Not everyone knows that you can plant beets next to carrots. Within the same ridge, these two crops do not get along very well, so you can plant them next to each other in exceptional cases. If all conditions are met, obtaining a rich harvest is quite possible, but the compatibility of these crops is the subject of much debate.
The main rule for a good harvest is compliance with agricultural technology when sowing seeds. It is equally important to observe the conditions in which the planting process is carried out. The timeliness of sowing is a fundamentally important point for carrots and beets, two of the people’s most beloved crops.
Plants located close to each other interact in a certain way. Some provide each other with invaluable assistance in pest control, while others only harm their neighbor, shading it and preventing it from fully developing. To avoid mistakes when organizing mixed beds, you need to understand which crops can grow together during crop rotation and how to organize the care of such a bed.
Mixed plantings
If the garden area is small and you still have dreams of a varied harvest, then you can plant plants in compacted rows. An even better choice is mixed beds. This is an option in which a gardener simultaneously cultivates several crops in one area. They must be planted taking into account the compatibility of the plants. It would be useful to adhere to a certain scheme.
Wanting to get a good harvest, the summer resident begins in the fall to think through the layout of the beds on the site for the next season, the assortment of plants, and care options. Of course, without high-quality fertilizers, good soil and skillful hands, you cannot get an excellent harvest, but it is also important to know how to correctly arrange crops in terms of their influence on each other.
The biochemical effect of crops on each other is called allelopathy. It is designed to provide conditions for the existence of plants that are beneficial to both cultures. In some cases, the neighborhood can have a depressing effect. The fact is that each part of the plant releases phytoncides and antibiotics into the environment - active substances that are absorbed by the “neighbor” and have a beneficial effect or have a negative effect on the plants placed nearby. The same factor should be taken into account when the question arises of what to plant after carrots next year.
The key to obtaining a successful harvest is the competent selection of plants that have the ability not only to coexist together, but also to produce a good harvest. Beautiful healthy fruits of carrots in open ground and beets will be the best confirmation of this.
Drawing up a planting plan
The formation of a planting plan should take into account the compatibility of crops. It is better to think over a plan for what to plant after carrots next year in the winter, because with the onset of field work, the need arises to form beds, and there is no time to think about what can be planted and where.
Plants differ in terms of ripening. Rational use of the territory assumes that crops with vegetative periods of different lengths can be placed in one place - this way the land will not stand idle.
The fundamental factor taken into account when planning joint plantings is the likely compatibility of vegetables within the same bed. This factor may affect the harvest in the future.
Different parts of the dacha differ in the composition of the soil and its fertility. Among the crops, there are those that consume significant amounts of nutrients, and there are those that practically do not use soil resources. When making a plan beet planting and carrots in open ground, these characteristics of crops should be taken into account.
So, all plants should be divided into three conditional groups:
- Plants that consume nutrients as much as possible. These are vegetables that require a large amount of nitrogen to grow: pumpkin, cabbage, chard, onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini.
- Average consumers are radishes, eggplants, potatoes, chicory, spinach, kohlrabi, carrots and beets.
- Crops that use virtually no nutrients found in the soil.These include beans, peas, herbs and spices.
Based on this condition, carrots and beets can be planted in the same bed - the vegetables will not deprive each other of valuable nutrients.
However, before planting, you should still take into account some details that can become an important condition for the successful growth of both crops and will help determine what should be planted immediately after carrots next year.
Carrot
You can find carrots in almost every summer cottage. The optimal neighbors will be:
- sage;
- peas;
- beans;
- onion;
- tomato;
- radish;
- salad;
- rosemary.
There are also crops that we don’t plant next to carrots: celery, parsley, dill. It is better to place these plants at some distance. Do not forget about the predecessors of carrots, which should not be too demanding on the composition of the soil.
Beet
Its benefits are difficult to overestimate. The vitamin-rich composition is simply irreplaceable in winter, so growing this vegetable is a must. Not everyone knows whether it can be planted next to other crops. The most productive impact of beets will be if the following grow nearby:
- broccoli;
- asparagus;
- salad;
- onion;
- cauliflower.
It is not recommended to place mustard and beans in close proximity to beets.
When to plant carrots and beets together
The first condition that must be met when planting carrots in open ground and beets in the same bed is the correct planting time. The most favorable days for this are considered to be periods when the daytime air temperature becomes more than 3 °C. These crops tolerate frost well, but you need to be careful about the type of crop you want to grow.
The variety of root crop determines the date of sowing carrots. Varieties can be:
- early ripeness (growing season - up to 100 days);
- mid-season (growing season - up to 120 days);
- late ripening varieties (growing season - up to 140 days).
At the end of April, the seeds of this crop can be placed in the soil. If this procedure is postponed to the first ten days of May, then it is necessary to sow mid-season varieties. Carrots intended for long-term winter storage are planted until the beginning of June.
Important, that planting dates for beets and carrots in open ground they can coincide, but then the varieties must be different in terms of ripening time. Beets are more cold-resistant, but may die during frosts. This means that planting seeds is possible no earlier than early May. At the same time, it is necessary to plant mid-season carrots.
When forming beds in vegetable gardens, one should also take into account such a factor as the size of the tops. Carrots, as a rule, grow stronger, and if early varieties are planted on the sunny side, then later the beet tops can be drowned out by carrot leaves. You should pay close attention to this fact and plant carrots of medium ripeness next to the beets.
Rules for caring for a mixed bed
The main procedures that need to be done when caring for a carrot and beet bed are watering, fertilizing, weeding and pulling. Experienced gardeners know what they will have to face when growing. The approach to each plant should be individual, because the care requirements of vegetables are slightly different.
First thinning carrots can be done immediately after the first leaves appear. After a couple of weeks, the procedure is repeated.Planted plants should be watered infrequently, but efficiently. Whenever possible, you should weed and loosen the part of the bed where the carrots grow.
Beets need frequent weeding and thinning because they love light. Weeds and plants that are superfluous in the garden bed will prevent the required amount of light from entering, and the beet harvest will leave much to be desired. This will happen if access to sunlight is limited by the strong growth of the carrot leaf.
Pulling out beet sprouts is done at the moment when two true leaves appear. The excess can be pulled out again after two weeks, the gap between plants should be about 5 - 7 centimeters.
Some gardeners believe that beets and carrots can change the taste of each other, so if there is enough space, it is better to grow them separately. If this cannot be done, then the rules for caring for both crops must be followed.
When caring for an adjacent bed in which carrots and beets grow together, special attention should be paid to watering the plants. The first steps in this direction should be taken even before planting the seeds in open ground: it is necessary to thoroughly water the soil. Having absorbed all the water, the earth will become perfectly permeable to moisture.
During the process of growing root crops, the soil should be moistened evenly, otherwise the fruits will begin to crack and hurt.
