The modern market offers so many solutions for gardeners and vegetable growers that it seems as if it is impossible to grow anything without all kinds of fertilizers, devices, drip irrigation, the latest tools, films, and agrofibre.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that just 30 years ago everyone was growing seedlings without phytolamps.
Our grandmothers knew how to stop seedlings from stretching without additional lighting or the use of chemicals that suppress growth.
Method one: sow on time
The best seedlings are those that are sown not earlier, but on time. Many forget that in February you need to sow peppers and tomatoes, if there is additional lighting and they will be planted in a greenhouse. And this is several weeks earlier than in open ground.
The optimal time for sowing peppers and tomatoes for planting in open ground is March, when daylight hours have increased. After all, the main reason for seedlings stretching is a lack of light.
Method two: turn
Our grandmothers kept seedlings on the windowsill and turned them several times a day. Thanks to this simple trick, the plants did not reach for the sun, but spent energy on turning their tops towards it.
Method three: stroking
Stroking the top of a plant slows down its growth. It sounds strange and resembles another esoteric belief. But this action has a scientific basis. The fact is that when touched, the plant releases ethanol, which inhibits growth.
If you've grown tomatoes, you know that if you touch them, the leaves start to smell peculiar. It smells like ethanol.
Method four: do not thicken
When a forest is grown for timber, tree seedlings are planted quite densely. This is how a straight, tall tree is forced. The plant, in tough competition, tries to break out upward, forming a long trunk with branches only at the top.
The same thing happens with seedlings. If a plant touches other plants with its leaves, it will try to outgrow its rivals to get more sun.
Therefore, seedlings should be grown in such a way that each plant does not touch the leaves of others.
Method five: picking
Picking is stress for the plant. And during stress, it stops growing until it recovers. Tomatoes tolerate transplanting well and react calmly to damage to the root system. They can be picked twice.
Peppers do not like transplantation, but they can be pricked out once, when 2 true leaves have developed. Onions, strawberries and many other plants are easily pricked out without negative consequences.
These methods will help grow quality seedlings without backlighting. The main thing is not to fertilize them with nitrogen, which provokes active growth.
