Planting and growing tomatoes in toilet paper
Growing tomato seedlings in a vertical or horizontal way using toilet paper and empty plastic containers is not a new, but still not very applicable method for the primary formation of garden seedlings. Traditionally, the owners continue to use the classic method of sprouting tomatoes, setting up apartment windowsills with seedling boxes and putting up with the low hygiene of the procedure. This option for preparing tomato seedlings not only spends time and money, but also does not exclude the formation of fungal infections, which quickly develop in the substrate and paralyze the growth of seedlings.
Surprisingly, thin paper designed for hygienic needs contains everything necessary for the healthy development of seed material. Having tried the method of germinating tomato seeds in toilet paper, you are unlikely to want to return to troublesome manipulations and sow seeds in the soil, at a stage when you can easily do without it.
Seed preparation
Disease prevention and hardening can harm the seeds if you bring all the tools available in the arsenal indiscriminately to help with this task... Tomato seeds initially, that is, before the act of purchase, could be disinfected and stimulated to accelerate growth, and this information must be found on the seed packaging. Additional processing of planting material is allowed in the amount of 1-2 procedures, if a mark about pre-sale preparation is present on the package. If there is no mark, you will have to follow the full scheme of home "treatment" of seeds.
The selection of strong seeds is done in a weak saline solution. The seeds are soaked in a glass of liquid for 15 minutes, after which all floating "dummies" are caught with a spoon and discarded, and the seeds that have settled to the bottom are recognized as suitable and are subjected to preparatory procedures:
- Hardening of seeds. This is done so that the planted seedlings are less affected by the temperature differences inherent in early spring. First, the seeds laid between two cuts of gauze moistened with water are left for 12 hours at a temperature of 20-23 C, then the saucer with seeds is removed to the freezer for five hours with a permissible low temperature of -3 FROM;
- Awakening the seeds. To do this, use melt water prepared in this way - they collect a 3-liter can of snow and watch when about 1/3 of the container melts. As soon as a third of the snow turns into water, this water is drained and allowed to germinate seeds. The seeds are soaked for 15-17 hours;
- Disinfection of seeds. Disinfection takes place in a 0.1% manganese solution. The antiseptic treatment procedure lasts 10-15 minutes, then the seeds are dried on a napkin;
- Oxygen saturation. The method for accelerating seed germination requires additional instrumentation - an aquarium compressor. A 0.5 liter jar is filled with water by a third, the seeds are lowered there, and then a tube from the compressor is introduced and the oxygen supply is turned on.
In order for the seeds to germinate faster, a folk remedy using undiluted aloe vera juice is also suitable. The seeds are immersed in squeezed and strained juice for a day, then dried and sown.
How to germinate seeds in toilet paper
Both methods of using toilet paper for tomato seedlings involve using the cheapest plastic containers. In the first method with toilet paper, planting will be done in disposable cups. Prepare no more than 10 cups, this number of seeds is enough for a standard suburban area.
Method in plastic cups
The whole procedure of planting seeds on toilet paper will take less than an hour:
- ordinary cellophane transparent bags are cut into strips 7-10 cm wide;
- on each polyethylene tape, a double strip of the cheapest toilet paper is spread and sprayed with water from a spray bottle;
- an indentation is made from the upper edge of the paper 1-2 cm, and seeds begin to lay out with a consistent distance between the sown seeds of 1.5-2 cm;
- when the seeds are laid out, another double strip of paper is neatly applied on top and again moistened with water from a spray bottle;
- a second cellophane tape is applied to the wet paper and the whole structure is very neatly and tightly rolled into a roll;
- outside, the finished roll must be secured with a thread or elastic band, and then set vertically in the cup, but so that the seeds are on top.
Now it remains only to fill the cups up to half with ordinary settled water and put them on a windowsill well-lit by the sun so that the seeds germinate sooner. Results can be expected by the end of the first week, counting the day when the sowing was performed.
Method in plastic bottles
Germination of seeds for seedlings in toilet paper is even more often done according to the second method - in a plastic 1.5-2 liter bottle cut along the length. Each of the resulting container halves is lined with thick-fiber toilet paper, sprinkled with water and spread over the seeds in a row, with a distance between the seeds from 2 to 3 cm. From above, future tomatoes are covered with a perforated (using a thick needle) film, after which, bottle boats »Are exhibited in a warm and well-lit place. By the way, growing seeds in bottles, you can not be afraid to "flood" the seeds - the amount of water with which the paper was originally moistened will be enough for the entire period of germination.
The appearance of leaves on tomato sprouts in toilet paper will be clearly visible. When the first two leaves hatch, this will serve as a signal that it is time to plant the plants in separate containers. You need to carefully remove each sprout by unwinding the rolls or removing the film. Plant only strong plants in the ground, immediately discarding non-viable shoots that are unlikely to survive the pick.
It is enough to place any commercially available soil mixture for garden crops in pre-prepared pots - you can grow tomatoes from seeds sown on toilet paper even on the most unpretentious soil.
