Planting carrots in the Urals
Since carrots have been planted in the Urals for a long time, it would seem that all the features of the culture are already well known. What else can you think of? But growing problems still arise, therefore, they need to be somehow solved. Carrot fly, wireworm, powdery mildew…. You can also protect vegetables from diseases and pests, get high-quality vitamin products to the table with the help of some agrotechnical methods. So, how to grow good carrots in the difficult climatic conditions of the Urals?
Variety selection
- To grow good carrots for winter storage, it is better to choose Russian varieties, bred taking into account our climatic conditions.
- Vegetables of early ripening terms, which have poor keeping quality, are grown for bunch products and are tried to be eaten in summer or sold. In the latter case, imported hybrids are good - even and smooth, as in the selection.
- There are varieties of carrots of different sowing dates, the rest is your choice. You can plant root vegetables with a peel purple, nut-flavored, coreless, round, resistant to disease, cracking and….
When should you plant?
The Ural region is not small, climatic conditions in different parts of it differ significantly. Usually they try to plant this culture as early as possible. But planting carrots too early in sowing time can lead to a later emergence of seedlings and a slowdown in their growth. It is necessary to wait for the temperature of the earth to reach at least 7 ° C of heat. In the South Urals, such conditions are already in April.
In the Middle Urals, carrots are usually planted in early May, if the snow melts by that time. But even a later planting (until the end of May) is quite successful if the plants have enough moisture for growth and the soil for the carrots is properly prepared. Such root vegetables, by the way, are better stored.
Preparing the ridges
It is advisable to prepare them in the fall. So that the tips of the root crops do not bend later, you need to cultivate the land no less than a shovel bayonet. You cannot add fresh organic matter - vegetables take on an ugly shape. On all types of soils, except for sandy, you can add sand, pour a little mature compost on lean soils. It is not difficult to prepare a garden bed even for a novice gardener, but if something is not clear, you can find the video "Planting carrots» and to look.
In the Middle Urals and north of the ridge (width is about 1 m, length is arbitrary) they are made high (up to 35 cm), especially in areas with a close occurrence of groundwater, to the south - as usual. For the winter, it would be nice to cover the ridges with mulch, then in the spring after removing it, the soil will be loose and soft, just like carrots love.
How to plant?
- Regular fit... The simplest, inexpensive and perhaps the most effective way is to plant seeds that have not been prepared by the manufacturer, from the simplest paper bag. From costs - the cost of seeds and 1 ampoule of Epin-Extra. We spread the seeds on a cloth (cotton), wrap the edges on all sides and put them in the prepared Epin solution for 2 minutes (3 drops per ½ glass of water).We squeeze out the excess solution and send it to lie down for 3 - 4 hours, then rinse it in clean water, lay it out on a saucer and dry it. Planting carrots takes place as usual: in grooves across the ridge (we compact, step about 10 cm, depth up to 3 cm). It happens that the first shoots sprout in a week. Then you have to tinker with thinning, and so that the carrot fly does not penetrate the garden bed, it is advisable to cover it from above with a non-woven material (especially during cherry blossoms - at this time the carrot fly is observed years).
- Planting granular seeds... It is much easier to plant them: the granules are large. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers produce quality products, and it often happens that granulated seeds do not germinate at all. You cannot process them with drugs, they sprout longer, they require that the soil is always moist. And if you're lucky and you come across good seeds that will quickly sprout and grow well, carrots from them sometimes grow just gigantic, and, therefore, less tasty. The same conclusions can be drawn about planting carrots on tape.
- Joint landings... They can be arranged with onions or garlic. We get a double benefit: the onion protects the carrot from the carrot fly and vice versa. But onions and garlic stop watering long before harvesting, they need dry soil, and carrots grow at this time, they need moisture. Advanced gardeners divide the garden along: on one part (preferably slightly elevated) they plant onions, and on the second - carrots. It is also more difficult to include such beds in the crop rotation - there are more of them.
Other planting methods
You can deal with small seeds in a different way: stick them with a paste on toilet paper, form homemade granules, mix with sand, dry chalk, tea…. Experiment!