The Timing Of Planting Seeds And Seedlings Of Vegetables, The Choice Of Fertilizing For Vegetables, The Right Compost

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

About common mistakes gardeners

Live and learn

Alas, not only beginners, but also experienced gardeners often make mistakes that lead to irreparable consequences. And instead of a huge harvest of delicious vegetables and spicy herbs, in this case, they are often disappointed. We will try to consider the most common violations of agricultural practices leading to adverse consequences.

Early harvest

It is not surprising that many people want to sow seeds or plant seedlings of plants as early as possible. And this is absolutely correct, because the growing season, especially in our Urals, is extremely limited, and with the right approach, if you manage to carry out early sowing and planting, you have a great chance of getting an early and larger harvest.

For example, cucumbers in an ordinary unheated greenhouse can please you with fresh fruits already around June 10-15. At the same time, you can have on the table and zucchini, and beets, and in early July - and fresh tomatoes, carrots, etc.

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But there is one "but" here. If you do not create the appropriate conditions for the plants, all of them will die from frost, or get sick, and then die or go into bloom …

Therefore, the following rules should be observed:

• with early planting of thermophilic crops in greenhouses and hotbeds, it is necessary, at a minimum, to form warm ridges in them on biofuel and to organize inside additional temporary shelters from a covering material or film; water the plants only with specially heated water, and also take all measures against diseases (watering with biological products, adding trichodermine to the soil, etc.); one must remember that growth stimulants are indispensable at this moment, because plants, most likely, will sorely lack sun and warmth most of the time;
• with early sowing of zucchini and pumpkins, you will first have to grow their seedlings in greenhouses on biofuel, and only then plant them in a permanent place, but also on a heated ridge;
• when planting potatoes early, one must not forget that only well-sprouted potatoes can be planted in insufficiently heated soil, otherwise they may not germinate in cold soil; in addition, it is imperative to insulate the landings made by covering their entire area with film, covering material or hay; when shoots appear, you need to immediately huddle them right with the tops, because even if at this moment the frosts pass, the nights are still very cold, and the potatoes will not like them at all;
• with early sowing of carrots, autumn preparation of the ridges is necessary, because during spring digging, there can be no question of any early carrot sowing - the ridges simply cannot be dug up; in this case, it is imperative to close the ridges with a film or covering material, otherwise the plants will develop extremely slowly, and a race in time will not work;
• early sowing of beets is possible only in greenhouses or greenhouses with pre-soaked seeds, followed by planting seedlings in a permanent place in the ground, and here, too, plant protection with a covering material is required, since until mid-June frosts are normal in our country; if the beets are not covered, then under the influence of low temperatures, although they will not freeze, they will go into color;
• early planting of onion sets is also preferable - this allows you to get an earlier harvest and have time to harvest it before the long rains, which ruin a significant amount of grown onions in our country; however, this is possible only with the obligatory covering of the ridges with a film, and then a covering material, otherwise the onion, being exposed to low temperatures, will go into the arrow and there will be no harvest.

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Insidious feeding

As practice shows, many people apply fertilizers, completely ignoring the weather conditions and soil characteristics in a particular area. Yes, this is understandable, because for decades all manuals for gardeners simply indicated that cabbage, say, needs to be fed so many times and in such and such an assortment, etc. Moreover, these recommendations were absolutely the same for the inhabitants of Ukraine with its hot climate and black soil, and for the Urals with a complete absence of summer and podzol instead of soil. And it is not uncommon to hear from novice gardeners a statement that, for example, cucumbers can grow without manure on ordinary soil (they say, so it is written in the book) - they can, but not with us, here you still need to figure out what the author meant by normal soil, maybeland of the Belgorod or Tambov region? As a result, the gardener who has trusted the printed word will face continuous disappointments - and nothing more.

In general, I am leading the conversation to the fact that when making top dressing, you should take into account many different factors, and not just some kind of fertilization schemes. At the same time, I do not want to say that it is not necessary to be guided by such schemes - of course, it is, because there must be at least some kind of reference point until solid experience appears. But all these schemes need to be adjusted taking into account the weather and soil characteristics.

Therefore, we will focus on several important rules when carrying out feeding.

1. It should be remembered that in cold weather (at temperatures below 10 ° C), liquid fertilizing is completely useless (the roots of plants do not work well), nutrients are poorly absorbed. Dry dressings can be carried out in order to save time later - they will not bring any harm or benefit, because fertilizer will simply lie there waiting for watering and warming.
2. When carrying out liquid dressings, a solution may get on the leaves of plants - this will lead to burns, therefore, if this happens, you should immediately rinse the solution with clean water. In general, when carrying out root dressings, the plants should be fed with a fertilizer solution carefully at the root.
3. Top dressing with liquid fertilizers on dry soil leads to root burns, so first moisten the soil with water, and only then feed it.
4. In cold and rainy weather, the metabolism of plants is disturbed and the consumption of potash fertilizers increases. This point should be taken into account, and the dose of potassium during such periods should be increased accordingly.
5. In rainy weather on our podzolic soil, there is a strong leaching of fertilizers, so you should never apply large doses of mineral fertilizers at one time - it is better to feed a little. Potash fertilizers are washed out especially strongly, nitrogen fertilizers to a lesser extent. Therefore, the doses of potash and nitrogen fertilizers applied in our region are often higher in comparison with phosphorus fertilizers, which do not undergo such a strong leaching.

6. It is necessary to very carefully observe the state of the leaves of plants, which can suggest which elements the plants are lacking; and you need to pay attention to this regularly, because it is much easier to help the plant at the initial moment. If you notice a shortage of some kind of nutrient, then it is most effective to carry out a complex feeding: with a more concentrated solution under the root and a weak solution over the leaves. If by external signs you find it difficult to determine what the plant lacks, then, most likely, we are talking about some trace elements, then, without thinking too much, just carry out a foliar feeding with a preparation with a complex of trace elements.

   Nitrogen. With a lack of nitrogen, the lower leaves of plants turn yellow (nitrogen-poor plants transfer nitrogen from the old lower leaves to the top, younger ones, and as a result, the lower leaves wither and turn yellow) and fall off, and the total vegetative mass is clearly insufficient. An excess of nitrogen leads to the development of too fleshy deciduous part crops, which, in turn, delays the formation of flowers (root crops or tubers) and reduces yields; in this case, the plants must be fed with phosphorus and potash fertilizers.

   Phosphorus. With a lack of phosphorus, the leaves turn dark green or bluish, with a red tint, they are drying up and almost black. Flowering and fruiting are delayed. Plants complete growth quickly. The harvest is minimal.

   Potassium. With a deficiency of potassium, the leaves of plants darken very much, and then their edges "burn" from the middle to the top of the plant. If the lack of potassium is not compensated for, then the leaves, including those that are just beginning to appear, turn brown and deform, dry up and fall off. The yield falls dramatically.

7. You can not abuse any fertilizers, and especially nitrogen, because they promote the accumulation of nitrates, reduce the keeping quality of vegetables and increase their susceptibility to disease. In addition, an overdose of top dressing (the introduction of more fertilizers than according to the instructions) can lead to a chemical burn of the roots and even to the death of plants.
8. Liquid dressings are absorbed much faster and, as a result, are more effective than dressings in the form of dry mixtures. However, all this is provided that they are entered in a timely manner. Liquid dressing should be used only during the period of active plant growth - in late spring and summer. If you add it earlier, then the bulk of the nutrients will be washed out of the soil, if later, the effect will be too small.
9. Phosphorus fertilizers applied superficially are quite firmly bound by the soil, and often cannot be fully utilized by the root system. Therefore, they are not scattered over the surface of the soil, but brought in for digging or in the holes. It is possible in top dressing, but in this case, care must be taken that the phosphorus fertilizers are well embedded in the soil.
10. Diseased plants should be fed with great care. Most often it is completely useless (and, sometimes, even harmful), because diseased plants will not be able to assimilate nutrients. It is better to wait with feeding and treat the plants with growth and root stimulants, immunomodulators and drugs for diseases. And only after you make sure that the plants "come to life", you can apply a weak feeding.

Compost to compost strife

You cannot grow vegetables without a solid humus layer in the garden, and therefore it is quite understandable that gardeners want to send all organic residues to compost. An exception is plant residues infected with pathogens - they should not get into the compost, because in this way you will scatter pathogens throughout the area. Of course, nothing terrible will happen if you bury the potato tops affected by late blight in the ground and plant cabbage on top of the next year, which is not affected by this disease. But then the land will move according to the crop rotation, for example, carrots, then onions, and sooner or later, but potatoes will return to it, and the disease will take its toll.

Therefore, diseased plants must be removed during the entire growing season and burned.