Carrots are one of the most popular root vegetables in our diet. Rich in vitamins and microelements, it is used in a variety of dishes and in different forms - fresh, stewed, boiled and others.
Every gardener can grow carrots on his or her own plot, but to do this you need to know how to properly care for them. Otherwise, instead of beautiful, smooth and tasty fruits, you may end up with horned, ugly and bitter fruits.
It is especially important to properly feed root vegetables. In this regard, carrots are a rather capricious vegetable. Feeding should be not only regular, but also competent. You need to start by preparing the site.
Pre-sowing seed preparation
Pre-sowing treatment of carrot seeds is carried out using fertilizers. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:
- You can soak the seeds in a solution of growth stimulants - Epin, HB-101 and others.
- An ash solution is also used - dissolve 1 tsp. ash in 0.5 liters of water.
- In humates prepared according to the instructions for the drugs - Energen, potassium humate, etc.
- In a solution of succinic acid - 1 tablet per 0.5 liters of warm water.
The duration of the presence of seeds in solutions is no more than 30 minutes. After this, you need to rinse the seeds with clean water.
Application of fertilizer
This universal drug is used at all stages of planting and ripening stages of carrots. It is required:
- after long-term storage of seeds before planting in the ground;
- after transplantation, if thinning was carried out;
- to strengthen weakened plants;
- to increase resistance and protection against pests;
- for plant adaptation to unfavorable environmental conditions;
- to activate tops growth
- to stimulate the hormonal and enzymatic systems of the plant.
Zeromix helps:
- protect the plant from exposure to bacteria and fungi;
- stimulates seed germination;
- promotes better development of root crops;
- strengthens the plant's immunity;
- increases productivity.
The stimulant is used in combination with other fertilizers. This allows you to improve the overall biological background of carrot growth and obtain increased yields. It interacts well with almost all types of fertilizers.
First feeding
For the first time, carrot seedlings that have reached a height of 4-5 cm and have formed 3-4 true leaves are fed. By this time, the carrot plantings should already be thinned out. Fertilizers containing a maximum of nitrogen are used, because plants need to increase green mass. Phosphorus is also necessary for normal root development. Azofoska contains both of these elements in the required quantities and proportions.
To prepare a solution for fertilizer, dissolve 1 tbsp in a bucket of water. azofoski. It is recommended to first dilute this amount in a half-liter jar, mix well, and only then pour it into a bucket of water and mix well again. For one linear meter of a row of carrots, 5 liters of solution are consumed.
Two weeks after this, you need to carry out additional feeding with herbal infusion. During the same period, it would be useful to foliar fertilize with a 2% solution of succinic acid, which is carried out 3 days after the herbal infusion.
You can prepare the solution as follows:
- 10 tablets of succinic acid are finely crushed and dissolved in a half-liter jar of warm water.
- Stir for a few minutes so that no grains remain at the bottom of the jar.
- Then pour it into a bucket of water and mix well again.
- After filtration, pour it into a sprayer and lightly treat the carrot plantings. This should be done on a warm, windless evening, when there is no threat of precipitation. The solution must remain on the plant for at least 2 hours.
How to feed carrots in open ground
Despite the apparent ease of growing this root vegetable, carrots are very demanding on the composition of the soil and its fertility. A lack of fertilizer is just as harmful to the proper development of carrots as an excess.
What fertilizers are needed for this vegetable plant will be discussed below. In turn, vegetable growers will be able to choose the best ways to fertilize carrots growing on their plots.
Organic fertilizers for carrots are extremely necessary, because they saturate this plant with nitrogen and improve the structure and composition of the soil.
Therefore, you can use fertilizers:
- A solution of cow or chicken manure;
- Manure;
- Well decomposed compost;
- Ash wood.
Each of these organic fertilizers contains a large amount of nutrients necessary for growing vegetables, but the amount and composition of nutrients may differ in each type of organic fertilizer.
Important!
Fresh or poorly decomposed manure should not be applied under carrots, as such fertilizer leads to deformation and curvature of carrots, and its taste becomes bitter.
Therefore, it is better to plant carrots the next year after vegetable crops for which intensive organic fertilizers are used, but in the previous season.
For proper growth and development of carrots, the following macro- and microelements are necessary:
- Nitrogen;
- Potassium;
- Phosphorus.
You can use these minerals individually or use complex mineral supplements.
The following simple mineral fertilizers are used to feed this plant:
- Ammonium nitrate and urea - contain enough nitrogen for the growth of the vegetative part of this vegetable crop;
- Direct or double superphosphate, which will provide a sufficient amount of phosphorus in the soil;
- Potassium nitrate, other potassium salts, these preparations will enrich the soil with potassium.
Complex mineral fertilizers for use with carrots:
- Nitrophos;
- Ammofoska;
- Azofoska;
- Nitroamphoska;
- Nitrophoska.
All of these complex fertilizers contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium - sometimes together, sometimes only two of the listed elements.
Second feeding
After the first feeding with mineral fertilizers, a second is done a month later. It is carried out using nitrophoska with equal shares of elements. Fertilizers are diluted in a lower concentration than written in the instructions, so as not to create an excess of nutrients, which will negatively affect the taste of the fruit.
For 10 liters of water take 1 teaspoon. l. nitrophoskas or nitroammophoskas. Do not forget about the rules of fertilizing only on wet soil. For 1 linear meter of carrot planting, 5 liters of solution are consumed. After 1-2 weeks, you can additionally feed the root crops with a solution of wood ash.
Superphosphate
As you can guess from the name, the main component of superphosphate is phosphorus. It makes up 20-50% of the total volume of this substance. The phosphorus oxide in this compound is in a water-soluble form. Due to this, the substance very quickly reaches the roots of the plant and provides it with complete nutrition. Thanks to this element, carrots grow faster and the taste of its roots improves.
Because superphosphate accumulates in the soil and is used only as needed. It can be added in fairly large quantities. Carrots will only take as much phosphorus from the soil as they need. And this will continue until the superphosphate reserves are exhausted.
Experienced gardeners can accurately calculate how much fertilizer a crop needs and when it is necessary to replenish its reserves in the soil. It would be a good idea for novice gardeners to know what external signs indicate a lack of phosphorus. The main sign of a lack of this microelement is a change in the color of the leaves. They turn yellow, acquiring a rusty tint. Superphosphate is used on any type of soil, but it is most effective on alkaline and neutral soils.
Third feeding
It is carried out during the period of active growth of root crop mass. To increase the sugar content of carrots, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are now needed. Potassium monophosphate is the most suitable fertilizer during this period.
30 g of fertilizer is diluted in 10 liters of water and the carrots are watered at the rate of 5 liters per 1 linear meter of planting. And again, after 2 weeks, additional feeding is carried out with an infusion of ash.
Advice from experienced gardeners
You need to plant carrots and care for them wisely. Without following the rules for planting and fertilizing, you will not get a good harvest.
Here are some tips for growing crops:
- Only rotted and decomposed organic matter should be used. Why is this necessary? So that it is not the tops that grow, but the root crop.
- You cannot plant carrots in an area where chlorine-containing substances have been introduced, as the root crop will absorb it.
- Potassium fertilizers are not applied in the form of salts containing chlorine.
- If superphosphate is added for digging, it should be crushed for better absorption.
- Do not overdo it with phosphorus fertilizers on acidic soils, as they transform into indigestible compounds and increase acidity.
- Always dose fertilizers accurately, as excess will not do any good, but will only cause harm.
- To increase the immunity of the root crop, add potassium sulfate one and a half to two weeks before harvesting. This feed is applied to each plant.
- Regular salt will help speed up the absorption of any fertilizer. It also protects plants from pests. Watering with salt water increases the carotene content.
Carrots are not a capricious crop. It is most sensitive to the amount of potassium in the soil, on which the formation of its root crop depends. With proper preparation of the bed, as well as pre-planting application of fertilizers and further timely care, you can get a good harvest.
Fourth feeding
Usually, during the growing season of carrots, three feedings, which are described above, are quite enough. But on very poor soils, where the content of nutrients is minimal, you can also carry out a fourth feeding. They do it the same way as the third, but without additional fertilizer with infusion of ash after 2 weeks.
Using ash and manure when growing carrots
A bountiful vegetable harvest depends on many factors, some of which gardeners can influence before planting. Once you have determined what plant characteristics you want, it is important to make every effort to prepare the right conditions. The basis of the harvest is carrots’ favorite soil.
Using ash and manure when growing carrots
Signs of a lack or excess of nutrients
Both lack and excess of nutrition are not good for carrots. The taste of the root crop may change, its appearance may deteriorate, and its shelf life may decrease. Let's look at some signs of excess or deficiency of nutrients.
Nitrogen
Its deficiency is manifested by weak growth of the aboveground part, it becomes light green. The fruit itself is small in size, distorted, and tastes bitter.
An excess causes “horniness” and softening of the fruit, the keeping quality of carrots decreases, the leaves greatly increase in size and become dark green.
Excess nitrogen
Potassium
The lack of this element makes the carrots hard, the juiciness is completely absent, the skin is hard and corky. Carrots lose immunity to fungal diseases and are more easily damaged by pests.
With too much potassium, carrot leaves become scorched, with dry brown tips.
Excess potassium
Phosphorus
With phosphorus deficiency, the carrot root does not have sufficient growth vigor. Therefore, weak lateral roots appear, the carrots begin to branch, and the yield is significantly reduced.
Phosphorus deficiency
If there is an excess of phosphorus compounds in the soil, the color of the peel takes on a reddish tint.
How to prepare the soil before planting carrots
To reap a rich carrot harvest, create comfortable conditions for it . Choose well-lit beds, but maintain crop rotation. Carrots should not be preceded by relatives of the Umbelliferae family: celery, caraway, coriander, dill, fennel, parsnips and carrots themselves.
This vegetable prefers to grow in loose, permeable soil. This soil is obtained after digging up potatoes, so it is considered the best precursor for carrots. These crops do not have common pests, which means they will not remain in the ground, waiting for a new harvest.
Attention. In addition to potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, legumes and cabbage are considered good predecessors.
Immediately before planting, do not fertilize the soil with manure. Carrots react negatively to it - the root vegetables turn out to be branchy and tasteless. Therefore, you should choose an area where manure was applied a year or two ago.
In the fall, the selected area is dug up to a depth of 30 cm, large stones and roots are removed. In the spring, the bed is loosened, all weeds are removed and leveled. If the soil is heavy, add sand, sawdust or eggshells to make the structure looser. Otherwise, the carrots will feel a lot of resistance as they grow and will begin to bend and take on an unattractive shape.
Potassium chloride
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Potassium chloride is the main mineral fertilizer based on potassium. It is a whitish or pinkish powder with a grayish tint. It has weak hygroscopicity and strongly cakes. Therefore, storing potassium chloride for a long time is not recommended. Depending on the synthesis method, it contains 52-60% potassium and about 40-48% chlorine. Used for main application and for fertilizing. Signs of a lack of potassium in the soil are lethargy of plants and the light green color of the tips of their leaves.
Suitable for feeding carrots because, unlike other vegetable crops, they respond well to chlorine.
