How to "feed", and how to properly harvest a rich harvest of carrots?
Content:
It's no secret that carrots, in addition to their natural need for solar energy, are quite demanding on fertilizers and fertilizing. And although, unlike other vegetable crops, there are several more difficulties here, each of them can be dealt with in a timely manner and coped with, thus obtaining a rich harvest of carrots.
Fertilizers and feeding for carrots
First of all, it should be noted that gardeners who use fresh manure to fertilize carrots make a gross mistake - later, although root crops survive, they grow in an extremely unpresentable form, because the whole process of development and growth provided for carrots is distorted. However, the use of fresh manure is permissible in another case - in relation to the predecessor of carrots, because, as a rule, a good harvest of this crop can often be obtained only in those areas where crops were previously grown using organic fertilizers. Carrots are characterized by a low level of tolerance and rejection of soil solution, but they respond favorably to fertilizers of a mineral nature from their predecessor.
Properly rotted humus, mineral fertilizers and even peat crumbs are the best options for this vegetable crop, which she will only be happy with and in principle there should not be any problems in the process.
Mentioning the amount of dressings for carrots during the summer season, it should be said that it should be fed exactly 2 times - this is especially true for those soils that do not contain the required amount of nutrients needed by the culture. For the first time, carrots should be fed a couple of weeks after the first shoots appear. The classic composition of top dressing is 20 grams of potassium nitrate, 15 grams of urea and a similar amount of double superphosphate - all this for 1 bucket of water. The second dressing for the vegetable is carried out two weeks later, the first, now with a solution of 20 grams of complete mineral fertilizer, along with the same amount of potassium chloride per 1 bucket of water. If you prepare a solution with the proposed values, then it should be enough for an area of about two square meters where the sowing was carried out.
If mineral fertilizers are not available, there is an option to replace it with ash and add it to the grooves.
In order to effectively grow carrots on soils that lose due to the low nitrogen content in the composition, which is often the cause of such problems as a poor level of development and unsaturated color of plants, organic fertilizing should be applied - a solution of mullein or bird droppings, observing the proportions of 1 to 10 parts, followed by the addition of half a matchbox of urea to 1 bucket of the prepared solution.
It should be noted that there is an effective method of foliar feeding with potassium chloride, which should be done one month before harvest. Such feeding can serve in the future for the durability and safety of root crops, and should also significantly increase the amount of the expected yield.
The main point is that you cannot overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, because nitrogen has an extremely negative effect on such a plant parameter as keeping quality. Follow all the necessary norms and recommendations so that the plants are not oversaturated with those elements that they need in much smaller quantities.
Carrot harvest: harvesting rules
The most suitable period for harvesting carrots is the last week of the first month of autumn - September. As a rule, at this time, the maximum number of ripe fruits that are stable to storage in the winter season is observed. If you delay and do not harvest the crop on time, this will not give absolutely any positive effect, moreover, with a decrease in temperature and the onset of cold weather, it slows down, and then completely stops the outflow of all nutrients from the leaves of the plant to the roots, so there is a risk of losing your carrots. nutritional value. Also, if, being in the soil, root crops, in principle, can tolerate low temperatures, then when they are extracted, their sensitivity increases sharply, which can also affect the quality of the finished product.
Carrots should be harvested primarily in dry weather for general convenience. If specimens of small sizes can be easily pulled out by hand, then larger varieties that are firmly embedded in the ground will have to be removed using tools - a bayonet shovel or pitchfork. Be careful not to damage the crops that you have cultivated for so long and painstakingly during the digging process. carrots are quite easily susceptible to mechanical damage. Handle it with care also during transport and storage. Do not allow the moment when carrots lie on the beds for too long in one heap, as vegetables wither rapidly under such conditions. It is also desirable to further sort the root crops in order to distribute them according to the variety and size for subsequent storage for the winter, eating immediately or preparing a wide variety of preparations.
The harvest of carrots, especially closer to the harsh winter cold, can be a real salvation for the human body, especially with a weak immune system - you can always provide yourself with missing elements and vitamins if you think about it prudently in advance. Good luck!