Winter sowing of beets
Beets are an unpretentious plant, except for sowing in spring, they can also be planted in autumn, but not all varieties are suitable for this. For winter sowing, varieties with good winter hardiness are needed and a quarter more seeds than for spring planting. When sowing in winter, the beets will be ready for harvesting half a month or even a month earlier than usual.
Soil preparation and planting time for beets
The most important thing when sowing beets in the fall is to correctly calculate the planting time. The best time to sow beets is in the last week of November - the first week of December, when the ground has cooled down. You can plant beets in the soil when the air temperature drops to (-2ABOUTC) - (-4ABOUTC), and the soil temperature will be +2ABOUTFROM.
Soil preparation during podzimnim sowing is no different from spring work. The beets must be planted in grooves up to 7 cm deep, the distance between the beds should be 30-40 cm. Before sowing, dolomite flour weighing 0.5 kg is introduced into the soil to deoxidize it, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers - 10-15 grams and half a bucket of compost per 1m2 landing area. The site for sowing must be prepared in advance, until the soil is frozen. The bed should be on a hill. In this case, more sunlight and heat will go to the root crops, which will accelerate their growth and give the beets a richer color.
Growing beets
Beet seeds for winter sowing are not germinated. They do not need to be soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate, in contrast to preparation for spring sowing. When sowing in winter, it is very important that the soil and seeds are not wet, otherwise they will germinate and freeze in winter.
Beet seeds are sown at a distance of 5-8 cm, then the grooves are covered with a fertile mixture of river sand, compost and ordinary soil in equal amounts. Such a mixture should be stored indoors, its temperature will be +3ABOUTC- + 5ABOUTC. The main thing is that it should not be frozen.
For mulching beets planted before winter, any material is suitable, for example, peat soil, agrofibre or straw. In the spring, when the snow melts, all the mulch must be removed, and also carefully break the crust, loosening the top layer of soil with a rake.
A week after the appearance of the first shoots, the beets are thinned out, leaving only the strongest shoots.
Remember that beets planted before winter are not suitable for long-term storage and produce smaller root crops than beets planted in spring.