Some gardeners are keen on planting early vegetables. Their main advantage is that the first fruits appear at the moment when you really want them. This is one of the main reasons why carrots are planted before winter. Sowing carrots in winter accelerates the ripening of the fruits by several weeks and because of this they ripen earlier than other varieties. Also, such planting simplifies spring work several times, since you no longer need to spend time preparing the garden.
People who have never planted vegetables should start with carrots.However, before this, you need to figure out when to sow carrots before winter and how to do it.
When to plant
Not all gardeners know when to plant carrots before winter. This work must be performed under certain conditions. The timing of sowing carrots depends on the weather and climate. This must be done after cold weather. In this case, the average temperature should be about 1-2 degrees Celsius.
Many beginners make the same mistake and plant vegetables before the cold weather arrives. This leads to the fact that the first seedlings begin to sprout in the fall. Sprouted young seedlings will quickly die when the air temperature approaches zero degrees.
Carrots for winter storage are planted in the summer. Thus, the root crop can be harvested before the onset of severe cold. However, before summer sowing of carrots for winter storage, it is also necessary to study the characteristics of the climate in which the vegetables will be grown.
Planting carrots in winter
Planting carrots for the winter is carried out in several stages.
Selecting a location
First you need to determine the best places to grow carrots. Young bushes need good lighting, so they should be grown in areas that are well lit throughout the day. If there is too little light, the bush will begin to stretch upward and because of this the fruit will develop worse.
When choosing a site, it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics of the soil.
Loamy and sandy loam soils that have a deep arable layer are suitable for carrots. When planting plants on compacted soils, serious problems with root crops appear. They grow worse and take on an irregular shape.
Also, the choice of a suitable site can be influenced by what was previously grown on it. Planting carrots in the fall should be done in places where pumpkins, potatoes, cucumbers and cabbage previously grew. You can’t plant it after growing peas and parsley. Some argue that you can’t plant them after carrots. It needs to be replanted in the same place after a few years.
Variety selection
It is recommended to decide in advance which variety of carrots is best to plant before winter. Early and mid-early tomatoes are excellent for this, which include Evpator, Nantes, Dobrun and Vitamin Tomato. However, you should not purchase seeds attached to tape. For this type of planting, it is better to use regular planting material.
Seed preparation
Before growing carrots, you should first prepare the seeds. Only good seeds can produce a large amount of harvest.
First, calibration is carried out, with the help of which the best seeds will be selected. This procedure is quite simple to perform. To do this, a saline solution prepared from a liter of water and one hundred grams of salt is poured into a small jar. All the seed that will be used for planting is poured into it. Within a few minutes, those seeds that cannot be planted should float to the surface. They must be taken away immediately and thrown away. All other seeds are dried and prepared for planting.
Seed material is sometimes processed to improve the germination of young seedlings. To do this, use special mixtures made from boric acid and vitriol. Some gardeners use other processing methods. For example, the seeds can simply be soaked in water. To do this, place a layer of pre-moistened cloth on a small container on which the seeds should be placed.They are left there all night.
Instead of water, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate. To do this, the seeds are placed in liquid for 30 minutes, after which they need to be rinsed with water. Then they are placed in an ash solution for a day.
The heat treatment method is used to disinfect seeds. It must be used very carefully as it may damage the seeds. Carrot seeds cope very poorly with high temperatures, so they cannot be heated too much during processing. They are soaked for 40 minutes in water heated to 40 degrees. This is enough to destroy pathogens.
Soil preparation
It is necessary to prepare the beds in advance. First, the soil is dug up and loosened. Then small grooves are made, the depth of which should not exceed three centimeters. However, before this, it is recommended to fertilize the area. The choice of suitable fertilizers depends on the type of soil:
- Peat soil. To fertilize such soil, half a kilogram of river sand, five kilograms of manure and a bucket of soil are used. All this is thoroughly mixed, after which several grams of superphosphate, sodium nitrate and urea are added to the soil. After this, the bed is dug up and watered.
- Clay soil. In this case, you will have to add several kilograms of peat and a bucket of sand to the soil. Some gardeners add a little humus. You can also use mineral fertilizers. A tablespoon of nitrophoska and superphosphate is added to the soil.
- Loamy soil. This soil is quite light, as it consists of sand and clay. It is fertilized in the same way as clay soil.However, in this case, you can refuse to add river sand.
- Sandy soil. As a fertilizer, a mixture prepared from two buckets of turf soil, a tablespoon of Agricola-4 and a bucket of humus is applied.
Disembarkation
Carrot seeds are planted after the soil freezes ten centimeters. Some people prefer to plant them after the first snow falls. In this case, you will first have to clear the area of snow. After this, several seeds are added to each hole. It is not recommended to place them too close to each other. The optimal distance should be about 5-7 centimeters. We sow only dry seeds into frozen soil and sprinkle them with dry soil. Then the beds are sprinkled with a layer of organic matter, compacted and covered with snow again.
Care
If the vegetables were planted before the first snow fell, they will have to be covered with pine spruce branches. In spring, the cover is removed so that the snow can melt faster. After this, special metal arcs are installed near each bed. Polyethylene film or any other polyethylene cover is stretched over them. This is done to speed up the germination of carrot bushes.
Landing in regions
In different regions of the country, the process of planting carrots may differ slightly.
Moscow region
Planting winter crops carrot varieties in the Moscow region it is recommended towards the end of autumn. During this period, the soil will freeze slightly and its temperature will be 3-5 degrees. Sometimes there may be slight frosts. However, there is nothing to worry about, since under these conditions the sown carrots will have time to swell before the onset of severe frosts.
In the Moscow region, it is recommended to plant Callisto, Incomparable and Losinoostrovskaya carrots.Seeds are planted to a depth of 5-8 centimeters.
Ural
In order to properly sow carrots in the Urals, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the features of this process. To do this, it is recommended to buy the following varieties: Incomparable, Altai and Moscow Winter. The landing process is very similar to landing in the Moscow region. However, in the Urals, planted plants are covered with spruce branches or mulch.
Siberia
Not everyone knows whether it is possible to plant carrots in Siberia. Special varieties must be used to grow planted carrots in this region. The Autumn Queen, Diana, Nastena and Shantanay are perfect for this. It is recommended to plant seeds in early or mid-October.
Some gardeners plant them in the first half of November. These planting dates are the most optimal.
For planting, select an area with soil that does not contain too much clay. The place where the carrot bushes will grow should not be blown by the wind. It is recommended to plant carrots on small hills, as snow melts faster on them.
The seeds are sown to a depth of about two centimeters. The interval between each hole is 20 centimeters. Having planted all the seeds, the beds are covered with film and grown under it until the end of winter.
Conclusion
Sowing carrots before winter is quite simple, so even gardeners without experience can cope with such work. To do this, it is enough to decide on the timing of planting and familiarize yourself with how planting and caring for the plant proceeds.
