possible to grow a large number of seedlings in an apartment.

Almost any non-soaking container can be used as a container for planting seedlings. Amateur gardeners successfully use wooden and even cardboard boxes lined with plastic film, disposable plastic or paper cups, sour cream and yogurt containers, juice boxes or milk cartons. For used containers, it is important to thoroughly clean the remaining contents, otherwise it can rot, contaminate the ground and destroy the seedlings.

When deciding how to properly grow tomato seedlings, you need to remember that this plant is very demanding on room temperature, lighting and watering. Humid air is harmful to tomatoes, therefore, when we plant tomato seedlings, it is important to regularly ventilate the room where they grow, avoiding strong temperature changes and drafts, which are detrimental to this plant. There is no need to spray crops with water; they can easily get sick and die.

Tomatoes are sown in trays or boxes, lightly sprinkled with sifted nutritional mixture and spray generously, covering with film. Air humidity is needed only until the seeds germinate, and then the film is removed.

The soil for tomato seedlings should not be too acidic, that is, pure peat is absolutely not suitable for this plant. At home, the easiest way to remove diseases and pests is by freezing. To do this, leave a bag or box of soil on outdoors, where frosts will quickly kill everything harmful to seedlings. The container with soil must be covered from precipitation, which can wash nutrients from the soil.

Healthy seeds hatch and germinate very quickly and within 2-5 days, first “loops” appear from the soil, and then full-fledged cotyledon leaves. At this time, the room temperature should not fall below 25 degrees, and then it is gradually lowered slightly. Low temperatures are dangerous for this plant, serious damage begins already at 10 degrees - it turns yellow, buds and ovaries fall off, and growth stops.

In order for tomato seedlings on the windowsill to be strong and green, they need a lot of light. If there is a lack of natural light, planting will have to be done, sometimes this needs to be done around the clock. Tomatoes need to be provided with stable and uniform watering without waterlogging and drying out, which are equally detrimental to the plant.

Grown tomato seedlings are picked for the first time, and after a pair of true leaves appear, a second picking is carried out into seedling cups. When performing this operation, young plants are carefully buried along the cotyledon leaves. There is no point in damaging or even more so tearing off the cotyledons - they are a source of nutrients for the plant that has begun to develop. Subsequently, they will fall off on their own when they are no longer needed.

With the help of picking, you can slightly reduce the effect of stretching the plant in the early stages - by deepening the seedling and adding light, you can make the seedlings stronger and healthier. The part of the stem that, after picking, will be in the ground, will give roots and will additionally nourish the plant. In order for the picked seedlings to take root quickly and without loss, the soil must be warm enough and the watering must be uniform without flooding. If we plant tomato seedlings correctly, we end up with plants with strong, stable stems, lush green leaves and an overall healthy appearance.

The question often arises: how to feed tomato seedlings?
During the growth period, plants need complex fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen and a mandatory content of microelements. Grown-up seedlings need potassium more; if there is a lack of this element, the plant becomes covered in spots, stretches out, turns pale and gets sick.

Properly grown tomato seedlings quickly take root in the soil and form a strong green plant, begins to bloom and bear fruit within the time limits established for this variety.

Growing tomato seedlings at home (video)

At home, it is better to sow tomatoes for seedlings at a later date than in professional greenhouses. Not all books and reference books take into account the specifics of growing tomato seedlings at home, so be careful!

In the Moscow region experienced gardeners follow the approximate sowing dates:

• early tomatoes for open ground - early April;
• early tomatoes for planting in the ground under film covers - the second half of March;
• tall tomatoes for greenhouses - late March;
• low-growing tomatoes for greenhouses - early to mid-April.

It is better to sow during these times, even if the book or article you read recommends otherwise. Perhaps it was copied from recommendations for professional farmers who grow seedlings in heated greenhouses. These methods do not suit us. Conditions in greenhouses differ from those in a residential building, where seedlings are usually grown for personal use. The house is dark and hot, even on the window, and the tomato seedlings will “suffer” for a long time if they are sown too early. Therefore, it is better to be a little late than to hurry.

How to prepare tomato seeds for sowing

There are many ways to prepare tomato seeds for sowing: soaking, germination, dressing and much more. There is no significant difference between them. Experience has shown: if a tomato variety does not produce strong shoots from dry, untreated seeds, its viability and productivity are in question. We do not fight for weak varieties and hybrids, but buy several varieties of tomatoes with the necessary characteristics to be on the safe side.

No matter what the regulars of Internet forums say, the leading Russian suppliers of tomato seeds keep their mark. U Search, Gavrisha, Ilyinichny, Russian Vegetable Garden, SeDeka and other well-known brands, the seeds are usually of excellent quality. In one case out of 8-10 there are “punctures”, but this is normal. Seeds are a living commodity; they can be capricious or simply not suit specific growing conditions.

There is no need to treat purchased seeds against pathogens - they are already treated. It makes sense to pickle the seeds of varietal tomatoes collected in your own garden. Etch in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes, wrapped in cotton pads:

After soaking in potassium permanganate, rinse the tomato seeds well in several waters before sowing.

Ideal soil for sowing tomato seeds: how to make it yourself

Tomato seedlings are undemanding to soil - relatively resistant to drought, not voracious, tolerate increased acidity. It grows well in soil prepared with your own hands (with the addition of loam, humus and compost). And also in purchased peat soil - if only it is a bona fide product.

It is believed that soil prepared with one’s own hands needs to be steamed, but purchased soil does not need to be steamed. This is correct, but only on condition that you perfectly follow the technology for growing tomato seedlings: temperature, lighting, feeding. In fact, this condition is almost impossible to fulfill: seedlings at home are highly susceptible to stress and vulnerable even to fairly harmless fungi. Therefore, it is better to steam all soil, regardless of origin. It won't get any worse.

Technology for sowing tomato seeds for seedlings

It is convenient to sow large tomato seeds individually using tweezers. Place them on compacted soil with tweezers, every 1 cm. Mark each furrow with a tag with the name of the variety. Sprinkle a 0.5-1 cm layer of soil on top, water and cover the crops with film. Keep the bowl at a temperature of +20°C. As soon as the shoots appear, place it on the windowsill and remove the film.

There is no need to feed tomato seedlings before picking, just water them. Tomatoes peak in the phase of 2 true leaves.

It's time to pick tomatoes.

Pick the tomatoes one at a time into individual pots, deepening them almost to the cotyledon leaves. Add a tablespoon of complete soil to the soil for picking. mineral fertilizer per 5 liters of mixture or 3 tablespoons.

2 weeks after picking, feed the seedlings