What to do if beet seedlings are elongated
The seedling method of growing beets is used mainly in the middle lane, which is characterized by a cooler climate and late spring. Garden beds only warm up to the desired temperature in mid-May, so you won't be able to get an early harvest of a delicious root crop sown directly into open ground. In addition, there is a risk of damage to seedlings by recurrent frosts, and beets are very fond of heat and can react with flower arrows to a decrease in temperature.
Planting beets through seedlings allows you to bring the time of the first harvest closer by almost a month. As a result, the roots ripen in the middle of summer, while the seeds sown in the garden will "sit" there until August. Separately, it should be noted that the seedling method relieves gardeners from such a procedure as thinning seedlings.
However, it is not always possible to obtain quality seedlings. Sometimes it happens that the beet seedlings are pulled out. Experienced gardeners know what can be done with filamentous seedlings, what is the reason for this phenomenon and how to avoid it.
How to save elongated beet seedlings?
If weather conditions permit, the best solution to the problem would be to pick seedlings in the garden. There, the sprouts will quickly get stronger and take on a normal appearance, although at first it is advisable to cover the plantings with spandbond.
Some gardeners, during a dive, shorten the roots of the seedlings to obtain large root crops.
In the case when the soil has not yet warmed up, you can simply pour soil into the container. The seedlings will begin to form new roots, which will provide the seedlings with the necessary nutrition.
Thickened plantings should be thinned out or transplanted, and if the process is completely neglected, the young tops can always be grown a little more and used for salad or soup. Only now, sowing beets for the second time will have to go straight to the garden.
Reasons for pulling seedlings
Young beetroot seedlings are most often pulled out when grown in an apartment on a windowsill. This happens as a result:
- increased air temperature;
- lack of lighting;
- thickening of landings.
To prevent the seedlings from stretching, the seeds should be sown not very densely and provide good lighting, if possible, install additional lighting. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the bright spring sun heats up the glass unit a lot. If the container with seedlings is right next to the glass on the southern windowsill, it will be hot there, but the beets do not like it.
In order to avoid pulling out the seedlings, 5-7 days after the pick, it must be transferred to the greenhouse.