Content
The yield of tomatoes and other vegetable crops directly depends on proper care. One of the components tomato care is their irrigation. Not many gardeners know that too abundant watering for plants of the Solanaceae family is even more dangerous than drought - this leads to fungal diseases of tomatoes, decay of bushes, and cracking of fruits.
About how to properly water tomato seedlings, what you need to know about these plants so as not to harm them - in this article.
Watering frequency
How often to water tomato seedlings depends largely on the age of the plants. Of course, the composition of the soil, climatic and weather conditions, and the variety of tomatoes are also important factors, but the age of the seedlings still plays a major role in determining the irrigation schedule.
The root system of young plants, as well as their need for water, is significantly less than that of adult bushes that have reached their maximum height. At the same time, it is the young tomato seedlings that will die faster from lack of moisture, since its weak and small roots are not far from the surface. And the roots of adult tomatoes can go deep into the ground at a distance of about 150 cm - there is almost always moisture so deep, the plant can live without watering for some time.
So, you can define the following rules for watering tomato seedlings at various stages of its "life":
- After the soil for sowing tomato seeds has been prepared and watered abundantly, the germinated seeds are planted in it. The seeds are buried in a thin layer of dry earth, covered with a film and remain in this position until the first shoots appear. During this period of time, it is generally not necessary to water the land in containers and pots with seeds.
- When the first shoots appeared, the film cover was removed, and 2-3 days passed, pecking of green shoots should become massive - all the seeds, or most of them, germinate and thin loops appear above the ground surface. During this period, gentle seedlings cannot be watered - their roots will easily be washed out of the soil. If the soil in the seedling containers is too dry, you can gently spray the seedlings with a spray bottle or small potted watering can.
- At the stage when the first pair of true leaves appear, tomato seedlings are watered as needed - when the soil in the pots becomes dry and crusty. As before, they use a spray bottle for watering and irrigate only the ground between the tomatoes, trying not to wet the delicate bushes themselves.
- After two or three true leaves grow tomato seedlings dive... Two to three days before this event, along with watering, the first fertilizing is applied. This will contribute to the softening of the soil, make the saturated soil looser - the seedlings can be easily removed from the boxes, their roots will not suffer when diving.
- After diving, tomatoes do not need to be watered for 4-5 days. Even if the seedlings look sluggish and sore, they do not need to be watered during this period. By introducing water into the soil, the gardener will further complicate the adaptation of the tomato to the new habitat.
- After five days, you can start watering the tomatoes according to the standard scheme, first of all, focusing on the dry soil in the pots. On average, the bushes should be irrigated at least once a week, sometimes the seedlings will have to be watered twice a week or ten days. Here a lot depends on the temperature and humidity of the air in the room with the seedlings, as well as on the amount and intensity of the sun's rays that dry out the soil.
- When the tomato seedlings reach the required height, they gain strength (about 1.5-2 months after sowing the seeds), they are transferred to a permanent place: to a greenhouse or to a garden bed. Before transplanting tomatoes, water them abundantly for a couple of days - this will help remove the roots of the seedlings from the pot without damaging them.
What and how to water tomatoes
Watering tomato seedlings is necessary not only on time, it must also be done correctly.
First of all, you need to comply with the following requirements for the water with which tomatoes are watered:
- the water temperature must be at least 20 degrees. The optimal value is 23 degrees Celsius. If tomatoes are irrigated with cold water, the seedlings will start to hurt, first of all, this is fraught with infection of plants with late blight.
- Rain or melt water is most suitable for watering tomatoes. At least, such water should be used while the seedlings are small - so the tomatoes will become much healthier, the leaves and ovaries will form faster, the bushes will become strong and powerful.
- Only soft water is suitable for watering tomatoes. Tap liquid is poorly suited for irrigating tomato seedlings - it contains too many impurities, making it tough and unsuitable for plants. You can soften the water by boiling - this option is suitable for tomato seedlings. When the plants grow up and move to the greenhouse or to the beds, boiling such volumes of water will become problematic. In this case, the water can simply be defended for several days by collecting it in tanks or barrels.
- It is better to carry out all feeding and feeding of tomato bushes together with watering, therefore fertilizers or stimulants must be diluted in water.
It is no less important than and how to bring life-giving moisture under the tomato bushes. Here, the main thing is not to wet the stem and leaves of plants, because they can easily pick up a fungal infection due to excessive humidity and hypothermia, or too bright rays of the sun will burn the seedlings through drops on the leaves.
To prevent this from happening, you need to water the tomatoes at the root, and best of all, between the rows. At first, you can do this with a small watering can, then irrigation is allowed from a garden hose.
You can arrange a drip irrigation system with your own hands. To do this, you need ordinary plastic bottles in which small holes are made across the entire surface. The bottom of the bottle is cut off, and the neck is screwed on with a lid.
Bottles are buried in the ground near each tomato bush, bottom up. Water is poured into a bottle, and it gradually seeps through the holes, irrigating the tomato root system.
In this way, the growth of the root system can be stimulated, because the roots will tend downward towards moisture. In any case, there must be drainage holes in the pots and cups with tomato seedlings, otherwise the plants will simply rot.
How to determine the need for watering tomatoes
As already mentioned, tomatoes need to be watered, focusing on the degree of dryness of the soil. Not every gardener, especially a beginner, will be able to determine how often tomato seedlings should be watered using the top layer of soil in pots with seedlings.
Will help simple ways to determine the dryness of the earth:
- the color of dry soil is somewhat dull than that of wet soil. Therefore, if the soil in the cups with seedlings is gray and lifeless, it is time to moisten it.
- In order to check the moisture content of the soil in deeper layers, you can use a wooden stick (similar to checking the doneness of a cake).
- It is very convenient for the same purposes to use a metal wire, the end of which is bent with a hook. The length of the wire should be about 30 cm. It is immersed in the ground near the walls of the pot with tomato seedlings and carefully pulled back.If the soil is stuck to the hook, it means that it is still moist enough and you don't need to water the tomatoes yet.
- Another accurate way is to dig a lump of earth at a depth of 10 cm and try to make a ball out of it. If the soil is sticky, it is moist enough. When the lump breaks, the earth should crumble and crumble, otherwise the soil is too waterlogged, the tomato irrigation schedule needs to be adjusted.
- If you raise the pot with seedlings, you can navigate by its mass - dry soil weighs much less wet.
- By knocking on the walls of the pot with tomatoes with a stick or pencil, you can determine the moisture content of the soil by sound: dry soil will give a sonorous sound, while wet soil will "sound" more dull.
In accordance with the data obtained, on the basis of such "studies", it is possible to correct the irrigation regime and the amount of water.
How much water do tomatoes need
The amount of moisture required by tomato bushes directly depends on the cycle of plant development:
- While the seedlings are in the house, she needs a small amount of moisture, because plants "live" in a limited space - a pot or glass. To moisten such a minimum amount of earth, a lot of water is not required, another thing is that moisture will also evaporate from a small container faster.
- Before flowering period watering tomatoes is necessary for 5-6 liters for each square meter of land.
- During flowering tomatoes are most in need of moisture, so at this time the amount of water increases by about three times - each meter is irrigated with 15-18 liters of water.
- When the fruits are set and begin to pour, watering is reduced - at this stage, undersized tomatoes need only 5 liters per square meter, and tall varieties - at least 10 liters.
Regardless of the method and mode of irrigation, the ground near the tomato bush should be moistened to a depth of at least 10-15 cm (depending on the height and branching of the tomato bush).
The “fate” of this culture depends on how to water tomato seedlings, because, like all plants, first of all, tomatoes need moisture. Watering tomato seedlings should be done on schedule, these plants do not like randomness, they are equally harmed by both drought and excessive moisture.
