Soil preparation for planting vegetables. Soil: preparation for planting vegetable and berry crops
Before sowing seeds and planting seedlings, soils are prepared for planting by certain methods. It is necessary to start planting plants after performing certain actions. Soils in middle lane Russia, as well as in Siberia and the Urals, are characterized by great heterogeneity. Their mechanical composition is determined by the following features:
- clayey the soil in a dry state is hard, and in a wet state it is viscous, sticky, smears heavily, easily rolls into a ball or rolls into a thin tourniquet that bends into a ring without breaking. When processing it, lumps are formed;
- dry loamy the soil is ground into an inhomogeneous powder. Under the magnifying glass, grains of sand and dust particles are visible. When moistened, it becomes viscous, rolls into a ball, rolls into a tourniquet, which breaks into a ring when bent;
- sandy loam the soil in a dry state is easily rubbed between the fingers. It is dominated by sand, visible to the naked eye. A ball of moist soil rolls with difficulty, does not roll into a tourniquet;
- sandy dry loose soil. A solid mass of grains of sand is visible. A ball of moist soil does not roll;
- gravel, or cartilaginous , the soil, along with clay and sandy particles, contains fragments of cartilage ranging in size from 3 to 10 and crushed stone larger than 10 mm.
The most suitable for vegetables are light and medium loams, floodplains and cultivated peatlands, where there is a lot of organic matter (humus).
The soil for all vegetables is carefully cut. In a continuous way, they are processed in autumn and spring. Autumn plowing (or digging the soil) is preferable, especially for sowing early vegetables. It begins after harvesting and after removing the remains of tops and roots. Before this, fertilizers are scattered on the site in an even layer.
When digging with a shovel, the layers of the earth are turned over so that the upper, more sprayed, layer is at the bottom, and the lower structural layer is on the surface. In autumn, clods of earth are not broken and the surface is not leveled, so moisture is retained more. The depth of the main processing is 22-30 cm.
In the spring, it is important to start preparing the soil for planting crops in a timely manner. The goal is to retain as much moisture as possible. When digging heavily moist soil, it is difficult to achieve its good cutting. And the delay in processing leads to withering. Therefore, in the spring you need to monitor the condition of the soil daily. Here are the simplest ways to determine its moisture content.
Dry soil is dusty. The hand does not feel the coolness of the mass. The damp soil does not dust, slightly cools the hand and smears, but the sheet of filter paper attached to it does not get wet. Moist soil feels wet, water does not ooze from it, but a sheet of filter paper gets wet quickly, and wet oozes water when squeezing.
They start tilling the soil when the soil is prepared: it is still damp, but no longer sticks to the shovel, crumbles into small lumps. The soil should be prepared without long breaks so as not to dry out the earth. This is especially important for early vegetable crops.
When digging in the spring, you need to choose from the soil the roots and shoots of weeds, as well as pest larvae.
Digging up the area experienced gardeners immediately bring the soil to a finely cloddy state (lumps 1-10 mm in size). They loosen it with a rake and level the surface with their back side.
Areas with severe clay soil, as well as those intended for late crops or fertilized before sowing, are dug up again to a depth of 14-16 cm, carefully cut with a rake or a threshing machine. On the prepared plantation, plots and passages between them are marked out or ridges are made, and then vegetable crops are sown or planted without delay.
In order not to overdry the land, it is necessary to prepare as much area every day as the gardener is able to sow on the same day.
handle peat soils follows after thawing of the upper layer to a depth of 10-15 cm.
A mandatory method of pre-sowing soil preparation is rolling. To do this, use a special wooden skating rink, an ordinary board, a rammer. Rolling evens out the surface of the plot, ensures the placement of seeds at the same depth, promotes the influx of moisture from the lower layers of the soil to the seeds, guaranteeing their best germination and rapid germination.
In the conditions of Russia, the bed culture of vegetables is very effective. On heavy, waterlogged, cold soils, the ridges warm up faster in spring, which is especially important when growing early and heat-loving vegetables. The layer of soil raised above the surface of the earth becomes looser, physical and Chemical properties and plants grow better. On the beds it is more convenient to sow and care for plants.
In low, swampy areas of the ridge, it is better to cook in the fall in order to sow vegetables in the spring. early dates. True, in a dry summer, the ridges need to be watered more often, but the labor costs pay off. high yield. On the ridges, gardeners get better and earlier vegetables. Experiments have shown that the yield of cold-resistant crops (carrots, beets, early cabbage) in the beds increases by 2-13, and heat-loving crops (cucumber, tomato) by 27-32%.
With a flat terrain, it is recommended to place the ridges from the southeast to the northwest or from the south to the north. At the same time, they are evenly illuminated and warmed up by the sun, this ensures the same development of plants. In beds placed in an east-west direction, plants on the south side develop faster, which leads to uneven ripening of the crop.
In gardens located on slopes, it is better to make ridges across the slope, otherwise they are destroyed by excess water runoff in spring and heavy rains.
The size of the ridges depends on the configuration of the site, the depth of the arable layer, and other conditions. It is most rational to make them no more than 90-100 wide, 16-25 cm high, and no more than 10 m long. The width of the furrows-tracks should be 25-30 cm. water. Heat-loving crops (cucumber, zucchini) are sometimes placed on ridges, at the base of which manure is laid. Warm narrow ridges are obtained. The top of the ridges is leveled and seeds or seedlings of vegetable crops are placed.
One of milestones in the annual work of the gardener is soil preparation for planting seedlings. How to properly prepare the soil, what components and in what proportions to mix - about this in our today's article on the website for.
To get strong and healthy seedling Properly prepared soil is required. What does it mean? The substrate should be light, homogeneous, air and moisture permeable, nutritious and non-acidic. Many gardeners have learned to create correct soil. Today we will share a few proven recipes with you.
Preparing the soil for seedlings - farming methods
1. Direct food. Growing plants on mineral fertilizers gives a quick result, but the taste of such vegetables and usefulness become lower. Mineral ions are instantly absorbed by root threads, but do not protect plants from diseases. In the future, it is necessary to repeatedly apply pesticides.
2. Mediation food. Through bacteria and fungi, which process elements into suitable for absorption by plants. This natural farming does without pesticides. Plants do not get sick, as fungi and bacteria secrete substances that prevent diseases.
3. Complementary food. Used as direct power supply elements ( mineral fertilizers), and intermediary nutrition (through living organisms).
Mineral fertilizers do not protect seedlings from diseases Soil preparation for seedlings - method 1
If you want to get a truly healthy and tasty crop of vegetables, use this recipe for preparing soil for growing seedlings. It was created according to the principle natural farming without the use of fast digesting nutritional supplements.
Take fine-grained soil from the garden, which contains fungi and bacteria necessary for processing nutrients. Preparation for sowing seeds involves sifting it.
Garden soil contains beneficial bacteria and fungi To increase the proportion of nutrients, add a fifth of biohumus to the soil. These are the waste products of worms, valuable for their composition. In the process of passing through the digestive tract of the worm, the soil is treated with bacteria, which subsequently protect the plants from diseases.
Add ash from hardwood trees or herbs. You can burn old hay or cut grass. On a bucket of soil - half a glass of ash. It contains all the nutrients that were in the plants. Especially a large variety of valuable substances in forbs.
For growing seedlings when preparing the soil, it is useful to add ash Soil preparation for seedlings - method 2
The second recipe proposed by gardeners is based on the principle of mixed farming. In other words, it combines direct food and intermediary food. In this case, many components are involved in creating the soil for seedlings. For all cultures, you can prepare the same mixture.
High-quality nutrition for young plants will provide:
Sopravell - 0.5 l;
biohumus - 0.5 l;
bioneks - a handful;
farmed chicken manure- a handful of;
fermented bran - a handful;
liquid bio-cocktail of mineral fertilizers ("Ecoperin", "NV", "Vostok", etc.).
The soil for seedlings should be loose and nutritious. First of all, we mix all the dry ingredients, thoroughly rubbing the soil in our hands. Next, we produce moistening while maintaining a lumpy structure. To do this, do not pour, but spray the composition on the soil, mixing in your hands. To prepare the solution, you can not use chlorinated water - it is better to take rain, melted water or settled water.
The ideal moisture, which must be achieved when preparing the soil for planting seedlings, is determined as follows: when compressed, a lump should form, which easily disintegrates when moving.
Moistened nutrient soil mixture should be placed in a dark bag and tightly tied. A minimum of 2 weeks should be expected for soil preparation, a maximum of 2-3 months.
It takes at least 2 weeks to prepare the soil for planting seedlings. Soil preparation for seedlings - method 3
Consider another recipe for preparing soil for seedlings from experienced gardeners. In this case, take peat or old humus (at least 2 years), dried sod land in a state of small lumps and coconut flakes. All in the same amount.
To disinfect the earth, you can use the method of pickling in the oven or watering with a solution of potassium permanganate. But in this case, the result will be dead earth. It is better to use biological products: "Fitosporin", "Baikal", "Azofit".
Coconut shavings - an affordable soil baking powder for seedlings As baking powder, vermiculite or perlite is suitable. More simple and affordable option- coconut shavings. A bucket should take 7-8 liters. It turns out a loose mass. In a month, microorganisms will do their job, there will be no pathogens in the soil, it will become like fluff. When preparing, ash should also be added to the soil - 1 cup per bucket - and 1 tsp. AVA fertilizers.
Preparing the soil for growing seedlings - method 4
The last method we'll look at doesn't involve using mineral dressings. As a basis, you can take the cheapest soil available for sale. It consists of peat of different layers: high-moor (not completely decomposed) and lowland (completely decomposed). It should not contain any other additives.
To improve the composition, we add sand to the soil for seedlings (in a volume identical to the volume of peat or slightly less). It is air and water permeable, makes the soil less dense, crumbly. The sand heats up quickly, which is good for seedling roots. In addition, it is heavy and serves as a counterweight to tall seedlings, preventing the pot from falling. Almost all seedlings love sandy soil.
When preparing the soil, it is worth adding sand Sand can be taken at a construction site, it must be gray or white. Best of all - river. The main thing is not to take red sand, which contains iron oxide. It shouldn't be too small.
peat soil usually deoxidized at the production stage, but this is often not enough. Therefore, gardeners are advised to produce additional deoxidation - 1 tsp. chalk per liter of soil. For the nutritional value of the soil, biohumus is added - 1 liter per 10 liters. Good biohumus is dried, sifted, without large fractions. It is necessary to mix the composition very well, kneading with your hands. After two weeks, you can start growing seedlings.
Peat soil usually needs additional deoxidation We examined 4 ways to prepare the soil for planting seedlings. You can also learn how to properly prepare the soil from the video.
Autumn fertilization into the soil can significantly increase productivity, but this is not the whole range of measures that the soil requires. Preparation is divided into several stages, following which you can achieve amazing results throughout the subsequent period.
Autumn soil preparation
By cultivating the land in the fall, you can significantly increase the yield. It is only necessary to perform all the steps in strict sequence. Work should begin immediately after harvesting all the vegetables: in late September - early October. It is important to start it before the onset of the cold season and before the start. Immediately after harvesting tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, it is necessary to loosen the ground with a rake. This will allow the weed seeds to germinate.
After two weeks after loosening, when weed shoots appear, the earth must be dug up. During this process, the bear and many other pests are destroyed. Do not be afraid of young growth of grass. Many types of weeds die completely when the upper part of the plant is destroyed. When cleaning the soil surface in autumn, many pathogens and pests die. Preparation during this period is especially important. It is necessary to dig the soil to the depth of the fertile layer (20-25 cm), trying not to get the barren layer to the surface.
But if the land contains a large amount of clay or the site has been neglected and a large number of weeds have grown on it, digging is indispensable both in autumn and in spring. Of course, if you want to have a rich harvest!
The clods of earth formed after digging in the fall should not be broken. The soil left in this form for the winter is better saturated with air, less compacted. During winter frosts clods of earth freeze through, destroying the remaining larvae, pests, pathogens and the root system of weeds.
Fertile soil: preparation
The soil in which there is a large amount is considered more fertile due to the fact that these creatures saturate it with humus. If a upper layer does not have a continuous cover of weeds, then the earth can not be dug up, loosening is quite enough. Sometimes such a plot is sown in the fall. This prevents the leaching of nutrients from the top layer and creates favorable conditions to form humus.
Spring soil preparation
On loose ground that was dug up in the fall, the snow melts much faster in the spring, so the season can start earlier. Lumps, breaking up into small fractions, freely pass water. As a result, loose and fertilized soil is formed. Training in early spring does not take much time - you only need to grind large clods, and you can start. This is best done after the earth dries out and begins to lag freely behind the surface of the shovel.
Greenhouse: ground care
If on suburban area there is a greenhouse, then there are a number of activities that should be completed in the fall. Since the air in the greenhouse is warm and rather humid, this creates certain conditions for the development of all kinds of microorganisms - pathogens. Soil preparation in the greenhouse should be carried out in the fall, because this time is the best suited for cleaning from unwanted pests.
First you need to remove all the remnants of tops and weeds, and then disinfect the soil. To do this, use copper sulfate (one tablespoon per ten liters of water), which must be applied to the ground. Such procedures should be performed with great care, and if there is not enough experience, it is better to use another method. To do this, it is necessary to remove the top layer of earth (5-6 cm) and take it outside the greenhouse. This allows you to get rid of weed seeds, larvae and other pests. And then add the missing layer with manure, compost, sand and tree leaves. After that, the soil is dug up, thus evenly mixing with fertilizers.
On the walls of the greenhouse, as a rule, all kinds of fungi and mold multiply. To get rid of them, it is necessary to fumigate with sulfur.
How to get a good strawberry harvest
Soil preparation for planting strawberries includes site selection and soil cultivation. Fans of this berry should be aware that such a culture will not grow well in a sandy area, since it has an upper root system, which in the summer will simply overheat and dry out. On land with a lot of clay, it is also problematic to get good harvest because the roots will not have enough oxygen. Soil quality can be improved by adding humus. It is better to prepare beds for strawberries, the height of which is 10 centimeters, and the distance between them is up to half a meter.
Preparing the soil for strawberries in August
This berry grows in one place up to 4 years, so preparing the land may require some effort. You should immediately get rid of all the weeds, because after planting weeding will have to spend a lot of effort. Having decided on the place, it is necessary to dig up the soil and carefully select all the roots. It should be borne in mind that this berry is sun-loving, and in the shade of trees you can not count on the harvest.
Soil preparation, namely the selection of all weeds, is a rather tedious process. The same problem can be solved by using "Hurricane"). After spraying, after 10 days, the site is dug up, and with the help of a rake, dead plants. Then the soil is fertilized and seedlings are planted. Preparing the soil for strawberries in August, followed by planting, allows you to get the first harvest next year.
Crop rotation when planting strawberries
When alternating to personal plot cultivated crops maintain the fertility of the land. It also significantly reduces the number of pests and the likelihood of disease. At perennial cultivation in the same place of identical crops, “fatigue” of the soil occurs, and productivity decreases. Each type of plant is affected by certain diseases. Growing in one place leads to the accumulation of pathogens and a powerful defeat of planted crops.
Therefore, soil preparation for strawberries should be carried out taking into account what has grown in this area before. It is not recommended to plant this berry after potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and cabbage. The most favorable place is where carrots, onions, peas, garlic, and beets grew.
Preparing a plot for raspberries
When planning to plant raspberries, keep in mind that you need to choose the right site. After all, this plant forms many shoots, loves fertile land and sunlight. It is not advisable to plant the berry in open, windy, low and wet areas, as well as between rows of trees. The most successful would be the location along the fence.
Due to the fact that raspberries deplete the soil quite strongly and can grow in one place for up to ten years, it is necessary to fertilize the soil well before planting. good action provide organic fertilizers that can be mixed with compost and ash. Soil preparation in the fall is the best option. First, they dig it up and remove the weed roots, then evenly distribute the fertilizer over the surface and dig it up again.
The required amount of nutrients depends on the soil. If the site is poor, then it is necessary for each square meter add 10 kg of organic matter, as well as 30 g of phosphorus and potash fertilizers. 10 kg should be added to fertile soil organic fertilizers and 20 g of phosphorus and potassium. carried out in the spring.
Planting raspberries in the same place: features
If you need to remove the old bushes of the plant and plant new ones, then the preparation will take much longer. First, old bushes are removed and the soil is fertilized. In the next two years, it is necessary to plant on this site various vegetables: beets, carrots, cucumbers, onions, radishes. In the year of planting, crops are also planted that are harvested early (lettuce, dill, onion), and then the land is prepared. It is on such soil that raspberries will grow most effectively. Soil preparation and proper crop rotation will ensure a good harvest for ten years.
Autumn land preparation is the key to a good potato harvest
For a good harvest of this crop, loose earth. To do this, it is necessary to dig the site deep in the fall. It is better to do this in mid-September - late October. Large clods of earth should not be crushed. During winter frosts, pest larvae will be destroyed, and the earth will acquire the necessary friability, which will ensure optimal conditions for potato development. In the spring, fertilizers must be applied to the site and, with the help of a rake, they should be embedded in the ground, while the surface will level out, large clods of soil remaining after winter will be crushed.
It is necessary to know that the activity of microorganisms should be supported in the soil during the entire growing season. This can be achieved by introducing organic matter, phosphorus and potash fertilizers into the soil. The addition of several types of nutrients involves the incorporation of one item first, and the next one a week later. The application is carried out after the snow melts, as it has negative impact on the microflora. Fulfillment of these requirements allows you to competently carry out such an event as soil preparation. Potatoes should be planted after the soil has dried sufficiently.
If planting is carried out in too wet ground, then its friability decreases and the likelihood of nutrient loss increases. During the growth of potatoes, the air supply must also be maintained by applying hilling.
Fall is the season for planting garlic.
The autumn time is characterized not only by preparing the soil for the next season - this is the most auspicious time for planting garlic and onions. The main advantages of sowing before winter:
- plants harden in the winter in a natural way;
- earlier harvest.
The optimal landing time is mid-October, but before the first frost. This time ensures that in the event of a short-term warming, the garlic does not begin to sprout prematurely.
Soil preparation should begin a month before the planned planting and include all necessary measures. First, fertilizers (humus and ash) should be applied, and then the earth is dug up. After 30 days, you can start sowing.
Choice of landing site
It is important to choose the right landing site. You can not plant onions and garlic in the same area every year. The most favorable place is after legumes, nightshade, cabbage. autumn planting provides the formation of a powerful root system, for this the depth should not exceed 5 cm. Also, bulbs or cloves should not be strongly pressed into the ground.
Autumn preparation of beds for cucumbers
Every gardener knows that in the spring there is a lot of work on the plot, so autumn soil preparation makes the task much easier. Cucumbers are very demanding on humidity and temperature. Therefore, when choosing a site, it is necessary to take into account all the nuances.
The first stage of land preparation includes cultivation from possible diseases. To do this, you need to "disinfect" the soil blue vitriol, the concentration of which should be one tablespoon per 10 liters of water. A week later, compost is introduced into the soil and sealed up. In autumn, unripened compost can be used. Good results gives manure. Soils containing sand and characterized by high acidity are considered the most optimal for growing cucumbers.
When choosing a site, crop rotation must be taken into account. The best option it is considered if before that tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions grew on the beds. Do not plant cucumbers after zucchini, watermelons, pumpkins. This is because these plants take the same nutrients from the soil, and are also susceptible to the same diseases and pests. The site prepared in the fall must be loosened. Before planting seedlings or seeds in the ground, weeds that have appeared should be regularly removed. The soil, the preparation of which is the main condition for a bountiful harvest, must be generously fertilized and loosened. These simple rules, as well as compliance with crop rotation allows you to maintain an exemplary garden even for beginner summer residents.
In the spring, with the onset of heat, all summer residents go to their plots to prepare the land for planting. They begin to dig it up, loosen it with a cultivator, and this is where all their efforts end, but this approach is not entirely correct.
Soil preparation
Regardless of which plants will be planted in the garden, first of all you need to loosen the soil by hiring a tractor if the beds are enough large sizes. It is not too late to do this, but not too early either, when the soil is no longer frozen, but not too wet either. Plowed land should be given a little time to settle and compact. In no case should you walk on freshly made land very often, because this violates its splendor and plants planted in such a place will grow and develop poorly.
Fertilizer
The earth can be fertilized by various means, but it is still better to use only natural products. Ripe compost, prepared in the fall, needs to be sifted, all debris removed from it, mixed with the ground and sprinkled with this fertilizer on the garden.
Fertilizers are best applied a few weeks before the planned planting of seeds, so that he has time to soak into the ground and fertilize it. Fertilizing is quite simple - all that is needed for this is a shovel, evenly distribute the compost over the beds, and then mix it with a rake with the ground, but you don’t need to bury it, it should be on top.
loosening
Deep loosening is best done in the fall, so that in the spring you can loosen the soil slightly to ventilate its top layer and provide air access. For loosening, you can use:
- cultivator;
- grubber;
- ripper.
Before planting plants, the site must be leveled with a rake, but in this case you will have to work hard and sweat - such an activity will replace any sports training. Rakes need to work across and along to remove all the lumps from the territory that need to be raked to the side. Such tillage will allow it to sit down a little, which will provide the seeds with normal contact with the ground and they will germinate much better and faster.
All pits in which water can stagnate must be leveled, because otherwise, the seeds may not germinate well, and the seedlings may disappear due to a large number moisture.
Borders and paths
Before you start planting plants, you need to make a layout of the site and a system of movement along it - to tread paths between future vegetables so that you do not have to walk around the planted garden and trample seeds into it.
To make the paths even, you can use a regular rope that can be pulled between the pegs to better mark the area. To create a border on the beds, you can get plastic plates or durable curb tapes which will give the site a more attractive and well-groomed appearance.
In autumn and spring, you should always prepare the beds for future sowing and then you can expect a good harvest - proper care, garden fertilizer, loosening - the way to abundant harvests that will delight all family members.
And from your summer cottage will be properly grown seedlings. Therefore, first of all, you need to take care of the soil in which the seeds will germinate. The soil mixture for seedlings must meet certain characteristics. It should have good porosity, looseness and not too acidic. Such indicators can be achieved provided that the soil for seedlings is properly prepared.
We select components for the soil
A typical mistake of beginner gardeners is to sow seeds in ordinary soil taken from their garden. Therefore, many fail in growing seedlings of vegetables at home and prefer to buy plants ready for planting. The secret to getting good seedlings is proper preparation soil for seedlings. Therefore, we will prepare it ourselves, especially since there is nothing complicated in this process.
The soil for seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, eggplant and cucumbers should consist of the following components:
- Humus. It is obtained from rotted manure or plants, which makes this soil the most nutritious and fertile of all. existing species soil.
- Peat. An integral component of any soil mixture for seedlings. It provides income required amount plant moisture. It also contributes to the creation of good looseness of the soil.
- baking powder. In addition to peat, the soil for seedlings acquires good porosity after the addition of coarse-grained river sand. This component creates Better conditions for cultivation garden plants seedling way. River sand and peat can replace sawdust, but before using them, they must be treated with boiling water.
- leaf ground. Distinctive feature of this type of soil is its high friability, but the low content of nutrients does not allow it to be used as the main soil for seedlings. Therefore, its use is possible only after combining with other types of soil. Leafy land is most often collected in the forest belt, where they grow deciduous trees. Vegetable growers do not recommend using land collected under willow, oak or chestnut, as they prepare the soil for seedlings good quality it will not work: it is too saturated with tannins.
We mix the components
Soil preparation for seedlings is not too complex process, but still, the vegetable grower requires some effort and free time. Therefore, many prefer not to bother and purchase a ready-made soil mixture. However, not all manufacturers of such products are conscientious, and it is possible to purchase with an acidic environment. Even if you add mineral fertilizers to it for good seed germination and strong seedlings may not be received.
For this reason, the soil for seedlings of tomatoes, cabbage, peppers and eggplant experienced summer residents prepared by hand. It is best to do this process in the fall, and by spring the soil for seedlings will settle and sit down. If you leave it for storage in the barn, then it will also freeze well, which will only benefit him.
Soil preparation for seedlings begins with the process of mixing the earth. To do this, spread the polyethylene on the ground and pour it into necessary proportions every component.
Experienced vegetable growers are advised to make the composition of the soil for seedlings for different cultures separately, as each vegetable has its own individual needs and preferences.
The soil for seedlings of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant should have the following compositions:
- To one part of soddy land add 1 part of peat and river sand. The resulting composition is thoroughly mixed, after which it is well watered with a nutrient solution consisting of 25-30 grams of superphosphate, potassium sulfate and 10 grams of urea per 10 liters of water.
- Soddy soil and humus are mixed in equal proportions. Steam can be added to a bucket of the resulting mixture matchboxes superphosphate and 0.5 liter cans of ash.
To prepare the soil for seedlings of cabbage you will need:
- Mix humus (compost), leaf soil and river sand 1:2:1. On a bucket of the mixture, 1 cup (200 g) of ash, 0.5 cups of lime - fluff, 1 matchbox of potassium sulfate and 3 matchboxes of superphosphate will not be superfluous. If it is not possible to use mineral fertilizers, then they can be replaced with ash in the amount of 3 glasses.
The soil for seedlings of cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, watermelons is prepared in the following composition:
- one bucket leaf ground mix with the same amount of humus. 1 cup (200 g) of ash is poured into the resulting mixture, up to 10 g of potassium sulfate, and about 20 g of superphosphate is also added. Everything is thoroughly mixed.
I would like to warn vegetable growers against excessive use of fertilizers when preparing the soil for vegetable seedlings if the base soil used is nutritious in itself. This is due to the fact that on initial stage seed germination, the plant does not require many trace elements. The need for them arises only when the first true leaves appear. Therefore, additional nutrition is usually introduced through liquid fertilizer a few weeks after germination.
Soil disinfection
This process is necessary to remove pathogens from the soil. Disinfect the soil mixture for home seedlings can different ways, one of which is its freezing. But, if this is not possible, then you can use watering with disinfectants or steam treatment.
- Method one. It is good to pour the prepared fertile mixture with a solution of potassium permanganate (3 g per 10 l of water), and then carry out additional processing antifungal drugs.
- Method two. Land for seedlings is placed in a cloth bag or in a perforated container and set to steam for 45 minutes. You can, of course, ignite the earth in the oven, but along with pathogenic microbes, the necessary nutrients also disappear.
After the disinfection process has been carried out, seed material can be placed in the earthen nutrient mixture. Prepared soil for seedlings in accordance with all the rules will guarantee a high and stable harvest in your summer cottage. Have a good season!