Growing enough seedlings for the beginning of the summer season is not an easy task in a city apartment. Plants need light, and there are not so many seedling pots on narrow windowsills.
Planting tomatoes according to the method of Galina Kizima, Candidate of Mathematical Sciences, author of numerous books on vegetable growing, allows you to get a large number of tomato sprouts in a limited space using the avant-garde technology of cultivating seedlings in diapers.
“Diaper” technology of Galina Kizima
According to the agricultural method of amateur vegetable grower Galina Alexandrovna Kizima, tomato sprouts are grown in “diapers”. Habitual seedling boxes are replaced with non-woven material (most often with ordinary film), wrapping soil with seeds in it. The resulting bags retain moisture well and take up little space on the windowsill. In addition to the ergonomic arrangement, another goal is pursued.
The roots of tomatoes should grow deep, and not spread in the upper soil layers. This allows plants to get their own water, nutrients, and not depend on anyone, by analogy with wild herbs that independently obtain their own food. Nobody helps them to survive.
What is it for? This is the “trick” of the method. After planting tomatoes in a permanent place, they are not watered. The technology is aimed at obtaining maximum results with minimal physical effort. The author of the method calls it the “reasonable lazybones” method.
Advantages and disadvantages of the method
The method of planting tomatoes by Galina Alexandrovna Kizima has its strengths and weaknesses. To understand if this method of growing seedlings is right for you, you need to study the pros and cons of this technology.
Advantages
- A huge number of sprouts fit on one windowsill, which saves a lot of space.
- Little consumption of nutrient soil. It takes only 50 kg of soil to plant 2 sprouts.
- Easy to transplant seedlings. It is enough just to unfold the “diaper” and plant a tomato with a clod of earth in a new place.
- Plants are less likely to get sick, especially with a black leg that occurs due to excess moisture.
- The film can be used for several years in a row. It is enough to unfold it, wash it and put it in a box. It will take up very little space.
Disadvantages
- Large crowding of seedlings slows down the growth of tomato bushes.
- Tomatoes shade each other, do not receive enough sunlight, so they have long and thin stems.
- Due to the small earthy clod, the root is weaker than that of tomatoes grown using conventional technology.
For which varieties of tomato is the method suitable?
For growing in “diapers” it is recommended to take low-growing determinant and ultra-determinant varieties. Many gardeners plant hybrids because they get sick less. The author of the method did not use hybrid tomatoes, because she preferred to take seeds only from plants that she grew on her own, and the varietal characteristics of hybrid tomatoes are lost in the second year.
It is better not to grow indeterminate varieties in plastic bags. They may disrupt the formation of the brush.
It branches into 2-3 branches. Seedlings grow longer than most determinant tomatoes, and by the time they are planted in a permanent place, the stems have time to stretch out a lot.
Soil preparation for seedlings
As the soil for growing seedlings of tomatoes, Galina Kizima uses briquettes of coconut substrate mixed with sand (1 briquette 1 kg of sand). Coconut flakes are soaked in boiling water, and when they swell, they are mixed with sand.
If coconut is not available, she recommends using peat from raised bogs. 5 kg of sand and a liter jar of ash are added to a package of 7-3 kg in order to deoxidize peat. These mixtures are sterile, they do not contain pests and pathogens.
2 ways of sowing seeds
Sowing seeds is carried out 55-60 days before planting tomatoes in a permanent place. There are 2 ways of sowing: unsprouted and germinated seeds.
Planting dry seeds, the order of work
- Dense polyethylene is cut into strips 10 cm wide and laid out on a flat surface.
- Soil 5 cm thick is poured onto the strips. It is well moistened with a solution with growth stimulants from a spray bottle.
- Seeds are placed on the resulting tape at a distance of 3 cm from the top edge and with an interval of 5 cm from each other.
- Roll the polyethylene into a roll.
- The bundle is fixed near the edges and in the middle with bank elastic bands, a plastic bag is put on it and placed vertically in a tray or pallet.
- All rolls are placed tightly together so that they do not fall.
- Put the seeds in a warm dark place, for example, near the battery.
- As soon as the tomatoes hatch, the bags are removed and the trays are placed under fluorescent lamps.
Getting seedlings from germinated seeds
- Seeds are selected, disinfected and soaked in a growth stimulator (Epin).
- The selected seed is wrapped in a napkin soaked in warm water, placed in a plastic bag and left for 2-3 days.
- The thick film is cut into strips the size of a notebook sheet.
- Soil is laid out in the corner of the strip.
- The germinated seed is carefully placed in the ground with the root down.
- Bend the bottom of the “diaper” and carefully roll it into a roll.
- Tie it with an elastic band in several places so that it does not unwind. Additionally, in the upper part, the diaper is fastened with adhesive tape.
- Put in a bright place.
How to properly care for seedlings
As soon as the first shoots appear, they carry out activities aimed at obtaining strong seedlings.
- Sprouts immediately begin to be watered with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers (1 tsp per 3 liters of water) instead of water.
- Nitrogen is excluded from top dressing, as it accelerates the pulling of seedlings.
- Phosphorus and potassium are added to top dressing.
- Fertilizing with mineral complexes is alternated with diluted Ecofus, a unique fertilizer based on algae from the White Sea.
- Seedlings need to be provided with a 12-hour daylight hours, if necessary, it is additionally illuminated with special lamps.
Seedling of seedlings
During picking, a tomato should never be cut off the root. The method is based precisely on the fact that the root must grow in depth. The procedure is carried out when 2-3 true leaves appear on the plant.
The envelope with the sprout is well watered, then unfolded, another 1 tbsp is added to the existing soil. l. ground so that the stem is in the soil up to the cotyledon leaves, and the real leaves are above the film.
In the phase of 5-6 true leaves, the “diaper” is opened again, another 1 tbsp is added. l. earth down under the roots, fold again and put in place.
In the video, vegetable grower Galiza Kizima shows her greenhouses with tomatoes and shares tips on growing crops.
Planting seedlings in a permanent place
Before landing in a permanent place, Galina Kizima advises not to water the sprouts for 2-3 days, but to do it already in place before planting. She believes this will make the stems less brittle and prevent them from breaking along the way. The method of planting plants in a permanent place is different from traditional methods.
- 1-2 days before planting seedlings in a permanent place, the earth is abundantly shed with Fitosporin, which includes organic predatory bacteria that devour pathogens.
- Feed the soil with Gummi fertilizer.
- The holes are made according to the scheme 30 × 30 cm, deeper than seedlings.
- Pour ½ tsp into the hole. AVA fertilizers, phosphorus and 2 tbsp. l. ash.
- You can add 2-3 cm of fluff and feathers from an old pillow. This will serve as a good insulation for the roots and will be an additional element of nutrition when the feathers rot.
- 5-6 liters of warm water are carefully poured into the hole.
- When the water is absorbed, the rolls are unrolled and the seedlings, together with a clod of earth, are planted in a permanent place.
- The bed must be immediately mulched so that the water does not evaporate. Straw or black and white newspapers are used as mulch. A slot is made in the newspaper for the stem of the plant, and it is laid out on the bed around the tomato.
Growing tomatoes without watering
When planting tomatoes according to the technology of Galina Kizima, caring for plants in a permanent place is greatly simplified.
- The bushes are not watered.
- The aisles do not loosen.
- Weeds do not weed. If there are too many of them, the stems are cut off and left in the garden as mulch.
- As soon as the plants are planted in a permanent place, they are sprayed with the following composition: 2 drops of Zirkron, 4 drops of Uniflor-bud and 2 grains of Ecoberin and Healthy Garden, diluted in 10 liters of water. Spraying is carried out once a month. This universal composition simultaneously serves as a biological protection against pests, fertilizer and accelerates the formation of ovaries.
The secret of the popularity of the method of Galina Kizima
Planting tomatoes according to the method of Galina Kizima allows you to grow a high yield without any extra effort using simple technology. An important component of success is the correct choice of seed and varieties. This method has become popular due to its economy and minimal use of mineral fertilizers, which makes it possible to obtain environmentally friendly tomato fruits.
