Growing Seedlings Of Vegetables In Greenhouses And Hotbeds

2023 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 05:47

Read the previous part. ← How to increase the productivity of greenhouses and greenhouses

"Intensive" greenhouse

Sowing cabbage

For an accelerated harvest of early cabbage, it is best to soak and germinate (approximately to the stage of one true leaf) its seeds in sawdust at home, followed by picking the seedlings into greenhouses already heated with biofuel

For germination, the seeds are spread on a layer of wet sawdust, moistened and placed in containers with sowing (preferably mixed with a hydrogel) in ajar plastic bags. Moisten everything again if necessary. After pecking the seeds, the sawdust is sprinkled with a 3-4 mm layer of fertile soil. When seedlings appear, the containers are taken out of the bags and moved to the insulated glazed loggias, covering them for the night (with strict temperature control), and they try to transplant the plants into the greenhouse in a short time. When diving, the seedlings are slightly buried in the ground and thoroughly watered with warm water.

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Sowing beets

With beets, everything is easier. Take flat containers and soak the seeds in them. This is necessary, since beet seeds secrete substances that prevent the emergence of seedlings, and only active moisture neutralizes these substances. Therefore, beet seeds should first be soaked in water, and then rinsed well. After this procedure, they will rise quickly and amicably. Then the seeds can be sown immediately, and if this is not yet possible, then they should be distributed for germination in flat containers with highly moistened sawdust and constantly monitor the degree of moisture. After germination for 2-3 days, the seeds are sown, evenly scattering them over the soil surface together with sawdust, and sprinkled with soil.

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Further care of seedlings in the greenhouse

Crops and sown seedlings in greenhouses must be covered with a layer of thin covering material. In addition, arcs are installed on the greenhouse ridges inside the greenhouse and thick covering material is thrown over them. During the entire growing time, the plants are thoroughly watered and ventilated if necessary.

The planting of cabbage and beet seedlings is carried out around mid-May or even at the end of May (everything is according to the situation and the weather). By this time, cabbage seedlings should have 4-6 true leaves and a well-developed root system, and beet plants should have 3-4 true leaves. The landing technique is not difficult. The only thing that needs to be observed is maximum care so as not to injure the plants during transplantation. This is especially true for beets, because in the event of a break in the main root during planting, the beets grow "with a beard." In addition, when planting seedlings, it is imperative to straighten the roots of the plants so that they do not bend.

We grow seedlings of cucumbers, pumpkins and zucchini

Our mid-Ural summer is short - in spring frosts continue until mid-June, and in summer, already at the beginning of August, night temperatures begin to decline rapidly and often exhausting rains come. It is clear that in such conditions, most heat-loving crops have to be grown in seedlings and then planted in a greenhouse, otherwise no harvest will be obtained. And if there is still a place for cucumbers in the greenhouse or on the windowsill (after all, the main crop), then there is no place for zucchini and pumpkins, because greenhouse areas are limited (there is no question of a window sill).

However, home-grown cucumber seedlings never turn out to be strong and do not give a full harvest, which means that this approach can be practiced only for a dozen plants, the fruits of which are intended to obtain ultra-early products. Therefore, the bulk of cucumber plants are sown in greenhouses, as a rule, already in permanent places, because cucumbers cannot be transplanted. This approach requires a lot of space and is not beneficial from the point of view of the efficiency of the operation of greenhouse areas.

As for zucchini and pumpkins, most of the Ural gardeners sow their seeds at the end of May, or even in June (of course, under improvised shelters), and the first crop of zucchini, for example, is not obtained earlier than mid-July. Since the beginning of August, the favorable period for the growth of squash and pumpkins is already ending. Therefore, it is wiser to try to extend the season favorable for growth and development by improving the agricultural technology of their cultivation, which is generally not difficult, since these pumpkin crops are quite grateful enough to please with high yields for a long period. I think it makes sense to modify the approach to growing cucumber seedlings and adopt the technology of growing seedlings of pumpkins and zucchini, for which one cannot do without biofuel-heated greenhouses and greenhouses.

4-5 days before the intended sowing of seeds, they are soaked in the Epin growth stimulator or in the Kresacin preparation and then germinated in containers filled with moistened sawdust. After pecking the seeds, they immediately start sowing - it is impossible to tighten with it due to the fragility of the roots, which can be damaged. The optimum temperature for germinating seeds is + 24 … + 26 ° C, the same daytime temperature is desirable for the further development of plants (night temperature + 18 … + 20 ° C, but not lower than + 15 ° C).

Since all these crops react very painfully to transplanting, the seedlings must be grown in separate containers, and for pumpkins and zucchini they need a large enough size (ordinary cassettes and seedling pots will not work - they are too small). Honestly, the best results are obtained by using not pots or cassettes, but ordinary film milk bags, only in them in the lower part you will have to make small holes for water to drain. For many years, I got the feeling that the seedlings in the bags are warmer, and therefore the plants in them develop noticeably faster than their counterparts planted in ordinary plastic pots.

The planting containers are filled with loose fertile soil (preferably with a hydrogel). It must be preheated in the room to a comfortable temperature. Then seeds are sown in them (for reliability, two seeds in each container) and watered. The soil in the containers should be poured about 2 cm below their upper border, so that the seedlings that appear at the very beginning of their development are inside the containers, where (due to biofuel in conjunction with shelters) it will be warmer.

If the biofuel in a closed ground at the time of sowing the seeds has flared up, then the containers with the seeds are immediately placed in a greenhouse or greenhouse. If the heating is insufficient, then this can be done after a few days (but it is highly desirable before seedlings appear on the soil surface), and temporarily you can place containers with seeds in a warm room with a temperature of + 24 … + 26 ° C, for example, in a heated garden house. The technology of "planting" containers does not cause any difficulties - they are buried in the soil of the greenhouse ridge at such a distance from each other that it would be sufficient for the comfortable development of plants before they are planted in a permanent place.

Then the ridge is covered with plastic wrap, laying it directly on the soil, and carefully sprinkle the edges of the film with soil and press down with stones. After that, arcs are installed inside the greenhouse or greenhouse for additional temporary shelter of plants and thick covering material is thrown over the arches. It should be borne in mind that the operation of placing containers in closed ground and installing shelters must be carried out very quickly so that the low temperature outside does not have time to negatively affect the seeds that have hatched. This means that all the materials at hand (film, stones, arcs and covering material) should be at hand.

When the first shoots appear, which, depending on the circumstances, may occur in 5-7 days, it will be necessary to cut circular holes in the film above all containers and cover everything thoroughly again. The seedlings are watered with specially warmed water as needed - usually 1-2 times a week, and in the presence of a hydrogel, of course, less often, which is very important, since watering due to weather conditions during this period is far from possible at any time.

Before planting in a permanent place, the plants are watered abundantly, placed in buckets of warm water, after planting, they are watered again and immediately covered with a thin covering material, throwing it directly onto the plants. When planting zucchini and pumpkins in open ground in our conditions, we usually have to install temporary greenhouses on top of the plants and cover them with foil to protect the crops from low temperatures. The film for a day in good sunny weather is opened slightly for ventilation, and the covering material is kept on the plants before they get stronger.

We organize mixed plantings in the summer

As already noted above, you should not limit yourself to growing only tomatoes and cucumbers in greenhouses in the summer. It is much wiser to supplement them with other plants that are equally sensitive to heat. There are several options.

Tomatoes

Curly asparagus beans can be grown with tomatoes. Only 3-4 plants of such beans in a greenhouse will provide your family with this valuable product for the whole year, since the yield of beans in such conditions will be an order of magnitude higher than in the open field. Such a neighborhood will not harm tomatoes at all, moreover, it will contribute to an increase in soil fertility, because beans accumulate nitrogen in nodular formations on the roots. Therefore, it is better to plant beans in different places in the greenhouse between tomatoes.

If you have not been inspired by growing early spring greens in a tomato greenhouse, then combining tomatoes with beets may be a possible option. Of course, in this case, we are talking about obtaining early beets, which at the beginning of summer can be used whole (both small roots and tops) along with sorrel and nettle in summer green soups or botvinias. In this case, the soaked beet seeds are sown in the greenhouse around mid-April in two rows along the side and covered with a covering material. By the time the tomatoes are planted, the beets will already begin to pour, and they can be pulled out as needed by thinning. Beets will not interfere with tomatoes, but the beets will have to be removed before the tomatoes begin to actively shade them.

For keen gardeners, melons and watermelons can become good neighbors of a tomato. True, this option is not suitable for any greenhouse, since tomatoes have to be actively ventilated, and drafts are contraindicated for melons and watermelons. Therefore, it all depends on the ventilation system in the greenhouse and the direction of the main winds. And if in a tomato greenhouse it is possible to find an area protected from drafts, then melons and watermelons will feel great there.

Cucumbers

Peppers and eggplants can make good neighbors for cucumbers in a greenhouse garden. However, given the lower height of these plants, they should be planted separately so that they do not fall into the shade zone of cucumber lashes. It is wiser to plant peppers on one side of the greenhouse entrance, eggplants on the other, and occupy the rest of the territory with cucumbers, planting them at some distance from the peppers and eggplants. It is not worth planting eggplant and pepper together for two reasons. Firstly, eggplants do not really like the proximity of other plants, and secondly, they can strongly shade the pepper. When planting peppers, remember that you can choose either sweet peppers or bitter peppers. Mixed plantings of sweet and bitter peppers are unacceptable due to their over-pollination and the resulting change in the taste of the fruit.

Corn gets along well with cucumbers, which, for example, does not yield crops in the Urals in the open field. But in a greenhouse, in a company with cucumbers, it will be quite possible to place a dozen corn plants. True, there are difficulties here. The fact is that corn plants will have to be planted in one row, and this will adversely affect its pollination and lead to the appearance of cobs with voids. To eliminate this, you will have to resort to artificial pollination, that is, manually transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers. An old fluffy blush brush works well for this purpose, although you can do with regular gauze. In addition, it is necessary to regularly spray plants with fruit-forming stimulants ("Bud", "Ovary", etc.). Considering the fact that such spraying has to be carried out for cucumbers,no additional work is required.

Unwanted neighbors

As practice shows, many vegetable plants get along well together - both in the open field and in the greenhouse. However, there are exceptions, which may be associated with both the negative influence of some plants on others, and with the peculiarities of agricultural technology, due to which it is not possible to combine plants on the same bed.

For example, the proximity of tomatoes and cucumbers in the same greenhouse is undesirable due to the different microclimate that has to be created for these plants. The fact is that, unlike cucumbers, tomatoes prefer dry air (with high air humidity, they are quickly affected by various diseases), they need more rare, but abundant watering and frequent active ventilation. In turn, cucumbers love high air humidity and frequent low watering and hate drafts. In addition, tomatoes can tolerate lower temperatures than cucumbers. You should not plant sage in a cucumber greenhouse, and fennel and peas in a tomato greenhouse, although it makes sense to sow the latter in the amount of several pieces to cucumbers to get an early harvest, which is important if you have children or grandchildren who love this delicacy. And, of course, you shouldn't plant it with cucumbers,nor potatoes for tomatoes, although this idea may come to mind if you decide to grow it from seeds or try to multiply several super-elite tubers of a valuable variety.

Svetlana Shlyakhtina, Yekaterinburg

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