Why tomato seedlings grow long and thin
Tomatoes are most often grown in seedlings. This is due to the fact that seed germination in open ground is much lower than in containers. In addition, the thermophilic plant does not tolerate spring frosts well. When growing young plants in a greenhouse or at home, gardeners also face a number of challenges. So, for example, sometimes tomato seedlings are pulled up. In this case, the stem becomes thin, and the plant becomes weak. Since long seedlings of tomatoes do not produce fruitful bushes, the problem cannot be ignored. Consider why the seedlings are pulled up and what to do if they are stretched long before planting.
Reasons for stretching seedlings in length
Causes
There may be several reasons why tomato seedlings stretch up very strongly. The most likely ones are:
- lack of light;
- non-compliance with the temperature regime when growing tomatoes;
- excessive watering;
- frequent feeding;
- improperly selected soil.
Let's talk about how each of the above problems affects the development of a young bush.
Lighting
Most tomato varieties ripen 2.5-3 months after germination. This is a long period, therefore, early varieties are planted at the end of winter. Mid-season and late varieties can be sown in early spring. During this period, daylight hours are short. Accordingly, the seedlings do not receive the amount of light necessary for normal development.
The duration of daylight hours for tomatoes should be about 16 hours, so all seedlings need additional lighting. It is also worth noting here that on cloudy days, you should not turn off the lamps used for supplementary lighting, even during the day. The amount of light required for tomatoes ranges from 240,000 to 25,000 lux. On a cloudy spring day, even south-facing windows receive much less light.
When arranging additional lighting, lamps are installed not only on top of the plants, but also on the sides. Otherwise, a long and thin liana may grow on the windowsill, which is not able to give a good harvest. The seedlings should be equally well lit from all sides.
To reduce the cost of growing young plants suitable for transplanting into open ground, energy-saving lamps are installed in lamps. It is advisable to purchase lamps with a timer that will turn on and off at a pre-set time.
Temperature regime
The reason that the tomato seedlings are strongly stretched right after germination may be non-observance of the temperature regime. Tomato seeds germinate best at a temperature of 25 ° C. If the air temperature is lower, you should not expect friendly and timely shoots.
Subject to the temperature regime, the seedlings will be strong
After the sprouts have appeared, the air temperature is lowered to 16 ° C.Deviations of 2 ° C are allowed. As soon as the sprouts get stronger and begin to turn into full-fledged plants with a powerful stem, the temperature is raised to 25 ° C. This should be done to stimulate the growth of tomatoes.
It is difficult to say exactly when to raise the air temperature. Some tomato varieties grow faster, while others grow more slowly. If you rely on the experience of specialists, you need to raise the temperature somewhere in 2-3 weeks after the sprouts appear.
In order to prevent stretching of tomato seedlings, after it reaches the optimum height for planting, the air temperature is lowered by 8-12 ° C. If you observe this temperature regime, you will not have to wonder why the tomato seedlings are thin and long. Tomatoes will have a strong stem and a well-developed root system.
Watering
If the seedlings receive enough light and the temperature is observed during cultivation, the reason that the tomato seedlings stretch up excessively may be due to an excess of moisture. It is strictly forbidden to flood the roots of young seedlings abundantly. Water the plants as needed.
Top dressing
To prevent tomato seedlings from stretching upwards, you do not need to overdo it with fertilizing. A tomato seedling that has risen for 14 days does not need feeding, even if it is weak in appearance. After this time, the vegetable crop is fed with superphosphates. To make it strong, preference is given to fertilizers, which contain potassium and phosphorus.
Nitrogen-containing fertilizers do not need to be fed to a vegetable crop before planting in the ground. If liquid fertilizing is used, you do not need to water the plant additionally. If dry fertilizers are used, the plants need to be watered after feeding.
Priming
If all of the above norms are met, but elongated tomato seedlings are still on the windowsills, the matter is most likely in the composition of the soil. Tomatoes need phosphorus and potassium, but nitrogen contributes to excessive plant growth, therefore, it is recommended to use substrates intended for tomatoes for planting seeds. If land from the garden is used, you need to monitor the growth of seedlings. If the tomato seedlings stretch up excessively, they should be transplanted using a special substrate.
So that the seedlings do not stretch too much, wash the soil with plenty of warm water before planting the seeds. After this procedure, the amount of nitrogen in the soil decreases.
Specialist recommendations
To prevent rapid growth, you need to fertilize the bushes with potassium.
In order not to think about why tomato seedlings have stretched out, you need to know everything about growing this vegetable crop. In addition to the main points that relate to lighting, temperature, watering and feeding, we will consider the nuances that not everyone knows about.
- To prevent the seedlings from stretching, it is recommended to grow them in separate small containers. If the plants are grown in the same container, you need to make sure that each of them has enough light. It is imperative to dive the plants growing together after the appearance of two full-fledged leaves on them. Seeds are not planted too close together. If the seedlings are stretched too far, they should be transplanted into separate containers.
- You need to grow tomatoes on a window located in the southern part of the house. It is these windows that are most illuminated in the spring. When growing tomatoes on windows located on the northern part of the house, the duration of additional lighting is increased.
- In order to prevent the young tomato seedlings from pulling out, the plants are hardened after the sprouts appear. It is permissible to carry containers with tomatoes onto a loggia or a glazed balcony. At the same time, it is important to ensure that temperature differences do not exceed 4-5 °. If the room temperature is 15 ° C, containers can be taken out to the balcony if the air temperature is at least 10 ° C.For a long period of time, containers are not allowed on the loggia. It is enough to devote several hours a day to hardening the plant.
- Regardless of why the seedlings are pulled out, it will not be superfluous to feed it with potash fertilizer. Potassium makes the juice between the cells of the plant thicker. And this, in turn, inhibits the growth of vegetable crops.
This problem cannot be ignored. Fruits from plants that have grown excessively will be small.
What to do with elongated seedlings
Let's figure out what can be done if the tomato seedlings are very stretched upward. The procedure depends on how much time is left before planting the plants in the ground.
Seedlings stretched out before planting
If the tomato seedlings are very stretched just before planting in the ground, nothing needs to be done. It is enough to adjust your actions when planting a vegetable crop. In general, planting extended tomato seedlings is practically no different from planting plants of normal growth. The only point worth paying attention to is the planting depth. It is advisable to make not a groove, but a hole. The roots of the plant are buried into the ground by no more than 8-10 cm. If you overdo it with the deepening of the roots, the plant will not be strong.
If there are more than 4-5 days left before planting, you can treat the planting material with wood ash. But you need to apply a small amount of this fertilizer. If you overdo it, you can overly inhibit the growth of a vegetable crop.
Seedlings stretched long before planting
First of all, it is necessary to find out why thin tomato seedlings were stretched, and then provide the tomatoes with the conditions necessary for normal development. To correct the height of the bush, it must be transplanted into a higher container, while deepening the root. Planting a tall plant too deep is not worth it. It is better to add soil to the container after a few days. If, after planting, a tall plant falls, it is necessary to create a support for it from available means.
If there is a lot of free space in the container, you can do differently. Stop watering the plant and wait for it to wilt to such an extent that the thin stem becomes plastic, then we lay the stem on the surface of the container in a spiral shape. It remains to fill the formed spiral with a thin layer of soil and moisten it well. A part of the stem that is in the ground will quickly give roots, and thanks to the powerful root system, the plant will become stronger.
Excessively high seedlings
If the planting material is too stretched upward, it is trimmed below the sixth leaf. The resulting seedlings are dipped in water and wait for them to give roots. As soon as the length of the roots reaches 1.5-2 m, the plant is planted in containers. At the same time, strong tomato bushes are grown at home from the lower part of the plants left after trimming the tops.
The plant will definitely give stepchildren. No action is taken until the length of the stepsons reaches 5 cm, then all the stepsons are cut off, leaving only 2 upper processes. If there are more than two stepsons at the top of the plant, the strongest of them are left. This method of solving the problem is suitable only if at least 20 days remain before planting the vegetable crop.
Conclusion
It is not difficult to grow good planting material at home. The main thing is to adhere to the norms of illumination and temperature conditions. Usually, if the tomato seedlings are stretched out, when planting, it is enough just to bury the roots in the soil.