Secrets of growing zucchini seedlings - tips, features, recommendations

Zucchini is a thermophilic, herbaceous, annual vegetable crop with oblong, juicy and fleshy fruits. The appearance of the plant itself, depending on varieties, can vary and have a bushy, long-leaved or semi-bushy form. In addition, there are differences in the color of leaves, fruits and, of course, in taste.

It is grown by sowing seeds or transplanting grown shoots into open ground and greenhouses... The most promising method is considered to be growing zucchini through seedlings. In this case, commercial products can be obtained almost a month earlier, in comparison with the seedless method.

When to sow zucchini for seedlings?

For the middle lane, the timing of sowing seeds for growing zucchini seedlings varies:

• from April 20 to May 12-16 - receiving early production;
• from 14 to 30 July - late harvests, fruits are suitable for long-term storage and conservation.

For cultivation of zucchini in greenhouses and under film shelters, seedlings are planted 15 days earlier than for growing plants in the garden.

Advice! Do not know when to sow zucchini for seedlings? - Take an interest in the weather forecast for the next month, in particular, you need to know the estimated air temperature. The optimal daytime temperature for transplanting seedlings into a greenhouse or open ground is +23 ° C, and the nighttime temperature is +19 ° C, respectively, the period in which forecasters predict stable warm weather, with the right temperature and no threat of frost, can be considered the best time for planting grown plants in the garden. From this date, you need to subtract 30 days (the time from sowing seeds to getting shoots with several true leaves), as a result, you get the best period for sowing zucchini for seedlings specifically for your region.

Features of growing zucchini seedlings

1. When growing zucchini seedlings on the windowsill:
   • south side - additional lighting is not required;
   • north side - installation required artificial lighting;
   • west and east - it is desirable that the total duration of daylight hours is at least 11 hours.

Advice! Pay close attention to the air masses coming from the street through the vents and transoms - cold air entering directly on the plants can destroy delicate and, as yet, weak shoots.

2. 
   Agricultural technicians recommend growing squash seedlings only in separate cups, even better if it will be disposable peat pots... This moment, perhaps, is a feature of growing marrow seedlings. This is due to the fact that the plant "does not like" transplanting, and separate containers make it possible to move the shoot into the soil without injuring the root system.
3. The optimum diameter of the container for seedlings is 80–100 mm, height is 10 cm.
4. Nutrition and choice of fertilizers:
   • the first feeding is done 7 days after the emergence of sprouts, a solution is being prepared for it - add 0.5 tbsp to a liter of water. spoons superphosphate and urea... The solution can be replaced with a ready-made feeding "Bud";
   • the second feeding is performed 10–11 days after the first - per liter of water, 0.5 tbsp. spoons ash and nitrophosphate.

Important! Fertilizer is applied directly under each plant, maximum 1.5 tbsp. l. solution per container.

4. Watering. Only warm water is suitable for irrigation, its average temperature should vary between 21-25 ° C.For one pot, 100 ml of water is enough, every 5 days. In very hot weather, water a little more often, once every 3 days.
5. Zucchini need a loose, fertile soil rich in nutrients and trace elements. The simplest and most common composition of self-prepared soil substrate among gardeners includes sawdust, humus, peat and ordinary land in the proportion of 0.5x1x0.5x1.
6. Transplanting young plants into a greenhouse or open ground is carried out 20–29 days after sowing the seeds. The term for planting in the ground is individual, it depends on the temperature regime at which the shoot developed and the selected variety. The determining factor is the presence of at least 3 true leaves before planting.

How to plant marrow seedlings in open ground?

• 7–8 days before planting, the seedlings begin to be carefully hardened, for this the pots are taken out into the street, kept there during daylight hours, and brought indoors at night.
• The fundamental point in deciding how to plant zucchini seedlings in open ground is the correct arrangement of plants - thickening is unacceptable, the bushes should not interfere with each other, otherwise one can only dream of good harvests.

Planting scheme in open ground:

1. the distance between long-leaved and semi-bush crops is 70 × 90 cm, bush varieties 70 × 70 cm;
2. deepening - into the holes, up to the cotyledon leaves.

• On the day of planting, prepare the wells and spill them with warm water (35 ° C).
• Root the plant, gently compact the earth around it, spill 1 liter of water per 1 sprout. Watering only basal, it is necessary to ensure that water does not fall on the leaves in any case.
• At first, until about June 19, at night, seedling ridges should be covered with non-woven protective material or film. This is done in order to exclude hypothermia and death of shoots due to lack of heat or night frosts. In the morning, after warming up the air, the protective materials are removed.

How to grow squash seedlings in the north?

Despite the fact that the northern summer is rather short, and the risk of an unexpected cold snap is great, farmers still successfully grow such a thermophilic and photophilous culture like marrow. And they grow it mainly in a seedling way. The question "How to grow squash seedlings in the north?" - not worth it, this technology is everywhere, both in the middle lane and in the northern regions, the difference in the timing of planting, they are significantly shifted in time due to the peculiarities of the climate.

Advice! For northern regions, pick up zoned zucchini seeds, such as "Roller", "Beloplodny", "Pharaoh", etc., all of them are distinguished by a short growing season, about 50 days before harvest, and high resistance to a slight drop in air temperature. Cover the seedlings with protective materials at night and during cold weather.

Greenhouse - arcs and covering material

• If possible, grow zucchini in a greenhouse, in the north this is especially important because of the risk of sudden cold weather, and it is much easier to cover and somehow insulate a greenhouse than a garden bed.
• Do not listen to well-wishers who are happy to give everyone advice on when to plant zucchini for seedlings is better. Better - this is when the temperature is optimal for the growth of zucchini outside, the soil substrate, containers for seedlings, fertilizers and, of course, the best seeds for your climatic zone are selected.

Sowing zucchini seeds for seedlings - video