It is difficult to find a garden with no carrots on its beds. Indeed, without this vegetable it is impossible to prepare delicious dishes, it is indispensable for the prevention of many diseases and maintaining health, as it has a number of useful substances. To date, many varieties of this culture have been bred, one of which is Vita long carrots. What characteristics does a vegetable have and how to grow it, read the article.
Description
Vita longa carrot is a Dutch breeding culture. It is suitable for cultivation in Russia, Moldova, Ukraine. There is an opinion that in the core of carrots are all the most harmful substances. But in this variety, the core is weakly expressed, which is why it attracts many gardeners. The taste of carrots varieties Vita longa, according to gardeners, is excellent. Root crops are very sweet, juicy, fairly large and thick with a slightly pronounced ribbed surface. Their weight reaches 0.5 kg, although the average weight is 250 g, and the length is 30 cm or more. Conical carrots have a blunt tip and an orange color both in the pulp and in the core. Leaves have a high outlet. They have a dark green color and a medium dissected plate. The root crop has three parts:
- Head with rosettes of leaves attached to it.
- A neck with no roots.
- The root, which is the largest part of the root crop.
If the main root is damaged, new roots form with awakened buds with a certain supply of food. The development of a branched root crop begins. To prevent the process, it is important to identify the cause of damage to the main root. It can be:
- Excess or lack of substances to which carrots are most sensitive. Such additives for fertilizing the soil are fresh manure or other types of organics in excessive doses, which contribute to the branching process of root crops.
- Damage by pests that were not timely destroyed and multiplied in large quantities.
- When weeding and thinning, the roots could be damaged, they are very tender in the vegetable.
Vita longa carrots: characteristics
This culture is characterized by the following indicators:
- Late ripening. From planting to harvesting takes 160 days.
- High yield. With a plot area of one square meter, you can collect 6.5 kg of carrots.
- Low carotene content.
- Resistance to damage by disease, damage by pests and mechanically.
- Long-term storage without loss of quality.
- Good transportability.
- Lack of tendency to crack root crops.
- Used for the production of juices and nutrition for children.
- Vita long carrots are of interest to specialists engaged in industrial cultivation of crops.
Seed preparation
To obtain a high yield of carrots with excellent taste, seeds must be prepared before planting in the ground. The stages of the procedure are as follows:
- Seeds bought or harvested on their own should be soaked in water at room temperature for a period of two to three hours.
- After this, remove the seeds from the water and lay them in one layer on a damp cloth.
- From above, planting material is covered with another piece of moistened tissue.
- All this is done indoors. Seeds are periodically mixed.
- Dried tissue should be moistened using a spray bottle.
- It is necessary to wait for the swelling and hatching of the seeds.
- After that, they are quenched, for which they are placed in the refrigerator for a period of eight to ten days.
- After the hardening procedure, the seeds are ready for planting in the ground.
How to increase germination?
For rapid seed germination during their preparation for planting, experienced gardeners use various techniques:
- The water in which the seeds are soaked is replaced with an ash solution: a spoonful of substance per liter of liquid.
- Bubbling is done, that is, the seeds are soaked in oxygenated water. In this case, germination is increased, and the first sprouts appear earlier for six to eight days. The essence of the procedure is as follows. A small container is filled with a solution with the addition of potassium permanganate or boric acid in 2/3 parts. The tube from the compressor for the aquarium falls into it. The simple system turns on for 24 hours.
- According to experienced vegetable growers, heat treatment gives a good result. For this, the seeds are placed in water heated to 50 ° C. Stand for 20 minutes, take out and quickly dipped in cold water for a short time, for about five minutes.
- Germination can be accelerated by digging the seeds into the ground. To do this, they are placed in a fabric bag and buried in soil at a depth of 12-15 cm. There they are for ten days. After that, the seeds are taken out and planted in open ground at a constant place of growth.
Landing place
The growth, formation and productivity of a carrot depends on the correct selection of a site for carrots. For a plant, lighting, soil, neighboring plants, as well as care, which is possible when providing an approach to planting, are important. The bed should not be obscured by taller plants. The site is chosen so that throughout the day it is illuminated by sunlight. With their shortage, the yield drops by 30%.
Carrots are preferably planted in fertile soil with good air permeability. Ideal for the growth of this vegetable are loams, chernozems, sandy, podzolic and peat cultivated soils. Vegetable grows well in soils with neutral acidity. Carrots Vita longa, according to gardeners, does not tolerate stagnation of water, which is directly related to its taste. The root vegetable becomes tasteless or cloyingly unpleasant.
When growing any crop, it is important to observe crop rotation, that is, the alternation of planting on the site. The best precursors for carrots are representatives of nightshade crops such as potatoes and tomatoes. Pumpkin growing earlier in this area have a very good effect on the soil: squash, cucumbers; as well as legumes.
Often, beginner gardeners wonder if it is possible to plant carrots after carrots. The answer is unequivocal - no. This is due to the fact that the soil at the depth of the root crop along with the roots is depleted by growing carrots in the previous season. Is it possible to plant carrots after carrots? Of course not. Planted vegetables in the same area will be affected by the same diseases and damaged by the same pests as last year. It is unlikely that such vegetables can wait for a good harvest, even with the best care. You should not plant carrots even after parsley, dill, caraway seeds, parsnip, as these cultures suffer from similar diseases.
Planting carrots
This vegetable is unpretentious in cultivation, but in order to obtain a high yield, certain rules should be followed:
- The optimal timing for sowing seeds is the end of April - beginning of May.
- Before planting, seeds should be rubbed with your hands. This is necessary in order to remove bristles from the surface.
- The soil for planting needs to be leveled and loosened.
- Across the entire bed, make grooves two centimeters deep at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other.
- In the grooves, place the seeds five centimeters from one another, and sprinkle with soil.
Shoots will appear in two weeks. So that they are not drowned out by weeds, and moisture is preserved in the soil and a crust does not appear on its surface, the crops should be covered with a film and crushed with stones so that the wind does not blow it. The seedlings that appeared during the period of short-term frosts are not affected by a decrease in temperature. But if the cold lasts a long time, the root build-up will cease, bloom will develop.
Growing Tips
Vegetable growers with extensive experience in the cultivation of carrots advise:
- Vita long carrots should be grown in soil, which should be loose not only on the surface, but also in depth.
- Top dressing with fresh manure under the very root is unacceptable. This can lead to flowering and branching of root crops. Excess nitrogen in the soil also causes harm. The tissues of the vegetable become coarse, they accumulate a lot of nitrates.
- The soil in the planting of carrots should be compacted using a skating rink, a board or just by hand.
- Simultaneously with the weeding of root crops, they are being earthed out, so that the heads will not turn green, and the root crop will have a bitter taste.
Care
Carrot variety Vita longa is an unpretentious vegetable. When leaving, it is important to periodically water the plants and weed, weed out the plantings and loosen the soil. The most important period is the emergence of seedlings. It is necessary to ensure that no crust appears on the surface of the soil. To do this, loosening the soil using a rake, this is especially important after rain.
Mandatory procedure, without which carrots will not grow, is watering. Plants need a lot of moisture during the period when the seeds germinate, especially if they were planted without preparation. The irrigation procedure must be carried out carefully, given the location of the seeds close to the surface, otherwise they can simply be washed. Germination will be too long or the seeds will not germinate at all. For watering it is better to use a spray.
Advantages and some disadvantages
Vita longa carrots have the following advantages:
- Good keeping quality.
- Small storage losses.
- Resistance to diseases of various fungi.
- Good taste.
- Undemanding to growing conditions.
The disadvantages include:
There are some flaws in the characterization of this culture, but these are not real disadvantages, but the features of this variety:
- Vita long carrots are not the sweetest and juiciest.
- Its keeping quality is not the highest among vegetables of this species.
Storage
Depending on the conditions in which the carrots are contained, the loss of its mass is different:
- In the sandy environment - 5.2%.
- In drawers made of wood or plastic - 4.6%.
- In bags made of polyethylene - 3.5%.
When storing vegetables, only 1% of root crops completely lose their quality and are unsuitable for consumption. Carrots are often affected by white rot. If vegetables are stored in bags - up to 24%, in boxes of any material - 15%.