Preparing the soil for tomato seedlings at home with your own hands: how to process

Treatment of the soil with copper sulphate in the spring for tomatoes is carried out by many vegetable growers before planting seedlings. This is done so that the young seedlings are better accepted and grow faster. Sometimes plants are planted in soil that was bought in a store. However, it is not always of high quality and people increasingly decide to prepare the ground with their own hands.

This method is more reliable, since a person independently brings all the necessary elements into the ground. Therefore, before planting tomatoes, you need to familiarize yourself with how to prepare the soil for seedlings.

Ground requirements

In order for tomato seedlings grown at home to bear fruit well, it is necessary to use special soil for planting seedlings. When preparing the soil for sowing tomatoes, it is necessary to add to it all the necessary nutrients that plants need for normal growth and further development. The soil for tomato seedlings must meet a number of special requirements:

• the soil for planting seeds and seedlings should contain the optimal amount of nutrients, it should contain not only organic matter, but also other useful macronutrients;
• in terms of its structure, the soil should be loose so that young bushes can easily access air;
• acidity level should not be too high - the optimal value is 6-7 pH;
• land for tomato seedlings should not contain fungal spores and painful microbes that can kill tomato bushes;
• high-quality soil should not contain industrial waste and heavy metals.

Soil components

Before you cultivate the land, you need to know what components it should consist of. There is a standard set of elements that must be used during the preparation of soil for tomato seedlings. Various mineral and organic elements are added to it.

Peat

This component must be part of the soil for tomato seedlings. It makes the soil looser, which allows it to better absorb and retain moisture. Peat has a rather acidic environment, so dolomite flour, chalk and deoxidizers are often added to it. It also needs to be screened as it may contain large fibers.

Peat has excellent absorption capacity, so it is often used in greenhouses where the humidity is highest. It constantly absorbs excess moisture and retains it in its pores.

The use of peat in the greenhouse reduces the number of disease-causing elements. This property is very important in indoor conditions.

Preparing the soil for tomatoes with peat has a number of advantages:

• cultivated land becomes lighter and begins to better pass water and air;
• this fertilizer is the best nutrient for depleted and poor sandy or loamy soils;
• peat is a natural antiseptic, with which you can get rid of harmful fungi and bacteria in the soil;
• it can be used to increase the acidity of the earth.

Leafy soil

Such soil preparation is carried out in autumn. The leaves are used to make the ground lighter and looser before planting. They do not contain a large amount of nutrients, but they are still used very often.

The leaves that have fallen in autumn are used as the basis for such land. At the same time, they can not be collected from all trees. For example, oak leaves cannot be used to prepare the soil for seedlings of tomatoes, as they contain a large amount of tannins. It is also better to refuse maple and pine leaves.

Birch or linden leaves are considered the most suitable choice. First, they are laid in several layers and sprinkled with fertile soil.

Sometimes freshly cut grass is placed between layers. Leaf land is being prepared for quite a long time - several years. Throughout this time, the layers of leaves must be mixed several times. If necessary, garden soil, urea and fresh manure can be added to them.

Sand

Most often it is used to loosen the soil for sowing. The best choice for this would be pure river sand without clay impurities.

Preparing the soil for tomatoes with sand allows:

1. Improve drainage. Quite often, it is added to a site with loamy and clayey soil, which has low air permeability and a dense structure. The use of sand makes the soil structure looser.
2. Keep warm. Earth mixed with sand warms up much better during the day and cools down more slowly at night. This allows the tomato bushes to develop faster.
3. Keep moisture. The liquid is retained in the soil even on hot summer days. This allows the tomatoes to develop even without regular watering.

Before preparing the soil for seedlings, the sand is disinfected. It must be rinsed with water and heated using a gas stove or oven.

Perlite

Spring soil preparation for planting tomatoes with perlite is carried out so that the earth absorbs more moisture.It has a reflective property that promotes the development of young bushes. Perlite is applied to the top layer of soil under seedlings so that it reflects ultraviolet rays and prevents the soil from overheating under the sun. The main benefits of perlite include:

• this material does not contain microorganisms and is completely clean;
• its use helps strengthen the weak root system of tomatoes;
• perlite does not cake and provides good breathability;
• has excellent thermal insulation properties that prevent plant roots from overheating or overcooling.

Must

Humus is applied in autumn under tomatoes. It is recommended to add only overripe humus to the soil for tomato seedlings. If you constantly use fresh, it can lead to the death of tomato seeds and their seedlings.

Quite often, slurry is used to create planting soil. For its preparation, manure is mixed with several liters of water and poured onto seedlings and soil after watering.

Invalid Components

Not all components can be added to the ground for seedlings during the preparation of the soil mixture at home. There are restrictions you should be aware of:

1. Organic fertilizers that are in the process of breaking down can harm the growth of seedlings. They emit a lot of heat, which gradually destroys the seeds and seedlings of tomatoes.
2. It is not recommended to add earth or sand with clay to the soil for tomato seedlings. It makes the soil more dense and heavy, which greatly complicates the flow of air and moisture.
3. Do not add soil collected near busy highways to the soil mixture. It contains heavy metals that adversely affect plant he alth.

Decontamination

Preparation of land for seedlings begins with its disinfection, during which all larvae and bacteria are removed from the soil. This procedure is carried out to prevent the death of bushes and obtain a good harvest.

You can disinfect the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate. It is prepared from several grams of the substance mixed in a bucket of water. After that, the soil should be sprayed with the resulting mixture. In addition to potassium permanganate, you can use the steaming method.

To do this, pour 2-3 liters of hot water into the pan. Then a clean cloth is attached to the top of the container, into which the earth should be poured. A pot of water and soil is placed on a slow fire and boiled for 40 minutes. Under the influence of high temperature, all pathogens will die.

It is also recommended to check the acidity level of the soil in advance. There are several ways to do this:

• use the services of a special laboratory and take tests in it;
• use litmus paper for testing;
• plant wild herbs on the plot that do not grow in soil with high acidity.

If the acidity is too high, then I cultivate the land with lime or dolomite flour. About 20 grams of the substance is consumed per kilogram of soil mass.

Creating potting mix

After preparing all the necessary components, you can start mixing the seed soil. It is not recommended to do this immediately before sowing seeds. Soil preparation is carried out a few days before planting, so that the earth can sit well and does not form voids after watering. There are several ways to prepare the soil for seedlings.

First way

During potting mix - this is the most commonly used recipe.The same amount of humus, sand, leaf soil and copper sulfate is added to a part of the soddy land. All components are thoroughly mixed and added to a mixture consisting of 15 liters of water, 30 grams of sulfate, 40 grams of superphosphate and 15 grams of urea. The resulting solution is poured into the soil in which the seeds will be sown.

Second way

Soddy land is mixed with the same amount of sand and peat. If there is no peat, then purchased prepared soil can be added instead. If necessary, you can add a liter jar of wood ash and three tablespoons of superphosphate to the mixture.

Third way

Preparing a solution of two parts of sod land, part of the bottom sand and humus. Then half a liter of wood ash is added to the resulting mixture. The prepared mixture is applied under the tomatoes in the spring.

Conclusion

Not all people know how to properly prepare the land for planting tomato seedlings. To understand this, you need to familiarize yourself with what components the soil mixture consists of and in what ways it can be prepared.

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