To get a good harvest, gardeners should take a closer look at new agricultural methods or, on the contrary, recall the long-forgotten "grandfather" methods. Watch out for winter sowing vegetables!
If the spring becomes arid, grains placed in the soil in the fall use melt water. They quickly swell and give out early friendly sprouts. And if the spring is cool and damp? In this case, you will be freed from unnecessary troubles associated with the laborious processing of seeds, preparing the land and sowing. After all, every gardener will come up with what he should spend the time saved during the spring months.
What can be sown before winter?
Winter sowing of vegetables is little used today in practice among gardeners and gardeners. And this is not justified, given its practicality.
At the end of October or in November, winter sowing of carrots and beets can be carried out (not all, but only those intended for this variety). You can also plant radishes and turnips, parsnips, Chinese cabbage. Specialists recommend sowing dill, parsley, lettuce, spinach, lettuce mustard, cucumber grass in the fall. And, of course, it’s more practical to plant garlic for the winter.
Preparation of soil for winter sowing
Winter sowing of seeds is not carried out without soil preparation. To do this, it is necessary to start cultivating the land in September-October, while the air temperature is still quite high. To make it easier to dig, experts recommend removing the previous culture. Carefully, it is necessary to loosen the earth, break up large lumps, add humus or compost. When this work is done, you can start making holes.
General tips
1. We insure against marriage. The autumn norm of grains needs to be doubled. In other words, it is better to sow a little more than in the spring.
2. Grains when sown in autumn fall into difficult conditions. Therefore, give preference only to full-bodied and large seeds.
3. The planting depth for beets and dill is somewhat deeper than for small seeds, such as turnips. In the first case, this is no more than two centimeters, and in the second case, at least one and a half.
4. Grains must always be dry.
5. Winter sowing of vegetables is much better done with dragee grains. This will reduce the risk of their non-occurrence.
6. Flower seeds experts recommend planting not only on the flowerbed. This can be done on a special warm bed.
7. Take into account the fact that during the winter the surface layer of the earth has the property of compacting. Therefore, it will not be easy for grains to break through its crust in spring. Experienced gardeners recommend sprinkling seeds with loose soil: compost, peat or humus.
8. Under no circumstances should you water the site. Winter sowing of vegetables is an activity thought out by our ancestors, who learned through trial and error that grains would be enough in the spring to melt water. Otherwise, they will swell and die in the winter.
Winter onion set
Winter sowing of onions is best done with the Ellan variety. This species is specially bred and designed for this. He showed good results with a high number of shoots and minimal shooting. Also, instead of seeds, you can take small onions (up to a centimeter). This is done to achieve a higher probability of germination.
Place for winter onion sowing should be selected open, with good ventilation. Another prerequisite is that the soil has a temperature of no higher than 5 degrees. This will save up to 98% of the planted onions.
Winter sowing vegetables involves preparing the soil in the most common way. But the seeding depth is already different from the requirements for other crops. The secret is simple: the larger the bulb, the deeper it needs to be planted. The maximum depth of the hole is 4 cm, and the minimum is 2 cm. Soil density also plays a large role. The looser the ground, the deeper the hole should be. Make the distance between the bulbs a little less than 10 cm.
After planting, they sprinkle everything with a small layer of soil, and on top add a little humus as fertilizer to feed the expected crop. The finishing touch is a layer of sawdust for warming and retaining moisture in the spring.
Garlic
Winter sowing of garlic has more advantages than spring planting. Firstly, you don’t have to store a product that is prone to drying out all winter. Secondly, get the crop much earlier.
Garlic should be sown in loose, prolific and ventilated areas that dry quickly in the spring. Good precursors for this crop are tomato, beans and potatoes.
Soil preparation begins in October. The earth should be well compacted before landing and settle. But before that, all the roots of long-term weeds should be removed from the garden, fertilizers should be applied. Fresh manure is not allowed on the site before sowing garlic. If this is done, then the plants will become most vulnerable to diseases. As a result, their bulbs will have a lot of greenery, and their teeth will become too small.
You can plant garlic with cloves having a diameter of at least one cm, bulbs - 0.5 cm, bulb - at least 2.5 cm. Experienced gardeners warn that bulbs often sprout weakly. It is much better to take onion bulbs and teeth.
Germination material should not be stimulated. After planting, the soil must be tamped a little with your hands. But not too much. It is necessary to ensure that the earth remains airy.
Sowing beets and carrots in the fall
For this sowing, special types of beets are needed. They should be early, cold-resistant and not give arrows. Two types of Podzimnaya A 474 and Cold-resistant 19 possess these properties.
The beds for winter beet planting are arranged on a hill so that they do not receive excess moisture in the spring. The land is necessarily fertilized. We take per each square meter: half a bucket of humus or mature compost, 2 cups of ash or 2 tablespoons of complex fertilizer. In the absence of humus, they take Buid fertilizer, dilute it with water in a ratio of 1 to 20. This solution is watered all selected areas in the garden.
After fertilizing the soil, the surface of the beds is leveled, making furrows at a distance of a little more than twenty cm and a depth of about four cm. Upon completion of work, the plot is covered with a thick film or sheet of iron until sowing. Winter sowing of carrots is carried out in the same way as the planting of beet seeds.
At the same time, there is a preparation of soil, which will be filled with beds after planting. We do this in a well-protected and moisture-proof room, as dry loose soil is needed to cover the seeds. There is also harvesting and humus or peat in the amount of 1-2 buckets (depending on the size of the site).
Secrets of landing
When it comes time to plant beets and carrots (and do it with the first snow), gardeners take seeds, as they are, not processed and not germinated, necessarily dry. They are planted 1 grain every 6-7 cm to a depth of about 4 cm. After that, they are sprinkled with pre-prepared dry soil, a centimeter layer of peat or humus is placed on top. All beds are covered with snow and a layer of ash is added on top of it. What is it for? And they make it so that the “blanket” of snow is not blown away by winter winds.
Early harvest
In the spring, the upper layers are removed, including humus (or peat), to allow the seedlings to sprout quietly. If necessary, a very early harvest, the plot is covered with a film or non-woven fabric. Mount it on the arc. At a depth of a centimeter, gently, preserving the integrity of the crop, loosen the soil for air access and pour it with warm water. Otherwise, care, as well as for crops that are planted in the spring.