Zucchini seedlings - from sowing to planting in the ground

In order for the germination rate to increase, and the zucchini seedlings to be strong and uniform, you need to organize everything correctly. There are several ways to prepare our seeds:

How to properly prepare zucchini seeds for seedlings

Seedlings of zucchini for planting in the open field: photo

• The seeds can be heated for 5 hours, the temperature should be more than +50 degrees.
• You can warm the seeds in the sun, but this will take about 7 hours
• Or soak them in a warm solution containing nutrients, or in water
• Placing our seeds in a well-moistened cotton cloth for three days is an obligatory criterion - the temperature of the environment is above + 22 degrees. It is important not to allow the fabric to dry out.

The most popular method is direct soaking in warm water.

If you are going to sow your zucchini seedlings in the ground in early spring, you need to take care of hardening the seeds. To do this, packets with our seeds can be put in the refrigerator for three days. For the best effect, you can alternate the temperatures. This is achieved by changing the location of the seeds - 10 hours at ambient temperature, 14 hours in the refrigerator.

How to properly sow seeds in open ground

The time for sowing seeds directly into the ground is very similar to the time for sowing cucumbers. The main thing is that there are no threats of frost. The soil temperature should be around 12 degrees deep, 10 centimeters. The safest is to sow seeds "under the film" to create a greenhouse effect.

Sowing is carried out according to the scheme:

• 1 planting seeds
• 4 days break
• a second disembarkation at the same interval, and then a third.

This scheme will protect you in case of accidental spring frosts, as well as allow you to harvest longer.

Sowing rules

The depth of the furrow for sowing zucchini should be in the region of 5 cm. 2-3 seeds are placed in each created dimple. Importantly, before planting, you need to pour warm water into the dimples. We cover the top with earth and cover with foil. It is very important to keep the distance between the holes correctly. It should be at least half a meter, and preferably 70 cm. Varieties that are large in height are planted at a distance of 90 cm - 1 meter.

As soon as your zucchini begins to grow, you need to make a hole in the film in order to release the sprouts into fresh air. You can make holes in the film in advance. As soon as the first leaves appear on your first shoot, one plant is selected in our hole, which in appearance seems to be the strongest, and the rest of the seedlings are removed.

How to grow seedlings of zucchini from seeds

Seedlings of zucchini for planting in the open field: photo

In order to get the first fruits as early as possible, you need to plant zucchini seedlings in open ground in advance, at the beginning of spring. It can be grown both in an apartment on a windowsill and in a specially equipped greenhouse. Sowing begins at the end of April. In May, the zucchini is comfortable in the ground, and from the 15th of April, the zucchini is liked in the greenhouse.

Zucchini seedlings are planted in a container that does not have a bottom, which is already filled with a substrate.

Soil composition:

• Peat
• Humus
• Sawdust

These components are taken in a ratio of 5: 4: 1. Ash and ammonium nitrate are added to 10 liters of such a mixture, in the amount of 5 grams. All this is mixed, then the cups are filled. The seeds are placed in glasses to a depth of four centimeters.

Seedling zucchini at home

Temperature regime

To grow seedlings at home, it is very important to observe the temperature regime. As soon as you placed the seeds in the ground, the temperature should be around +25 degrees Celsius, as soon as the first leaves appeared from the ground, the temperature at night should not be lower than + 15, and during the day it should reach +20 degrees. It is very important to maintain such numbers throughout the entire growth period, before planting in the ground.

If the temperature is higher than we wrote, this can lead to dehydration of the plant, the seedlings of zucchini will be sluggish. And as a consequence, to the worst growth and violation of stability.

Watering

Watering is carried out only with warm water, the temperature of which is above +25 degrees. Repeat the watering procedure every 5 days, as the earth dries up in the cups.

Top dressing

During the growth of seedlings, be sure to feed the plant. For the first feeding, use a solution of urea with water. 7 days after the first feeding, do the second. This requires dissolving 5 grams of nitrophoska in 1000 ml of water. Before feeding, you need to water the holes with warm water.

Planting zucchini seedlings in open ground

When our young seedlings have 2-3 leaves, this is a signal that it is time to plant our young in the ground. To do this, we cut the glass and take out the young zucchini together with the earth, then immerse it in a previously prepared hole, press our plant with soil. Zucchini seedlings are immersed to a depth of two centimeters, not lower.

In case you planted young zucchini not in a greenhouse, but under direct sun, you need to cover the seedlings with foil, make cuts according to the size of our cups.

Pay attention to the weather forecast - if repeated spring frosts are promised, then it is necessary to put metal arcs and stretch the polycarbonate film, thus creating a greenhouse effect. If you have a plastic greenhouse, you can plant the zucchini two weeks earlier.

If you want to enjoy young zucchini for as long as possible, you need to combine seed sowing with seedlings.

Seedlings of zucchini: photo