Work in the garden and vegetable garden in April

Contents

What vegetables and flowers can be sown in April
How to keep roses before planting
How to feed vegetables in April
What flowers to water in April
What to do in April in a greenhouse
How to feed seedlings
How to feed indoor plants
How to prepare beds for planting
How to germinate potatoes before planting
Popular questions and answers

We talk about the most important work in the garden and the garden, as well as what it is time to sow in greenhouses in April

What vegetables and flowers can be sown in April

In late March – early April, it’s time for summer residents to start sowing: not at home in pots, but in the country or garden in greenhouses and hotbeds. But do not forget at first, even in greenhouses, to use additional covering material – at night the temperatures are still too low.

“Stuff your backpacks with bags of seeds and go to the site,” advises the permanent co-host of the column “That’s such a parsley!” on Radio Healthy Food Near Me (97,2 FM), Tatiana Kudryashov’s cottage. – So that your work does not come to naught, the soil in the greenhouses should have been prepared since autumn – neutralized, because many plants do not like either acidic or alkaline environments. And the mismatch of the soil will deal the first blow to the plants – they will get sick. And pests will attack weak and diseased plants. So never be lazy to prepare the ground at the end of the previous season.

And now more about what it’s time to sow in greenhouses.

Radish

If you sow radishes with a ripening period of 18 days in early April, then you will receive the first harvest of this beautiful salad vegetable in early May. But not only this circumstance should make you sow radishes early. The fact is that he, like all other cruciferous plants, which include all kinds of radish and daikon, are plants of a short daylight hours. As soon as the daylight hours begin to noticeably increase, the cruciferous will go into tune. This applies even to cabbage leaf varieties – Peking and Chinese.

If you sow radishes, for example, in mid-May, you are unlikely to get a full harvest. So make sure you do it in April.

Daikon

We advise you to take a closer look at this still exotic vegetable in our garden. Unlike radish, which contains a large amount of mustard oil, irritates the gastric mucosa and is therefore contraindicated for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, daikon is completely devoid of this drawback. The vegetable that came to our gardens from Japan is almost dietary – sweet, tasty and healthy. One root vegetable is often enough for a salad for the whole family.

Sow daikon in early April, then by mid-late May you will get juicy root crops 20 cm long.

By the way, the daikon is perfectly stored all winter. You just need to wash it, cut it, wrap each root crop in thick white paper and put it in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. But for storage, it will be necessary to make a second sowing of the daikon at a time when daylight hours will wane, namely after the celebration of Ivan Kupala Day (July 7). At the same time, it is worth making a second sowing of radishes and black radishes. Their harvest will be just in time for the fall.

Salad and herbs

Salad. Lettuces of all varieties should also be sown in the greenhouse in early April. Tatyana Sergeevna advises to sow them literally in a row with an interval of a week. In this case, new ones will regularly appear to replace the first tender leaves. The salad will not outgrow before the family has had time to eat it.

Dill. As for dill, it is important to know that it is a very early ripening period, but there is a late one. An early one, for example, the variety Earlier miracle (1), will quickly give 20-centimeter greens, but will immediately release a flowering umbrella. And late dill will grow to almost 2 meters in height and only then will it enter the flowering phase. And all summer will delight with juicy fragrant greenery. You can sow dill of all ripening dates at the same time due to the difference in growth, it will “fit” gradually.

Basil. It, unlike dill, which will sprout well outside the greenhouse, is able to germinate only in greenhouse conditions at a temperature of 28 – 30 ° C. Later, basil can be planted in the garden. With its aroma, this plant repels pests from other crops. Leave a few basil plants in the greenhouse as well. By the way, basil can be cut twice in a season – it grows back (2).

Cilantro. In many regions of the country, especially in the Caucasus, summer residents like to sow cilantro. Its seeds are called coriander, and the greens are widely used with meat dishes. Try it for sure! By the way, it is also sown in the second half of April.

tea herbs

It mint и Melissa. Due to their aroma, they can be used to make herbal teas, infusions and drinks. Mint, including peppermint (with bitterness), grows wild in many on a plot or behind a fence. But if you do not have it, you can buy seeds in specialized stores.

Tatyana Sergeevna advises summer residents to pay attention to another wonderful plant – cat house In terms of its aromatic properties, it surpasses, perhaps, even lemon balm. The smell is even more delicate and subtle, very similar to the aroma of lime.

All listed “tea” herbs can be dried for the winter. In order for the infusion of herbs to acquire a beautiful golden hue, like black tea, grind the herbs between your palms before drying and let the juice go – create fermentation.

Marigold

In the last days of March – early April, it is necessary to sow marigolds for seedlings. Seeds sown directly into the ground will not give you early flowering. Marigolds, very unpretentious flowers, can be planted in almost any corner of your site. In addition, they, like basil, should be planted in the garden in the aisles. The smell of marigolds is very disliked by all sorts of pests.

How to keep roses before planting

Many are not indifferent to roses. But not everyone knows how to save them before planting in the ground after purchase. Arriving home from the market or from the store, carefully remove the purchased rose from the package and check: is the substrate in the bag wet? If not, it must be moistened, and it is best not just with water, but with a solution of Zircon (3) at the rate of 2-4 drops per 200 ml (glass) of water.

After the substrate is evenly moistened, put the rose back into the box and wrap it in thick paper or newspaper with a corner, secure with an elastic band or tie on top. In this form, the plant should be placed in the refrigerator lying on its side. When the plant is in an upright position, the sap flows from the bottom up, and the rose tries to open the buds, which you do not need yet. But in the supine position, the nutrients, having made a circle, are concentrated in the root system and lead to the formation of fibrous roots.

But even in the refrigerator, where the temperature is about 8 ° C, the rose will begin to grow, so keep an eye on the shoots. As soon as they reach the height of your index finger, take out the rose – it must be planted. At least in a pot, if it’s too early in the ground. The process, of course, can be suspended by pinching the tops of the processes that have reached the height of a finger, but this technique will not work for long.

If you want to see truly beautiful rose bushes in the country, do not buy and do not plant many varieties on one ridge at once. It is better to plant 3 or 5 rose roots of the same variety in one hole. Then you will get a beautiful fluffy bush.

How to feed vegetables in April

If you planted onions, garlic, carrots before winter, then very soon you expect to get your first vitamin harvest. But in order to speed up the process, the plants need to be fed. To do it right, go to the dacha in the early morning: then you will see a thin ice crust on your beds. Scatter urea over this crust.

Urea is almost pure nitrogen, which will give vegetables an impetus to wake up and start the vegetation process. Even if the sprout froze in winter and only a small green part remained, urea will help the whole plant to revive. Scatter 1 tbsp. spoon without the top of urea per 1 sq. m beds. This is the norm. The ice crust will begin to melt during the day, and the urea along with it will be absorbed by the roots of plants. But keep in mind: you need to pour urea not to the roots of plants, but in the aisles.

By the way, urea alkalizes the soil, which is also good for most plants. But saltpeter is the same, in fact, nitrogen, but they acidify the soil. But this is not the only difference between urea and nitrate, despite the fact that both fertilizers are nitrogenous. Urea is a quick fertilizer, and this is exactly what you need in the spring. But saltpeter has the ability to heat the earth, and the plant, even in the cold period, can absorb nitrogen from it. It is good for flower crops, especially irises, peonies, phloxes.

What flowers to water in April

There are plants that do not need fertilizer in the spring. But they do need a lot of water. These include, for example, daffodils. If you don’t let these flowers get drunk in early spring, as much as they need (about 1 bucket for each curtain), do not expect abundant and lush flowering. You need to water the daffodils as soon as the soil thaws and when the snow in the barrels that you filled there at the end of winter turns into melt water.

What to do in April in a greenhouse

Some summer residents are already watching how green rows of cabbage, daikon, and radish are turning green and pleasing to the eye. They also need feeding. And the best options would be ash 1 cup per 1 sq. m.

But do not water the plants in the greenhouse with urea, warns Tatyana Kudryashova. It will “drive” all your crops too intensively.

How to feed seedlings

Plants on the windowsills should also be fed now: seedlings of peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, as well as lilies and roses that you are preparing for planting in the ground.

If you used the right mixture for seedlings – from soil, perlite or agroperlite and peat, then you should know that there is practically no copper in peat. And this is bad for plant growth. Take 1/5 teaspoon of the HOM preparation for 5 liters of water and pour the seedlings with this solution – 1 tbsp. a spoonful of solution for each plant. But until the plant has at least 2 – 3 true leaves, such top dressing is undesirable.

How to feed indoor plants

Home flowers need your attention too. If indoor plants are flowering, now they are just preparing to release or have already released buds. There are complex fertilizers for any kind of plants: ficuses, roses, palm trees. Feed them as directed.

If for some reason it is not possible to purchase a complex fertilizer for each of your flowers, then take the HB-101 preparation and add it to the pots based on the instructions and their volume. Suitable for any plant.

How to prepare beds for planting

It is necessary to prepare the soil 2 to 3 weeks before planting crops. Intensive agricultural technology involves digging the soil and fertilizing before planting, as well as applying a full range of mineral additives and organic matter during the season – including humus, but old, which should be at least 2 – 3 years old.

Most plants prefer neutral soil, and if it is acidic, add deoxidizers. In this capacity, dolomite flour is good, in extreme cases – fluff lime or agromel. Substances should be in consistency like flour. Particles larger than 1 mm will not react with the soil and will not deoxidize it.

On the ridges where you plan to plant onions or garlic, add a large amount of ash for digging (1/2 per 1 sq. M). Dig a bed for carrots to a depth of at least 35 cm.

How to germinate potatoes before planting

In the first decade of April, it’s time to get seed potatoes from cellars and cellars. This must be done a month before it is planted in the ground, and in most of the country, potatoes are planted from May 1 to May 10, and not because it is convenient during the long May holidays. The fact is that potatoes, when planted, love the soil temperature from 10 to 18 ° C. If it is higher, then potatoes (as well as onions and garlic) will not be able to grow a good root system.

Take out the potatoes, put them in baskets or boxes and put them on a sunny window, loggia, balcony. In the first week, the seeds must undergo vernalization – exposure to sunlight. This will get rid of a lot of diseases, and the plants that turn green under the sun will not be touched by rodents in the soil.

After a week, spray the potatoes with a solution of trace elements and remove from sunlight in a cool, dark place. After all, the first substance formed under the sun in potatoes is chlorophyll. In a week under the sun, it just forms. But later solanine begins to appear – this is already poison. In the third week of vernalization, indoline is formed in the potato – a strong and persistent poison that will not allow the sprouts to pass through the soil. And for two weeks, until the indole breaks down, the potatoes will sit underground.

At intervals of a week, Tatyana Kudryashova recommends spraying potatoes with microelements twice more.