Cauliflower seedlings: growing at home

Cauliflower - the vegetable is very tasty. And thus useful. In order to obtain an early crop, it is grown in a seedling manner. This technology is not complicated, but some recommendations are necessary. Further in the article we will consider how to properly grow seedlings of cauliflower at home.

Basic Techniques

Good cauliflower seedlings can be obtained in two ways: conventional and potted. In the first case, the seeds are planted in boxes or in a greenhouse. In the second, special peat pots are used. A fairly weak and tender root system is what distinguishes cauliflower. Seedlings, the cultivation of which - the procedure is not too complicated, will rise well and will be strong only when using very loose soil. Therefore, it is best to use the second method. You can also use mixed technology. That is, put the seeds in boxes or a greenhouse, and make a picket in peat pots.

Timing

45 days is the period for which a large cauliflower seedling can be obtained sufficiently large and robust to carry in the beds. Her cultivation begins usually in late March - early April. This is in case if you want to get an early harvest. More precise dates depend on the region in which the site with the garden is located. In the southern regions of Russia they will be earlier. In the middle belt and in Siberia, they begin to sow later.

Withdrawing from the period of possible transfer to the open ground for 45 days, it is possible to accurately calculate the time when cauliflower seedlings must be planted. Cultivation (it is better to use early varieties) in a greenhouse or in pots will in this case allow harvesting at the end of the summer. Of course, only subject to compliance with all technologies. The most popular varieties of early ripening are Movir 74, Gribovskaya 1355, Otechestvennaya and others.

Later varieties of cauliflower are planted more often at the end of April - in May in a greenhouse. In this case, the harvest can be obtained in September-October.

Preparation of land in boxes

Seedlings of cauliflower, the cultivation of which must be done correctly, reacts very painfully to the lack of nutrients in the soil. Therefore, the soil under it should be prepared very carefully. Just fine for cultivating strong healthy plants will suit a mixture consisting of equal parts of turf ground, humus and peat. It is very good to make a bit of phosphorus fertilizer (for example, 20 g / m ^{2 of} granular superphosphate double) into the ground under cabbage .

It is also necessary to disinfect the soil, shedding it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. To prevent disease of seedlings with a black stalk, prepare calcined sand. They cover the surface of the soil in the boxes after the seeds are planted. Sand can be replaced with quality wood ash.

Seed preparation

Planting material must first be calibrated, warmed and etched. For growing seedlings, one should take large seeds. Using such a planting material allows to improve the yield by about 30%. When sowing large seeds, more robust cauliflower seedlings are obtained. Growing at home will be even more successful if you pre-heat the planting material. To do this, put it in a gauze pouch and immerse the latter for 20 minutes in very warm water (50 grams). Next, the seeds are dried and begin to be etched. Disinfection can be done with a solution of formalin (1: 300) or garlic juice (1 part for 3 hours water) for an hour.

Transplanting

The soil in the boxes is carefully leveled. Next plant the seeds themselves of the culture, like cauliflower. Seedlings, which are grown on the windowsills at home, grows well and quickly when the seeds are buried into the earth about 1 cm. After sealing, the surface is sprinkled with calcined sand or ash. Next, the soil in the boxes should be well spilled, using a spray gun.

Care for small seedlings is the periodic moistening of the soil and weeding if necessary. Approximately the cauliflower is also planted in a greenhouse. Cover it best with a special film, for example "Svetlitsa". Such material is good for transmitting the sun's rays and is hygroscopic (it does not collect condensate).

Cauliflower seedlings: how to grow

Before the shoots appear in the boxes, the air in the room should be warmed to at least 18-20 g. The same temperature should be maintained in the greenhouse. To ensure that the air under the film does not cool down in the dark, it is necessary to cover the structure with some improvised material: straw mats, old blankets, etc.

After the cabbage rises, the temperature of the surrounding air can be reduced in the daytime to 6-8 g., At night - up to 5-6 g. This will help strengthen and harden plants. After a week, the temperature should be raised to 10-12 g. And maintain at this level for about 10 days, until the picks. Such a regime will allow growing healthy, strong, not effeminate seedlings.

Picks

This procedure is carried out in a week - one and a half after the cauliflower seedlings have risen. Growing and caring for her suggest the right transplant. It is impossible to delay the timing of the pick-up. In more mature plants, when transferred to other tanks, the root system is very much affected. As a result, they get worse and get worse in the future.

Pickling is best done in peat pots. In this case, when planting plants in the open ground they will not be damaged by the root system, and they will get used much faster and better. Picks are carried out so that the plants are immersed in the ground to the cotyledonous leaves. At the end of this procedure, the cabbage should be covered with wood ash.

Dive is not best all plants at once. Several bushes should be left in drawers just in case. The peat pots are most easily purchased in a specialized store. But you can make them yourself.

How to make peat pots

If the above methodology is followed, very good cauliflower seedlings can be grown. How to plant it, we found out. Now let's see how to make peat pots for seedlings. You will need to prepare for production:

• Peat is low-lying with pH not higher than 6.5. More acidic can be proclaimed. Carry out this procedure not earlier than two weeks before planting seedlings.
• Wood sawdust. The day before the pots are made, they need to add a little ammonia saltpeter (1 kg per 1 m ³ ). It is applied in order to prevent depletion of the soil mixture. The fact is that bacteria that process sawdust, absorb a lot of nitrogen from the environment (in this case peat mixture).
• Sand.
• Fresh Mullein, diluted with water 1x1.

Three parts of peat are taken 1 part of sawdust and 0.2 parts of sand. Mullein need quite a bit (5% of the total) - only for gluing the mixture. Otherwise, the walls of pots will be very dense and hard, and the roots can not get through them. To the mixture of sawdust, peat and sand, you need to add a little mineral fertilizers (ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium chloride) and lime. To make pots is best on the same day when the picking will be conducted.

How to grow cauliflower seedlings in peat pills

This is a fairly new technology that allows you to get very strong plants. Purchased peat tablets should be simply put in plastic cups and poured with warm water. After a while they swell and transform into a nutritious mixture. In each glass put one or two seeds.

Cultivation without picking

This method has recently become more popular among domestic truck farmers. When used, very good cauliflower seedlings can also be obtained. Cultivation in this case is carried out from the first day in peat pots. However, this method is best used to obtain late seedling. That is, when it is supposed to be carried into the ground in the summer.

Without picking, you can grow late seedlings and directly on the bed. Seeds in this case sow quite rarely (according to the scheme 10x56 cm). They take care of plants in the same way as when growing in boxes, pots and hotbeds. To protect seedlings from frosts, they set arcs and tighten the film on them. Usually, small cabbage occupies only a small part of the bed area. After four sheets of paper are grown on it, it is distributed over the entire area.

How to fertilize

In order for seedlings to grow healthy and strong, it costs at least two times to feed them with mineral preparations. For the first time, the plants are fertilized about 10 days after the pick. The second - in 10 more days. For fertilizing, you can use a solution of ammonium nitrate.

Hardening of seedlings

Preparation of this kind makes it possible to obtain the most resistant to frost plants. Begin hardening approximately 12 days before landing in the open ground. For this, in the daytime, the seedlings are taken out on a balcony or placed in a greenhouse at an air temperature of about 5 g. At night, the pot must be returned back to the warm room. Five days before the landing, the seedlings can be rearranged from the room to the greenhouse. In warm weather, the film is periodically removed from it, gradually increasing the interval of plants in the open air.

How to transfer to the open ground

Using the technologies described above, very good cauliflower seedlings can in fact be obtained. Growing it in the open ground is also done by certain methods.

Under the seedlings, small holes are made with a depth a little more than the height of the pots. Place the cabbage in rows at a sufficiently large distance. Free space between the bushes should be at least 25 cm. The rows are located at a distance of 70 cm from each other. Such a planting scheme is suitable for early varieties of cabbage. For later, both distances should be increased by about 10 cm.

The pots are lowered into the ground and buried in such a way that the plant is buried to the first leaves. At the final stage, the grown seedlings should be carefully poured.

Well, now you know how good cauliflower seedlings can be obtained. Growing it at home, as well as carrying it to the open ground - the procedures are simple, but requiring precise adherence to certain technologies. The main thing is to observe the planting time, prepare a good soil mixture and do not forget to water the plants.