Where and how to properly plant zucchini seedlings: instructions from preparing seeds to transplanting young plants to the site

There are zucchini in almost every summer cottage. This one is low calorie vegetable contains a lot of nutrients and beneficial substances. The product is subjected to heat treatment and is less often consumed raw. The crop is grown both from seeds and seedlings. Apart from fertilizing and watering, the vegetable does not require special care, but control over growth is needed, like any other crop.

From the article you will learn how to properly plant zucchini seedlings to get a bountiful and high-quality harvest.

Why should you choose planting using seedlings?

Zucchini ripens very quickly, which is why the planting method using seeds is chosen if you do not want to get the harvest too early, for example, if you want to combine the harvest of fruits with other vegetables.

However, planting zucchini seedlings is an equally popular method, which is chosen due to its advantages:

1. Getting an early harvest. Already in June you can enjoy your favorite vegetable.
2. Using the seedling method of planting, you can easily calculate the exact number of plants. When planting seeds, you cannot be completely sure of this (some grains may not sprout).
3. Properly planted seedlings will produce strong zucchini that grow quickly, bear fruit well and are practically not susceptible to disease.
4. The method allows you to get a harvest even in cold regions, where above-zero temperatures are established in April-May.

What you need to grow seedlings

How to grow zucchini seedlings to get a good harvest in the future? It's simple - stick to the basic recommendations.

Preparatory work is carried out in several stages. But only with strict adherence to the technology can you be sure of the expected result.

Selecting seeds for planting

It is better to select seeds in advance so that everything is ready by the time of planting. Some gardeners try to combine several varieties that differ in ripening time in order to get a harvest throughout the season.

Important! Choose seeds with a shelf life of 2 to 4 years. If you take fresh grains, the harvest will not be as high quality due to the formation of male flowers.

Seeds need sorting. The event involves testing seed material for germination. To do this, they are placed in a saline solution for an hour (30 g of salt per 1 liter of water). During this time, seeds suitable for planting will sink to the bottom, empty ones will float to the surface. All that remains is to rinse the seed with clean water.

Choosing a container for young animals

Zucchini seedlings are sensitive to transplantation, so each zucchini needs to be planted in separate containers.

Suitable containers:

• plastic or peat cups;
• cut bottles with a hole in the bottom;
• plastic containers;
• juice or yogurt packaging.

On a note. The volume of the selected container must be at least 0.5 liters.

Rules for planting seedlings

Planting zucchini seeds for seedlings is one of the fundamental moments in growing the crop. It is at this stage that it is important to do everything correctly in order to ultimately get a high-quality harvest in a timely manner. Before planting, the seeds must be treated with antifungal and nutrient solutions.

Pre-sowing seed treatment

Initially, the seed is inspected for damage. Sick, spoiled or otherwise unsuitable grains for sowing must be discarded.

Zucchini seeds from retail chains are usually already prepared and do not require any additional processing or sorting.

Purchased or home-bought grains must be disinfected:

1. Soak the seed material for 5 hours in water at 50 ºC temperature.
2. Then immerse the seeds in cold water for a few minutes.

There is another method of pre-sowing antifungal treatment of seeds: make a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate and soak the grains in it for about 20 minutes.

The seed can also be treated with aloe juice and the seeds can be left to warm up in the sun for several days. For etching, the drug “Fitosporin-M” is often used..

Conditions before germination of zucchini seeds

In the first days, the plant requires low temperatures and bright but diffuse lighting. It will be enough to place the seedlings on a windowsill or in a greenhouse.

Care in the first month consists mainly of watering, fertilizing and observing light and temperature conditions.

Soil preparation

Before using soil for planting zucchini, you need to check its acidity level. The ideal option would be a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction.

To prepare your own soil, mix:

• peat soil - 5 kg;
• turf - 2 kg;
• humus - 2 kg;
• sawdust - 1 kg.

If the soil is too acidic, mix it with chalk or ash.

A store-bought ready-made mixture for vegetable seedlings would also be an excellent option. There are special soils for pumpkin crops on sale.

Read also:

In what and how to store zucchini for a long time - we create ideal conditions.

How to cook delicious crispy lightly salted zucchini in a bag.

Saving the harvest until spring: how to properly store zucchini for the winter.

The procedure for sowing seeds for seedlings

Before sowing, homemade seeds are soaked until they swell. The swollen grains can be stored in the refrigerator. If you germinate them, they will sprout faster, but you must take into account that the seedlings of zucchini are very thin, you need to handle them carefully and such seeds should be planted immediately.

Wrap the finished processed seeds in a damp cloth and a plastic bag, place in a warm place and provide ventilation, airing several times a day. The fabric should not dry out or be too wet.

Planting seeds:

• fill the prepared containers with soil;
• water the soil generously with warm water;
• place grains 2.5-3 cm deep in the soil;
• cover the seedlings with glass or film.

It is better to plant zucchini seeds for seedlings in pairs: 2 grains in one container.

Important! Peat pots are a biologically friendly disposable container for seedlings. Plants can be planted in open ground directly in a pot, which during the process of rotting will become an additional fertilizer for the crop.

Lighting and temperature for growing seedlings on a windowsill

The optimal temperature for the growth of zucchini is 20-25 ºС, but they feel good at 15-20 ºС. Therefore, when growing seedlings at home, there is no point in thinking too much about temperature.

Important! Make sure that it is not too hot in the first 4-5 days after germination. During this period, it is better to place the seedlings on the coldest windowsill.

Diffuse lighting is preferable.Daylight hours for seedlings should be more than 12 hours. If the seedlings are placed on the south side, then the plants will not need additional lighting.

When placing seedlings on the north side, it is recommended to place a phytolamp or cold-glow fluorescent lamp above them. Incandescent lamps heat the air too much and burn plants.

Watering and humidity

Water zucchini seedlings only with warm water. Make sure the soil never dries out.

Note! Excess humidity is no less harmful. It can cause root rot and seedling death.

We water the seedlings on average every 3-5 days. For each container with small sprouts, no more than 50 ml of water is used, when the seedlings grow up - 100 ml.

In addition to soil moisture, air humidity is also important, which should not be too high. Do not allow neighboring plants to interfere with each other and do not allow moist air to stagnate in the plantings. Cups with seedlings must be moved away from each other in time to such a distance that the leaves of neighboring bushes do not touch each other.

Timing for planting seedlings in open ground

Planting zucchini seedlings depends on the climatic conditions of the region and is carried out from mid-March to mid-May. After 25-30 days, the seedlings will be ready for planting in open ground. Plants are transplanted into the garden bed from late May to mid-June. If planted later, the zucchini will not have time to ripen.

In central Russia, zucchini seeds are sown for seedlings at the following times:

• for early harvest - from April 20 to May 12-16;
• for preservation and long-term storage - from July 14 to July 30.

To correctly determine the time for planting zucchini seedlings in any region, you need to inquire about the expected air temperature for the next month.

Caring for young zucchini plants

During the growing season, no more than 3 fertilizing with mineral substances is carried out on sprains that are already growing independently in open ground. It is important not to overdo it with the use of nitrogen: otherwise all the forces will go into the tops and not into the ovary.

Watering conditions:

1. During the summer, seedlings should be watered as needed, when due to strong daytime evaporation and lack of moisture in the soil, the leaf plates wither and sag by evening.
2. Water for irrigation must be warm, heated during the day in the sun.
3. Watering should be done so as to wet the soil to almost the entire depth of penetration of the roots, that is, at least 30-40 cm.

With a lack of moisture, the fruits grow smaller, but more sugary.

Attack on seedlings, what to do?

The main pest of zucchini is slugs. They are capable of destroying all seedlings in one night. Protect plants with regular ash or special granules that are scattered around the seedlings.

To save plants from mole crickets, use tubes made from cut plastic bottles 10-15 cm long. They are placed on the plant so that part of the root system, which is located directly under the earth’s crust, is protected.

There may be small pests in the seedling soil. Therefore, before planting zucchini seeds for seedlings, the soil must be disinfected with a hot solution of potassium permanganate or special preparations must be used.

Possible problems when growing seedlings

If you strictly follow the rules for growing seedlings, there should be no problems.

However, no one is immune from failure, and a gardener sometimes faces the following issues:

1. Seeds don't germinate. If seedlings have not appeared on the tenth day after sowing, there is no point in waiting any longer: the seeds that hatched would have sprouted long ago by this time. Suitable seeds in moist soil will germinate at room temperature. We urgently need to buy or prepare new ones and replant them.
2. Tall seedlings. A common problem for gardeners is sprouts that are too elongated. The reasons are different - high temperature, low light, crowded cups. Eliminate all the shortcomings: transplant the seedlings into spacious pots, add light.
3. Seedlings grow slowly. This means that low-quality soil was used: room temperature is ideal for normal growth. In dry soil the plant may become bogged down. To help the crop, zucchini should be fed with mineral fertilizers.
4. The seedlings are withering. Excessive moisture can cause seedlings to wilt. When overwatering with cold water, root rot often forms. As a result, the tips of the roots die off and the root collar begins to turn brown.

If there is a lack of nitrogen in the soil, the leaves may turn yellow. The leaves begin to deteriorate from the edge of the leaf, then the yellowness spreads to the entire surface.

If you came to your senses right away and fed the seedlings with a solution of urea or saltpeter, there is hope for recovery. If the leaves turn yellow entirely, the seedlings will die.

Planting zucchini seedlings in a non-standard way

A non-standard method of growing zucchini seedlings is to use a wooden barrel. If you choose this method, you should pay attention to the average summer temperature in your region.

If it exceeds +30 ºС, the barrel is installed on the north side of the site, where it will be cooler. If the weather in your area is often cloudy, place the container in the south side.

Next, fill the barrel with substrate. A couple of days before planting the seeds, the mixture must be moistened generously with a bucket of water.

The following varieties are best suited for growing zucchini in a barrel:

• Long-fruited;
• Apollo F1;
• Gribovsky 37;
• White-fruited;
• Sosnovsky;
• Pharaoh.

Planting seedlings in the ground is carried out when the mixture in the barrel has warmed up sufficiently. As a rule, this happens in the second half of May.

To successfully grow zucchini in a barrel, it is necessary to loosen the soil in a timely manner, trim off excess leaves and, if possible, help insects in pollinating the flowers.

It is recommended to fertilize plants for the first time a week after planting in the ground. To do this, mix 5 g of superphosphate, 10 g of urea, 3 g of ammonium and the same amount of magnesium. Dilute the mixture in a bucket of water. Treatment is carried out at the rate of 1 liter of composition per seedling.

During fruiting, standard complex fertilizers for pumpkin plants are used to feed zucchini. Their dosage is individual, usually indicated on the package.

When can you plant seedlings in open ground?

Monitor the air temperature. When the average daily temperature is 15 ºС, plant zucchini seedlings in open ground.

Signs of sprouts being ready:

• the seedlings have several dark green leaves,
• the root system covers the entire volume of the container,
• The roots themselves are strong and white.

Conclusion

If you want to get an excellent harvest from the zucchini seedlings you grow, you should take into account the climatic conditions of your region.Therefore, choose zucchini varieties that are suitable for your specific climate.

Hybrid species with specially bred characteristics help out. A short summer suggests harvesting from early varieties; if the heat lasts longer, medium varieties are also suitable.