Carrots and beets are the most unpretentious vegetables to grow, so gardeners get by with the most minimal set of agricultural techniques. However, feeding carrots and beets in the open field gives results in terms of yield, surpassing the previous ones not only in quantity, but also in quality.
Fertilizing carrots
Carrots are a very popular vegetable that is present on our table every day. Gardeners never give up growing carrots. On each garden plot, a place for carrot beds is necessarily allocated.
Carrots tolerate well acidic soils, unlike beets. However, if the feeding efforts do not bring results, the roots grow bitter, then the matter may be that the soil acidity index is too high. Then, before planting the root crop, they deacidify it with chalk, slaked lime, dolomite flour or ash.
Prepare the soil for planting carrots in advance in the fall. Well-rotted manure is introduced, which improves the quality of the soil, increasing the rich humus layer. Carrots love loose fertile sandy loam and loam. If the soil is not depleted, then carrots can be grown without fertilization, however, the harvest will be far from ideal. Therefore, feeding carrots is carried out several times per season. Usually 2 times, late varieties can be 3 times.
The first feeding of carrots is carried out after the seedlings hatch, after 3 weeks. Carrots grow well and bear fruit in the presence of potassium, magnesium and sodium in the diet. There are fewer requirements for a plant to contain nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizing.
For 1 sq. m plantings are used: potash - 60 g; phosphoric - 50 g, nitrogen - 40 g of fertilizer.
The next time, feeding carrots is carried out 3 weeks after the first. They use the same composition of mineral fertilizers, but the consumption is halved.
Another option for fertilizing: ammonium nitrate - 20 g, superphosphate - 30 g, potassium chloride - 30 g. The mixture is applied per 1 sq. M. m seedlings after 3 weeks from their appearance, counting another 3 weeks, add potassium sulfate and azofosku (1 tbsp. l. per bucket of water - 10 l).
Another scheme feeding carrots: a month after sowing, watered with a solution of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Use nitroammophos or nitrophosphate (1 tbsp. l), dissolving in 10 liters of water. Then the steps are repeated after 3 weeks.
Carrots respond well to the application of complex fertilizers with a high content of boron, sulfur and sodium: "Kemira-Universal", "Solution", "Autumn". Be sure to read the instructions before feeding and proceed according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
For more information on how to feed carrots, see the video:
Folk remedies
Many gardeners are against the introduction of chemicals under the plants. Therefore, they resort exclusively to folk wisdom. Top dressing for carrots from available funds does not require large financial investments:
- Nettle herbal tea is prepared 2 weeks before the planned feeding activities. It takes 2 weeks for the tea to infuse. A week before readiness, the infusion for feeding carrots can be enriched with yeast and ash. When watering, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10;
- Yeast can also be used as a growth stimulant for carrots, especially if the plants have not sprung up well.100 g of live yeast per bucket of water, 2 tbsp. l. sugar to activate them, leave for 1.5 hours and water the carrot shoots;
- Ash for feeding carrots can be used both in dry form, adding before planting in the soil or in the form of an ash solution: a glass of ash for 3 liters of water. For a greater effect, use hot water or even allow the solution to boil. Insist for 6 hours and water the carrots, adding pure water - 10 liters and adding a couple of crystals of potassium permanganate. From such feeding, the sugar content of carrots increases;
- One of the ways to prepare carrot seeds for planting can be safely attributed to folk remedies-finds. First you need to prepare the paste. To do this, starch (2-3 tbsp. L.) Is stirred in a glass of cold water until smooth, the mixture is poured into a pan with hot water in a thin stream, stirred and boiled until thickened. Too thick paste does not need to be made, as it will be inconvenient to use. Then pour 10 g of carrot seeds into the paste, stir to distribute them evenly. This mixture can already be placed in the prepared grooves using a large syringe, pastry bag or container with a spout. Kleister is a kind of seed dressing and facilitates planting. However, you can enrich the paste by adding a pinch of boric acid and phosphate fertilizer (0.5 tsp).
Folk remedies for feeding carrots are used by gardeners who strive for the ecological purity of the grown root crops.
Beet feeding
Beetroot is an equally popular and favorite vegetable. It is found on every personal plot.
The plant is unpretentious in cultivation. Beets respond well to feeding.
The main type of fertilizer for beets is organic. They bring it in in the fall. Fresh manure is scattered over the site and dug up along with the soil. Perhaps someone will find this technique sufficient to provide the beets with nutrients. And there is a certain grain of truth in this.
Manure is a natural natural fertilizer that is used as much as a person grows various crops. The manure contains nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, magnesia, silicon. A feature of natural fertilizer is that over time it turns into humus, which forms humus, and no plant grows without humus.
However, along with the introduction of manure, it is also worth enriching the soil with potash-phosphorus fertilizers, since the manure has an extremely unbalanced composition. The modern type of fertilizer "Autumn" is applied 50 g per 1 sq. M. m of soil. It contains, in addition to potassium and phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and boron. Despite the name, fertilizer is shown to be applied under beets and in summer, during the period of fruit formation. So, a good harvest is laid. Application rate: no more than 30 g per sq. m plantings of beets. It is more convenient to place in the grooves along the rows. Then you need to water well.
The plant itself will tell you about the lack of any nutrient by its appearance:
- Phosphorus is especially important for beets. You can determine what is missing from this element by the appearance of the leaves. If there are completely green leaves or, conversely, completely burgundy, then we can safely say that the beets lack phosphorus.
- It also happens this way: the gardener knows that fertilizers were applied in the fall, but when grown, according to external signs, he concludes that there is still not enough phosphorus. The reason is as follows: due to the increased acidity of the soil, phosphorus is in a form inaccessible for assimilation by beets. For central Russia, the phenomenon is not uncommon. The problem is eliminated by the introduction of slaked lime, dolomite flour in the fall;
- If the plant lacks potassium, then the leaves turn yellow at the edge and begin to curl;
- The lack of such a macroelement as nitrogen manifests itself in yellowing and death of leaves, the newly growing leaf plates are small. With an excessive amount of nitrogen in beets, abundant tops grow to the detriment of the underground fruit part;
- Lack of boron leads to rotting of the root vegetable core.Leaves turn yellow, brownish spots are formed on them. The plant dies. The situation can be quickly corrected by foliar feeding of beets with boron;
- Lack of zinc, iron, molybdenum leads to leaf chlorosis. The leaf plate is highlighted, and the veins remain green;
- If the beets lack magnesium in their diet, the leaves begin to turn yellow from the edge. The problem can be solved if foliar spraying with magnesium sulfate is carried out;
- With a lack of calcium, the plant lags behind in growth, the leaves darken and curl up.
In order to prevent a shortage of any nutrient, use complex fertilizers.
During the growing season, it is recommended to feed the beets 2 times. The first time - after the emergence of seedlings in about 10-15 days. Potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are introduced, as well as nitrogen fertilizers.
Potash-phosphorus fertilizers include:
- Nitrophoska (potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen). Fertilizer consumption: 50 g per 1 sq. m plantings of beets;
- Nitroammofoska (potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur). 40 g per 1 sq. m - application rate;
- Potassium chloride and superphosphate are introduced in the following way: grooves are made along the beet row, on both sides of the plants, with a depth of 4 cm.Potassium chloride is placed in them on one side, and superphosphate on the other, based on the norm of 5 g of each type of fertilizer per 1 m Then the furrows are covered with soil and well watered.
- The complex feeding "Kemir" for beets has proven itself well. In addition to the basic nutrients: phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, it contains: boron, sulfur, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc. Due to microelements, beet ripening is faster, roots have good taste, sugar content, plants withstand adverse weather conditions.
The second feeding during the development of root crops. Ammonium nitrate and superphosphate are introduced.
If you do not want to feed the beets with mineral fertilizers, then you can pour slurry or infusion of chicken droppings. The infusion is diluted with clean water in a ratio of 1:10 and watered with a solution, consuming 1 liter per meter of beet row.
Folk remedies
The principal opponents of the use of mineral fertilizers can use folk recipes for feeding beets:
- It so happens that the beets become bitter or tasteless. Gardeners know how to avoid this problem and get a harvest of delicious juicy root crops. Using a simple solution of table salt (1 liter of water, 1 tsp. Salt) for watering each plant in the first half of August.
- Ash is rich in potassium, calcium, phosphorus. Everything that beets need is in ash. Ash is fed after the emergence of shoots and at the initial stage of the formation of root crops. Can be applied dry, in prepared grooves between rows. But it is much more efficient to use an ash solution. For the intricacies of using ash, see the video:
- Herbal tea is an affordable and effective supplement for beets. Prepared from weeds obtained during weeding. For 2 volumes of grass, 1 volume of water is used. The mixture is infused for 2 weeks, then diluted 1:10 and watered with roots.
Folk remedies for feeding beets are in no way inferior to their purchased mineral counterparts.
Conclusion
Beets and carrots are everyone's favorite root vegetables. Cooking everyone's favorite dishes cannot do without them: rich borscht, herring under a fur coat and other various salads. Summer chores in the garden will provide you with delicious root vegetables. Support your plants with top dressing and they will reward you with a decent harvest.
