When and how to correctly pick tomatoes, timing

Pickling of tomato seedlings is carried out in order to improve the condition of the root system, to slow down the growth of the plant. Tomatoes undergo this procedure after the appearance of 2 cotyledonous or 2 true leaves on their stalk. Picking is always stressful. This procedure cannot be postponed until later. At a young age, plants tolerate transplanting and root pinching more easily. Subsequently, transplanted tomatoes develop better and give a greater yield.

What is tomato picking: how it affects plants

Picking - transplanting young seedlings from one container to another using a peg. Tomatoes are transplanted two weeks after sowing the seeds. A plant that has grown to 5 centimeters should have 2 cotyledons or 2 true leaves. The seedling is carefully removed from the box along with a clod of earth, without touching the stem. The operation is performed with some kind of sharp object, for example, a toothpick. Thus, densely growing plants are thinned out. They are transferred to another, more spacious box.

Before making a dive, the ground must be slightly moistened and loosened. The sprout is removed from the box so as not to damage the roots. During the pick, the central root is shortened by 1/3. This procedure stimulates the development of the lateral roots. Subsequently, the plant develops a more powerful root system.

Before transplanting a seedling, a soil mixture is prepared. It should consist of garden, leafy soil, peat, sand, organic and mineral additives. The prepared soil is poured into a special container, moistened with water and recesses are made in it with pegs. Having transplanted a seedling, the ground around it is lightly pressed with a toothpick. After the pick, the sprout is watered and placed in a warm room so that it takes root.

Immediately after transplanting, the seedlings freeze for a while. Then they grow more actively than those that were not transplanted. Depending on the variety, the seedlings are transferred to boxes of different sizes.Low-growing tomatoes are planted in containers with a volume of 200-500 milliliters (large plastic cups can be used). Tall tomatoes are planted in deeper pots. Seedlings can be transplanted from boxes into plastic bags filled with substrate.

During transplantation into the garden, such a bag is carefully cut with scissors and lowered into a dimple, and then it is pulled out of the ground.

This method of transplanting does not injure the tomato root system. The exact same effect can be achieved by diving seedlings into peat pots. Picking stimulates the development of slow-growing crops such as tomatoes. Due to penetration into the ground during transplantation, the plants stretch less. After all, the seedlings develop for about 2 months before planting in the garden. During this time, she should only grow up to 30 centimeters. If the seedlings are very long, they will take root worse then.

Picking allows you to reject sick and frail plants. Pinching the central root by 5 millimeters accelerates the formation of lateral roots. Subsequently, picking leads to an increase in tomato yield.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

The pick has its positive and negative points. This agrotechnical technique requires caution. If you rush and pull the seedlings out of the dry ground, they can be damaged.

Pros of picking:

• the condition of the seedlings improves;
• weak and damaged plants are discarded;
• elongation of the seedlings' hypocotal knee is eliminated due to its burial into the ground;
• a fibrous root system is created due to pinching of the main root;
• the conditions for keeping growing seedlings are improved;
• after transplanting to the garden, the yield increases.

Cons of picking:

• a slight delay in the development of seedlings;
• the death of transplanted shoots with an incorrect pick.

Pick methods

There are several ways to transplant tomatoes. The essence of all these methods is the same - plants are transplanted from one container to another. True, the transplant is carried out in different ways.

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Classical

The essence of the classical method is as follows: the plants are lightly watered 2 hours before the pick. Prepare containers where the seedlings are going to be transferred. The cups are filled ¾ with earth. Then a peg is made in it for the length of the root. The sprout is carefully removed from the container with a spoon or peg along with an earthen lump. The longest root is pinched off by 5 millimeters. The stalk is buried in the soil almost to the cotyledon leaves. There should be a distance of 1-2 centimeters from the surface of the earth to the leaves. Sprinkle the seedling with soil and water it.

From film to diaper

Tomato seeds can be sown in plastic boxes lined with strong greenhouse film. The containers are covered with fertilized soil mixture. When the seedlings grow a little, they are transplanted into diapers made of plastic wrap. The grown sprouts are watered, removed from the box together with polyethylene.

Take one plant at a time with a spoon and wrap it in cups made of greenhouse film.

In each diaper, soil is poured up to cotyledon leaves. If there are still real leaves on the sprout, they should remain above such a glass. All rolls with seedlings are tamped tightly into a container, and the earth is watered.

How to dive tomatoes planted in tablets

Tomato seeds can be sown into peat tablets. These containers must be placed on a plastic pallet and irrigated from time to time. When 3-4 leaves appear on the plants, the seedlings need to be dived. To do this, take deeper cups and pour some fertile soil into them. Drainage holes must be made in the glasses themselves.

Peat tablets, along with sprouts, are inserted into such cups. Previously, the mesh is removed from the tablets.Seedlings transplanted into large containers are sprinkled with earth almost to the cotyledon leaves. In new containers, the seedlings grow up until they are transplanted to the garden bed.

When to dive tomatoes after sprouting

Tomatoes dive when 2 cotyledons or 2 true leaves appear on the stem. Usually, the first leaves grow 7 days after sowing the seeds. A correctly made pick improves the quality of the sprout. The seedlings are transplanted into large containers at two or three weeks of age. If you tighten with a dive, neighboring plants will intertwine with each other by roots, and it will be difficult to separate them.

Optimal dates in 2019

Seeds sown in mid-March dive in the last days of March or early April. You can transplant plants at a later date, when up to 4 leaves have developed on them. Beforehand, too thick seedlings are weeded.

Auspicious dates according to the lunar calendar

When picking tomatoes, it is advisable to pay attention to the lunar phase. Transplanting seedlings is carried out only on the growing moon, that is, from 7 to 13 or from 15 to 20 March. On such days, the juices move up from the roots. Seedlings transplanted to the growing moon are healthier and stronger. It is undesirable to transplant tomatoes on the waning moon (from 1 to 5, from 23 to 27, from March 29 to 31), on the new moon (March 6) and the full moon (March 21).

Preparing tomatoes for picking

Transplanting tomatoes from one container to another takes place in several stages. At first, the soil in which the seedlings are sown is slightly moistened. Then the seedlings are individually removed from the box and transferred into separate cups with a previously prepared nutrient mixture. After picking, the plants are watered.

Preparing tomatoes for picking

2 hours before transplanting, the soil with seedlings is slightly moistened. It is undesirable to flood the soil with water. It is difficult to remove seedlings from such soil, the plants may break. If the soil is not watered and loosened, the soil crust will not allow the sprouts to stretch out without damage.

Container preparation

Tomatoes can be transplanted into wooden boxes, plastic cassettes, peat cups, peat tablets, plastic cups, yogurt boxes, sour cream, homemade boxes, plastic bags. Previously, a wooden or plastic container is scalded with boiling water and washed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Holes must be made in the bottom for moisture to escape.

Peat pots or tablets are placed in a disinfected tray. The seedlings planted in them after picking are transplanted to the garden bed after a month with a glass. With this method, the root system is not injured during the transplantation process. Peat decomposes and serves as an additional fertilizer for tomato sprouts.

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What land is needed for picking tomatoes

It is advisable to transplant the grown seedlings into well-fertilized soil. Garden and sod land mixed with peat, sand, rotted mullein in equal proportions is suitable for transplantation. The soil mixture can be watered with a solution of fertilizers (20 grams of superphosphate and potassium sulfate are taken for 10 liters of water). Previously, the earth is disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Determine where the tomatoes have two true leaves

The pick is carried out in the phase of two true leaves or when two cotyledon leaves appear on the stalk. Real leaves appear immediately after the cotyledons. Be sure to shorten the root of the seedlings during transplantation.

The principle of pinching the root

The seedling taken out of the ground must be slightly shortened. They pinch the main, that is, the longest root. It is shortened by 5 millimeters. This procedure stimulates the growth of the lateral roots.

Technological process of picking

Step-by-step picking technology: first, they prepare the land into which the transplant will be made, then the seedlings are taken out of one container and transplanted into another.

The soil mixture should consist of garden, leaf or turf soil, peat, sand and rotted humus. The soil is poured into cups disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It is advisable to pre-fertilize the earth with a solution of superphosphate and potassium sulfate.

Caring for tomatoes after

Picking ambassador tomatoes should be added and placed in a warm place. The seedlings will stand a little, and then they will begin to grow. It is advisable to water the seedlings regularly. It is necessary to ensure that the soil in the cups does not dry out and is not too wet. Plants are kept in a well-lit room.

As they grow, the seedlings are turned towards the sun so that the stems grow evenly and do not tilt to one side.

It is important to ensure that the seedlings do not stretch too much. To do this, the temperature in the room is reduced from 22 degrees to 18 degrees, and then to 15 degrees.

What to do if tomato seedlings are stretched out before picking?

If there is little light in the room where the seedlings grow, but too warm, the tomato stalks are strongly stretched. A long thin stem is obtained if the sprouts are watered abundantly with water and a lot of dressings. Strongly elongated seedlings during a dive are deeply immersed in the ground (at a distance of 1-2 centimeters from the cotyledon leaves).

Picking up elongated tomato seedlings

If the seedlings are strongly stretched before transplanting, they can be saved. The sprouts are carefully removed from the ground, then transplanted into large cups. The long stem is covered with loose soil up to 2 cotyledonous leaves.

What problems can arise and how to deal with them

After a pick, various problems with seedlings sometimes arise. Saplings can slow down growth or even die. It is important to find out the cause of the problem situation and fix it.

Seedlings do not grow

If the seedling does not grow immediately after the pick, it's okay. This is a normal process. A week later, he will come to life and begin to grow up a little. The main thing is to provide the plant with maximum light and minimum heat. At high temperatures, the seedlings are strongly stretched until they are transferred to the garden, which is extremely undesirable.

Plants die

If the transplanted seedlings begin to die, it means that the soil did not fit them or the roots were damaged during the pick. Dead tomatoes cannot be restored. The seeds will have to be sown again.

Seedlings fall

If the transplanted plants begin to fall, it means that the soil did not fit them. Perhaps the ground was not disinfected, and pathogens were activated in it. Seedlings lower their heads if the watering regime and the maintenance of tomatoes are not observed. Crops should be kept in well-lit rooms and watered regularly but not abundantly.

Is it possible to grow seedlings without picking

Tomatoes can be grown without prior picking. Thus, the period of plant development is shortened. True, with such agricultural technology, it is desirable to fertilize the soil well with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. When grown without picking, the seeds are sown immediately into peat pots or half-liter plastic cups.

For seedlings, a soil mixture is used, consisting of garden and sod land, peat, steamed sand, sifted rotted humus and wood ash. The soil must be disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. You can sow 2-3 seeds in one container, and then discard the weak ones, leaving the strongest sprout.

As the seedlings grow, they are sprinkled with earth. The seedlings are spud so that a large stem is formed in the tomatoes. A seedling that has grown up to 30 centimeters is transplanted to a garden bed in the second half of May.