Rules for preparing soil for pepper seedlings

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The soil for the pepper seedlings is the main ingredient in the cultivation process. To achieve a high-quality harvest, you need to pay great attention to its preparation. We will tell you more about this process in the article.

Rules for preparing soil for pepper seedlings

Cook it yourself or buy

The stores sell universal potting mixes. But it is not always possible to be sure that it is suitable for the crop being grown. Therefore, before planting, it is necessary to study all the plant requirements for the composition of the soil.

There are times when in stores, instead of a high-quality mixture, peat is packed. Then it must be additionally fertilized with compost. The worst option is if the land has already been used in greenhouses, because it is already unusable.

The conclusion suggests itself that it is better to prepare the soil for pepper seedlings yourself at home.

Ground requirements

To get quality seedlings, you need to know which land to choose. Good seedling soil must meet some criteria:

1. Light, loose, porous - in such a soil, the roots of the culture have access to air.
2. Good water permeability - a crust should not form on the surface, which will prevent moisture from other layers of the earth.
3. The presence of organic matter - only in soil saturated with useful substances can high-quality seedlings be grown. Life-giving microflora is of great importance in the agrotechnical process.
4. Balance - must contain elements such as potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, copper, zinc. For seedlings, their proportions should be optimal.
5. Neutral and slightly acidic - pH should be between 6 and 7. At high acidity, liming of the soil is carried out. To do this, you can add slaked lime, ash. The correct pH level prevents such plant diseases: blackleg and keela.
6. Lack of larvae, pests, fungi. Weeds must be carefully removed. Make sure that there are no rotting plant residues. The presence of these substances will lead to the disease of seedlings in the future, even to their death.
7. Purity - should not be weighed down by heavy metals, industrial waste.

If the land for seedlings of peppers has significant deviations from the requirements, this will adversely affect the plants. The bad component in the soil is clay, which makes it heavier and weakens its carrying capacity. Also, a peat substrate is not completely suitable for cultivation.

The composition of the correct soil

The soil can be bought or made by yourself

When the decision is made to prepare the mixture with your own hands, you need to determine what should be included in its composition. Do not sow seeds in unprepared soil. There are certain ingredients that pepper has a preference for. After all, each of them contributes to the final composition, which is the most appropriate.

Peat

Thanks to this substance, the soil is loose.It enriches the earth, gives plants nitrogen that is useful for them. It also provides them with moisture. For seedlings of peppers, such types of peat as lowland and transitional are suitable. The first is the most nutritious. If you use surface peat, then you should improve the land - liming. After all, this species is characterized by high acidity, which must be neutralized.

Humus

Since the seedlings require nutritious soil, before sowing the culture, you need to saturate it with useful elements. Fresh manure cannot be used in cultivation. But humus is obtained by overheating it (or plants). Therefore, it contains a lot of minerals, thereby increasing the fertility of the earth, which peppers love so much. High-quality humus has no manure smell. It takes a long time to prepare it - from 2 to 5 years. A big plus of this component is its versatility. It fits perfectly for all plants.

Leaf land

Also called leaf humus. It got its second name due to the large number of useful elements. The soil is formed from the fallen leaves under the trees, which are overheated over time. Therefore, you can dig it up in the forest or cook it yourself. For this:

• leaves are stacked;
• soil is poured between them;
• moisturize from time to time.

To accelerate the decomposition of substances, add manure, urea, lime. The process will be completed in 1-2 years.

For the preparation of this type of soil, leaves from maple, oak, aspen are not suitable. Linden and birch trees are considered the most suitable.

Sod land

Sod is obtained by removing the topsoil along with the grass. After all, it contains many useful elements that do not lose their properties for many years. Harvesting is performed in the summer or autumn period. Store in boxes.

Sod land has 3 types:

• easy;
• medium;
• heavy.

The first and second types are the most suitable for seedlings. After all, the light one consists of sand, and the middle one is made of clay and sand. Heavy has a lot of clay in its composition, so it is better not to use it.

Baking powder

This group combines several types of components. Their purpose is to improve the porosity of the soil for planting crops. One of the main components is coarse river sand. Using it together with peat replaces sawdust. Also, the following substances will help to loosen the soil under the peppers:

• sphagnum - has bactericidal properties, prevents rotting of the root system, increases humidity;
• sawdust - provide lightness of the structure, increase permeability;
• perlite - increases the plant's resistance to fungi, helps to maintain the optimal temperature;
• vermiculite - provides moisture, saves the soil from drying out.

Ash

Wood ash is a very useful organic fertilizer. Contains many trace elements that promote the growth of pepper seedlings after planting. Experienced gardeners recommend using birch ash.

Compost

Instead of humus, you can use plant residues, which are prepared in a special way. To prepare compost, they are stacked in heaps. It is advisable to add peat, phosphate rock, garden soil. Over time, organic matter should decompose and mature. This takes an average of 2 years. Thanks to compost, soil fertility and ventilation are increased.

Seedling mix recipes

We add useful substances to the earth

By combining different ingredients, you can prepare the soil for the peppers. For this, the components are mixed in various ways:

1. Sand, peat, humus, earth are taken in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 1.
2. Sand, humus, turf, earth one by one. A glass of ash is given for 10 kg of the mixture.
3. Equal proportions of lowland peat and humus with the addition of potassium sulfate and superphosphate.
4. One part of compost (can be replaced with peat), 1 part of sand or perlite, 2 parts of turf.
5. In equal amounts of humus, leaf and sod land, a little sand (vermiculite or perlite).

Alternatively, you can use a baking powder instead of sand. It is better to start preparing the ground for seedlings of peppers in the fall. During the winter period, it will settle down and sit down.

The soil is poured into cups or other containers, kneading the lumps well.

Soil improvement

When the mixture is ready, pathogens must be removed from it. You cannot do without such a procedure. For this purpose, the ground is frozen. You can bring it to the barn for the winter. It will thaw in the spring. Steaming is also carried out, which can last from half an hour to several hours. After the procedure, the mixture is stored in sealed containers in cool, dark places. Disease-causing bacteria will also die when processed in microwave ovens. The temperature should be set at 40-50˚С. But it should be borne in mind that this method of disinfection destroys useful substances.

When there are doubts about the quality of the land (taken from the forest), you can pickle with fungicidal and insecticidal preparations. They are used strictly according to the specified instructions, using their own means of protection.

In addition to liming, to reduce the acidity of the soil, it can be treated with preparations of the Flora-S type. They also neutralize chemicals. To improve the microflora, solutions such as "Baikal", "Gumi" are used.

The preparation of the soil for peppers is carried out using a solution of potassium permanganate. Additional treatment with an antifungal agent is needed. This procedure is done a week before sowing. Ash is also added. Fertilizers are used with caution. After all, the correct storage of the soil has a lot of nutrients. An excess of them is harmful to seedlings. Additional feeding is applied a few weeks after germination, when leaves appear.

Recommendations

After sowing the seeds, it is not necessary to add soil to the container. If, nevertheless, such a need arose, it can be added only with the mixture in which the cultivation takes place. This is done in several stages. It is important not to cover the first leaves of the sprouts. When the stem is lignified below, stop adding soil. Otherwise, root rot may occur or their growth will stop.

You can also grow seedlings on substrates without adding land. Use only a mixture of sawdust, sand, coconut tablets, peat pillow.

Conclusion

Without proper soil preparation, it is impossible to grow strong and strong seedlings. This must be understood by every gardener who takes up the cultivation of peppers.

The appropriate components will provide all the necessary nutrients to the plants. The initial cultivation process will go well and start a good harvest.