Proper feeding of tomato seedlings at home

Bright and radiant tomatoes, perhaps, grow in every summer cottage. And many people dream of growing as many ripe and large tomatoes as possible in a confined space. And in order to do this, young tomatoes need additional feeding, which, moreover, can be found in their home, namely, made from various “improvised” means available at the dacha. And the first feeding of tomato seedlings should not be delayed.

What is it for

Top dressing is needed for tomatoes so that they develop correctly, and the seedlings are healthy and strong. It is no secret that good seedlings can only be grown in fertile soil, but other soil characteristics are often important, namely, the soil must have a good structure, crumble in the hands, absorb moisture perfectly, all this is necessary so that the roots of tomatoes are timely obtained as nutrients as well as air and water. Every day, young tomatoes need more and more nutrients, so you can hardly do without feeding. If the soil is poor, then they begin to feed after the first two leaves appear on the seedlings. If the land is richer, then the first top dressing can be done after the pick after 2 weeks.

Determine what the seedlings are missing

In order to determine the deficiency of various nutrients in young seedlings, it is enough to look at them and carefully study the plants. If the seedlings do not have enough iron, then usually the leaves of tomatoes begin to turn yellow, and the veins become brighter. This indicates the beginning of the development of chlorosis. In the case when the leaves of tomatoes turn bright purple, most likely, the seedlings lack phosphorus. If the leaves begin to fall off and turn very yellow, then, most likely, the seedlings lack nitrogen. But remember that with an excess of moisture, the leaves of tomatoes can also fall off. Therefore, before applying certain fertilizers, one should carefully analyze the conditions for keeping plants, and then draw conclusions.

Top dressing of tomato seedlings at home

Before you feed your plants, you need to make sure they need it. The fact is that an overabundance of nutrients also badly affects the development of seedlings, so it's bad to either underfeed or not overfeed. For feeding tomatoes, you can use ready-made commercial formulations such as Krepysh, Ideal, Solution and others. Give preference to liquid fertilizers, as they are very easy to use and do not need to fiddle with the cultivation of dry fertilizers. Remember that fertilizers are mainly used for adult plants, so the concentration of seedlings should be halved. In order to feed the seedlings with this solution, you first need to loosen the top layer of the soil, so the fertilizing will penetrate into the deep layers of the earth. This means that it will reach the root system of the tomato.

Top dressing of tomato seedlings: folk remedies

Tomatoes can be fed completely and with folk remedies, which are becoming more and more popular with summer residents every day. Gardeners often feed the seedlings with yeast, which enriches the soil and improves its structure. In order to prepare a yeast feed, you need to take ten grams of yeast, a couple of tablespoons of sugar and dilute it all in ten liters of water.After that, the solution should stand and ferment, then you can take one part of the resulting mixture, dilute it with ten parts of water and feed the seedlings.

Gardeners often feed tomatoes with concentrated iodine. Tomato leaves are sprayed with this substance for powdery mildew and late blight disease. In order to prepare this top dressing, you need to drip 10 drops of iodine into a bucket of water and water it. Ash is excellent at reducing acidity. In addition, it is an environmentally friendly fertilizer. Usually, one spoonful of ash is diluted in 2 liters of water and left for 24 hours, after which the seedlings are watered with this solution. Many people use hydrogen peroxide to protect tomatoes from many diseases and pests. This substance stimulates plant growth and also enriches the earth with nutrients. Usually half a tablespoon of peroxide is diluted in a liter of water and watered the plant. The second feeding (if necessary) is carried out again after 10 or 14 days. The last time the seedlings can be fed a few days before transplanting to their permanent habitat.

Pale and thin tomatoes

If the seedlings are very weak, thin and pale, then many gardeners are in no hurry to plant them in open ground, as they believe that nothing good will come of them. However, if you decrease watering, increase lighting, and lower temperatures, the seedlings will be healthy and robust again. Pulling seedlings is also prevented by the resounding name "Athlete". You can also use mineral fertilizers, which contain many trace elements, This will help the seedlings take root well after picking.

No time to feed

How to determine the time when it is no longer necessary to feed the culture? It's simple. If the soil where you transplanted the seedlings has a good structure, the nutrients are contained in it in large quantities, then you should not feed the seedlings, and you should only change the conditions of its maintenance, namely, the order of watering, the level of illumination, care of the top layer of the soil , temperature regime. This is usually enough for the seedlings to become strong and healthy again. Feed your plants right and enjoy your harvest!