The crèche is a good system to optimize garden space and be able to anticipate planting , germinating the seeds on their own in a simple way and without any cost. For many species, the plants should be grown in trays with earthen bread stored in the refuge, which will be transplanted to the field when they are one month old.
However, it is not always advisable to germinate the seeds directly in the pot, especially for crops that have very small seeds. In fact, you can make a seedbed, with a simple plastic tray, in which you can put soil or scottex. Today we see how to do the scottex method often used for tomatoes and hot peppers.
The great advantage of the scottex method over traditional flooring is that the seeds are still in sight and you can find out how germination is going without having to wait to see if the sprout grows out of the ground.
Contents [Ocultar]
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The plastic box to use
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What blotting paper to use
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How to plant in cardboard
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Where to keep the seedbed
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The germination phase
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Replant sprouted seeds
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Some helpful tips about pills:
Contents
The plastic box to use
In order for the seeds to germinate in the box, you must first a clear plastic box , which is the best environment for our small nursery. The box must have a lid with a few holes circulate the air, without exaggeration to maintain optimal humidity and temperature inside. Better several small holes than a few big ones.
The box should ideally be square or rectangular, this facilitates the arrangement of small rows of seeds. The good boxes are the transparent ones like those for jelly beans from Ikea or Haribo.
What paper towel to use
There are different types of paper, the precaution is not to use one that is too thick and resistant. Otherwise, the roots get tangled, which makes transplanting difficult.
It is also necessary to avoid colored or patterned paper towels: to do organic gardening, you must avoid chemical compounds. Any ink on paper towel comes into contact with our seeds which will germinate.
How to sow in the box
for planting about ten sheets should be used, cut to the size of the hopper. The sheets of paper, moistened with a few drops of water, should cover the bottom of the flat container.
The water used for wet the cardboard it must be little but enough to soak all the sheets, the paper must be impregnated and not soaked, so it must be moistened by drip or spray. The water should be low in lime and at room temperature. If there is stagnant water, it must be removed with another paper towel which will be thrown away after use, stagnation facilitates the development of mold and fungus.
After putting the sheets of paper towel all that remains is to place our seeds leaving them the space they need for their future growth. If the seeds are placed too close, it will be difficult to transplant them because the roots will get stuck and moving them may damage the young shoots born.
You have to keep the seedbed
Our scottex sprouter can be kept in warm areas of the house , perhaps near a radiator or other heat source. This system is excellent for varieties that want to ripen in the heat, such as hot peppers: it allows you to put ready-to-use seedlings in the garden, thus extending the summer period and approaching more tropical climatic conditions.
You will need to find a heat source to place our Scottex Box nearby, for example you can use the top of a PC in the power supply area or the heat produced by a radiator. During the germination period, that is to say from sowing to the moment when the seedling emits the cotyledons, the predominant environmental factor is heat. . Rapid germination is usually achieved with temperatures around 28-30 degrees , which must remain stable 24 hours a day. Light is necessary to give the seed the direction of the surface, because there are no green parts (leaves) and there is no need for light for the photosynthesis. So it is not necessary that there is a large exposure to light : the normal light of the environment will be enough to give birth to the plant, later, once the shoots have been born and the leaves have developed, we will move on to the transplant in the open ground and here we will have to take care of giving the plant the right lighting.
That is why at this stage we do not need specific lamps or anything else, which will be necessary to grow the plant in the seedbed, if we decide to keep the crop indoors. indoors for a long time, we need to buy or build a suitable grow box. This can be useful, for example, if we germinate tropical pepper varieties early.
condensation on the lid of the box it is correct that it is formed, it is a good indicator of the correct presence of water in our propagator. If you see that the condensation effect decreases, you can understand that it is drying and in order not to let the seed die, you must intervene by wetting the cardboard.
The germination phase
The moisture softens the seed coat and eventually allows the sprout to emerge. It may happen that the seedling fails to break the seed shell and develops inside, also generating the two small leaves (cotyledon), the seedling in this case is destined to die, if no attempt is made made to release the shoot, a very delicate operation. Bathing the seed in chamomile tea greatly reduces this problem.
A small disadvantage of the Scottex method is that very fine roots tend to penetrate the weft of the paper thus some resistance will be noticed when trying to remove the seedling. Instead of ruining the roots, which are very important at this stage, it is better to cut the piece of paper towel and transplant the seedling, roots and paper together in the ground. Since paper towels are biodegradable, they will disappear in a very short time, degrading as an organic substance.
Reproduce sprouted seeds
The paperweight allows the birth of the plant, but does not allow it to grow: as soon as the plant emits the first two small leaves it must be planted in the ground. It is therefore the cotyledons, which are precisely these first two small embryonic leaves, which signal that it is time to move the plants to put them in the ground. This operation is called Retrieve .
The roots are very delicate and tend to get stuck in the tray: be careful not to damage the isolated root when transplanting. In general, after germination, the plants will be in pots and not directly in the garden, horticultural plants will only go to the open field when the stem is more developed.
The transplanting of the vegetable plant must be done in a pot filled with very fine compost. (better to sieve it) and with a good peat content, place the seedling in a hole one or two cm deep (depending on the type of vegetable, the size varies slightly). Then it is covered with a little soil and a drop of water is added. Now all you have to do is wait for the seedling to get strong, then put it in the garden bed and bring the fruit to maturity, you can check the right period in the garden transplant calendar .
Some helpful tips about pills:
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Use a square box instead of a round one: it is easier to insert the box without having to cut too much.
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Do not use colored or drawn paper towels to prevent the ink from contaminating the seeds.
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Check the temperature (the ideal temperature depends on the vegetable, but in general it is still warm, around 20 degrees).
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Use seeds from the previous year, or at least not too old.
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Use low-calcareous water.
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Treat the seeds with chamomile tea (see how to make chamomile tea with seeds).
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Keep the seeds as far apart as possible (one centimeter is enough) to be able to move them without risking damaging the roots.