Carrots are among those vegetable crops that are present in the diet every day. It is necessary in the preparation of soups and second courses, and most preparations for the winter cannot do without it. Useful root and fresh. It is especially pleasant to crunch on fresh carrots plucked in your area. Therefore, the root crop is necessarily grown in every garden.
Vegetables are easy to grow. However, it often happens that someone grows large and tasty carrots, while someone cannot boast of a crop. Knowledge of plant characteristics, agrotechnical nuances and the use of modern methods of sowing seeds, such as the use of seeds in granules, can significantly increase your yield.
A feature of the culture is that it has very small seeds that are difficult to plant. The methods used by many generations of gardeners in the past led to such additional work as mandatory thinning, sometimes repeated. Therefore, to reduce labor costs during planting, seeds in granules were invented. Seeds in granules save the gardener’s time, the cost of seed material, greatly facilitate sowing, as they have a large granule size and bright color. So, you definitely will not make a mistake and do not sow the seeds twice.
Terms of planting
Carrots – tolerates a slight cold snap well. Its seeds in granules can be sown already at the end of April in open ground, if the weather is warm enough. However, if some cataclysms occur in nature – a sharp drop in temperature, snowfall in April, then the sowing dates, of course, are shifted to May.
Then you can sow carrots in granules. The indicated landing dates are suitable for the Urals and central Our Country.
Soil preparation
The culture prefers light sandy and loamy soils. Clay soils that retain moisture are not suitable for root crops and can cause them to rot.
Beds for carrots in granules should be planned in that part of the garden where the vegetable will receive the maximum amount of solar heat and light; in shaded areas, the root crop grows worse.
It is better to prepare the soil for a vegetable in the fall: dig, remove weeds and plant debris, in which various pests and bacterial spores usually hibernate. Fresh manure is best applied to the soil in the fall. During the winter, useful substances pass into a form convenient for assimilation by plants. Fertilizer is a must if you want to get a good harvest, since sandy and loamy soils, which carrots like so much, are poor in humus.
You can make this combination of fertilizers per 1 sq. m of soil: superphosphate (30 g), ammonium nitrate (15 g), potassium chloride (10 g).
Since it contains weed seeds, it attracts pests and contains a large amount of nitrogen, which harms the plant. Moreover, carrots, like any other root crop, are prone to the accumulation of nitrates in fruits.
Observe crop rotation in your area. With proper crop rotation, the soil is prepared by previous crops for subsequent crops, and the risk of damage by pests and diseases is reduced. Soil fertility increases, which is fully used by plants. The same plants planted year after year deplete the soil.
To improve the quality of the soil, it is recommended to use green manure (mustard, rye, wheat, clover, etc.) in crop rotation.
Carrots grow best after:
- Cabbage;
- Ogurtsov;
- Zucchini, patissons, pumpkins;
- Lettuce, spinach;
- Radish;
- Early potatoes;
- spices;
- Sideratov.
The worst predecessor is: table beets. A vegetable grows well after tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, peas, beans, peppers, eggplant.
Carrot fly can cause significant damage to the crop. In the spring, she lays her eggs in the soil next to the plants, the hatched larvae gnaw their way through the root crops. As a result, the vegetable loses its taste and presentation, and is poorly stored.
In the spring, the beds again need to be dug up, large clods of earth should be crushed, and the surface of the soil should be leveled. You can add ashes and compost (rotted manure).
How to plant
Those gardeners who have tried at least once to plant carrots in granules, later switch to this method of planting carrot seeds. You can accurately follow the required landing pattern.
Grooves are made in the prepared soil, 2-3 cm deep. They are well moistened, then the seeds are laid in granules according to the scheme. Next, the seeds are sprinkled with soil and slightly compacted. And water again.
After sowing, the soil surface is mulched, covering with peat or humus. This helps to retain the moisture necessary for germination.
Carrot seeds germinate for a long time, about 2 weeks. Germination time may be slightly longer if the weather is cold.
How to plant carrots in granules, see the video:
Carrot seeds in granules can be planted before winter. To do this with such seeds is even preferable. Usually, gardeners are afraid and do not risk ordinary planting material, assuming that it will freeze or rise ahead of time.
If you have carrot seeds in granules, then you can not be afraid for them, but much earlier, a fresh root crop will appear on your table next season. It is only necessary to comply with certain deadlines.
The soil for winter sowing of carrots in granules can be prepared in October, dug up and filled with fertilizers. Choose a flat site, without a slope, so that the melted spring waters do not wash the seeds out of the soil.
In the first half of November, when the soil is slightly frozen, the seeds are sown. Watering is not required.
Sown carrots in granules are mulched with peat, humus or compost.
There is an opinion that carrots, the seeds of which were planted before winter, do not store well and that they must be used as food in advance of the season or frozen.
Care
Regular care:
- After seed germination, watering should occur quite often, 2 times a week, with warm water from a watering can. Water consumption is up to 5 liters per 1 sq. m landings. Mature plants require less moisture. During the period of root formation, watering can be reduced to 1 time per week, but at the same time increase water consumption (10 liters of water per 1 sq. M of plantings). Abundant watering is the key to obtaining large juicy carrots. With a lack of watering, the fruits are obtained with a bitter taste and hard. Organize watering based on weather conditions. Before harvesting, 2 weeks in advance, it is recommended to stop watering;
- Loosening promotes the penetration of oxygen to the underground part of the plant, which is especially important at the stage of formation and growth of root crops. If there is a crust on the surface, they are bent and have a non-marketable appearance;
- Weeding when sowing carrot seeds in granules becomes much easier. Removal of weeds is required to be carried out regularly, they have a very bad effect on plantings. Moreover, a preventive measure will save your carrot beds from the appearance of a carrot fly;
- Top dressing is carried out 2 times per season. Use nitrophoska. The first feeding should take place no earlier than a month after germination. The second one is 2 months later. You can use other universal fertilizers.
Cultivated plants require regular maintenance. The work of the gardener will be paid for with a rich harvest.
Conclusion
Carrot seeds in granules greatly simplify the work of the gardener, they are bright, they are clearly visible when planting. Subject to the conditions of planting, the plants will easily sprout. In this case, you will be deprived of additional thinning work. Observing the agricultural technology of growing carrots in granules, get a decent harvest.