There is a widespread belief among experienced gardeners that watering beets with salt water increases the sugar content of root crops. But the secrets of a good harvest are not only this. Knowledge of what and how to feed beets will affect not only its taste, but also the size and keeping quality of the vegetables.
Why water beets with salt water?
Fertilizing crops is the application of useful substances (fertilizers) during the growing season. Most often, mineral mixtures are dissolved in irrigation water and liquid fertilizing is carried out.This way the plants will get what they need as quickly as possible.
The feeding method, according to which it is necessary to water the beets with salt water, is based on the increased need of the crop for sodium. This element is rarely found in sufficient quantities in soil with a heavy and dense structure, so for many gardeners in central Russia the crop does not produce the best harvest.
Growing beets: watering with salt water
By watering the plants with salted water 2-3 times per season, the vegetable grower introduces the required amount of microelements useful for them into the soil. But when carrying out such feeding, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise you can get the opposite result instead of sweet vegetables. Excess of any fertilizers for beets is harmful, so you need to learn how to determine how many times to feed the crop and which solution is suitable for the conditions on the site.
What are the watering standards?
The easiest way to determine a plant’s need for sodium, boron, potassium and other microelements is by appearance. When beets are starved of nutrients, the leaves become small, flat, and red in color. In normal condition, the leaf blade of the vegetable is large, slightly wavy, and rich green in color. Depending on the variety, only the leaf petiole or also the veins may be red.
You can feed a bed with root crops with special complex fertilizers for beets. The manufacturer indicates the proportions in the instructions for the drug.
When watering plants with salt water, you can determine the proportions yourself:
- if the beets look healthy, then 1 tsp. table salt is dissolved in 10 liters of warm water and 1 m² is poured with this amount of liquid;
- if the leaves turn red, increase the dose of salt to 2 tbsp. l.per 10 l and per 1 m², focusing on the severity of the lack of microelements.
Salt does not dissolve in water too quickly, and when watering beets, it is important to prevent crystals of the substance from getting on the root crops. Too high a solution concentration makes it dangerous for a young plant. Before watering, you should wait until all the salt has dissipated in the water. The infusion time of the solution can be up to 10 minutes.
Watering recommendations
In order to have delicious vinaigrettes from homemade beets on the table in summer and winter, beet feeding is combined with the correct watering regime:
- until seedlings appear, the soil must remain moist constantly;
- young seedlings are watered as the top layer of soil dries 0.5-1 cm deep;
- when a rosette of 4-6 leaves appears, carry out the first feeding with a solution of table salt in a minimum dosage (1 tsp per 10 liters per 1 m²);
- as the plants grow, it is necessary to take into account that the root crop only accumulates useful substances and moisture, and absorption occurs at a depth of 10-15 cm, so the soil needs to be wetted to this depth, pouring 2-3 buckets of water per 1 m²;
- when the diameter of the root crop reaches 5-6 cm, dissolve salt, boric acid and ash infusion in water, water (how to water and how much fertilizer to take is indicated below).
If there is little precipitation, the beets will have to be watered every 3-5 days to ensure that sufficient moisture is retained in the soil. If the leaves begin to turn red again, another feeding with salt and ash may be required.
In addition to watering, there is another treatment method - foliar feeding. Plants can be enriched with the substances they need by spraying the above-ground parts with the indicated solutions.Spraying is also used to prevent beet diseases.
We increase sugar content in another way
In addition to treating beets with salt, the addition of boron, potassium and phosphorus is often required. To enrich the soil with boron, 10 g of boron fertilizers (borax, boric acid, Kemira-lux and others) must be dissolved in 10 liters of water. Wood ash also helps enrich the soil with microelements. It needs to be sifted, pour 300-500 g of powder into 1 liter of water and let the mixture stand for 24-36 hours.
Mix the resulting solution with 10 liters of water and pour the liquid over 1 m² of beet bed. Treatments can be repeated after 3-5 days until a visible result is obtained - the leaves acquire a normal appearance.
To enrich the soil with potassium and phosphorus, necessary for the formation of root crops and the accumulation of sugary substances in it, complex fertilizers (Agricola-4, Kemira and others) are used. You can also take potassium monophosphate (1 tbsp per 10 liters of water), mix 1-2 tbsp superphosphate. l. and 1-2 tsp. potassium chloride or 1 tsp. potassium nitrate in 10 liters of water. A small excess of these elements will not harm beets; the plant will take only what it needs.
Reasons why beets may not taste good
For the sweetness of beet roots, not only watering and fertilizing are important. Plants do not absorb nutrients well if the soil is highly acidic or waterlogged (in swampy areas). In unfavorable conditions, root vegetables grow ugly, can crack or form voids inside, and their structure becomes fibrous.
If a vegetable grower has such problems from year to year, then the problem is not a bad variety or improper care of the plantings. The soil is simply not suitable for beets.It can be improved by adding lime materials (fluff, chalk, dolomite or marble dust) and sand.
These measures reduce the acidity of the soil and make it looser. For 1 m² you will need up to 1 bucket of sand (fine and without clay) and 1-1.5 kg of lime. To enrich the soil with nitrogenous substances necessary for the growth of beets, additionally add 1 bucket of last year's humus.
Sawdust (not shavings) will help make the soil loose. If the farm has poultry or pigs, then sawdust can be used as bedding, and after the manure has rotted, the soil in the beds can be filled with this humus. In the absence of livestock, sawdust can be piled up, moistened and left to rot for 1 year.
The development of root crops is often hampered by pests and diseases. Spraying the leaves with a strong salt solution (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) often helps to get rid of leaf-eating insects, fungi and bacteria. When processing, you should try to moisten both the underside of the leaf blade and the soil around the plants.
