What vegetables to sow in February: tips for gardeners

February is the month when gardeners begin active preparations for the season of growing vegetables and fruits. In particular, during this period, the first sowing is carried out.

According to Vse Roste, seeds of plants with a long growing and ripening period are the first to be sown. And here is a list of crops for February.

Onions

It takes 45-60 days for the seedlings to take roots in the ground (depending on the variety and growing conditions). Therefore, onions are sown in February. The soil for growing seedlings of this crop should be light and loose. It is moistened and leveled, and then the seed is sown according to the following scheme: the depth of seed placement is 0.5-1 cm, row spacing is 5-6 cm, and the depth of the soil layer in the tray is at least 6 cm. There should be 1-2 cm of space between the seeds. They are lightly pressed, and then watered thoroughly. Cover the container with the future seedlings with plastic wrap. Onion seedlings are planted in the ground at the end of April.

Leeks

This crop ripens quite late - 90-100 days for the earliest varieties and 170-200 days for the later ones, so it requires early sowing. The soil layer for leek seedlings should be at least 8 cm, the distance between rows should be 4 cm, and between seeds - 1-2 cm. After sowing, cover the tray with foil and place it in a warm place. It will take about 2 weeks to germinate. However, young plants are resistant to cold weather, so leeks can be transplanted outdoors as soon as the first warm weather arrives in April.

Root celery

The plant requires quite a bit of time to grow, so it is sown in the first half of February. To avoid pricking out, root celery is best grown in cassettes. The soil should be loose and well moistened. The depth of sowing is 0.5-1 cm. Cover the cassette with foil and place it in a warm place. In 9-12 days, the celery should sprout - at this point, it is important to remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 18-12 degrees. In this case, the plant will develop well. Plant it in the garden in late April or early May.

Peppers and eggplants

At the end of February, these vegetables are planted to be grown through pricking ou. It should take 80-90 days to transplant these seedlings into the open ground. Peppers and eggplants require a light, air- and moisture-permeable substrate. Seeds are planted in rows to a depth of about 1 cm and at a distance of 1-2 cm from each other. The row spacing should be 5 cm. After thorough watering, cover the container with foil. Pepper and eggplant seeds germinate best at a temperature of 20-27 degrees. Seedlings will appear in 5-8 days. After that, the plants need to be kept cool.

Cucumbers

Cucumber seedlings are sown this early only for growing the vegetable in a greenhouse, as they are transferred to the ground when they are only 30 days. If you sow cucumbers this early following the growing conditions, you can get the first harvest as early as mid-March. Cucumbers do not tolerate pricking out well, so it is better to sow them in spacious containers or cassettes with subsequent transplanting. Future seedlings are kept warm - the temperature should be 20-25 degrees. When the first shoots appear, it is lowered to 18-20 degrees. Additional lighting of the seedlings is mandatory. It is also important to keep the soil moderately moist at all times. After that, feed them with a complex mineral fertilizer.

Berry crops

In February, wild strawberries and strawberries are sown too. The seeds are placed in a substrate 2.5-3 cm deep. They are placed in rows 2-3 mm deep into the ground. Then lightly sprinkle with soil and press down. They should be watered from a spray bottle, after which the container is covered with a transparent film and placed in a warm place with a temperature of 20-25 degrees. After emergence, it is advisable to lower the temperature so that the strawberry seedlings do not stretch out. The young plants will need to be pricked out and planted in separate seedling pots. After that, you can carry out the first fertilization with a complex mineral fertilizer. It is necessary to plant berries in the ground in May, when the weather is stable and warm without night frosts.

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