Planting tomato seedlings in open ground: terms and rules for transplanting

It's no secret that tomatoes are one of the most beloved vegetable crops, which are happily grown in summer cottages. Therefore, such a responsible event as planting tomato seedlings in open ground should not be allowed to go on its own.

Explanatory advice and recommendations from experienced gardeners will help determine the correct timing for planting tomato seedlings, as well as how best to prepare the garden bed (than to fill it) and correctly plant tomato bushes in the ground.

Dates of planting tomato seedlings in open ground

Depending on the climatic characteristics of your region of residence and the current weather conditions, the timing of planting tomato seedlings in open ground may vary.

So, as a rule, in the Middle Lane (Moscow region) it falls on the second half of May, in the Urals and in Siberia - not earlier than the end of May-early June.Around the same time, tomatoes are planted in the ground in the North-West (in the Leningrad region), and in the southern regions, of course, much earlier - in the second half of April.

Advice! The main guideline for planting tomatoes and other vegetables is soil temperature, which by this time should warm up to + 8-10 degrees, and even better to +12 degrees. Moreover, the depth of heating should be practically the bayonet of a shovel (15-20 centimeters), in other words, this is the depth of the landing hole. At about this depth, you should place a thermometer in the ground to find out its temperature.

If you are going to plant tomato seedlings under a covering film or other material, you can do this a little earlier, about a week.

And here tomatoes are planted in the greenhouse even earlier.

Important!It is necessary to be sure that return spring frosts will not return, because if the soil temperature drops to 0 - +2 degrees, then the plants will most likely simply freeze and die.

According to the lunar calendar for 2021

The lunar calendar of 2021 shows us the following favorable days for planting tomato seedlings in open ground:

• in April - 1-7, 9-11, 24, 25, 27-30;
• in May - 2-4, 6, 9-12, 15-20, 25-29;
• in June - 2-4, 7-9.

Unfavorable days, lunar calendar 2021 the years that should not be planted are:

• in April -5-6, 12, 27;
• in May -2-4, 11, 26, 30-31;
• in June -10, 24, 26-27.

Preparing tomato seedlings for planting

The first thing to do with tomato seedlings as preparation before planting in open ground is her temper... It is optimal to do this 2 weeks before the expected date of transplanting to the garden. For example, you can take it out to a balcony or a heated greenhouse where the temperature does not drop below + 8-10 degrees. On the first day, seedlings will be enough half an hour stay in new more severe conditions. Next, increase the time proportionally and gradually bring it up to a full day.

Important! The seedlings should not be allowed to get sunburn from the too bright spring sun, so try to put the planting containers with seedlings in partial shade or somehow shade it.

7 days before planting in the ground, tomato seedlings can be fed, it is optimal to have time to do this in the morning or evening. Experienced gardeners advise using exactly foliar feeding (Spraying over foliage with a spray bottle.) This is because the foliage is already able to absorb nutrients and trace elements. For example, for better survival, you can spray tomato seedlings with a growth stimulant solution Epin or Zircon.

Root dressing also allowed. For example, you can feed a fertilizer such as Gumistar or any other fertilizer based on liquid biohumus. In principle, such a fertilizer is also suitable for spraying the leaf surface of tomato seedlings (foliar feeding), but in this case the amount of the drug should be reduced by 2-4 times.

Advice! If you are growing seedlings tall tomatoes or is she just very stretched out strongly, a the lower leaves turned yellow, then 3-5 days it is necessary remove all lower leaves (including cotyledons), and then also feed.

Finished appearance for landing in open ground tomato seedlings should be as follows:

• 25-35 centimeters high (measured from the root collar)
• 6 to 10 true dark green leaves, the first bud ovaries.

Advice! If possible (if you have a lot of seedlings), it is worth discarding all non-standard seedlings that stand out from the general mass. For example, they are too small or too tall. Most likely, there is something wrong with them.

It is also possible in advance (one day before disembarkation)process seedlings tomato from pests. It is optimal to do this long before the appearance of fruits, so that by the time of harvesting, the entire preparation has long been removed from the plant.According to experienced vegetable growers, the drug "Antichrushch" shows itself well, which protects against beetles, wireworms, bear, greenhouse whitefly.

The procedure for processing seedlings with an open root system (if your seedlings grow in a common container) is as follows: simply immerse the plant roots in the solution for 1 hour.

With a closed root system: pour 30-50 ml of solution over each glass or pot of seedlings. In this case, the solution is prepared with a lower concentration.

Video: preparing tomato seedlings for planting in open ground

Preparing the soil and beds for tomatoes

It is desirable to prepare a garden bed for growing tomatoes in the fall, adding humus (or compost) to it and wood ash, and then dig it up well. If desired, you can add peat and river sand (for loosening, if the soil is very clayey).

To improve the structure and nutritional value of the soil, you can plant winter crops in the future garden bed, for example, oats or vetch, before winter. Actually, if you plant siderates in spring - the effect will be similar.

Advice! It will not be superfluous check soil acidity, for the successful cultivation of tomatoes, the acidity should be neutral, approximately 6-7 pH. If the acidity is below 6-5.5 pH, then you should use one of the deoxidizers, for example, dolomite flour or make more wood ash.

If you are preparing the garden right away in the spring, then you should carefully approach the fertilization before planting. So, right into the hole before planting seedlings, you can pour a little wood ash (about 1 tbsp. spoon), a couple of handfuls of humus and 1 tbsp. spoon superphosphate, and then mix thoroughly with soil.

Advice! To disinfect the soil, add 1 tablet of "Glyocladin" to 1 plant.

Concerning crop rotation, then the best predecessors for planting and growing tomatoes will be onions, carrots, beets, cabbage and any legumes.

The worst, after which it is undesirable to plant, are all nightshades (eggplant, peppers, potatoes and the tomato itself).

Thus, if you want to get a good harvest of tomatoes, then every year you need to either find a new place for planting tomato seedlings, or carefully remove the entire top layer of soil and fill it with new fertile soil.

By the way! After tomatoes, it is recommended to plant only those vegetables that enrich the soil with nitrogen: legumes (peas, beans); pumpkin (pumpkin, zucchini, cucumbers); root vegetables (carrots, beets); cabbage (white and red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi), onions and garlic.

Video: preparing the soil for planting tomatoes in open ground

Planting tomato seedlings in open ground: step by step instructions

As for the time, it is best to choose either cloudy weather for planting tomato seedlings, or the afternoon, in the late afternoon, when the sun goes down.

The optimal scheme for planting tomato seedlings in open ground:

• Make holes (preferably staggered) at a distance of 20-40 cm from each other in a row and 30-60 cm in aisles (relevant for undersized determinant varieties).
• Moreover, if you have tall (indeterminate) tomatoes (which are more often grown in greenhouses), then the distance between the seedlings should be increased by 20-30 centimeters.

Advice! In order for the roots of seedlings to remain completely intact, the earthen lump should be watered about an hour and a half before planting the seedlings on the garden bed. If you cannot reach the plant, then a cardboard or plastic cup can be easily cut with scissors. And if your seedlings grew in peat tablets, then you do not need to take them out.

Step-by-step instructions for planting tomato seedlings on a garden bed in open ground:

• Prepare the garden bed in the fall, or do it in the spring.
• Determine when it will be possible to plant.
• Prepare seedlings: harden, feed and treat pests.
• Prepare the garden bed and install shelter arches.
• Dig holes at the required distance (according to a certain scheme) and add fertilizer to them.
• Spill the wells with water.
• Plant tomato seedlings, deepening the seedlings to cotyledon leaves or real ones (in this case, the cotyledons must be cut off).

Elongated or overgrown, as well as tall tomatoes, it is advisable to plant at an angle, cutting off all the lower leaves.

• Then you need to compact the soil next to the seedling and sprinkle it with loose earth. Overgrown and tall tomatoes must also be tied to pegs.
• Further, the tomatoes can be immediately gently slightly mulched, but it would be better to do this a little later (after 7-10 days).
• Cover the beds with foil or any other covering material.

By the way! About, when and how to plant tomatoes in the greenhouse, You can find out from this article.

Further care of tomatoes in the open field

The landing was successful, it's time to consolidate the work done ...

Advice! About, how to care for tomatoes in the open fieldto get a good harvest, read in this detailed material.

Well, tomato seedlings will have more prospects to grow, develop, and then bear fruit in the open field, if you correctly determine the timing of its planting, as well as take into account all the information about soil preparation, beds and the rules for planting seedlings on a garden bed.

Video: when and how to plant tomatoes in open ground