How to prepare the soil for seedlings correctly?
Before sowing seeds, it is necessary to prepare the soil for seedlings, it is necessary to select the optimal composition of the earth mixture, additives and fertilizers in order to get healthy and strong seedlings. Seedlings with a strong root system, strong immunity and a strong stem tolerate transplantation better, adapt more quickly to new conditions, get sick less often and produce greater yield.
Soil requirements for seedlings
Purchased soil mixtures do not always meet the stated quality, so it is better to prepare the soil composition for seedlings on your own. Even ready-made soil is required to be pre-processed to exclude the presence of viruses, pests, and diseases in it.
For growing healthy and durable seedlings, the soil must have the following properties:
- fertility. In the soil composition there should be a high content of humus, micro- and macroelements necessary for sowing sprouts, active growth of the stem, development of the roots;
- loose light structure. The earth should absorb water well, be aerated, not form dense crusts, not create obstacles to the development of root branches;
- optimum acidity. Acid dispersion should be close to the neutral value - in the range of 6.5 to 7.0. Depending on the preferences of different types of crops, the acidity can be adjusted;
- rich microbiological flora. In the soil, there must be microorganisms that will improve the quality of the earth, create an optimal microclimate, recycle the components of the substrate in the course of their livelihoods.
In the soil mix for the breeding ground there should be no pathogens, fungal spores, actively decomposing organic matter, toxic compounds, heavy metals, household garbage, high content of clay particles.
How to prepare the land for seedlings
To prepare the soil substrate for planting seed, make a nutrient, earthy, fertile mixture yourself. Enrich the usual soil with overheated organic matter, loosening components, adjust the acidity.
To obtain a soil mixture for home growing seedlings, prepare:
- ordinary land. Use the purchase of soil or take the substrate from the garden, dig up the soddy soil away from highways, landfills, urban infrastructure. Remove from the roots of weeds and other crops;
- humus or rotted compost. In the summer season, organize a compost pit or a box where you store fallen leaves, sawdust, hay, manure or droppings, tops, and cleaning. Cover organic matter with polyethylene or roofing felt to accelerate the decomposition process and shed plenty of warm water every week. By spring, you will receive a nutritional organic fertilizer containing a large amount of macro- and microelements in a form that is accessible to crops
- peat mixture Choose high peat or finished material of neutral acidity.Peat additive make the soil mixture loose, porous, airy, well-retaining moisture;
- wood ash. Use the ash powder after stoking the furnaces. Remove from the coals and foreign elements. Do not use ash after burning household garbage, chipboard, lacquered wood;
- shell of eggs. During the winter, collect the egg shells, dry them and crush into powder. The additive will enrich the seedling substrate with calcium;
- lime or crushed chalk to reduce acidity. After mixing the components, analyze the pH of the substrate with a household appliance or indicator strips. Depending on the preferences of the crops that you plan to sow, adjust the acidity of the land for the breeding ground;
- fine-grained artificial river sand. Dial non-metallic bulk material from the autumn on the river beach, sift it, wash it to remove the clay. The inclusion of a sand additive in the soil of the breeding ground will improve loosening and will contribute to the full development of skeletal parts of crops.
| Components of the substrate for the breeding ground | Garden land or turf, parts | Humus or rotted manure, parts | Peat mixture, parts | River sand, parts | Wood ash, glasses per 10 liters of seedling soil | Lime, glasses on 10 liters of seedling soil |
|
Tomatoes, cabbage of all kinds, eggplants, peppers |
3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 cup |
|
Onions, greens (celery, parsley) |
2 | 1 | 0,25 | 1 | 1 | 1/3 |
|
Pumpkin, cucumbers, zucchini |
1 | 1 | 0,5 | 0,2 | 1 | 1/2 |
|
Beet |
1 | 1 | 2 | 0,5 | 1 | 1 cup |
After mixing all the components of the seedlings, analyze the acid index of the resulting mixture and, if necessary, correct it. Optimum acidity of the substrate is an important condition for obtaining healthy and strong seedlings.
To improve the soil mixture, you can use ready-made additives for breeding grounds - vermiculite, perlite, hydrogels, ammonium nitrate, potassium sulfate, urea. Additional components contain a high amount of magnesium, iron, selenium, nitrogen, the main macronutrients, contribute to the retention of moisture in the substrate, improve the quality of the soil. Knead for every 10 liters to 1 tbsp. l auxiliary formulations.
How to treat the soil mixture under the seedlings and make sowing
To exclude the spores of fungi, viruses, parasites, negative microflora in the seedling substrate, before planting the garden soil or turf must be pre-treated. Before mixing all the necessary components of the soil for the breeding ground, select one of the methods for disinfecting the main component:
- steaming. Place the sod or vegetable garden in a 2/3 colander, place it for 10 minutes over boiling water and steam with constant stirring. After complete cooling, use the mixture for cooking seedlings;
- freezing. Place the soil mixture in a plastic or linen bag and clean it for 1 day to a place where the temperature regime is in the range of -15 to -20 degrees (in the freezer, on the veranda, balcony in the winter or on the street). Fill the frozen substrate for 3 days to thaw and again put in conditions of negative temperatures for 1 day. Just spend at least 3 cycles;
- calcination. Thermal heating of the soil to 90 degrees destroys all pathogenic flora in the soil. Place on the baking sheet the soil no more than 5 cm thick and remove the container in the heated oven for half an hour. Cool the substrate in natural conditions and proceed to the crops;
- dressing Substrate from a dacha or excavated soil from a forest belt should be poured abundantly with an aqueous solution with the addition of potassium permanganate. Achieve pink fluid staining. Use the component after the complete drying of the soil mixture.
For the control of pests and immunity of seedlings with diseases, the treatment of soil composition with fungicides is effective. The experienced “Maxim”, “Fitosporin”, “Vitaros” brands recommended themselves among summer residents with experience. Sow with prepared seed.This will increase the germination of seedlings and provoke active growth of seedlings. Before embedding in seedlings, soak the seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, remove the seeds for a day in the fridge, then put them to germinate wrapped in a damp cloth in a warm place for 5-6 days.
Land preparation for sowing is an important stage of crop production. Seed material should not be planted in clean humus or rotted compost. Plants in a rich nutrient medium do not develop a strong root system. It is necessary to prepare the soil for seedlings in advance in order to grow healthy, disease-resistant seedlings with branched roots that can adapt to new conditions after transplantation in a short time, actively grow, develop and give a rich harvest.
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