How to grow seedlings in peat tablets

Picking, or transplanting seedlings from boxes to open ground is a real stress for any plant. There is a high probability of damaging the root system, or that a fungus lurks in the black soil. To make a strong and healthy shoot from the seed, which will give a rich harvest, modern summer residents use peat tablets.

The advantages of peat tablets

In specialized stores you can find washers of a brown tint of various diameters with a recess for seeds. Outside - a fine mesh reticulum, which keeps pressed peat with antibacterial additives and mineral components that nourish the plant.

There are several advantages of tablets:

1. The base is breathable, so the root system is constantly supplied with oxygen.
2. Such alternative pots are compact, and do not take up much space. Tablets of small diameter easily fit in a box from under the cake.
3. Seedlings during transplantation are not removed from the peat base, but placed in the ground with it.
4. The outer shell is absorbed gradually, and initially protects immature plants from the fungus.
5. Due to mineral supplements and growth stimulants, the seeds do not need additional fertilizer, and the shoots are strong, and give a rich harvest.
6. In peat tablets capricious and gentle plants perfectly get accustomed. Such devices are often used for the cultivation of expensive crops, and seedlings that do not tolerate picks.

How to choose the peat tablets

It is better to buy tablets with a loose structure, because in coarse and tightly compressed varieties the root system develops poorly and becomes weak. Coniferous plants and flowers love acid soil. Vegetables and strawberries should be grown in a neutral environment.It is worth buying pills in boxes, where the level of acidity is indicated.

Size matters
Tablets with a diameter of 24 to 36 mm are suitable for small seeds of strawberries or petunias. Options ranging in size from 41 to 70 mm are used for growing eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage, which need a lot of space for the development of roots.

Saving is bad
Some summer residents choose cheap tablets without a paper cover, but it is better not to spare money, and to buy copies in cardboard cups. First, they are impregnated with fungicides that will protect the plants from the fungus. Secondly, it is thanks to the shell that peat keeps its shape during swelling, otherwise it will crumble and fall apart in the hands.

How to use peat tablets

Tablets before use must be soaked in water, so that they swell up and increase in size every 6 and sometimes all 8.

1. Put the peat base on a tray, plastic or iron, can be in a plastic box from under the cake or sudochki from under the rolls and other products that do not leak, and have a lid.
2. The recess for the seed should be on top, because swollen tablets should not be turned over.
3. Between alternative pots need to maintain a distance, otherwise during the growth of the seedlings can be intertwined with roots, and it will be difficult to divide it neatly.
4. It is better to take warm water, then the peat swells faster. Pour the liquid on the tray so that it covers the tablets with the top. After 2-3 minutes, they will begin to absorb moisture, and rise up.
5. If necessary, top up with a little water until the peat ceases to absorb it. Drain the liquid so that it does not stagnate in the tray.
6. If necessary, you can break the grid at the top to expand the cultivated area. The edges bend inward so that they do not interfere, and do not catch on each other.
7. In cases where only one grain is placed in a tablet, it is not necessary to tear the net.

Tip: Peat tablets can be put on a pallet, in a cassette with special cells, or in a box filled with coarse-grained river sand, which will take away excess water, preventing the appearance of rot and fungus.

Planting seeds in a pill

Planting material is carefully checked and sorted out, throwing empty and damaged copies.Large seeds, like cucumbers or tomatoes, are stuck into peat, and pushed with a finger inside. The seed should be at a depth, which is calculated by the formula: 2 * length of the workpiece. Top it sprinkled with a layer of humus, or gently rake peat from the edges in the center of the tablet.

Small seeds like strawberries or some garden flowers are picked up with a wet toothpick or a match. Put the workpiece in the recess, and lightly sprinkle with soil, or leave it open if the culture likes a lot of light.

How to plant
To grow ordinary seedlings, for example, cucumbers or cabbage, you need to stick 2-3 seeds. Usually, everyone survives, but only the strongest and strongest sprout is needed. The rest gently pull out.

Costly specimens are more economical: only 1 seed per peat tablet, maximum 2, to be sure that the culture will germinate.

Optimal conditions for growing seedlings

Containers with future seedlings covered with a plastic lid or a piece of plastic bag. You can use glass. Drawers should be put on a bedside table or a bookcase, the room should be warm, because in cold conditions, seedlings do not germinate, freeze, and die.

Do not place tablets near batteries or other heating objects.The soil will dry out and the plants will become weak, needing additional feeding.

During the daytime, you can put the seed containers on the windowsill to allow sunlight to fall on them. It is useful to open the lid every day for 1-2 hours to prevent condensation inside the box.

Tip: Peat tablets with naughty plants can be placed in plastic cups, which are covered with plastic bags. Due to the effect of a miniature greenhouse, seedlings hatch faster.

You can not keep the seeds around the clock on the windowsill, especially at night. They are cold, and make their way out later than specimens that were in warm conditions. When there are pots with plants on the windowsill, you cannot open the window for ventilation.

Rules for watering peat tablets

While the seedlings do not hatch, you can spray the peat tablets from the sprayer so that they do not dry out, but they also do not soak. If a white shade appears on them, you need to reduce the amount of liquid.

Water must be defended for at least 24 hours, so that harmful impurities settle to the bottom.White plaque on tablets indicates an excess of salt and heavy metals. In this case, the water is better to pass through the filter.

Peat should dry out slightly between waterings. If the soil remains wet, it is better not to add fluid, so as not to create conditions for the development of fungus.

First achievements

After the sprouts appear, one edge of the lid is advised to lift by placing a matchbox. Airing seedlings is better 2-3 hours a day, but avoid drafts. When green stalks appear, spraying is stopped. Now the water is poured onto the pallet to absorb the peat, and watered the roots of the plants.

After 2 weeks after emergence, you can add growth-stimulating components to the irrigation fluid. It is advised to try "Fitosporin", which disinfects the soil with water, preventing the appearance of mold and fungi.

Tip: It is not necessary to remove the outer shell from the tablets, which does not allow the peat to disintegrate. The roots in such conditions are well developed, and become strong enough to break through a thin frame. Seedlings are planted in the ground with a paper cup.

Secrets of experienced gardeners

1. Grown up and matured shoots are useful to make on the balcony when the air on the street warms up. It is enough 2 hours a day to make the plants adapt to new conditions more quickly after planting in open ground.
2. If the seed has not taken root in one of the pills, in its place you can plant a ready-made sprout, which remained after thinning the seedlings.
3. Sprouts can be moved to open ground after 3-4 weeks. If the culture belongs to the category of heat-loving and whimsical, it is better to wait until 10-12 weeks, when the roots begin to break through the outer shell.
4. Seedlings placed in the ground without removing from the pill. Cardboard or mesh eventually dissolves in the ground, becoming an additional fertilizer for plants.

Peat tablets are a godsend for summer residents and gardeners who want to get annually strong and stable seedlings that can give a rich harvest. They are compact and easy to use, contain all the necessary components for the rapid growth of garden flowers and vegetables.

Video: how to use peat tablets