One of the most popular root crops in modern gardens. Smooth beds with openwork green leaves adorn the plots of even beginner gardeners. But only those who adhere to the rules manage to get a crop of beautiful, even root crops.
Choosing a place for the garden
Carrot should be placed in well-lit areas. Growing in the shade will lead to a significant reduction in yield and deterioration in taste. Therefore, it is worth allocating an area for carrots that is under direct sunlight throughout the day.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account crop rotation - the order of growing crops in a particular area.
You can not plant carrots annually on the same bed or after such plants:
The ideal "predecessors" of this root crop will be:
Sowing dates for carrots
Experienced gardeners know how important the right sowing time is. The yield of root crops directly depends on this. After all, the ripening time different varieties varies considerably. In addition, it is necessary to focus on the desired harvest time.
To get early carrots, the so-called "beam products", winter or spring crops of early ripening varieties are practiced. True, the first option is not possible in all climatic zones. In severe winters, seeds freeze even under a thick layer of covering material. Therefore, it is better to give preference to early spring crops. They can be carried out immediately after the top layer of soil warms up.
Return cooling will negatively affect the level of "keeping quality" of root crops and can provoke the active formation of flower arrows. But for beam products, these flaws are not a hindrance. That is why early ripening varieties can be sown much earlier.
Great for storage carrot varieties with a long maturation period. But it is recommended to sow them after a stable heat is established (15-18 ° C).
Preparation and sowing of seeds
Pre-sowing preparation allows you to immediately identify "defective" seeds and accelerates germination. Therefore, this step should not be neglected. Moreover, the procedure requires almost no effort. First, the seeds must be poured with warm water. After 10 hours, all the "illiquid assets" will surface.
To speed up germination by a week or even more, it is necessary to carry out one more simple manipulation. Seeds are placed on a damp piece of cloth or cotton wool and kept for several days. The air temperature should vary between 20 °C and 24 °C. In such conditions, after three days the seeds will hatch - fragile roots will appear.
Before boarding carrots it is necessary to dig grooves and moisten them well. They should not be too small so that strong gusts of wind do not spread the seeds throughout the site. You can not make grooves and too deep. Otherwise, the seeds will not germinate at all. The optimal sowing depth ranges from 2 to 3 cm. The distance between adjacent grooves is at least 15 cm, and between seeds is at least 2 cm.
Care for beds with carrots
In order for carrots to grow sweet and beautiful, regular tillage should be carried out. The first weeding may be required before the seeds germinate. The neighborhood of weeds has a detrimental effect on the development of carrots. Therefore, they must be eliminated immediately after the appearance.
The soil in the garden should always be loose. Compaction of the soil and the formation of a crust provoke the curvature of root crops. They can grow big, but appearance will be completely unrepresentative. Therefore, loosening the soil in the garden is a mandatory procedure.
In order for carrots to grow large, it is necessary to monitor the level of thickening of crops. The first thinning is carried out immediately after the real leaves appear on the plants. The distance between adjacent carrots is about 3 centimeters. If the seeds were sown sparsely, then there is no need for the first thinning. When two pairs of leaves appear, the procedure is repeated, doubling the distance between adjacent plants.
Watering and fertilizing
Juicy, sweet root crops grow only in those who spare no effort and time for watering. Lack of moisture is the cause of bitterness and lethargy in carrots. Moreover, watering is equally important at all stages of plant development. The depth of moisture should correspond to the size of the root crop. A bed of adult carrots must be watered so that the water soaks a layer of 30 cm.
It is enough to feed the carrots twice during the season. The first fertilization should be carried out 3-4 weeks after germination, the second - after a couple of months. It is most convenient to apply fertilizer in liquid form. To do this, add a choice of water to a bucket of water:
- a tablespoon of nitrophoska;
- two glasses of wood ash;
- a mixture of 20 g of potassium nitrate, 15 g of urea and double superphosphate.
Pest and disease control
The main enemy of root crops is the carrot fly. Its presence can be determined by the presence of twisted leaves. The best pest control is proper care for carrots. The insect appears on thickened, overgrown with weeds or excessively moistened beds. Used to control carrot flies chemicals: Intavir, Aktellik and others.
Carrots are less susceptible to disease. Most often, problems arise with alternariosis or phomosis. Treating the beds with a 1% solution of Bordeaux will help to significantly reduce the risk of developing diseases.
Carrot varieties
Among the numerous varieties of carrots, you can easily choose the best option for both spring and winter sowing. are the most productive.
Probably the most common vegetable on earth, because it is cultivated almost everywhere. There is nothing surprising in this, because it is difficult to find a more healthy and tasty vegetable. In addition, this culture is very unpretentious, and, in principle, its quite decent harvest can be obtained already at the initial stage of development of the garden plot.
However, in practice, not all gardeners with experience grow good carrots. Complaints are different - more often about poor germination and early yellowing of the tops, and often all these complaints are repeated from year to year, and as a result, by autumn the harvest is small, and the taste of carrots is somehow not very good. At the same time, with our long autumn-winter-spring season, when there are not so many vegetables on the table, carrots should be constantly available.
On the problem of "poor" germination of carrots
Many gardeners have repeatedly encountered situations when carrots have risen “sometimes thick, sometimes empty,” and they blamed seed producers for this. I won’t say anything - dissimilar seeds are also to blame for this, but most often the appearance of bald spots in the garden is associated with the death of seeds due to their banal drying. And this happens, alas, in a considerable number of gardeners. The fact is that carrots sprout slowly, and after all, the entire period from the moment of sowing to the emergence of seedlings, the seeds must constantly be in moist soil. It is not so easy to achieve this in practice, especially in regions with strong winds, such, for example, as we have in the Urals, when sometimes you have to water the ridges twice a day. It is clear that not everyone can afford this - as a result, the seeds die.
How to avoid such a situation and achieve reliable seedlings? If the above picture is familiar to you, then you should follow a number of rules.
1. Do not sow granulated seeds. They germinate worse, because more water is required to soften the shell artificially created around the seeds, and they lose their germination faster than ordinary seeds. But carrot seeds do not differ in long-term germination.
2. You should sow carrots in the most early dates(you can directly into the soil slightly thawed from above), when the lower layers of the soil are still saturated with moisture, which will reduce watering in the most difficult initial period. And there is no need to be afraid of the cold - young carrot seedlings can withstand temperatures as low as -2 ... -3 ° C. As for the fears regarding the poor storage of early sown carrots, I have not observed anything like this for many years - we store carrots until about mid-June (after all, it all depends on the storage conditions and varieties, among which there are those that are not suitable for long-term storage intended).
3. If possible, it is better to soak or germinate the seeds before sowing, as dry carrot seeds germinate slowly and often give sparse shoots. Wet and, moreover, germinated seeds germinate quickly, but it is quite difficult to sow them. In addition, the process of soaking and germinating should be taken seriously, as there is a risk of destroying the seeds.
4. Immediately after sowing, cover the beds with a film that protects the soil from drying out. The edges of the film should be pressed very carefully with stones to prevent air from entering in the wind, otherwise the film will do more harm than good.
5. Immediately after the appearance of the first shoots, it is necessary to replace the film with a covering material - the slightest delay in this operation will lead to the death of seedlings, since the temperature under the film in the sun can be very high.
Soaking and germinating seeds
For soaking, ordinary settled or better melted snow water is suitable (the snow must be clean, preferably freshly fallen). The soaking process lasts for a day. Soak the seeds in a wide flat dish, placing them between the layers of the wet cloth. Water should only slightly cover the fabric (with more water, the seeds will inevitably suffocate and die), and the fabric itself with seeds should never dry out (otherwise the seeds will die again). In the conditions of dry air in apartments, it is quite difficult to ensure a constant humidity of soaked seeds, therefore it is more reliable to place a cloth with seeds on a layer of wet sawdust (or other material that retains water well, such as cotton wool), and then install containers with seeds in a wide ajar plastic bag. In this case, you do not have to check the humidity level every couple of hours.
Seed germination is a longer process. As a rule, germination is carried out until roots 0.5 cm long appear in the bulk of germinated seeds. Single seeds can have roots up to 1.5 cm long. When this stage is reached, they immediately start sowing. If you do not yet have the conditions in the garden for this, then you can slightly shift the sowing dates by placing containers with seeds on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator (+1 ... -4 ° C) right in an ajar plastic bag. And at the same time regularly monitor the moisture content of the seeds.
It is most reliable to germinate seeds in wide flat containers filled with wet sawdust - in cloth bags or between layers of toilet paper. The second option is preferable, since the seeds germinate through the fabric, and it is simply impossible to extract them without damaging them. Daily washing of seeds with water is mandatory.
A very good result during germination (as well as during soaking) is given by a single spraying of seeds with the growth stimulator Epin.
Sowing of soaked and germinated seeds
Wet and germinated seeds are much more difficult to sow than dry ones. If you just soaked the seeds, then you need to dry them to flowability (you cannot overdry the seeds) and sow immediately.
Germinated carrot seeds cannot be sown by hand - you have to resort to liquid sowing. For such sowing, an ordinary paste is first prepared (it must be homogeneous, without clots, viscous enough and without a film on the surface to keep the germinated seeds in suspension) and cool it. In parallel, holes are made on the ridges. Then the germinated seeds are sent to a bucket of paste, and a glass with a spout is taken as a tool. Directly at the ridge, gently stir the jelly with seeds with your hand, fill a glass with it and pour the contents of the glass into the hole, quickly moving the hand with the glass along it. Kissel is stirred again, etc. Immediately after sowing, the furrows are covered with loose soil.
Unaccustomed to spreading the seeds evenly over the hole may not work, but after a few workouts you will adapt and be able to sow three large ridges of carrots in 15 minutes in this way.
carrot preferences
Carrots prefer loose, well-drained and fairly fertile soils with a deep arable layer (at least 28-32 cm). The acidity of the soil should be pH 6-6.5, with higher acidity, the yield drops sharply (liming directly under the crop is undesirable).
This culture is very cold-resistant - its seeds begin to germinate already at +3...4°C. However, the optimum temperature for their germination is considered to be 18…20°C – at this temperature, high-quality seeds can sprout in 6-7 days. For comparison, at 12°C, the first shoots can be seen only after 15-16 days. Alas, in practice, such a high temperature does not occur during sowing, so it is better to germinate the seeds at home at a comfortable temperature.
Carrots are extremely photophilous - attempts to grow this crop, both in the shade and in partial shade, are completely useless.
Briefly about agricultural technology
Carrot care is not particularly difficult - watering, weeding, thinning, loosening and top dressing as needed.
This culture is very responsive to loosening, therefore, after the appearance of the first shoots, the first loosening of the row spacing is immediately carried out, combining it with weeding.
Thinning seedlings begin when the first true leaf appears, leaving the plants at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other. Pre-seedlings are watered abundantly. The final thinning is carried out 20-30 days after the first, bringing the distance between plants up to 5 cm. Rejected plants are immediately removed, since their smell can attract carrot flies.
A good effect is the mulching of row spacing immediately after thinning - as a result, there is no need for frequent loosening. As a mulching material, leaf litter, sawdust soaked in urea (200 g of urea per three buckets of wet sawdust - leave for two weeks), chopped bark are suitable.
Regular abundant watering of carrots is mandatory - irregular watering leads to cracking of root crops.
Separately, it is also worth mentioning the main carrot pest - the carrot psyllid, due to which the leaves of the affected plants are twisted and deformed, the petioles are shortened, and the root crops grow small, hard and tasteless. The smells of celery, parsley, onion and garlic repel the carrot fly, so growing carrots and onions in mixed plantings (for example, 4 holes of carrots, 4 holes of onions, etc.) is considered a traditional recommendation. From my point of view, this is not the best solution, since the collapsed carrot tops are safely settled on onion plantings - as a result, the onion harvest cannot be expected. It is much more effective to use covering material to protect carrot ridges and keep it on crops for as long as possible.
As for top dressing, it all depends on the degree of soil fertility and specific weather conditions. Therefore, feeding options may be different. When preparing the ridges, I put ready-made compost on them with a layer of 5 cm (although the soil is already very fertile). Then, after the second thinning, I carry out top dressing with complex fertilizer (usually Kemira), and at the stage of the beginning of the formation of root crops, I sprinkle it abundantly with ash. If a cool rainy summer happens, when the need for potash fertilizers increases, additional top dressing (sometimes more than one) with a solution of potassium sulfate may be required.
About freaks in the carrot family
It is very pleasant to pick up a large, beautiful and brightly colored root crop. However, not always carrots will be born just like that. There are more than enough reasons for the appearance of ugly root crops.
1. Use carrot plants removed during thinning for planting. Pulled carrots take root well, but the root crops are small, highly branched and so ugly that it is impossible to peel them.
2. Stony soils are completely unsuitable for carrots - ugly and branched root crops also grow on them.
3. Insufficient thickness of the root layer. If this layer available for carrot roots is less than 30 cm, then the root crops will not be large and even, because they will have to bend and branch to fit in the existing thin layer of root-inhabited soil.
4. Irregular and sparse watering. Surface watering leads to the appearance of carrot freaks: ugly carrot roots are formed, in which not one long root, but several short ones, leaves a very wide head. With a lack of watering, carrot roots become rough and tasteless. And with irregular, but abundant watering, the roots crack.
5. Untimely thinning and weeding. With a strong thickening (or clogging of the beds with weeds), small and ugly root crops are formed. Therefore, it is impossible to be late with thinning in any case.
6. The introduction of fresh manure under carrots can also lead to the appearance of branched and ugly root crops, which is completely unacceptable.
To keep carrots sweet
All gardeners, probably, paid attention to the fact that their own carrots are much tastier than state farm carrots. And it also happens that root crops from one garden bed are much sweeter than from another. And rightly so, it all depends on nutrition. The soil should be light, well-drained and fertile enough - it is on such soil that tastier carrots will be born. For example, when I pull out humus from greenhouses in autumn, I scatter it on carrot ridges. As a matter of fact, I consider it to be the main applied fertilizer.
In addition, during the growing season, one should carefully monitor the development of plants and prevent a lack of phosphorus and potassium, since phosphorus increases the sugar content of carrots, and potassium increases the tenderness of root tissues. In our climate, from the middle of summer there is a clear lack of potassium, leading to premature yellowing of the tops and the formation of lower quality root crops. Therefore, top dressing with ash or a solution of potassium sulfate is relevant.
From the point of view of taste, the selected variety (hybrid) also plays a significant role - to obtain sweet root crops, it is preferable to choose varieties (hybrids) with a small core such as Karlena, Callisto and Nandrin.
How to save the harvest
It is extremely important to choose the right time for harvesting carrots. You can not harvest carrots too early - even because of the fear of prolonged rains. Why? The fact is that in the usual underground (and what else can ordinary gardeners have in their arsenal?) There are no conditions for cooling root crops. However, the rapid cooling of carrots immediately after harvesting is one of the main factors for its successful storage. Under our conditions, cooling is possible only in one way - upon the onset of low temperatures. Therefore, until it becomes cold enough (but before frost), carrots should not be harvested, otherwise they will not be stored for a long time.
When harvesting, you should be very careful with root crops, avoiding the slightest damage - in no case should you break off the tops (just cut it with a knife), throw carrots into buckets (just carefully fold), etc.
Harvested carrots are sorted, separating small and damaged ones, dry a little (20-30 minutes) in a draft in a greenhouse and put in storage. Here, options are possible that depend on specific conditions (mainly the level of humidity) - storage in sand, processing with clay mash, placing in plastic bags, etc. I don’t use anything like that - I just put the carrots in the place allotted to her in the vegetable chest.
As for washing carrots before storage (such recommendations can often be found in the press), here I am definitely against it, since damage to the skin is inevitable when washing. Of course, if desired, this procedure can be carried out if we are talking about short-term storage of a couple of buckets, but if several bags of carrots are laid before the next harvest, this is completely unacceptable.
And the last thing you need to remember: before storing vegetables, the storage must be disinfected (it means whitewashing or spraying with quicklime mixed with iron or copper sulphate), and during storage it should maintain a temperature of + 1 ... -2 ° C and relative humidity 90-95%. Without observing these conditions, good preservation of carrots will not work.
Svetlana Shlyakhtina, Yekaterinburg
Carrots do not require special care, but the rules of cultivation must be followed. It is a drought-resistant crop, tolerates frosts and prolonged cold snaps. How to grow carrots? The secrets, like those of other vegetables, lie in the correct agricultural technology.
It requires more care than other crops. Let's take a closer look at how to grow carrots in a country house or garden plot with your own hands.
Soil preparation
It is required to choose a bright place before growing carrots. The secrets lie in the fact that with a lack of sunlight due to a falling shadow or uneven surface of the beds, root crops lose their sugar content and mass.
Before growing good harvest carrots, it is necessary to choose light and even soil. It should be sandy, light loamy, with good drainage. In dense loam, the fruits grow small; during storage, they are quickly affected by rot. Carrots should not be planted on acidic soils. It requires a neutral or slightly acidic environment.
Before you grow good carrots, you need to
The bed is prepared in the fall so that it settles down. It is made loose. To do this, add sawdust, humus, peat or sand. Chalk, lime, dolomite, ash are used for liming. Manure for growing carrots should not be used, because it turns out not very beautiful and poorly stored root crops. Humus should be applied to poor soil - a bucket per square meter. If a ground water close, the bed is made high.
The arable layer is well formed with the help of green manure roots - plants that create a good soil structure. They are sown in the garden in the fall in order to plant carrots in this place in the spring. Worms and microorganisms also create good soil structure.
Carrot beds should be constantly changed. Predecessors should be garlic, onions, cabbage, potatoes. How to grow large carrots if you have to grow the same crop in one place? The introduction of wood ash twice a year in the amount of 0.2 kg / m 2 will help here, followed by digging.
In the spring, a week before planting, the bed is leveled, loosened, treated with a 0.3% solution of vitriol, watered with warm water, and then covered with a polyethylene film. During this time, it will retain moisture and warm up well in the sun.
How to prepare seeds for sowing
Germination of carrot seeds is small - 55-75%. In this regard, the seeds should be taken fresh. In addition, carrots do not differ in uniform germination. After 2-3 weeks, the first shoots should appear. Seeds germinate for a long time due to the presence on their surface essential oils that slow down the penetration of moisture.
Before growing, it is necessary to prepare for sowing. Consider several ways to pre-germinate them.
Soak
Seeds are poured into cloth bags and kept overnight in warm water. Water must be changed every four hours. It can be made from nutrient solution by adding wood ash (30 g/l). After the seeds must be washed.
The method will be more effective if additional hardening is performed. Seeds in wet bags are placed in the refrigerator for 2-5 days.
Soaking with nutrient solution
Use a weak solution of potassium permanganate with the addition of ½ teaspoon of fertilizer per liter of water or a mixture of nitrophoska and boric acid (1/3 teaspoon and 1/2 teaspoon per liter of water, respectively). Seeds are scattered on gauze folded several times, and also covered with it from above and poured with a solution for a day. The liquid level should be just above the tissue. Then they are washed with water and put in the refrigerator for three to four days.
If the weather does not allow planting seeds, they are left on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, keeping them moist all the time. In this case, you need to ensure that they do not germinate more than 0.5 cm.
Heat treatment
Heat treatment of seeds consists in their successive immersion in hot and cold water. They are poured into a bag and rinsed at a temperature of 50 degrees, and then dipped in a solution of humate and kept warm for two days. As a result, the germination of not only carrots, but also parsley and dill is accelerated.
bubbling
Bubbling speeds up the seed preparation process. An air or oxygen supply hose with an emery stone filter at the end is brought to the bottom of a non-metallic container with water. A mesh with seeds is placed on top.
During the bubbling process, the water is saturated with air. At home, a small aquarium compressor is enough for this. Bubbling time for carrot seeds is 17-24 hours. After the material is removed to the middle shelf of the refrigerator, where it is stored for 3-5 days. Before sowing, the seeds are dried for 12 hours so that they become free-flowing, and sown.
Burying seeds in the soil
Dry seeds are placed in cloth bags and buried in the ground with a shovel to a depth of one bayonet, where they should be at least 10-12 days. Then they are taken out and sown in the garden. After such treatment, seedlings should appear in five days.
Another way is to mix the seeds with moist peat and keep them in a warm place for at least one week. During this period, they have time to germinate, after which they are sown. Before planting in the ground, the seeds are dried for 20-25 minutes on parchment or cloth at room temperature.
How to grow carrots. Secrets of sowing and care
Before planting, seeds are selected and purchased that are most suitable for a particular region. You can also get them yourself. Before growing carrot seeds, you should find a good and large root crop, and then plant it in the spring. By autumn it will be ripe.
Carrots grow for about three months. To get a harvest in September, planting should be done no later than May. Sowing dates cover the period from the end of April to the first decade of June. Landing before May 5 is considered optimal.
Before winter, carrots are planted when the soil becomes cold enough. It can be from the end of October to the beginning of November. Sowing and harvesting times vary by variety and region. Northern varieties should not be planted in the south, as they will grow slowly. If grown in middle lane southern varieties, they give abundant tops, while root crops do not develop. Some varieties bred abroad are poorly stored.
Should be done on time otherwise beneficial features and the keeping quality of root crops may deteriorate.
Small carrot seeds should be evenly spread in the groove. Therefore, they are mixed with sand or peat and sown in a garden bed.
So that neighboring rows do not interfere with her growth? To ensure sufficient illumination, it is better to make the beds narrow - no more than four rows of carrots.
Along the edge, bumpers are made to prevent water from running off. The distance between the rows should be 15 cm, and for late varieties - 20 cm. The bed is watered with water and sprinkled with ash. Seeds are placed in grooves at a distance of about 2.5 cm.
During spring-summer plantings, swollen seeds are planted shallowly - by 3-4 cm. They should be sprinkled with very light soil, which is used as black soil mixed with peat, sand or humus. Then, a ventilation gap is made from the film above the bed at a distance of about 12-15 cm.
The first shoots in warm weather appear in a week. If the temperature is below 12 degrees, the time is doubled. If there are empty places, additional sowing is done.
For many gardeners, the question of how to grow early carrots is problematic. Actually, it's easy. Planting carrots in autumn early varieties to a depth of 2 cm, and then sprinkled with mulch to a height of 3-4 cm. In this case, the soil temperature should be below +5 degrees. When there is little snow in winter, the beds are additionally covered with them to a height of up to 50 cm. With this method of planting, the crop is harvested earlier than usual by 2-3 weeks.
Plant thinning
How to grow a good crop of carrots if it has risen well? To do this, you need to do a thorough thinning of seedlings after the appearance of the third leaf.
All this is not as simple as it seems at first glance. In order for the plants to be well removed, the bed should be watered and the soil carefully loosened. In addition, the operation should be performed during the day so as not to attract a pest - a carrot fly flying in the evening.
Sprouts should be removed with tweezers, leaving a distance of at least 2 cm. The smallest shoots are removed. The tops are thrown away from the beds. In no case should you leave it nearby, so as not to attract pests. A good deterrent is onion arrows, which are crushed and scattered in the garden. You can cover the crops with special material. The earth around the plants is slightly crushed. After 20 days, thinning is repeated. At the same time, a distance of 6 cm is left between the carrots.
The aisles need to be loosened and weeded (at least once a week) so that a sufficient amount of oxygen enters the roots. After thinning the aisle, mulch with compost or sawdust soaked for several weeks in a 2-3% urea solution.
How to grow large carrots? Needed here correct dosage fertilizers. They cannot be applied in large quantities at once. Carrot beds begin to fertilize with mineral water when 5-6 sheets appear. The frequency of feeding is 2-4 weeks. This culture especially does not like excess nitrogen.
In the process of growth, the upper part of the root crop comes out of the ground and turns green. It does no harm, but the taste gets worse. How to grow sweet carrots so that they do not lose their taste? When root crops appear from the ground, they are spudded, raking the ground on them with a height of about 50 mm.
Watering carrot beds
Poor germination of carrots is associated primarily with the drying of the soil. Until she has risen, the top layer of the bed should be constantly wet. Sometimes the earth should be watered even several times a day. Granular seeds germinate especially hard. Immediately after sowing, the bed is protected with a film so that the top layer does not dry out.
Until the roots appear, watering is done after 3-4 days, 3-4 buckets per 1 m 2. At the same time, they independently grow in depth and find moisture. Therefore, watering is done once a week, 1-2 buckets per m 2, and from the end of August - 1 time in 1.5-2 weeks, 8-10 liters per square. Two weeks the beds are kept without watering until harvest.
Rough root crops are an indicator that they lacked moisture. With its excess, the fruits grow small. Sharp changes from drying to excess moisture are also harmful, leading to cracking of the carrot and subsequent poor preservation.
Carrots are not afraid of cold weather, but at temperatures below 8 degrees, starch in root crops turns into sugar, and the keeping quality of root crops deteriorates. In the middle lane, the crop is harvested at the end of September in dry weather.
Collected within 1.5-2 hours, and then cut off the tops. The crop is sorted, flat carrots are placed in a ventilated box in a dark and cool place. It could be a cellar or basement.
Conclusion
You will never be able to reap a good harvest if you do not know how to grow carrots. The secrets of agricultural technology lie in the proper preparation of the soil, proper planting and care. As a result, in the fall you will get large and even root crops.
- ✓ Why carrots are ugly and tasteless
- ✓ Why did the “maiden” grow horns
They dug up carrots, but the harvest did not please: root crops grew with many shoots (“fingers”). Why? And what to do so that the carrots are even and not horned and not clumsy as in the photo?
Lyubov BEREZINA, p. Bereznik, Kirov region
Answered by Nikolai ROGOVTSOV, agronomist
To get even and beautiful carrot roots, you need to follow a few basic requirements when growing them and carefully care for the plants.
"Horned" carrots grows where the soil is highly compacted. Therefore, the garden bed must be prepared in the fall.
In autumn, sometimes the soil is dug up to a depth of at least 20 cm, in spring it should be deeply shoveled again 1.5-2 weeks before sowing. This should be done especially on heavy, clayey, floating soils. On such soils, sand, rotted sawdust are introduced in autumn, and compost is added in spring.
Ugly root crops are also formed from fresh manure. Therefore, it is applied only under the previous crop: cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkin, early potatoes.
It is impossible to introduce lime materials and ash into the soil immediately before sowing, as well as to fertilize plants with potassium chloride or potassium salt.
Drying out of the soil after sowing and within a month after germination also leads to the ugliness of root crops. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out timely watering with the obligatory loosening of row spacing.
This phenomenon can also manifest itself from damage to the roots of plants at a young age by pests (carrot fly, bear, etc.).
Why carrots are ugly and tasteless
How disappointing it is when, after caring for carrots all summer, in the fall, instead of large and sweet root crops, you get a mountain of small, crooked or shaggy ones, moreover, worn out by passages. And this is due to specific reasons. You need to deal with them without waiting for the end of the season, so that you have time to work on your mistakes.
Where do the "horns" and "tails" come from?
Most often, the following incorrect actions of gardeners lead to the appearance of twisted root crops:
1) growing on heavy clay soils that do not allow air to pass through. As the root crop grows, it encounters an obstacle in the form of compacted soil in its path and bends;
2) the introduction of fresh manure or immature humus. It is better to apply organic fertilizers under the previous crops (cucumbers, onions, cabbage or early potatoes) or in the fall, and then in the form of well-rotted humus;
3) sowing in loose, unsettled soil. A bed for sowing carrots should be prepared in the fall so that the earth has time to settle. Be sure to add superphosphate to the soil.
Carrots can be not only twisted, but also horned or multi-tailed. main reason- damage to the root at an early stage. There are several options here:
A) the seeds germinated longer than necessary, as a result, the regrown roots were damaged during sowing;
B) repeated drying of crops even before germination and in the first month of growing carrots. The tender tips of the roots in this case are among the first to die;
C) rough pulling of excess carrots during thinning (or it was carried out late in heavily thickened crops) or weeds during weeding;
D) the root was damaged by insects (carrot fly, wireworm, bear);
D) frequent, but superficial watering. Because of them, freaks grow, in which not one long root, but several short ones, departs from a wide head. The central root, having passed the wet layer of soil, stumbles upon a dry and dense one. He has no choice but to direct the side roots to the sides.
Increased hairiness
Root hairs are usually released when a dense crust forms on the soil (when the root system suffocates without oxygen) or in search of moisture. Carrots will not grow hairy if they are provided with timely abundant watering and regular loosening of the soil between the rows. If you can't water your carrots like this throughout the season, water them well the first month and then gradually reduce watering to a minimum.
Immediately after sowing, it is better to cover the bed plastic wrap so that the water does not evaporate. After germination, it should be removed and replaced with non-woven material. But even in the first month, you can not water the garden bed superficially. In moderate weather, it is enough - once every 10 days, but so that the earth is saturated with moisture by 20 cm.
The orange beauty does not like the excess of moisture, the root crops crack and even unfold from this. Another reason for the appearance of cracks can be excessive fertilizing with fertilizers, especially nitrogen.
So that you know
The first thinning is done when the first true leaf appears. And all you need to thin out the carrots 2-3 times. At the same time, the final distance between root crops depends on the variety and method of planting - in rows, ribbons ... So, cylindrical carrots need less space than conical ones. After each thinning, the plantings are spudded so that the shoulders of the root crops do not stick out of the ground.
On a note:
Nitrogen top dressing is necessary for carrots only until the time when the root crop begins to form. In the second half of summer, plantings are fed with potash and phosphorus fertilizers.
Worse than bitter radish
The most important thing in the orange spine is juicy sweetness. Deterioration of its taste can occur:
1) when used for sowing F2 hybrids. If you collect seeds from Ft hybrids, next year hybrids of the second generation will grow. AT agriculture hybrids of only the first are used, because in the process of growing F2 hybrids, the property of the progenitor begins to dominate - A white wild carrot, and it is bitter;
2) if the shoulders of root crops stick out of the ground. In the sun they turn green and acquire a bitter taste.
Bitterness is a response of root crops to damage by a carrot fly and a wireworm or an attack by a psyllid. You can find out about the appearance of the latter by suddenly becoming curly leaves. This is especially true if there is a coniferous forest near your site.
The appearance of bitterness and woodiness of carrots leads to a lack of phosphorus and potassium. As well as growing it on acidic soils.
By the way, acidic soil is another reason that carrots grow hairy or ugly.
If you add humus (6 kg / sq. M) to the garden in the fall, and before planting - urea (15-20 g / sq. M), superphosphate 25-40 (g / sq. M), potassium chloride (25-30 g / sq. m), boric acid (0.5 g / sq. m), copper sulfate (0.5 g / sq. m), cobalt sulfate (0.5 (g / sq. m) and ammonium molybdate ( 0.1 g / sq. m), then the roots will grow even, beautiful and tasty.
Why did the "girl" grow horns
Many gardeners are surprised when harvesting carrots, and they just can’t understand why the root crops have grown so ugly? And really, why is this happening?
Manure-contraindicated
This happens for many reasons. First of all, which experts have repeatedly told gardeners about, there is no need to apply undecomposed organic fertilizers under carrots! However, every year some vegetable growers diligently fertilize the beds, anticipating a big harvest in advance. Root crops with such a diet, of course, do not complain about hunger, but they become ugly. The presented photo shows one of the options for the ugliness of carrots: the reason for this is unripe manure.
When making organic fertilizers(and especially manure) a lot of solid straw residues are formed in the soil. Delicate roots, bumping into them, bend and bend. And yet - with the decomposition of organic residues in the soil, the content of carbon dioxide sharply increases. And this can lead to damage to the delicate root - here you have “increased branching”.
On a note
When “fresh” organic fertilizers are applied, the vegetation of the plant is delayed, and the content of putrefactive bacteria in the soil increases. Because of this, root crops begin to rot right in the ground.
Other causes of "horned carrots"
True, there are other reasons for the ugliness of root crops. Here they are:
- Root crops cracked - there was abundant, but irregular watering;
- Root crops are small and ugly - dense sowing, untimely weeding and thinning, it is also possible that the plants removed during thinning were used as seedlings;
- Multi-tailed root - here the reason lies in the introduction of lime: carrots do not tolerate large doses of calcium;
- Hairy carrots - perhaps there is an excess of moisture or nitrogen in the soil;
- Large lentils on the rhizome - the reason is too dense or moist soil, the root crops "suffocated" from lack of oxygen;
- The root crop is curved - the soil was not processed deep enough, less than 25 cm, and the carrots simply could not fit in the treated layer;
- The root crops grew branched - which means that the carrots were planted on a poorly prepared bed with heavy, non-drained soil. When digging, fresh manure, unripe humus or potash fertilizers containing chlorine were added;
- In root crops, several short roots leave on the sides from a wide head - in dry weather, the plants were watered little and irregularly.
Be careful with seeds!
I stopped at the main miscalculations of vegetable growers. But gardeners can also be "guilty without guilt." Increasingly, low-quality seeds began to appear on sale. Surely, many have seen yellow-white carrots. This is not at all new variety bred by breeders. Such root crops can be safely sent to the wastebasket as a marriage - such carrots have neither taste nor benefit. And the strange harvest is explained by the fact that some firms selling seeds continue to buy them in Central Asia, where they are much cheaper. Not being able to constantly renew queen cells, local agrarian entrepreneurs continue to grow vegetable crops for seeds using old degenerate varieties. As a result, yellow-white and even ugly carrots grow, despite the strict observance of all agricultural standards. So to the choice seed you need to approach it very carefully, trying not to fall for the hook of cheapness.
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Garden and cottage › Question-answer › Why carrots are horned, clumsy
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