Growing carrots according to Meatlider
Carrots are a frost-hardy crop that can easily tolerate small frosts. But it is extremely difficult to achieve even large root crops if:
- at the beginning of the growing season, carrots lack moisture;
- from the second half of the growing season, on the contrary, it receives excessive watering;
- the soil on the site has an acidic reaction;
- the soil is not well processed, contains foreign inclusions and clods.
How to grow large carrots if the summer cottage is located in a swampy area or the soil under the garden is rocky?
The Meatlider method can be a good help in this situation, and in the case of poor acidic soils.
Arrangement of beds for carrots according to Meatlider
- When preparing ridges for sowing carrots, the site is carefully leveled and rolled under the carrots by at least 30 cm, paying special attention to the removal of stones and rhizomes.
- Then the site is divided into strips of 45 cm each, providing for passages between future beds with a width of 75 to 105 cm.
- Mittlider offers to equip beds with a length of 3 to 18 meters. But the optimal size for a summer cottage is 4.5 meters.
- In order for each plant to receive maximum light, the American plant breeder recommends placing it strictly from east to west.
However, tall crops such as cucumbers or tomatoes should not shade the lower tops of carrots or beets. Therefore, when planning sowing carrots along the Meatlider, low-growing crops are placed south of tall plants.- When the plantings are planned, they begin to organize the ridges themselves, which, according to Mitlider's theory, are limited to bumpers with a height of 8-10 cm.
- If such sides are made of soil, their width should not exceed 5 cm, while the ground between them is leveled and prepared for sowing.
Meatlider carrots in containers
The practice of Russian summer residents has shown that it is much more convenient to make a durable artificial fencing made of slate, DSP or boards, and also to raise the beds not by 10 cm, as Meatlider advises, but much higher. For carrots, the purpose of which is to produce large root crops, the height of such boxes without a bottom should be at least 20 cm.
The containers, installed on a flat, weed-free area, are filled with a light, loose soil mixture. Mittlider suggests, in the simplest case, using sawdust and sand in a 3: 1 ratio or filling the boxes with fertilized soil. In this case, the scheme for planting carrots according to Meatlider is preserved. When the crop is harvested, the soil is only replenished before the next season.
This approach significantly saves time for planting maintenance, reduces the consumption of fertilizers and irrigation water. The main labor costs are in the first year, when the garden is just being organized.
Features of sowing and fertilizing carrots
On well-leveled 45 cm wide beds, carrots are sown in two rows.
Moreover, the swollen seeds can be mixed with sand or sawdust to facilitate work, and then sown in shallow furrows along the sides. Since the planting depth of carrots is shallow, the seeds can be washed away and buried in the soil during watering. To prevent this from happening, the surface of the soil is covered with burlap or loose nonwoven material.
When sowing early, a narrow ridge with high slate sides or sturdy boxes can be easily covered using:
- semicircular arcs with a length of 150 cm made of steel wire;
- covering material or film 120 cm wide.
Taking advantage of the high narrow ridges, an early harvest of carrots can be obtained not only in the middle lane, but also much further north.
Choosing carrot varieties for narrow ridges
Numerous varieties with medium-length roots are suitable for growing according to the Mitlider method. These include carrots of Nantes, in the photo of which an even rounded 20-centimeter long root crop is clearly visible. Such carrots not only have high taste, but also give high yields.
The variety "Beauty of Autumn" gives good results. One of the most popular varieties among summer residents is the Losinoostrovskaya 13 carrot, according to reviews it also deserves the attention of gardeners who are studying the possibilities of the Mitlider method when growing this crop.
From a high garden bed 4.5 meters long, with sufficient watering and feeding, you can get up to 40 kg of high-quality root crops.
Features of feeding carrots according to Meatlider
After a week, the crops are fertilized. The amount of dressings depends on the specific garden culture. For carrots for the entire growing season, 4 or 5 fertilization is provided.
Traditionally, gardeners using this method use two types of fertilizers.
- The first mixture contains: nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, molybdenum and potassium. For a meter of a ridge, 60 grams of fertilizer are used for weekly feeding. For acidic soils, lime is added to the mixture, and for alkaline soils, calcium sulfate is added.
- The ROST-2 complex fertilizer can be used as the second mixture used before sowing. If the site is dominated by light soils with a high content of sand and sandy loam, 100 grams of this fertilizer will be required per meter of the bed. For dense, heavy soils, fertilizer consumption should be doubled.
Jacob Meatlider made a serious emphasis in his method on the regularity of applying large amounts mineral fertilizers... Russian gardeners, who asked the question: "How to grow large carrots?", During the study of the American experience, came to the conclusion that the thoughtless use of chemicals and all kinds of additives negatively affects both the taste of the carrot and its shelf life.
Therefore, mineral dressings are sometimes replaced with organic ones, and infusions of green grass, compost, manure, ash and humus are introduced for planting. Good results are obtained by using potassium humate during the first dressing. For example, carrots "Losinoostrovskaya 13» according to reviews, such a care responds with a solid increase in the yield.
Weeds appearing in the aisles become an aid in planting care. After mowing, green waste goes to mulch.