It is important to think about what to feed carrots after germination. To form tasty and healthy root crops, it is necessary to select and apply fertilizer correctly. Not only a deficiency, but also an excess of fertilizing can be harmful to the vegetable.
Useful material
What he loves carrots when grown in open ground? Each microelement becomes important in the formation and development of root crops. What fertilizers are needed for carrots?
The following additional microelements are required for normal development:
- Nitrogen fertilizers for carrots can increase the content of carotene and protein. Application is advisable at the beginning of summer, when there is increased growth of greenery.Without nitrogen, the tops turn yellow and the fruits become small and dry.
- Phosphorus supplements make the vegetable sweet and the core hard. The root crop needs it during the hot period, which occurs in mid-summer. Without this microelement, the green part of the vegetable turns yellow, withers, and the fruit becomes elongated and tasteless.
- Thanks to potassium, carrots become tender in taste and immunity to many diseases increases. Fertilizing can be carried out throughout the growth of the vegetable.
- Boron promotes the formation of juicy, sweet root crops and strengthens the plant. Without it, pollination is disrupted, the plant slows down, and the root crop becomes elongated and thin. It is best to spray carrots with boric acid during the second feeding.
The secrets of foliar feeding will help answer the question of how to use complementary foods correctly and at what time:
- to increase sweetness, the tops can be sprayed with a solution of humates;
- Magnesium sulfate is treated for magnesium deficiency;
- To make the tops strong and fluffy at the beginning of growth, they need to be sprayed with urea.
Fertilizers for carrots can be of mineral or organic origin. Many people prefer natural ingredients. Agricultural technicians often spray and water the soil with manure, bird droppings, peat, leaf humus.
Before planting seeds in the ground, it is useful to soak them in nutrient solutions. For example, the following recipe is suitable: 1 gram of potassium permanganate and 2.5 ml of any liquid fertilizer are dissolved in a liter of warm water. Traditionally, gardeners like to treat cultivated plants with mullein.
Step by step work
Preparatory work begins in the spring. How can you feed the soil at this stage? IN Fertilize the soil before planting carrots: you can use saltpeter, superphosphate, and potassium chloride. If the soil is clayey, then it needs to be mixed with sand and peat.
It should be borne in mind that carrot seeds absorb a lot of water during germination, so you need to water the beds abundantly before and after planting.
How should you feed carrots during the growth period to avoid problems? The standard feeding scheme throughout the entire season of plant growth and maturation includes several stages.
It is necessary to carry out at least four feedings of carrots:
- The first fertilizing is carried out after thinning the beds. By this time, several leaves should already appear. A mixture containing potassium magnesium, urea and superphosphate may be suitable. All these components are diluted in 10 liters of water.
- The ideal time for the second feeding is considered to be 2.5 weeks after the previous one. You can feed it with ash or buy ready-made fertilizers: Nitrophoska, Mortar or Kemira Universal. The dosage is approximately 60 g per 10 liters of water.
- The third feeding is carried out in the summer, when the root crop is gaining strength. Fertilizers should be applied to increase sugar content. Dry ash or an infusion of it may be useful.
- What is the last thing to fertilize carrots with? The last feeding in the garden is necessary to reduce the amount of nitrates in the root crop. Conducted a month before harvest. Usually a solution of potassium sulfate or potassium chloride is used along with wood ash.
With this method of caring for cultivated plants, the desired result will be obtained. The tops will be smooth and green, and the root crop will be straight, juicy, tasty and healthy.
For sweetness, carrots are treated in August with boron and manganese. Not only the sugar content increases, but also the vitamin content. You need to take 5 ml of boron and manganese and dilute them in 10 liters of water.Water between rows. After fertilizing, it is recommended to water the beds with clean water.
Carrots can be fertilized for growth with special purchased fertilizers. Dilution must be done strictly according to the instructions included with each package:
- The use of the drug Kemira Universal leads to intensive growth of the plant, including root crops. The amount of sugar and vitamins increases. The composition contains useful nitroammophoska.
- Gardeners often choose Agricola 4 nutrition for carrots because of its rich composition. The composition contains organic and mineral components. Can be used for root and foliar nutrition. Fertilizing should be stopped two weeks before harvest.
It is important to correctly calculate the amount of each ingredient, since an excess of substances can be more dangerous than a deficiency.
Folk recipes
How can you feed carrots without purchased solutions? Many gardeners prefer not to use mineral fertilizers for carrots, but to prepare the mixtures themselves. Folk remedies based on ash, herbs, yeast and other components are popular.
It is useful to feed carrots with nettle infusion. The grass contains many fertilizing microelements: potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium. Chopped nettle stems are placed in the prepared container and filled with water. Cover with a lid and leave to ferment for a couple of days.
To ensure that the infusion ferments well, you can add a pack of yeast and ash. Before feeding, 60 ml of solution is diluted with 10 liters of water.
If the tops look unwell, then foliar feeding can be applied. To do this, the fermented composition is filtered, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20 and sprayed on the tops.She will not only receive useful substances, but will also be protected from pests.
Among the common ingredients for feeding carrots using folk remedies, wood ash is very popular.
Feeding carrots in open ground at any stage of vegetable development can be accompanied by ash. You can simply sprinkle it on the ground where carrots grow, or you can make an infusion. It is necessary to pour 60-70 g of ash into a liter of boiled water and leave for two days. The resulting solution is diluted in 10 liters of liquid before watering.
Ash not only has useful components, but also can repel many pests. To repel insects, it is useful to cultivate the soil between rows every 10 days.
Is it possible to feed a vegetable with yeast solutions? Yeast feeding will make up for the lack of phosphorus and nitrogen, and enrich the soil with vitamins and minerals. Thanks to the nutritional basis, the quality of the root crop improves and the activity of the beneficial microflora of the earth increases. You can use both fresh and dry yeast.
If you make a recipe from fresh yeast, then take 500 g of raw material and dissolve it in 2.5 liters of water. Before use, the solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. You will need 5 g of dry yeast. They are dissolved in 5 liters of water and 35 g of sugar are added. Then the mass should be left to infuse for two hours. Before watering, dilute in water in a ratio of 1:5.
It is recommended to feed carrots with yeast mixtures in warm weather. Their use occurs during the third feeding. It is best mixed with wood ash as the yeast absorbs the potassium.
At any stage of feeding, you can use chicken manure.Before watering the beds between the plants, chicken manure is poured with water, left for 5 days, and then diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. You cannot treat the soil with undiluted chicken manure - this will lead to the death of the vegetable.
After planting, it is recommended to treat carrots with compounds that contain iodine. It activates growth, the taste of root vegetables becomes juicy and enriched with vitamins. Once in the soil or on tops, it acts as an antiseptic. It is enough to dilute two drops of iodine in a liter of water.
Water, milk and iodine will help protect the plant from diseases and pests. Enveloping each leaf, the composition forms a white film that prevents the penetration of pathogens.
You can feed carrots with fresh mullein. But you should not overuse this fertilizer for carrots, as the level of nitrates in the vegetable increases. In addition, the greenery becomes lush, and the growth of root crops stops. You can sprinkle mullein on the ground in the spring while digging, or you can prepare an infusion and spray it on a green plant.
An infusion with mullein is easy to prepare. Manure is poured into the container and filled with water (1:5). It is recommended to additionally add wood ash. Leave to infuse for two weeks. Before watering the beds, the solution is diluted with water (1:10). A month before harvest, treatment with mullein is stopped.
