Beet seedlings - subtlety tips and secrets, pros and cons
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WHY PLANT BEET SEEDLINGS?
Let the sowing of beets for seedlings not seem to the gardeners an excess, an excess!
This incredibly healthy root vegetable is definitely worth the trouble. Moreover, interesting unusual chores are more than paid off by the most unexpected dividends-acquisitions.
BEET SEEDLINGS HAVE MANY BENEFITS, AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE MINUS
The MAIN PLUS of the seedling method of sowing beets is getting the harvest earlier than usual, which is important for the middle lane and to the north. Here they sow not earlier than April, so as not to keep the seedlings longer than 1 months.
It turns out a run in time. Reception allows you to bring the harvest closer to 20-30 days. For table beets, this is even more important than for other plants - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. Because seedlings The germination rate of beet seeds depends on the air temperature. If it is 5 ° outside, shoots are waiting for about 20 days, at 10 ° sprouts will appear in about 10 days, and at home at 22 ° - after 4-5. you can sow mid-season (110-130 days from germination) and late varieties (145 days), which are tastier, healthier and lie longer. And the root crops of early varieties (80 days) in full readiness are generally harvested in mid-June, and not September.
SECOND PLUS OF BEET THROUGH SEEDLINGS - seedlings increase the quality and taste of future root crops. After all, the seedling can be seen in advance what a particular plant is capable of in the future, whether it will give a good root crop. Doubtful seedlings before planting can be discarded at an early stage of development - in the phase of cotyledons or even a few true leaves. And such a sample is much more accurate than the evaluation of seeds. In the future, you will not have to spend energy and money on plants of "average scall".
The THIRD ADVANTAGE is that the seedling method facilitates the care of beets, as it eliminates thinning. And this is the most dreary event, which, moreover, adversely affects the remaining shoot, weakening it. Indeed, when sowing beets immediately into the ground, seedlings are inevitably thickened, its seed-balls give out 2-5 shoots, which then interfere with each other.
There are few single-growth varieties, but they often shoot a couple of seedlings. In addition, they are still inferior in various parameters to traditional beets. But with the seedling method, the process ceases to be so inconvenient and time-consuming. Thinning is carried out on the knee, in a comfortable position, dividing the seedlings into suitable and not too. Nothing prevents you from doing it carefully, for the sake of excellent survival without damaging the roots.
If late beets are sown in open ground too early, its root crops are tough and tasteless by autumn.
But grown through seedlings do not have such unpleasant properties.
THE FOURTH POSITIVE MOMENT OF BEET SEEDLING is the creation of rows of aligned plants in one bed. Identical seedlings are planted in the soil strictly according to the scheme, and they grow together. Whereas when sowing seedlings immediately into open ground, voids are often formed where shoots did not appear.
Seeds of table multi-sprout beets have a germination rate of 50-80%, and single-sprout - 50-60%. But this is under ideal conditions. In practice, this figure may be even lower.
Therefore, the beet plantation is initially ugly - islands of thickened plants alternate with bald spots. We have to move the seedlings, digging them up and creating stress for the settlers and the lucky ones who remained in place.
AND THE FIFTH ADVANTAGE OF THE METHOD OF GROWING BEET THROUGH SEEDLING - the ability to plant seedlings not only on one bed, but also in different, most preferred areas of the garden. Beets are very photophilous, so they grow best along the edges of “alien” beds - lettuce, tomato or onion.
See also: Rules for growing beets - the technology of sowing, care and harvesting
MANY SPRINGS, NOT ONE POT
It will seem to someone that there is still a minus in sowing seedlings of a cold-resistant and unpretentious crop - you need additional space on the window, which many gardeners do not have. However, there is a great way out!
To obtain healthy seedlings of beets, the most successful, most compact way is growing in snails, or more precisely, in rolls.
The technique has long been known and tried, which gives a wonderful result if used correctly.
For the base, they take a substrate under the laminate - non-foil polyethylene foam (isolon) or polypropylene foam 2 mm thick. A roll in building materials stores is not too expensive. It is durable, holds its shape well and retains heat well. Plants in it feel great right up to landing in the ground.
A strip 15 cm wide is cut from the roll - this is the optimal height of the snail. Several layers of folded paper towels are placed on it. The paper layer is distributed so that there is a 5 mm allowance on one edge, and on the other hand, an indent. It is along this edge that the seedlings are laid out in one row, stepping back from the top by another 3-4 cm. The distance between them is 3-4 cm. Then the entire paper layer and seeds are moistened with water with any growth stimulant.
A strip of toilet paper is placed on the seeds so that they do not accidentally move, they are sprinkled again, the snail is twisted and secured with a rubber band or tape, otherwise it may turn around. They put the structure in a tray with a weak solution of the stimulant with the end from which the paper peeks out. Through it, like a wick, irrigation water will rise up to the seeds. From above, to preserve moisture, put on a plastic bag or a shoe cover with an elastic band.
After the emergence of seedlings, the snail is unrolled, unsprouted seeds are removed, and loose nutrient soil with perlite is poured over the entire surface to the brim with an even layer 4 cm thick. They are compacted by hand or with a special roller, moistened with a spray bottle, twisted and sprayed again from above.
While the plants are small, they are moistened like that, when they grow to real leaves, water is poured into the pan. The "bed" should be moderately moistened all the time.
However, you can do without the paper stage. A strip of polypropylene foam is completely covered with soil with a layer of 4 cm, generously moistened, twisted into a cochlea, placed vertically in a pallet, pre-soaked seedlings are laid out, taking into account the interval, deepened by 3-4 cm with a pencil, sprinkled with soil on top and moisten.
The snail takes up little space, requires less substrate, it is more convenient to water it from below than peat pots, which quickly deform in water.
BEET VARIETIES FOR GROWING THROUGH SEEDLINGS
For seedling sowing, it is better to choose beets with a rounded root crop, there are more such varieties than cylindrical ones. They keep their shape better and require a less high layer of fertilized loose soil in the garden.
Since beets are much less cold-hardy than, say, carrots or celery and parsnips, it is worth choosing varieties that are adapted to a particular region. In Siberia and the Urals, Red Ice (100 days, 200-300 g), F Vodan (95 days, up to 500 g), Cold-resistant (102 days, up to 270 g), Siberian flat (62-90 days, up to 350 g) are grown. ), in the Central region - Mulatto (125 days, up to 350 g), Bordeaux 237 (110 days, up to 510 g), Incomparable A-463 (70-100 days, up to 400 g), Furor (single-growth, 70-90 days , 150-300 g). For the south, any variety will do.
Reference by topic: Beetroot (not to thin)
BEET SEEDLINGS - VIDEO
© Author: G. OVSEEVA Moscow Region
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