How to feed tomato seedlings

The hot season has come for all summer residents, regardless of their area of ​​residence. I live on Baikal. Many garden crops have to be planted as seedlings in the ground, this also applies to tomatoes.

To the question: “How to feed tomato seedlings?”, I will answer using the experience of my mother - she is an experienced summer resident who not only grows seedlings for herself, but also to sell roots for 3000! She has already transported her seedlings to a heated greenhouse; she carefully closes them at night, but has not yet planted them.

She begins to feed the seedlings from the moment the leaves are “baptized”, but the main thing in this matter is not to overdo it, because... You can get good green mass, but there will be no fruit. If the leaves are dark green in color and the stems are dense, with a purple tint, then fertilizing at an early stage is not needed.

When seedlings grow for a long time in a window in a small amount of soil and fertilizing, the leaves below begin to turn yellow and crumble, this indicates that the tomatoes do not have enough nitrogen, which is transferred from the lower leaves to the upper ones. (Attention! If there is an excess of nitrogen, all leaves turn yellow.)

If a plant lacks phosphorus, then on the underside of the leaves, their veins and stems become purple.

A lack of potassium, which tomatoes need in large quantities, is manifested by wrinkling of young leaves, and later by uneven ripening of fruits.

Chlorosis, or in other words, iron deficiency, can manifest itself in tomatoes that are kept in a lighted room around the clock, but we also know from biology that the main growth and processing of useful substances occurs at night. In this case, spray the leaves with a weak (0.1-0.5%) hypotonic solution.

In general, tomatoes love feeding. The first one - do it 10 days after the pick. The second, after two weeks, and so on, until the seedlings are planted in the ground. Each housewife chooses what to feed tomato seedlings herself. This could be complex fertilizers, of which there are many on sale now, or it could be a solution of superphosphate, potassium sulfate, urea per 10 liters in grams of 35-12-4. Before fertilizing, do not forget to water the seedlings.