How to properly store seedlings before planting in the ground

When storing seedlings during the winter, it is important to strictly follow all the recommendations of experienced gardeners.

Rules for storing seedlings before planting

If you buy this or that seedling at the wrong time, you should not panic that it will disappear. The root system of plants in the depths, in warm winters, can develop perfectly at a temperature of +3 °C. A seedling in this state seems to be sleeping and, moreover, in such conditions it becomes hardy. During frosts, future plants strengthen their immune system, and their roots develop the ability to extract moisture from deeper layers of the soil.

But a plant purchased before winter will no longer be able to take root, so the best thing to do is to stop its awakening until spring. If you do everything correctly, it will not change at all over the winter and will remain in the same condition as it was just purchased.

When the soil is frozen to -5 °C, the seedlings must be sent to a room where it is cool (uninsulated loggia or cellar). Before this, their lower part should be packed in a polyethylene bag, into which sawdust soaked in moisture must first be placed.When storing seedlings, it is imperative to ensure that the thermometer readings do not warm up above +5 °C.

Proper storage of coniferous seedlings

Conifer seedlings cannot be stored in a cellar. They should be buried in the soil in an area where there are no drafts and where the sun's rays do not reach. It is advisable to drop it in a container. The soil in them should be moist. This is necessary so that the root system does not die. In addition, it is very important to insulate the plant in the container: the soil above the roots themselves must be covered with peat or dry soil, and the seedling itself must be wrapped with any covering material.

Proper storage of seedlings of fruit plants and shrubs

The best option for preserving these sprouts until spring is to send them to the cellar or bury them. Absolutely all leaves from the seedlings should be removed, and only after this can they be placed in a suitable container (box, bucket, etc.) with slightly damp sand.

Also, future plants can be saved until spring by hiding them under snow cover. Before the snow falls, the seedlings should be kept in a cold room, wrapped in moistened burlap or film. After waiting for snow, the cover should be no less than 15 cm, the sprouts can be laid out. Their roots should be placed in a bag of peat or slightly damp sawdust. Then you need to use burlap to wrap the lower part of the trunk, the branches should be very gently squeezed together, and the entire seedling should be wrapped in flaps of agrofibre or polyethylene.

Proper storage of rose seedlings

It is best to bury future roses to the depth of a spade bayonet. Having dug the necessary hole, the seedlings should be placed on its bottom and covered with soil.You can cover the sprouts with spruce branches or other covering material.

You can also bury the stems of rose seedlings (2/3) into moistened sand in containers located in the basement. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the temperature conditions in the room range from 0 °C to +4 °C.

Having completed all the processes, which are not at all complicated, you will definitely be able to save any seedlings until the arrival of warm days, when they can be safely planted in open ground.

See the video “How to preserve seedlings until spring. Experience of professionals":