Content
Carrots and beets are prized for their unique qualities: rich in vitamins and microelements. In addition, both roots have medicinal properties. But this requires environmentally friendly root crops grown without the use of chemicals. That is why many Russians with plots of land plant plants on their plots.
Knowing the basics of agricultural technology, you can get a rich harvest of these vegetables. But this is half the battle, since the roots must be saved until the next harvest. Novice vegetable growers are interested in the question, when to harvest carrots and beets so that they retain their presentation for a long time and do not spoil. This is what will be discussed.
How to decide on a deadline
The question of when to start harvesting the grown crop cannot be called idle. Indeed, the safety of the harvest throughout the winter depends on the timeliness of digging up these vegetables. Unfortunately, no one, even the most experienced producer of agricultural products, will be able to name the exact number of harvesting of carrots and beets.
What is it connected with:
- Mother Russia stretched thousands of kilometers from north to south and from east to west. Climatic and weather conditions are different everywhere. If in the south an early harvest is already being harvested, in the north they are just starting to plant. The same is with harvesting - in regions where the cold starts early, the roots are harvested in the twenties of September, in the southern regions of Russia this type of work falls on October.
- The timing of harvesting root crops is very dependent on what summer falls. If it is hot and dry in summer, ripening occurs faster, then harvesting will take place earlier. In cold rainy weather, the readiness of carrots and beets for digging out of the garden is delayed by several days, or even weeks.
Factors Helping Determine Maturity
How to understand that vegetables are ripe and ready for harvest. There are a number of factors to look out for. If we take them into account, then novice vegetable growers will be able to harvest from the beds on time and without loss:
- When buying seeds, pay attention to the recommendations on the sachets. Self-respecting firms indicate ripening time for a specific variety. Early vegetables are intended to be used for a short time, they are grown mainly for harvesting, harvested when the need arises. For winter storage, you need to choose mid-season and late varieties of vegetables.
- You need to focus on the beginning of the first frosts in your region. Beets are a vegetable that does not tolerate freezing; keeping quality is sharply reduced. But carrots can withstand several matinees, which only makes them sweeter.
- Weather conditions are an important factor. If in September it is dry, warm, and by the end of the month it will rain, then you need to harvest before precipitation. Excessive moisture leads to the germination of new roots. In addition, the root crop will become too juicy, it may crack when harvesting. Rot spots may appear on beets and carrots. And such vegetables are not stored too long.
- The size of the root crop also plays an important role in the timing of the harvest. Larger vegetables are less suitable for storage. First of all, because the giant beet has too coarse flesh, and the carrot has a thick, almost inedible shaft. Therefore, when deciding when to harvest roots, pay attention to their size.
Leave small carrots and beets to grow.
Late harvest - loss of harvest
The issue of harvesting root crops is of great interest to novice vegetable growers. And this is fully justified. The fact is that the roots dug out ahead of time need to be stored somewhere, to create comfortable conditions. This is not so easy to do, as it can be hot outside and there is no place where vegetables would be good. Indeed, to preserve the harvest, the optimally justified temperature should be from +2 to +4 degrees.
In addition, vegetables brought into a cool room will begin to become covered with moisture, which will quickly render them unusable. Therefore, it's time to dig up beets in mid or late September, and carrots in late September - early October. By this time, the ground cools down along with the vegetables, which contributes to excellent storage.
And yet, when ...
Timing for carrots
Carrots are considered a root vegetable, for which small frosts do not harm, but even benefit, improve its taste. Therefore, it is better to harvest this vegetable when several matinees have passed. The main thing is that the ground is dry. It cools naturally, so it can be stored well in winter.
When exactly to start harvesting carrots. Naturally, the timing of ripening is also important. But still, the time for harvesting this root crop comes when it freezes at night, but after sunrise, a thin crust on the ground thaws.
You can even wait for the first snow, if the bed is dry, the tops are crushed directly onto the root crops, and cover the plantings from above at night. Some growers cover their carrots with a layer of hay or straw. Under such a shelter, she is not afraid of even more severe frosts.
How to deal with beets
Just like carrots, the vegetable is not watered before harvesting so that it “matures” well. In the last decade of August, beets begin to accumulate glucose and fructose, then raffinose. About a week before harvesting, sucrose begins to form in it, which gives sweetness to the root crop. So the question is when to start harvesting beets important in relation to the accumulation of sugar in vegetables. The ripened specimens will be the sweetest.
You can understand that it is time to harvest beets by the tubercles on the surface and on the root crop.
How to keep harvested vegetables
We have already said that vegetables need comfortable conditions for storage. When storing in a cellar, where it is still warm enough, you can lose your harvest: vegetables dry out or begin to rot.
Many gardeners, having dug up and dried the roots, cut the tops, put the vegetables in bags and put them into pits. The hole must be deep and dry. The bags are folded in it, and the top is covered with soil. Now carrots and beets can be stored in the ground even until severe frosts.
When the temperature in the cellar drops to optimal parameters, the roots are taken out of the pit, dried to remove moisture from the surface, sorted out and stored in a convenient way.
Let's summarize
When to remove roots from the garden, each grower decides on an individual basis. But at the same time, it is important to remember that frost of more than -3 degrees, which persists constantly, can ruin the harvest. We also do not advise focusing on neighbors, since the seeds were sown more than at the same time, and the varieties may be different.
Focus on technical ripeness, when the lower leaves of beets and carrots begin to turn yellow.
In a wet autumn, do not leave root crops in the ground, they will inevitably begin to germinate. Better to remove the vegetables from the garden and dig into the hole.
