April does not like the lazy. We dive seedlings

With the long-awaited spring comes a hot time for gardeners. In April, many go to their home gardens to open a new summer season. Many seedlings are already growing, which require a lot of attention. How to properly take care of her, what needs to be done first of all in April in the garden, what does the lunar calendar say? On these important for gardeners questions Today we will try to answer.

The middle of spring is a troublesome time for those who quickly want to please their family with the first greens and vegetables. Many have planted seedlings. And now it’s time to unpack it. Picking is the planting of young shoots from common dishes into individual containers or into open ground. This procedure can be carried out when the first full leaves appear in the seedlings. How to do it right?

In order to get strong and healthy seedlings of tomatoes and peppers, you must follow the rules for caring for seedlings. Picking is one of the important stages of their cultivation. With good care, young shoots begin to actively develop and grow rapidly. For this, more free space is required for the development of the root system. Picking helps provide plants with the necessary conditions for further growth. The timing of the picking depends on many factors, the timing of planting, the condition of the seedlings. Thanks to the picking, the lateral roots of the plant develop better, therefore, the supply of nutrients increases. Seedlings receive more light, do not interfere with each other’s development, are better ventilated. As a result, plants are less susceptible to diseases and do not stretch. A pick is needed in order to help the seedlings adapt to new living conditions after transplanting it into open ground.

When do you need to dive tomatoes, because it’s impossible earlier, since the root system is still weak, and the later one can lead to the fact that the plants take root poorly and get sick? Dive should start if:

1. Tomatoes have reached the required age. Such seedlings have a developed root system to endure a pick. Tomato seedlings from a common container can be dived when the seedlings have two true leaves. Just do not confuse them with cotyledons – this is a common mistake of novice gardeners. True leaflets are the second pair of leaves.

2. Tomatoes planted too densely. The optimal distance between seedlings is 5 cm. With a dense planting, the plants interfere with each other, do not receive the required amount of nutrients and moisture. If you want to plant dwarf varieties, then this distance is enough for them to grow without diving.

3. Plants are stretched. If they have too thin stems and a small number of leaves, then picking helps to save the situation. This usually happens when there is not enough light. Therefore, in order to grow good seedlings, you need to take care of good lighting. And with the advent of the third real leaf, the plants begin to need it especially urgently.

4. Seedlings look depressed. In cramped conditions, she lacks natural light, moisture and nutrients. These plants have very thin stems. And you can dive them using special small tools. With their help, carefully remove each seedling with a small clod of earth from the common box and transfer to separate containers. Bury the plants in the soil almost to the cotyledon leaves.

5. Signs of diseases appear. The most dangerous disease for tomato seedlings is the black leg. Its spread slows down the development of seedlings, as a result of which the tomatoes may die.

And of course, before diving, you need to prepare the ground. The soil for transplanting seedlings is the same as for sowing seeds. It is only recommended to add a complete mineral fertilizer to it, at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. per 5 liters of substrate.

And do not forget to sign the cups or insert flags with the names of the varieties.

10 days after picking, the seedlings begin to form a new root system, and their growth is noticeably accelerated. And so they need the right top dressing. Usually tomato seedlings are fed 2 times:

1. 10 days after picking (5 g of urea, 35 g of superphosphate, 15 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water);
2. 2 weeks after the first feeding (10 g of urea, 60 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water).

In regions with an average climate, as in the Moscow region, at the end of April, seedlings can be planted in greenhouses or greenhouses, and if very warm weather has set in and the return of cold weather does not threaten, then it can also be planted in open ground.

If the plants are grown correctly, then by the time they are planted in the ground, the thickness of the stems should reach 1 cm, and the height of the plants should be about 30 cm. By this time, they should have 8-9 leaves and one flower brush. The height of the plant, as a rule, depends on the variety, so it is difficult to navigate it.

And of course, there is a lunar calendar to help gardeners. Which this April says that the 19th, 20th and 21st are unfavorable days for planting seeds. Favorable days for gardening in April 2023 for transplanting and picking plants are April 3 – 13, 16, 17, 20 – 26, 29th, and April 30th. The most favorable for diving are the 19th and 20th.

Growing seedlings of tomatoes and peppers is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, but it is very exciting to watch the plants grow and grow stronger literally by leaps and bounds. And if children are involved in this activity, then it will become a truly family activity. So follow our recommendations, and in the spring growing tomatoes on the window will compete with the home flower garden. Try to grow it yourself – and you will definitely succeed!

Alina FYODOROVA.

Author’s photo