If the seedlings are stretched out ... What to do ??
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HOW TO STRENGTHEN THE STRETCHED SEEDLING
Who is not familiar with this annoying phenomenon - the seedlings are stretched out!
At the dawn of my gardening, I made mistakes - with lighting, containers, feeding, temperature, and as a result I got thin, weak seedlings with drooping leaves. Later it turned out to cope with this problem.
And now, at the time of the mass cultivation of seedlings, I will share the secrets of what kind of help is needed for "naughty" young growth on the example of tomatoes.
Cut off the top of the seedlings
If the stems in the cups are very elongated, I cut each into 2 unequal parts (at the level of the 3-4th true leaf).
I put the upper segments in jars of water for rooting, and after 5-8 days, the roots grow a little more than 1 cm. This means that these segments are ready for planting.
I dive them in a container with a nutrient substrate and water it with a solution of phosphorite nitrophosphate (50 g per 10 liters of warm water), which tomatoes love very much. I throw a handful of wood ash there, and slightly loosen the soil.
In the future, these cuttings behave like ordinary seedlings. I form medium-sized tomatoes into one or two stems.
We continue to cut
And what happens to the remainder of the elongated seedling stem? For the same 5-8 days, new shoots appear from the sinuses of the 4 lower leaves - stepchildren. I wait for them to grow up to 5 cm, and arm myself again: I remove the 2 lower stepsons, leaving a hemp of about 1 cm.
I plant these shoots in a large box with a substrate, and in a special way - lying down. I make grooves in the box at a distance of about 50 cm from each other, in each I put two-thirds of the stem, be sure to tear off the leaves.
It is necessary to lay from south to north, so that, growing up, the shoots reach the sun and gradually straighten. I fill the furrows with soil (layer -10 cm). The dug-in section of the stem forms the root system, which allows the plant to grow normally.
Note
Reception with removal and rooting of stepchildren is permissible for all varieties, except for determinant ones.
If the stem is not much longer, I transplant the plant at an angle, for which I dig a shallow long furrow.
I place the stem obliquely (about 45 degrees) to a large, well-developed leaf and cover it tightly with soil. With this planting option, the dug-in stem forms additional roots, which makes the variety more productive.
HOW TO AVOID STRETCHING SEEDLING TIPS AND FEEDBACK FROM GARDENERS
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO THE PLANTS DO NOT STRETCH BEFORE THE PICKING?
Many summer residents, especially beginners, will immediately answer that the main thing is generous lighting. I agree with this, but you cannot rely only on lamps. Otherwise, you will definitely be left without seedlings (well, or at least you will lose half of the plants). I believe that early hardening of seedlings can also help from stretching. Are you surprised? I'll explain everything now. I sow seeds on March 18-20 by varieties in small plastic jars. I cover them with cellophane and put them in a warm place. Immediately after the emergence of shoots, I transfer the container to the windowsill. And when the loops of the seedlings straighten and the first leaves (sepals) open on them, in the evening I put the jars of seedlings in the refrigerator for the whole night - on the middle and lower shelves. In the morning I take it out and return it to the windowsill. I carry out this operation four times (I think more can be done). And then the tomatoes grow to a point on the windowsill.
Thanks to this hardening, the stems of the seedlings become elastic, plump, and the roots grow back with good lobes, strong (i.e. they become lush, not long). Therefore, after the pick, the plants take root well.
Once I didn't have enough plastic jars, and I put the tomatoes in metal, from under canned fish. And in the morning I saw that all the plants wilted. I thought they would disappear, but after I watered them well, they came to life and then grew beautifully. Maybe my way of hardening will seem strange, but I think if you try, you will not regret it. I have been doing this for over 20 years - and I have already forgotten about the problem of pulling seedlings. By the way, after picking, I take out the seedlings immediately to the glazed loggia. At first I keep it there only during the day, and after a week I leave the plants for the night. If it's really cool, then cover the seedlings with newspapers. And already on May 9 or 10, I transplant it into the ground under the shelter. Good health and rich harvests to all gardeners!
© Author: Tatiana. Omsk
THAT SEEDLING DOES NOT STRETCH AND IF IT STRETCHES - HOW TO HELP?
Outside the window, it is only the beginning of April, and my tomatoes have already begun to stretch. I'm afraid to imagine what will happen to them by the time they are transplanted to the garden. Can you please tell me how to restrain the growth of seedlings?
Antonina Ivanova, Soligorsk
- Seedlings can be pulled out due to poor-quality soil, lack of light, sowing seeds too early, high temperature. And if there is no way to transplant it to a garden bed or to plant it in other containers, you can resort to the help of one of the growth regulators - Atlet, Stoprost, Chunky.
- After processing by the Athlete, the seedlings cease to stretch upward, the root system begins to develop more actively, the stem thickens. Before use, dilute 1 ampoule of the drug in 1 liter of melt or rain water. If the cabbage is pulled out, pour 1-1 tablespoons at the root. solution three times with an interval of 5 days. If peppers or eggplants are pulled out, water the seedlings with a solution of 3 ml for each plant. Repeat after 50 days. The elongated tomatoes will have to be treated by the Athlete four times: the first time spray the plants with a weak solution (2 ampoule per 1 liters of water), then three more times with an interval of 10-3 days - with a more concentrated composition (4 ampoule per 1 liters of water). The drug is safe, but it must be stopped 5-5 days before planting in the ground.
- Stoprost has the same properties as the Athlete. Dissolve 5 g of powder in 2 liters of water. This solution is sufficient for watering any seedlings. Treat three times at intervals of 5 days.
- Chunky also helps to slow down stretching and make the seedlings grow in breadth. Dilute 8 drops of the drug in 2 liters of water. Water the plants 4-5 times at intervals of 4-5 days.
© Author: Nikolay KHROMOV, Cand. agricultural sciences
See also: So that the seedlings do not stretch and overgrow (Altai Krai)
STRETCHED SEEDLING - VIDEO
© Author: Victor Naumovich RUSSIAN, Minsk
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IF THE SEEDLING HAS BLOWED
Sometimes gardeners do not know what to do correctly if seedlings of sweet peppers or tomatoes bloom even before transplanting them into open ground. This also happened to me if the air temperature in the room is too high, frequent watering is carried out, or a large amount of fertilizer is added to the soil.
First of all, I removed all the flowers that appeared on the sweet pepper seedlings. The thing is
trunk cleaning.
The fact is that if this is not done, then after transplanting into open ground the plants may not bloom at all or produce a much smaller number of ovaries, and sometimes even die.
Secondly, I lowered the room temperature to 20 degrees.
Thirdly, I reduced watering to twice a week.
Fourthly, I removed the seedlings from the sunny windowsills.
Fifthly, I stopped applying fertilizers before transplanting into open ground.
As a result, my sweet pepper seedlings successfully underwent transplantation and subsequently produced a good harvest. I advise you not to panic and take timely measures if you suddenly make mistakes during cultivation.