Preparation of soil for seedlings: the optimal composition and how to create at home with your own hands

Seedlings for growing vegetable crops can be purchased on the market, but some gardeners prefer their own grown plants. The main requirement for obtaining high-quality seedlings is the correct preparation of the soil for growing seedlings. Otherwise, the seedlings grow weak, often get sick after transplanting into open ground, and it will not be possible to harvest a rich harvest from such plants.

Components that improve soil quality

When it's time to sow seeds for seedlings, some home gardeners go to gardening stores and purchase ready-made soil or take soil from the garden.

Both options do not guarantee strong and he althy seedlings. Nutrient components, both organic and mineral, must be added to the soil for sowing material.

Organic

The soil for sowing seeds is improved with the following components:

• rotted leaf litter of any trees;
• turf soil;
• peat;
• sphagnum moss;
• humus;
• wood ash;
• dried and pounded fresh egg shells;
• sunflower husk.

Inorganic

The quality of the soil mixture for growing seedlings is also improved with the help of:

1. Perlite - this environmentally friendly material is added to increase air permeability and friability of the soil. Thanks to this component, the formation of a crust on the surface of the earth is prevented and optimal soil moisture is maintained.
2. River sand (pre-washed), which promotes the formation of the skeletal parts of crops, and also loosens the soil.
3. Vermiculite is also breathable and contains trace amounts of magnesium, potassium and calcium.

If the soil is infertile, a number of mineral fertilizers are added to it - superphosphate, potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, lime.

Different variations for individual species

Before you start preparing the soil for sowing seeds, you should familiarize yourself with examples of soil mixture compositions for different crops.

Eggplant

To prepare the soil for sowing eggplant seeds, use one of these options:

1. Take a bucket of earth from the area where cabbage was previously grown, and add to it a tablespoon of crushed superphosphate fertilizer granules, half a glass of wood ash, a teaspoon of potassium sulfate and the same amount of urea, mix thoroughly.
2. To 2 parts of compost humus add 0.5 parts of rotted sawdust and 1 part of peat.

Which recipe is preferred depends on the gardener's availability of the necessary ingredients.

Cabbage

The composition of the soil for growing cabbage seedlings is as follows:

1. For 5 parts of sod land, ¼ of washed river sand and lime and 1 part of wood ash are added.
2. The following components are mixed in equal proportions - peat, humus and sod land.
3. For 3 liters of peat add 400 ml of river sand and 1 liter of sod land harvested in autumn.

cabbage in the garden

Cucumbers

To make a soil mixture for sowing seeds of cucumbers with your own hands, take half a bucket of humus and soddy soil, add 20 grams of crushed superphosphate granules, a glass of wood ash and 10 grams of potassium sulfate, mix everything thoroughly.

There is another recipe for preparing soil for cucumbers, according to which peat, soddy soil, rotted sawdust and humus are mixed in equal proportions.

Pepper

For those gardeners who independently grow bell pepper seedlings at home, the following soil mix options are suitable:

1. For 4 kg of peat add 1 kg of humus, 2 kg of soddy soil and 1 kg of rotted sawdust.
2. Mix 2 parts of manure humus with 1 part of sod land.
3. In equal proportions mix humus and peat.

Tomato

The soil proportions for growing tomato seedlings are as follows:

1. Peat, humus, rotted sawdust and soddy soil are mixed in equal parts. A tablespoon of potassium sulfate, one and a half glasses of wood ash, a teaspoon of urea and 3 tablespoons of crushed superphosphate granules are added to one bucket of such a mixture.
2. Use 4 parts of peat and add to them 0.5 parts of mullein and one each - sawdust and sod land. For 10 kg of this composition, 3 kg of washed river sand, 2 grams of superphosphate and potassium chloride and 10 grams of ammonium nitrate are added.

Instructions for preparing the soil mix

Since the soil taken from the garden or bought in the store may contain pathogens that are dangerous for crops, the soil must be prepared (disinfected) before sowing the seeds. There are several ways to do this.

Decontamination procedure

You can prepare soil for sowing seeds by disinfecting the earth with copper sulphate. This drug destroys pathogens of fungal diseases that often affect plants of the Solanaceae family. 100 grams of dry matter are dissolved in a small amount of hot water, after which cold water is added to a volume of 10 liters. Before spilling the soil, the solution is filtered. Also for these purposes, a drug such as Iprodion is used.

Freezing

The essence of this method of soil disinfection is the effect of low temperatures, as a result of which pathogens die. In order for the method to bring the expected effect, a temperature of 15 to 20 degrees below zero is required.

The procedure is carried out according to the following algorithm:

1. The prepared soil is placed in a linen bag or wrapped in a piece of cotton fabric.
2. If the weather is right outside, then leave the soil mixture on the balcony for 5 days, otherwise use the fridge freezer.
3. After time, soil is brought into the house and watered with a small amount of warm water.
4. After a week, the soil is again sent to the cold, but already kept for 7 days at low temperatures.
5. Repeat the procedure 3 times.

The disadvantage of this method is that in the absence of frost on the street, freezing in the refrigerator will turn out a small amount of soil mixture.

Steaming

Preparation of soil using this method is carried out according to the following instructions:

1. The pot is half filled with water and put on fire, waiting for it to boil.
2. As soon as the water begins to boil, reduce the heat a little and place a colander lined with a cloth on the pan.
3. Spread the earth on the fabric and hold it over the steam for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally so that the soil warms up evenly.

The only drawback of this method of disinfection is the specific smell of the earth, which appears when heated.

Ignition

The calcination procedure is carried out strictly according to the instructions, otherwise, along with pathogenic microorganisms, the beneficial bacteria necessary for the full development of seedlings will also die.

The disinfection procedure consists of the following steps:

1. Turn on the oven and heat it up to 80 degrees.
2. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the soil mixture on it; it is important that the layer is no more than 1.5 cm.
3. Use a sprayer to evenly moisten the soil.
4. Send the baking sheet to the prepared oven for half an hour.
5. After that, they take it out and let it cool to room temperature, then pour it into containers where it is planned to grow seedlings.

Etching

The use of fungicides is considered the fastest and easiest method that gardeners use to disinfect the soil for seedlings. Suitable chemicals such as Planriz, Fitosporin-M or Gliocladin. Prepare a working solution for watering the soil mixture, focusing on the instructions that are attached to each preparation by the manufacturer.

You can also make a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate and pour it over the ground before sowing the seed.

Decontamination

Since after the disinfection procedure by heat treatment, most of the beneficial bacteria also die, it is necessary to populate the soil with microflora, which is responsible for the development of seedlings.A few weeks before the start of sowing, the soil is watered with biofungicidal preparations, for example, Trichodermin received good reviews from gardeners.

Possible errors

Beginner gardeners make mistakes when preparing soil for seedlings that result in weak and diseased seedlings. The most common are the lack of soil disinfection and the wrong selection of the composition of the soil mixture.

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