How to prepare the beds for winter, tillage

Summer has passed, the harvest is almost ready, but it’s too early to rest. In September, the time of important worries begins in preparation for the winter and the next season. The work will take time and serious effort, but you can’t be lazy, because preparing the beds in the fall is the key to a future, rich harvest. We tell you how to prepare the beds for winter in the garden and in the greenhouse, improving the structure of the soil.

Winter preparation activities

The importance of autumn tillage cannot be underestimated, it is the key to what will happen to your crop next season. During the year, the earth is depleted, pests and pathogenic bacteria multiply. Experienced gardeners hold special events in the first autumn month, which necessarily include:

• Cleaning of tops, plant debris and weeds.
• Digging the beds.
• Treatment for pests and diseases.
• Top dressing and restoration of soil structure.

Although there is a lot of work, but compared to spring, when planting dates are running out, you can work carefully and slowly. In addition, over the winter, the applied top dressing will disintegrate and well nourish the earth with useful substances.

Territory cleaning

Preparation for the winter period begins with a thorough cleaning of the garden from old grass, vegetable tops, weeds and other plant debris. In the process, you will not only put things in order, but also deal with rodents that like to huddle in “cluttered” places.

Plant debris can either be burned or made into compost. The second method is more time consuming, but this way you can make a good nutrient substrate for feeding the beds with your own hands.

Digging the beds for the winter

In recent years, organic farming has been gaining popularity. Their supporters do not recommend carrying out autumn digging, calling for limiting themselves to spreading manure or ash over the site.

However, autumn digging is a good way to improve soil structure, which is not recommended to be neglected. Digging can be done in two ways:

• Dump – turn the earth over with a shovel so that the top layer is at the bottom. Good for pest control.
• Non-moldboard – when digging, the earth is not turned over in order to preserve the beneficial microflora.

In both cases, large clods do not need to be broken. They will help to keep rain and melt water on the site, saturating the earth with moisture and improving the structure.

Important! Autumn digging is necessary for heavy, clayey, uncultivated soils. For loose and light, simple loosening is sufficient, and sandy soil is processed in the spring.

Preparing the soil for winter in the greenhouse

Soil tillage in the autumn is aimed at the destruction of pathogenic microflora and pests that multiply rapidly in old tops and withered grass. Disinfection is a laborious process, but in no case should it be neglected, otherwise, during spring planting, seedlings will suffer from diseases and pests in the very first days.

Pathogenic microorganisms, parasite larvae and fungal spores hibernate at a depth of 7-10 cm. Therefore, the best option is to remove this layer of soil with a shovel, replacing it with a fresh one. Do not take the soil from the garden, as it can also be infected. Prepare the soil with your own hands, using organic matter, wood ash, sawdust or sand.

On a note! For soil from the greenhouse, select a special place. Sprinkle the layers with a little lime. A year later, it can again be used in the beds.

Distribute the resulting soil evenly over the area of ​​​​the beds. Treat it to prevent germs and mold with a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate. Then cover the beds with organic mulch – the preparation of the soil for winter is completed.

Important! Treatment with copper sulphate cannot be carried out more than once every 1 years (the solution increases the acidity of the soil).

In cases where it is impossible to remove a layer of earth for some reason, you can get rid of harmful microorganisms using one of the methods described below.

Pour the beds with boiling water and cover with foil for a day. After removing the film, loosen the soil. Then repeat the procedure two more times. Please note that beneficial microorganisms also die after steaming, therefore, after disinfecting, be sure to water the beds with a solution of biological products.

Their chemical compositions, which spill the soil for disinfection, have proven themselves well:

• potassium permanganate solution (1 teaspoon per liter of water);
• a solution of copper sulfate (1-2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water);
• formalin solution (200 g per 10 l of water) at the rate of 10 l per 1 sq.m;
• powdering the earth with bleach (100–200 g / sq.m) followed by digging the soil;
• special biological products – Phytocid, Fitosporin, etc.

Be aware of the toxicity of some chemicals. Soil cultivation should be carried out in a gas mask.

Important! A very popular way is to set fire to sulfur bombs. However, fumigation requires special precautions and is also not suitable for greenhouses and greenhouses with a metal frame, as it promotes metal corrosion.

Cultivation of land in the fall from pests and diseases: a soft alternative

Chemical compounds for disinfection are an effective thing both in greenhouses and in garden plots. But they have a drawback – at the slightest miscalculation in the dosage, they turn into serious troubles. In addition, they kill both pathogenic and beneficial microflora.

There are softer, but effective methods to improve and disinfect the soil in the garden in the fall:

• Watering the beds with preparations with effective microorganisms (Baikal, Radiance).
  

• Mulching with organics and spilling organics with EM preparations.
• Sowing green manure.

Fertilizing the garden in the fall: the choice of top dressing

Experienced summer residents and gardeners must fertilize in the fall for digging the garden. This is an effective way to increase the fertility of the soil by restoring the balance of nutrients that have been depleted during the season, as well as not allowing it to freeze in the winter.

In September-October, mineral and organic fertilizers are applied. Nitrogen should be discarded, as they stimulate the growth of plants that will die at the first frost.

The use of fertilizers during the digging process ensures better penetration of useful components into the root system of seedlings, which significantly increases their endurance and productivity. Scatter fertilizer over the surface of the area to be cultivated and dig up the soil, plowing the fertilizer evenly to a depth of about 15 cm.

The choice of autumn feeding and its amount depends on the crops that you are going to grow. For example, composted organic matter has a beneficial effect on seedlings and seeds of vegetable crops. All types of compost and humus will do. For each linear meter – 1-2 buckets.

Fresh organics are recommended to be used exclusively for the pumpkin vegetable family. For 1 m² – 1 bucket of manure and 1 bucket of litter.

From mineral fertilizers for summer-autumn tillage, choose complex and mono fertilizers. They contain phosphorus and potassium salts (potassium magnesia, simple and double superphosphate, potassium salt, etc.). The application rate of mineral fertilizers is calculated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

How to cultivate the land in the fall in the country to improve its structure

Choose a solution based on the type of soil. Heavy soils do not absorb moisture well and need frequent loosening. You can improve the structure by adding washed river sand – 1-2 kg per 1 m².

The problem of sandy loam is low moisture capacity. You can increase it by systematically fertilizing with compost, rotted sawdust or leaf humus.

Hydrated lime or vegetable ash will help neutralize the acidity of the soil. Their use will increase the looseness of the earth, its air permeability and moisture permeability. With high acidity, the amount of ash introduced will be large. This will adversely affect the soil, so it is better to use lime. The application rate of slaked lime is calculated based on the chemical parameters of the soil.

The pH of the soil is checked with litmus papers. To accurately determine pH, take samples from different locations and depths.

Also a proven method of recovery is the sowing of green manure. They are recommended when preparing high beds for winter. Siderats allow you to loosen heavy soil well, disinfect from pathogenic diseases, and increase fertility.

It is not necessary to use gel or foam balls, as well as foam glass, as baking powder to structure the earth. With little chemical resistance, they can react with fertilizers and insecticides. Granules are even more dangerous for birds. Having pecked a large number of balls, they die.

Conclusion

Properly prepare the garden for winter, and next season the earth will surely thank you with an abundant, tasty harvest!