How To Prepare Seeds For The Season

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

So another summer cottage season has passed, and I wanted to share my experience with fellow gardeners. I am lucky to meet interesting people, and now I am also lucky with new country neighbors who came here from Valdai two years ago. They very quickly, with enviable persistence and hard work, developed an abandoned site and surprised everyone with a rich harvest of cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables. At the same time, they, without hiding, generously shared their experience and special "tricks" with others.

It turned out that our neighbors pay special attention to the preparation of seeds for planting. I also adopted the advice received from them and was very surprised and satisfied with the results. If earlier there were problems with the germination of seeds, sometimes it was necessary to transplant them several times, then this year everything sprouted up quickly, and the seedlings were excellent, and the whole secret is that the seeds must be soaked in special solutions from herbs and compost, and if it is possible finding some fresh manure is even better.

These healing solutions are prepared as follows: I add a full tablespoon of manure or compost to 1 liter of water, and there is an infusion of dry chamomile, valerian, nettle. Necessarily a few crystals of potassium permanganate and a drop or two of garlic juice. It should be remembered that such an infusion promotes active germination and growth of seeds of tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, salads and carrots. A preparation made from an infusion of one chamomile is very useful for beans, radishes and all types of cabbage.

Everything is mixed in a liter of water with a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C, and the seeds in bags are lowered there overnight in order to dry them in the morning and sow on the same day. If there is neither chamomile nor nettle at hand, it is enough to add a drop of honey, two or three drops of iodine to the pink potassium permanganate, and boric acid on the tip of a spoon.

If we want the seeds to sprout very quickly, they must be awakened. To do this, I pour a full bathtub of hot water, put a stool in it or put two narrow boards across, put a box with sown and well-watered seeds on them, tied with foil, and cover the entire bathtub with foil on top and hold it until the water cools completely. The boxes should of course not touch the water. With this method, not only tomatoes, but also peppers, and eggplants, and even celery and other green crops emerge within a week.

So you need to carefully prepare the seeds for sowing. I also made a "discovery" for myself concerning the cultivation of leeks. If earlier I received its harvest in the second year, then this season, having planted seedlings in a greenhouse in May, I gathered a very decent harvest in September.

Tomatoes pleased with their harvest, I am especially pleased with the Budennovka variety - its fruits are unusually tasty, very large. The variety is very productive. I will definitely plant it in my garden in the new season. To avoid the disease of tomatoes with late blight, I conducted an experiment (I heard about it somewhere or read it, I don't remember anymore) - during fruiting, I pierced each stem with a needle and inserted a copper wire into the hole. As a result, not a single bush was affected by the disease.

And, of course, the abundance of flowers warms the soul at the dacha, they are more and more winning places for themselves in the summer cottage, displacing vegetables from the beds. I really liked the novelty of this season - kobei. White and lilac flowers very beautifully entwine the porch, without requiring special care, the plant is unpretentious.

The past season was unusual in terms of preparations: we drastically reduced the number of seaming and jam, focusing on freezing fresh strawberries (in winter it is very pleasant to eat them with ice cream or with whipped cream). We also tried to prepare dried black currants. In winter, pour boiling water over dried berries and insist in a thermos, it turns out very tasty and healthy.

So we live in the country and continue to experiment and learn, learn from each other, and also study the experience of our colleagues from publications in the magazine "Flora Price" - he is our true friend!