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With the advent of the new year, summer residents begin preparations for the new summer season. Already in January and October, they begin to grow seedlings of peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and other vegetable and berry crops. During this period, more than ever, the problem of preparing the soil for seedlings is relevant. Someone decides to buy ready-made, and someone cooks it on their own, with their own hands.

Requirements for purchased soil

A very convenient option for planting seeds of nightshade and flower crops for seedlings is the acquisition of ready-made nutrient soil. In stores you can find two main varieties:

• seedling soil (soil);
• Seedling substrate.

The first is a soil mixture, which includes components of organic (earth, peat, crushed bark) and inorganic origin. The nutrient substrate consists of sand, sawdust, perlite and everything that can replace the soil - for example, mineral wool.

Regardless of the composition, all commercially prepared seedling soil must meet the following requirements:

• It should be loose and breathable;
• It is good to absorb moisture;
• Soil acidity (pH) should be in the range of 6.5 ... 6.7 units;
• Contain in an accessible form all the macro- and microelements necessary for each culture;
• Possess a basic set of nutrients - potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.

IMPORTANT! If you purchased a package of soil whose acidity is below 6 units, then it should be deoxidized using one of the components: lime, dolomite flour or ash.

When choosing a ready-made soil mixture for sowing seedlings of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and other crops, pay attention to the content of Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus. Their quantity should be less than 300…400 mg/l. If this value is exceeded, the soil can only be used as a component. In it, you can transplant the picked plants and plant adult seedlings.

With a significant excess of the content of the main nutrients, it is strictly forbidden to use ready-made soil for seedlings. Sprouted seeds will actively grow, gain green mass. At the same time, the formation of flower brushes and buds will proceed at a slow pace.

How to cook on your own?

Those who know how to prepare the soil for seedlings prefer to do the mixture with their own hands. There is nothing complicated here, we wrote an article about this, with which you can. The main thing is that the substrate is light and loose. It should not contain coarse lumps and dense large particles. Do not sift it through a sieve with a small cell. Such a substrate will not lead to anything good. The sifted soil, when watered, swims and turns sour.

To prepare classic soil for seedlings, only four components are needed:

• Garden land - 2 parts.
• Humus or rotted compost - 1 part.
• Lowland peat - 1 part.
• Hardwood sawdust or river sand - 1 part.

All components are mixed, resulting in an excellent quality substrate suitable for growing basic vegetable crops. In order for the seedlings to receive all the nutrients, 40 ... 80 grams of complex fertilizer are added to a bucket of prepared soil. The following types can be used as top dressing:

• Azofoska.
• Nitrophoska.
• Agricola.
• Kemira.

ATTENTION! To neutralize the acidic environment of lowland peat, use lime or ash in small quantities. If you use sawdust instead of sand, then they should first be shed with a solution of urea. In proportion to 1 liter of water, 10 ... 15 grams of urea are taken.

For those who are not satisfied with the universal composition, we recommend preparing soil mixtures for seedlings of each individual vegetable crop. On the one hand, it will take a lot of time. On the other hand, each plant will receive everything necessary for successful growth.

How to prepare soil for seedlings of cucumbers?

Summer residents with experience try to avoid ready-made substrates for growing seedlings of cucumbers. Despite the full range of mineral fertilizers, such soil contains processed peat, which is the main problem. If you forget in time to water the plants, it forms a dense lump that cannot be moistened. At the same time, all the moisture intended for young seedlings will go by.

It is best to prepare the soil for seedlings of cucumbers yourself from the following components:

Composition No. 1

• Lowland peat - 2 parts.
• Humus - 2 parts.
• Hardwood sawdust - 1 part.

Composition No. 2

• Leaf land - 1 part.
• Sod land - 1 part.
• Rotted compost - 1 part.

In both compositions, 3 tablespoons of wood ash and 1 tablespoon of complex fertilizer are added to a bucket of the mixture. Before sowing, before fertilizers are applied, the soil mixture is disinfected from mold and spores of various fungi in one of the following ways:

• Pour boiling water over;
• Using a water bath, steam the soil for one and a half to two hours;
• 2 ... 3 hours, heat the composition in the oven at a temperature of 200 ... 220 ° C.

Preparing soil for cabbage

A nutrient soil mixture for cabbage seedlings is prepared from humus and lowland peat. The ratio of the main components is 1:1. Here, based on one bucket, add 1 glass of fluffy lime. But since there are very few nutrients in such soil, the following fertilizers are added:

• Superphosphate - 3 matchboxes;
• Potassium sulphate - 1 matchbox.

If desired, both fertilizers can be replaced with wood ash at the rate of 3 cups per bucket of soil mixture.

Some summer residents for seedlings of cabbage prepare soil from two parts of sand, five parts of garden soil, one part of ash and 1/4 of fluff lime. After mixing all the components, the mixture must be disinfected by steaming for 2 hours.

What should be the soil for tomatoes and peppers?

Seedlings of peppers and tomatoes require a slightly different soil composition. Here you can use:

• 1 part - rotted humus;
• 1 part - garden or forest land;
• 1 part - washed river sand.

All components before mixing must be sieved through a sieve for a homogeneous composition. The optimal cell diameter is 5…6mm.

The mixture thus prepared is steamed in a water bath for about 2 hours. After that, the steamed soil is poured into a trough, where it is allowed to cool. The next step in preparing the soil for seedlings of peppers and tomatoes is to fill it with mineral fertilizers. As such, ash and crushed egg shells are used. On a bucket of substrate take 200 grams of sifted ash and 100 grams of crushed shells.

This soil composition is best prepared in the fall, since the ash used in it can burn the tender roots of seedlings and destroy plants. During the winter period, it is completely neutralized. If the soil is prepared immediately before sowing, then it is better to use an extract from the ash. It is prepared as follows: 100 grams of wood ash is taken per 10 liter bucket. The solution is infused for 2 days. After which it is ready for use.

Spring is the time when gardeners begin to prepare for the upcoming summer season. Just a few months to endure, and now you are already planting young plants in your favorite garden - your seedlings, which have managed to grow and get stronger in order to settle in a greenhouse or on the street.

But how to grow good seedlings, which will not only sprout and take root in pots on the windowsill, but will also please with good juicy fruits when they turn into strong adult plants? The answer is simple - provide her with favorable growing conditions.

Soil or soil is the main source of chemical elements that a plant consumes during its active growth. It has a special property, which is called "fertility", due to which it provides plants not only with useful substances, but also participates in creating the optimal temperature regime, humidity regime for the root system of the plant. And young seedlings more than an adult plant require good nutrition and suitable conditions for development.

The natural soil that you can collect in your garden does not always contain the right amount of elements necessary for seedlings, and its structure may be too “coarse” for a young plant, so gardeners either prepare the soil themselves, improving the physical and chemical characteristics of summer cottage land, or acquire ready-made soil in specialized stores.

Basic soil requirements

Soil for seedlings, sold in stores, is different:

• universal, which, according to the information on the package, is suitable for all types of plants;
• special - manufacturers make its composition optimal for any type of crop (for example, soil for peppers, tomatoes, flowers, etc.).

Special primer is not a marketing ploy and not an attempt to deceive the consumer. The fact is that the composition of such soil is optimal for a particular crop: each species, be it pepper, tomato, eggplant, requires a certain amount of nutrients and soil structure in order to develop well and gain strength. In special soils, the necessary balance is maintained, while in universal soils, some fertilizer may have to be added.

And although the soils sold in stores have a different composition, nevertheless, when deciding on a choice, remember the basic requirements that apply to seedling soil:

• Looseness. Pay attention to the physical shape of the soil - it should not be lumpy. For seedlings, the soil should be airy and even tender. The mixture should not harden or cake.
• "Health". There can be many useful substances in the soil, but if spores of fungi, pathogens, insect larvae, weed sprouts are found in it, then this substrate is no good. Weak young plants will not cope with such a "biological" attack and will die.
• Fertility. The composition of the soil must contain the microelements necessary for the plant, otherwise the seedlings will not be able to eat.
• Acidity. This property of the soil should be close to neutral pH, that is, be equal to 6.5-6.7. It is harmful for tiny plants to be in an acidic or alkaline environment.
• Toxicity. The composition of the soil should be free of oil products, salts of heavy metals, radionuclides.

Many of these indicators are difficult to assess at home, and therefore it is not always possible to comply with all soil requirements. Ideally, in order to determine how suitable the soil is for planting seeds for seedlings, you need to submit it for analysis to the laboratory. But, since this is not always possible, it is worth choosing trusted brands in stores.

The main brands of soils

In stores, you can now choose soil of various price categories, various compositions and from well-known or newly introduced brands. The table below shows the main ones.

How to choose soil

How to choose the right soil for your seedlings in such a variety? Follow the directions below and you'll be good to go:

Some tests to determine the quality of the soil can be done at home, as well as at home to prepare the soil for planting seeds.

Video - instructions for choosing soil for seedlings

Greetings, dear friends!

For most gardeners, the new summer season begins in late February - early March. It is believed that this is the best time to sow seeds for seedlings of celery, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and other vegetable crops. Not only the future harvest depends on the quality of the seedlings, but also the amount of labor spent in the garden in the summer.

Healthy seedlings get sick less often, are better accepted in the open field, grow quickly and begin to bear fruit in the early stages.

One of the important stages in the cultivation of seedlings is the preparation of soil. Plants must be provided with a balanced set of nutrients, and their root system must have free access to air and moisture, so special attention must be paid to preparing the land. Most often, gardeners use, which are abundantly present in gardening stores.

Experienced gardeners prefer to do it on their own, adding various organic as well as inorganic materials to the land brought from their own site. It is believed that when transplanting seedlings grown using garden soil into greenhouses, greenhouses and beds, seedlings are less stressed, since each land has its own unique biochemical and mechanical characteristics.

Land rehabilitation methods

At the first stage of vegetation, plants are especially sensitive to soil microflora, so the main requirement for soil is the absence of harmful microorganisms. To disinfect the land brought from the site, various methods are used, each of which has its adherents and opponents.

Calcination

Having qualitatively calcined the earth in the oven, you free it from pathogenic bacteria, egg-laying pests, and pathogens. It takes at least half an hour to withstand the earth laid out on baking sheets or pallets at temperatures above 150 ° C. The main disadvantage of calcination is that at high temperatures all types of bacteria die, including useful ones.

Steaming

Decontaminating the soil with steam is akin to calcination, but is considered a less aggressive technique in relation to beneficial microorganisms. The disadvantages include the complexity of the process, because at home using a colander, you can simultaneously disinfect only small portions of the soil.

Disinfection with potassium permanganate

Strait with fungicidal and insecticidal solutions, for example, potassium permanganate or - another option for disinfecting soddy land. The active ingredients of the formulations destroy spores, fungi, larvae, bacteria and viruses. The disadvantages also include the fact that the solution is equally active in relation to the entire microflora.

EM solutions (microbiological fertilizers)

The method of enrichment of soil mixtures with effective microorganisms that actively develop in the soil has proven itself well, improving its biochemical composition. After disinfection, the earth is shed, the choice of which in gardening stores is quite wide. Beneficial bacteria inhibit harmful microorganisms, creating unfavorable conditions for their vital activity.

How to prepare soil for seedlings at home

The soil used for growing seedlings should be loose, permeable to air and water, saturated with a useful set of mineral salts and humus. The prepared soil is mixed with matured garden compost, free from seeds of various plants, humus, peat, vegetable ash, river sand, fine sawdust, foam plastic, eggshell powder, crushed bricks, etc.

Fresh manure of farm animals is not used in the preparation of high-quality soil mixture, as it contributes to the activation of decay processes and the development of microflora dangerous for young plants. also not suitable for seedlings, since the activity of this type of organic fertilizer is too high, which often leads to burning the roots of seedlings.

The composition of equal parts of qualitatively rotted manure, fertile land from the garden and garden compost, taken in equal proportions, has proven itself well. For the cultivation of nightshade (tomato, eggplant, pepper), the share of sod land can be doubled. For every 5 liters of soil mixture, it is recommended to add 1/2 cup of ash, rich in macro- and microelements. Ash is an additional means for disinfection, structuring the earth and adjusting acidity.

Having carried out preparing soil for seedlings at home on your own, you will see that in seeds planted in soil prepared with love will gratefully respond to your concerns and delight you with mass shoots, and in the future with high-quality fruits. Have abundant harvests in your garden! See you!