Peppers and tomatoes have long been the two most beloved and popular crops among gardeners, without which not a single person can imagine their garden, be it in the north or in the south. And both crops, even when subsequently planted in open ground, certainly require growing seedlings so that, in the conditions of our rather short summer, truly tasty and beautiful fruits have time to ripen. And of course, every gardener dreams that his tomato and pepper seedlings will be the best, strong and healthy. This article will help you take into account all the possible nuances in this difficult matter and will reveal some of the secrets of growing these plants. In general, you can learn everything you would like to know about tomato and pepper seedlings from this article.
Is it possible to grow these vegetables side by side?
Gardeners often wonder: is it possible to plant tomatoes and peppers together? These vegetable crops belong to the same family - nightshade. They do not conflict with each other and have similar requirements for the quality and nutritional value of the soil. They need similar growing conditions and similar care. Therefore, it is allowed to plant tomatoes and peppers both in open ground and in a greenhouse .
We suggest watching a video about whether it is possible to place peppers and tomatoes together during planting:
Planting tomatoes for seedlings
Tomatoes are a round, red vegetable with a sweet or sweet and sour flavor. Of all vegetable crops, tomatoes are the least demanding in growing conditions. But they are quite demanding on temperature conditions.
The agricultural technology for planting seedlings is completely simple. First you need to fill the bottom of the selected container with drainage. This is required for good air exchange. Egg shells or small pebbles are suitable for this purpose.
Now you need to pour the prepared soil on top of the drainage. The poured soil should not touch the top edge of the container too much. After this, pour plenty of warm water.
The optimal depth for seedlings is one to two centimeters. You can make these holes for sowing in advance using an oblong object.
When you plant the tomato seeds in them and bury them, you need to water the soil again using a sprayer. Sometimes it happens that when the first leaves emerge, a seed remains on them. This has a very bad effect on the further growth of tomato seedlings. To avoid this problem, sprinkle the soil with river sand after planting in a layer of 1-3 millimeters. The first tomato shoots can be observed approximately one week after planting.
If you perform all the necessary actions correctly, this will contribute to rapid germination and excellent growth in the future, and therefore, you will get an excellent harvest of sweet and juicy tomatoes.
Preparing tomato seeds for sowing for seedlings
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Features of co-cultivation
As members of the nightshade family, peppers and tomatoes have common diseases and are affected by the same pests. It is necessary to ensure prevention and protection against insects and infections.- Peppers love warmth, but tomatoes need ventilation. You should think about placement in the greenhouse in advance: peppers - away from the entrance and drafts, tomatoes - closer to the doors and ventilation.
- Tomato bushes are taller than peppers, grow strongly and can block the peppers from the sun. Joint planting is planned taking into account the direction of light, peppers - from the sunny side.
In a joint bed of tomatoes and peppers, you can plant marigolds along the edges; they repel nightshade pests.
Selection of seeds, their preparation for sowing
The seeds that you buy in stores should ideally comply with GOST and undergo the main stages of pre-sowing treatment. But in reality, there is so much you won’t find in bright, colorful-looking packaging. Therefore, for the seeds of both crops, even if the seeds are your own, homemade, it is necessary to carry out a number of procedures that will help select defective ones that are obviously not germinating and enhance the energy of life in the rest.
Selection of the best seeds
Prepare a 3% solution of table salt (30 g per 1 liter of water), dip into it successively the seeds of the varieties of tomatoes and peppers that you are going to plant, shake well with a spoon and wait 5-10 minutes. All those that float up are weak and not suitable for sowing - it is better to throw them away. As a last resort, if there are few seeds and you feel sorry for them, you can make a single mixture of rejected seeds of all varieties and sow them in a separate container - maybe something will sprout after all.
Important! Do not forget to rinse the remaining seeds well in water after the saline solution, otherwise you may destroy them.
After washing with water, the tomato and pepper seeds are scattered on paper and dried.
Etching
Immediately before sowing, the seeds are immersed in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate and kept there for 10-15 minutes. Be sure to wash them afterwards in running water and dry them. It is highly advisable to carry out this procedure for both pepper and tomato seeds. Since such treatment is the prevention of many diseases and infections, which can then harm the development of seedlings and especially adult plants. If you cannot find potassium permanganate, a working solution of phytosporin (dilute according to the instructions on the package) will be a good replacement. For many infections it will be even more effective than potassium permanganate.
Treatment with microelements and growth stimulants
The simplest option is to soak tomato and pepper seeds in a solution of wood ash, which contains about 30 different microelements. To do this, you need to dissolve 2 g of ash (less than a tablespoon) in a liter of water and leave the solution for a day, stirring occasionally. Then the seeds placed in gauze bags are dipped into it for 3 hours, washed with water and dried.
Soaking seeds in various growth stimulants is often used. You can use both home remedies: honey, aloe juice, and store-bought ones: epin, zircon, energen, HB-101, humates, Baikal-EM and others.
You can simply buy a ready-made set of microelements, dilute it according to the instructions and soak the seeds in it for 12-24 hours. It is not necessary to wash the seeds after this procedure; you can either dry them for sowing dry (possibly for tomato seeds), or start germination (preferably for pepper seeds).
Soaking and germination
This method is only necessary if you are somewhat late with the sowing time and want to speed up the emergence of seedlings. In other cases, there is no need for germination for tomato seeds. For pepper seeds, especially if they are not the freshest (they are more than 2 years old), sprouting them can help.
To do this, pepper seeds, pickled and soaked in various solutions, are placed in a humid environment. You can use damp cotton swabs, between which the seeds are laid out, and placed in any plastic container with a lid or simply in a plastic bag. The temperature for germination should be at least +25°C. Pepper seeds can begin to germinate within a day. The sprouted seeds are sown only in a moist substrate.
Hardening
This procedure makes sense mainly for northern regions with unstable weather conditions. However, if you have a lot of free time and want to experiment, then you can harden the seeds even in more southern regions, so that you can then plant tomato and pepper seedlings at an earlier date and in open ground. It is carried out in two ways.
- After dressing, the seeds are soaked in warm water, and after swelling for 3-6 hours, they are placed in a cold place (+1°+2°C) for 24 - 36 hours. After drying, the seeds are sown.
- A more complex method is when swollen tomato and pepper seeds are exposed to variable temperatures for a week: 12 hours are kept at a temperature of +20°+24°C, and the next 12 hours – at +2°+6°C.
When choosing the latter method, you need to remember that hardening cannot be delayed because of the possible overgrowth of the sprouts.
Feasibility of the method
If conditions permit, it is better to grow peppers and tomatoes separately (read more about the nuances of growing tomatoes here). But if there is not enough space in both greenhouses and open beds, then joint planting will be a good solution.
pros
- Space saving.
- Tomatoes protect peppers from aphids.
- Saving time for care.
- Less fertilizer per unit area.
Minuses
- Increased risk of common diseases.
- Attracting insect pests.
- Accelerated soil depletion.
Pepper needs
- Sufficient air humidity.
- Good lighting.
- Loamy nutrient soil.
- Warm conditions.
- Watering with warm water.
- Fertilizer with potassium and phosphorus.
Necessary conditions for tomatoes
- Dry air.
- Good lighting.
- Loamy soil with humus.
- Moderate temperature.
- Frequent ventilation.
- Fertilizing with nitrogen and phosphorus.
- Not frequent, but abundant watering.
What fertilizing do seedlings need?
Signs of a lack of nutrients:
- The edges of the leaves are bent and broken - it’s time to add magnesium. You can use ash or magnesium salt.
- Sluggish and weak leaves indicate a lack of copper. Plants are sprayed with copper sulfate (0.05 g/l of water).
- Dried tops of the stems, as well as white or yellow spots on the leaves indicate iron deficiency (the dosage is the same as for copper).
- If the fruits or upper parts of the stem turn black, it is worth adding boron to the soil (150 g/bucket of water).
- With a lack of phosphorus, the veins on the leaves turn purple (50 g of phosphorus-containing fertilizers are infused in a liter of water and then diluted in a bucket).
- White leaves or a yellow border on them indicate an acute lack of potassium (40 g / bucket of water).
Caring for seedlings includes not only regular watering, but also the application of fertilizers. Deficiencies of essential macro- and micronutrients can jeopardize future harvests. Tomatoes and peppers are in dire need of feeding. A deficiency of nutrients always affects the quality of fruits, so seedlings should be fertilized in a timely and balanced manner.
Selection of varieties
The choice of tomato varieties depends on the characteristics of the growing region and weather conditions. When purchasing, take into account the timing of planting, resistance to disease, and purpose - for a greenhouse or open ground.
For greenhouses
For rational use of space, tall varieties are chosen:
- tomatoes (One Hundred Poods, Sugar Bison, Wild Rose, Scarlet Sails);
- peppers (Bourgeois, Cardinal, Atlant, Yanika, Orange Miracle).
For disease prevention - special hybrids for greenhouses that are resistant to temperature changes and infections:
- tomatoes (Cardinal, Ogorodnik, Gypsy, Resonance, De Barao);
- peppers (Hercules, Claudio, Arsenal, Swallow, Viking, Bogatyr).
For open ground
Combinations of low-growing varieties are suitable:
- tomatoes (Red Pearl, Mikado, Riddle, Gourmand);
- peppers (Dubok, Kupets, Atlant, Victoria).
To prevent pests, choose early and mid-season varieties that are resistant to low temperatures and diseases:
- tomatoes (Cardinal, Betta, Anyuta, Pepper);
- peppers (Litsedey, Bagration, Nafanya, Kolobok, Sibiryak).
Lamps for illuminating seedlings
When planting late-ripening plant varieties in February-March, when there is still not enough sun, or when growing seedlings on windows facing the shady side, mandatory lighting is required. Otherwise, the plants will become overstretched and stunted, which will affect their future yield.
LED phytolamp
Ordinary incandescent lamps are not suitable - for these purposes you need to acquire fluorescent ones. At a distance from the light source of about 1 m, about 150 watts are required per square meter. For illumination, you can also purchase a special phytolamp with blue and red light waves, the most important for plant growth.
How to get good seedlings at home?
A similar technology is used to grow seedlings of peppers and tomatoes.
Sowing time
- Late varieties of peppers and tomatoes are sown in February-March. Early varieties - in March-April.
- Peppers take longer to germinate than tomatoes, so they are sown for seedlings a week earlier than tomatoes. Tomatoes sprout in 3-5 days, peppers in 7-10 days.
Seed preparation
- The seeds are sorted, discarding small, dark and broken ones. It is convenient to sort the seeds in a salt solution (2 tablespoons per 1 liter of water). Floating seeds are not suitable for sowing. Those that have settled to the bottom are suitable for planting. Each variety is sorted separately.
- To disinfect, the seeds are kept for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
- To awaken the embryos and accelerate growth, tomato and pepper seeds are soaked for 2 hours in heated water at a temperature not exceeding 60 degrees or in a biostimulant solution (Epin, Novosil, Zircon).
Read more about how to treat tomato seeds before sowing in a separate article.
Selection of containers and soil for growing
Use containers for seedlings or food containers of a convenient size. They are washed and disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate.- Purchased soil contains all the necessary additives for seedling growth and is ready for use. Soil from the garden is disinfected and mixed with:
- peat;
- humus;
- ash;
- fertilizers.
Methods
Let's look at how to properly plant seeds of two crops for seedlings at home. Planting seedlings of peppers and tomatoes has similar methods :
- Method 1 - sow many seeds in one container at once in rows at a distance of 5 cm, in increments of 2-3 cm. Cover the top with loose soil and water. After germination, plant in separate containers (dive).
- Method 2 - plant two seeds in separate small containers, after the seeds germinate, leave the stronger ones and do not replant until planted in the ground.
- Method 3 – pre-germinate the seeds under film, gauze or toilet paper, plant one germinated seed at a time in separate containers (you can find out more about how to plant tomatoes for seedlings without soil here).
Each variety is sown separately and marked with a label. All containers are covered with film until the first shoots appear.
We talked in detail about how to properly grow and care for tomato seedlings in this material.
Picking
Picking is carried out the same way for peppers and tomatoes.:
- The prepared containers are filled one third with earth.
- Using a small spoon or spatula, lift the plant along with the soil from a common container.
- Place the plant in a cup, fill the gaps with loose soil, water, and compact the soil.
Tomatoes produce side shoots; when picking, the plant can be buried lower. There is no need to deepen the pepper; cover it with soil at the level of the old planting.
Read more about the non-picking method of sowing seeds here, and from this article you will learn about the features of growing tomato seedlings in five-liter and other bottles without picking.
We invite you to watch a video about the rules for picking tomatoes and peppers:
Hardening
Before planting in the soil, the seedlings are gradually hardened ; to do this, they are first taken to a cooler room, such as a balcony or veranda. After this, they are taken outside under a canopy or into a greenhouse so that the plant gets used to fresh air and sun.
When to plant seeds?
Note! It is important to take into account one factor, without which experience is not experience. But the point is in the lunar phases, during which the influence of this earth’s satellite is observed not only on plants, ebbs and flows, but even on humans. Therefore, you need to be guided by the lunar calendar, which details the phases favorable for sowing.
Sowing should be done 2-2.5 months before planting seedlings in an open area. In the middle zone, seeds are usually sown at the end of February.
How to plant correctly: step-by-step instructions
Deadlines
Seedlings can be planted in greenhouses at the end of April - early May. In open beds after May 10-15, depending on the region, at a temperature of at least 15 degrees at night.
We invite you to watch a video about how crops are planted in a greenhouse:
Recommended scheme
It should be noted that zones are demarcated in the greenhouse: on one side of the greenhouse there are rows of tomatoes, on the other there are rows of peppers . Or they place them in a mirror pattern - rows of tomatoes along the walls of the greenhouse, and peppers in a checkerboard pattern towards the center.
In open ground, joint plantings are placed in rows - a row of tomatoes and a row of peppers with a distance between rows of 60-80 cm.
Or they grow tomatoes and peppers in the same bed: peppers are planted in a checkerboard pattern along the edge of the bed with tomatoes .
Rules for open ground and greenhouses
as needed. To protect against weeds, joint plantings of tomatoes and peppers can be mulched with hay and straw.
Stepsoning
In the greenhouse, tomatoes are formed into one stem, removing all the stepsons and lower leaves up to the first cluster. Tall peppers in the greenhouse are also formed into one stem, cutting off all the stepsons.
For open ground, tall tomatoes and medium-sized peppers are formed into 2-3 stems , leaving strong, strong stepsons. Low-growing tomatoes and peppers do not need to be pinched, but weak shoots growing inward can be cut off.
Read more about growing tomatoes in open ground here.
We invite you to watch a video about the rules for planting tomatoes and peppers:
Garter
Tomatoes and tall varieties of peppers in greenhouses need tying. For this purpose, trellises are used, ropes from each bush are pulled to them, and as the plant grows, the plant is wrapped in rope or tied to the trellises.
Top dressing
Before planting seedlings, the soil is enriched with superphosphate and wood ash. Phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are suitable for planting tomatoes and peppers together. Standard feeding scheme :
- 1 tbsp. superphosphate;
- 1 tsp potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water.
You can add to this mixture:
- infusion of chicken droppings or manure;
- 0.5 tsp boric acid;
- 1 tbsp. wood ash;
- 1 tbsp. nitrophoska.
The first feeding is carried out 2-3 weeks after planting the seedlings, the second – after 10 days. Subsequent ones - in 10-15 days. Before fruiting, add 2 tbsp to the soil. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. sodium humate, diluted in 10 l. water.
We invite you to watch a video about the technology of fertilizing tomatoes and peppers:
We talked in detail about planting tomatoes in a greenhouse, greenhouse, open ground, as well as how to grow tall and healthy vegetables in a separate article.
All about sowing: how to sow to grow strong shoots?
Before planting, water the boxes filled with earth with a solution of potassium permanganate, but not too much. Next, use your finger to make furrows no more than 1.5 centimeters deep. The distance between the rows is about 5 centimeters. Actually, everything is ready for sowing.
Tomato seedlings planted in a greenhouse. Photo used as illustration. Source: Yandex.Images
Tomato or pepper seeds are placed in furrows at a distance of 2–3 centimeters from each other. Next, the seeds are sprinkled with loose earth and sprayed with warm water.
It is necessary to cover the containers with plastic wrap to achieve sufficient humidity. It is also necessary to observe the temperature regime; it must correspond to a standard of at least 24–26°C. It remains to wait for the shoots. The tomato will sprout in 5-6 days, and the pepper in about 7-11 days.
Advice! Attach a piece of paper to the box with the name of the variety and planting date of these crops.
Control and prevention of pests and diseases
Two weeks after planting in a greenhouse or soil, to prevent late blight, tomatoes are sprayed with copper chloride or a copper-soap emulsion.
During the season, disinfection against late blight is carried out regularly with copper or iodine solution (10 ml per 10 liters of water). The last treatment against diseases is carried out 20 days before harvest .
To prevent aphids on peppers and other pests of tomatoes, spray the plants with an ash solution (50 g of ash, tobacco and laundry soap per 10 liters of water) or with special ready-made products.
Growing tomatoes and peppers together has both pros and cons. In order for plants to develop well and not interfere with each other, you need to know the features of their combination. Proper care will allow you to harvest a double harvest from a small space.
After which plants is it favorable to plant vegetables of the nightshade family?
It is always customary in a plot where many different vegetable crops are grown to change their places every year. This must be done to avoid plant diseases, since many of them have the same diseases.
It is best to plant tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in those beds where carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, spinach and cabbage grew the previous year. And it is not advisable to plant after potatoes, in order to avoid late blight, especially for tomatoes.
If your plot of land is very small and it is not possible to alternate plants every year, then in March it is advisable to sow spinach, it grows quickly, and it contains a lot of useful substances, and just before planting seedlings of tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, it is already harvested. The remains of spinach can be dug up along with the soil in the beds; this will be an excellent fertilizer for the good growth of our nightshade family vegetables.
How do I care for indoor peppers?
Indoor peppers can even be planted in open ground for the summer. True, in the ground it will grow into a rather large bush, and then you will need to look for a suitable pot. It tolerates replanting well if the roots are not damaged.
Place and light
- Pepper loves a lot of light and moisture. A south window would be ideal for it.
- The pot with the plant must be constantly rotated so that it grows evenly.
- Does not like drafts and sudden drops in temperature.
- In the warm season, it is best to take the plants outside or onto the balcony.
Watering, loosening, spraying
- Frequent loosening and spraying will have a beneficial effect on the condition of homemade peppers. It's best to do this every day.
- Water as the top layer of soil dries out.
- Water at the root so that drops of water do not fall on the leaves.
Pollination
Most often, varieties of domestic peppers are self-pollinating, but there are exceptions.
Once, I waited for fruits for 3 months until I realized that without my pollination, they would not appear. Observe, if after flowering for a month the fruits do not set on their own, then pollinate manually.
Harvesting
Collect fruits on time so that the plant does not spend a lot of energy maintaining them.
Try to leave 5 - 7 fruits on the bush. As a rule, there are a lot of them.
Top dressing
- We fertilize once every 2 weeks with universal fertilizers and vermicompost .
- He loves ash , you can periodically sprinkle it on top and mix it with the ground.
- If you prepare “green fertilizer” from nettles and other herbs, then the pepper will thank you with a bountiful harvest and good growth.
