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Such a delicious root vegetable like carrots is grown by all gardeners. The orange vegetable is prized for its nutritional properties and is widely used in cooking. Carrots, rich in keratin, are especially useful for baby and diet food. Self-grown root vegetables are organic products.
During growth, carrots may lack nutrients, because they have to increase not only the green mass, but also the root crop itself. It is very difficult to grow a good harvest without fertilizing during the growing season. Therefore, if you want to get large vegetables, as in the photo below, feeding carrots in the open field should be an integral part of the care.
You need to know
What is included in the list of work required when growing carrots in the open field? Every gardener knows that watering, loosening, fighting weeds helps to get a good harvest of root crops in the open field. But not everyone understands that without feeding the carrots with fertilizers, some of the products can be received less.
After germination, water the root crop should be moderate. Although she loves well-moistened soil, especially at the stage of thickened root formation, it rots in the "swamp". At first, after germination, carrots, if there is no rain, are watered every other day. One ten-liter watering can is enough per square. If it is hot, the rate can be increased to 15 liters. In July, there are already two watering cans per square meter.
Carrots should be hardened before harvesting for better storage.
During watering, a sweet vegetable is also fed. Each gardener uses fertilizers at his own discretion: someone prefers mineral fertilizing, someone organic. Both types of dressings can be alternated.
Sowing carrots
Preparing the beds
Planting carrots need dressing throughout the growing season. But feeding begins with the preparation of the beds. The root crop responds well to fertile soil. As a rule, the garden bed is prepared in the fall. The orange root vegetable is best planted after potatoes, peas, beans, beans, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers and onions.
In the fall, before digging the beds, humus or compost is introduced into it. The soil must be sieved to remove pebbles. They can cause curvature of root crops.
Root crops are obtained with many processes, curvatures, as in the photo.
Carrots prefer neutral, water and breathable soil. If it is acidic, dolomite flour or wood ash is added in the spring. The introduction of ash not only feeds the soil with phosphorus and potassium, but also prevents the disease of carrots with a black leg. The earth is dug up, leveled with a rake.
Seed feeding
In order for the carrot to grow quickly and amicably in the open field, the seeds need to be moistened and fed. The reason for poor germination lies in the large amount of essential oils. There are two options for soaking formulations:
- Boric acid is poured into a liter jar - 1/3 teaspoon, nitrophosphate - ½ teaspoon and top up with warm water.
- Per liter of warm water add potassium permanganate - 1 gram, ½ teaspoon of any liquid complex fertilizer.
The seeds are placed in gauze or cotton cloth and soaked for three days. Keep the seed in the refrigerator. Then they are dried to a free-flowing state.
Seeds are sown in the garden bed in the grooves spilled with water. The row spacing should be at least 20 cm. This will allow you to carry out agrotechnical work without problems.
Top dressing of carrots in the ground
Beginners are interested in the question of when to start feeding carrots in the open field after germination.
The first time they feed the plantings, when several real leaves appear on the carrots. Per square meter, 150 grams of a mixture of mineral fertilizers must be added: potash - 60 g, phosphorus - 40 g, nitrogen - 50 g. Dissolve the ingredients in water and water the plants. Such feeding of root crops in the open field can be repeated, only the rate should be halved.
Some gardeners use a different composition: add one tablespoon of potassium sulfate, 1.5 tablespoons of double superphosphate to a ten-liter watering can. The rate per square meter of crops.
The second feeding is carried out after 12-18 days. To plant carrots gain strength, they are fed with a solution of potassium sulfate and azophoska. For 10 liters of warm water, one large spoonful of each mineral fertilizer.
When the root crop begins to fill up with juice, it is necessary to carry out the third stage of feeding. You can use the same fertilizers as before, or fertilize with wood ash and potassium sulfate. Boric acid is also suitable. It all depends on the structure of the soil.
If late varieties of carrots were planted in open ground, but it needs to be fed again with complex nitrogen fertilizers.
Any overdose is fraught with the deposition of nitrates in root crops.
Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers:
Microelements Needed for Growth
According to agrotechnology, feeding for an orange vegetable should be good. This root vegetable requires a large amount of balanced nutrients at different stages of development. What kind of fertilizers should be used to saturate the plants that carrots love most?
First, there is a high demand for nitrogen. With its help, the green mass of the plant is built up. Lack of nitrogen can be identified by the small yellowish leaves. The root crop eventually grows small.
Secondly, potassium is required for intensive growth. It is responsible for photosynthesis, makes the vegetable resistant to many diseases. Low bushes of carrots with bronze cast leaves are a signal of a lack of a trace element.
Thirdly, it is impossible to get a good harvest in the open field, if you do not feed the carrots with phosphorus. Plants tolerate even heat with less losses if this element is in the soil in the required amount. Lack of phosphorus can be identified by rolling leaves and bright stripes on them. The fruits themselves are tasteless.
Fourthly, at the stage of maturation, the plant requires boron and manganese. Boron participates in metabolism, increases the sugar content of carrots. Therefore, watering carrots grown in the open field with boric acid is necessary. Plants themselves signal the lack of a trace element by the death of leaf edges and yellowish veins.
How to feed carrots:
What fertilizers to choose
The question of what fertilizers are needed for feeding carrots in the open field cannot be called idle. After all, every vegetable grower chooses the most acceptable options for himself. Both organic matter and mineral fertilizers have their pros and cons. The main thing is to properly formulate top dressing and feed the plants in a timely manner.
Mineral fertilizers
Today you can buy any fertilizer for carrots. If you use them in accordance with the instructions, then you can forget about the side effects.
For foliar dressing with poorly growing tops, plantings can be treated with a urea solution.
What other fertilizers can be used for foliar feeding of carrots in the open field:
- magnesium sulfate;
- boric acid;
- fertilizers containing potassium.
Very often vegetable growers feed plantings of carrots "Fitosporin-M", "Glyokladin" "Tsitovit", "Ava" and other biologically active preparations. They can be used for both root and foliar feeding.
Citovit
It is a universal fungicidal fertilizer containing zinc, copper and magnesium. It is used for the improvement of any garden and vegetable garden, including carrots.
Any trace elements of Cytovite are easily absorbed by carrots. Carrot seeds soaked in solution sprout faster and more friendly. Root or foliar feeding of beds with carrots in the open field increases the immunity of plants, the fruits will become tastier and juicier. It is necessary to apply the balanced micronutrient fertilizer Tsitovit strictly according to the instructions.
Complex fertilizer AVA
This Ava fertilizer appeared in the range of gardeners not so long ago, but has already become popular. Unlike other dressings, Ava dissolves in the soil for a long time, does not freeze out, and does not wash out by rains. Thanks to such feeding, the vitality of plants increases, the roots are even, large.
Ava contains phosphorus, potassium, calcium, chromium and magnesium, which are vital for the growth and development of carrots.
Folk remedies
Since carrots began to be grown before the advent of mineral fertilizers, there are many options for feeding without the use of chemicals, proven for centuries. This applies to fertilization with humus, compost, ash, herbal infusions, chicken droppings, mullein.
There is another universal top dressing suitable for all cultivated plants - baker's yeast. They are added when preparing infusions from herbs and ash. Dry and raw yeast will do.
There are several recipes that can be used to feed carrots outdoors.
- Recipe number 1. In the container, crushed nettle, wood ash 2-3 glasses are placed to the top and filled with water by ¾. Then add yeast - 1 small pack. The container must be in the sun. After 5 days, the solution is ready for use. To water the plantings of carrots at the root, take one part of the fertilizer and 10 liters of water.
- Recipe number 2. Dissolve 10 grams of dry yeast in 10 liters of water, add 2 large boats of sugar. After 2 hours, you can water the carrots. Add one liter of yeast feed to a ten-liter watering can.
Conclusion
There is no unequivocal answer to the question of which fertilizer: mineral or organic, is better suited for carrots. Each of them performs its own function. Organic matter in the form of compost or humus is usually introduced in the fall when preparing the beds. Mineral fertilizers, together with organic fertilizing, are applied by root or foliar method.
For a vegetable grower, the main goal is to get a rich and environmentally friendly harvest of orange root crops. If fertilizers are applied at the rate, in a timely manner, then the tandem of mineral fertilizers and organic matter will help achieve the desired result.
