How to grow leek seedlings: from sowing to harvest
Growing seedlings of leeks has recently gained considerable popularity among summer residents. Many people liked this vegetable for its taste (delicate smell, piquant sweet taste) and the ability to easily adapt to different climatic conditions, to give a rich harvest. In cooking, leeks are used both raw and canned, pickled, salted and dried. In addition to its pleasant taste, onions have useful medicinal properties.
Beneficial features
The chemical composition of leeks includes a large amount of protein, vitamins B2, Bj, B, C, PP and minerals (calcium, potassium, iron, nickel, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron). Due to the high content of ascorbic acid, carotene, potassium, and the low content of pungent essential oils, this dietary product is used to improve metabolism, increase appetite, increase immunity, and also to treat many diseases.
It is used for diseases:
- rheumatism;
- stones in the kidneys;
- obesity;
- salt deposits;
- gout;
- atherosclerosis.
How to grow leek seedlings?
The best place to plant onion seedlings
Onions are grown by seedlings on well-cultivated low-lying fertile soils filled with organic fertilizers. A slightly acidic or neutral primer is suitable. It can also be grown on well-moistened loamy and sandy soils. Unfavorable soils are heavy clayey. Superphosphate, potassium salt, compost, urea are used to fertilize the earth.
Growing onion seedlings from seeds
To grow onion seedlings from seeds, a preparatory stage should be carried out. It consists in special treatment of seeds. The seeds are placed in hot water 45 for 20 minutes, then in cold water. For quick germination, seeds are soaked for three days in warm water. After the seeds hatch, they are left to dry.
Sowing seeds
Planting of onion seeds is carried out at a time specified for this. For growing seedlings, boxes are used that can be displayed on the window, and it is better to start sowing in mid-February. In greenhouses, sowing is done in mid-April. And at the end of April, you can sow seeds in the beds, while covering them with foil.
In small boxes or other containers of suitable size, prepared for planting, a specially prepared primingbut not to the very top. Seeds are sown in rows at 5 cm intervals, and the furrow depth should not exceed 1.5 cm. Subsequently, cover with foil and put the boxes in a dry and warm place. The temperature regime of the room must be maintained around +25. When the first shoots appear, the film must be removed, and the temperature must be maintained up to +17 during the day and +12 at night. In this mode, onion seedlings from seeds are kept for about a week. After a week of exposure, the seedlings are transferred to a different temperature regime - during the day +20 and +14 at night. This regime is adhered to throughout the entire stage of growing seedlings.
Leek Seedling Care
Based on the conditions in which the seeds are grown, the first shoots may appear in 10 - 20 days.
Leeks are a crop that requires moist soil. Therefore, it is worth making sure that the soil does not dry out. But at the same time, do not over-moisturize.
Water the leek seedlings with warm water, carefully so as not to damage the stem. But watering alone is not enough, the seedlings must be fed. Fertilizing can be done one, but two are better.
To strengthen the root system and thicken the stem, it is necessary to trim the leaves so that their length after trimming is 10 cm.
Immediately before the very planting of seedlings in the soil, it is necessary to carry out a gradual hardening, take it out into the street, while reducing watering. After six weeks, it is planted in open ground.
Transplanting
Planting onion seedlings in open ground is carried out at the end of April and until the beginning of May. Seedlings are planted in rows on a previously prepared and fertilized area, deepening a little more than it was in the seedling boxes. The roots and leaves are slightly pruned.
For good growth of leeks and convenient hilling during the growing season, the distance between a number of growing plants should be at least 10 cm, and between rows - at least 50 cm.
Growing technology
The technology of growing onions through seedlings includes two main factors: care and feeding. Caring for young plants is especially important. Do not neglect weeding and loosening the soil. Watering and feeding plants should be carried out as needed. It is abundantly watered and fed mainly only during the growing season, in the first half.
Bird droppings are a good fertilizer for onions. It is used in a 1:20 solution.
After good rooting, the seedlings are poured on fertile soil. Hilling is carried out after two months and is repeated as necessary before harvesting. It is useful to add wood ash to the rows before hilling. It is worthwhile to carry out weed control in a timely manner.
Harvesting and storage
Harvesting, depending on the variety, starts from August until the onset of frost. They dig the plant with a shovel, pull it out of the ground. The roots are removed and the leaves are shortened by 2/3 of the length. Leek tolerates frost well. If you leave it in the ground for the winter, it will winter well and will sprout in the spring. For better wintering, the plant should be covered with soil, falling asleep peat and lay with branches, preferably conifers.
You can store leeks in the basement all winter, at a temperature of 0, with a humidity of 80%, by digging in an upright position into wet sand.
During storage, leek not only does not reduce the content of ascorbic acid, but on the contrary increases it even more.