This tasty vegetable has good cold resistance, but it takes a long time to sprout - up to three weeks. So you can sow it immediately when the ground is free of snow cover. Many gardeners prefer to do this on May Day. But Galina Kizima is pleased to offer everyone her own method of planting carrots, which can perfectly protect the crop from diseases and harmful parasites. In this article we will tell you how to sow correctly and show you a master class.
The most popular ways to plant carrots with your own hands
In order for the seeds to give amicable shoots, a positive temperature regime is required. Typically, the soil should be warmed up to five to eight degrees. As a rule, the heat in different regions comes unevenly, so you can plant carrots from April. And somewhere, as already mentioned, warm May days are allocated for this.
Sowing later varieties is allowed somewhat earlier. Being in the ground, they are able to survive frosts up to four degrees.
Few know, but carrots can be sown three times in one season. If everything is done correctly, then it is possible to get several harvests, one of which will be in early spring.
Before sowing, the seed fund must first be prepared. Seeds contain a lot of essential oils that slow down their growth. It is recommended to get rid of them before planting. This measure will significantly improve crop germination.
There are several known methods for preparing seeds, the best of which are the following:
- soaking in warm water, to which one large spoonful of ash is added for each liter of liquid. The seeds are kept in such a solution for five hours, washed, wrapped in gauze and stored in the refrigerator;
- the seed fund is wrapped in cheesecloth, dipped in water heated to sixty degrees, for no more than five minutes, then soaked in cold water for several minutes;
- the seeds are placed in a bag or wrapped in gauze cloth, dropped into the ground, kept for up to ten days.
Planting can be done in several ways, at your discretion. Each method is good in its own way - the Kizima technique, the use of toilet paper, the use of an egg cell, planting in granules. Let us consider the advantages of each of them in more detail.
How to plant according to the Kizima method
This method is very interesting, it does not require special labor costs. There is no need to prepare the furrows in advance and then thin out the shoots after germination. Carrot seeds are mixed with fertilizers and fine sand.
This measure makes it possible to avoid thickening of your beds.
The resulting mixture is sown on top of the soil, as if you are salting a dish. Then everything should be lightly sprinkled and not slammed very hard. Landing is complete. The technique is perfect for older gardeners who do not have enough strength to arrange furrows in which seeds are sown. Many do not believe in the success of such a method, but practice has repeatedly proven that the culture grows quite successfully, it constantly pleases with good harvests. And she needs minimal care.
Using tape or toilet paper to plant the vegetable
Many people know that in the store you can buy a special ribbon with seeds, which you just need to place in the furrow and sprinkle with soil... Easy and fast, but germination is poor. And the variety can not always be selected as many would like.
But there is a secret - you can make such a ribbon yourself, using ordinary toilet paper for this and stick seeds on it. For this, strips of the required size are cut from the roll, which will be convenient to work with. Their length, as a rule, is from one to one and a half meters.
The second stage is the preparation of the paste. It is necessary to pour half a glass of flour with a small amount of flour, stir to get a composition that resembles sour cream in density. Here you need to glue carrot seeds to paper ribbons on it.
For ease of use, the seeds are poured onto the dish, distributed over some distances. A glue mass is collected with a simple match, a couple of seeds are grabbed by a drop of it, and all this should be glued onto a strip.
A couple of seeds at a time are taken for insurance in case one of them does not come up.
Thus, it is necessary to arrange three rows for the entire length of our ribbon. Now it remains to dry the paper well.
The flour mass, when dry, will firmly hold the seeds on the surface of the paper. This has its advantage - there is no need to use chemical compositions.
After drying the tape, it should be cut into strips, laid in the prepared grooves, and sprinkled with soil. Otherwise, the method does not differ from the classic version.
Sowing in egg cells in spring
Another option that eliminates the need for weeding. Egg cells should be prepared from winter. The cardboard from which they are made must be loose, perfectly soaked with water. This is important - the roots must be able to grow through the cardboard material. If the cardboard is thick enough, you can make bottoms in each cell.
The boxes are laid out in the prepared soil, sprinkled. A pair of seeds are laid in the grooves. As you can see, a comfortable distance is created for carrots for normal growth. By the way, seeds can be laid out in cells at home, and then taken out to the beds.
How to properly plant carrots in granules in open ground
The method is of great interest to many gardeners. Its difference lies in the fact that the carrot seed is covered with a special shell, which is destroyed during growth, giving way to escape.
Granulated seeds should be planted in the spring when the snow has completely melted. As a rule, this is done in late April - early May. The soil in the garden is prepared and fertilized in advance. Small dimples are arranged with a finger, the depth of which reaches two to three centimeters. The interval between them is from four dollars to five centimeters. It is very important that the soil is well moistened - this helps to break down the shell layer on the granules.
Having laid the granules in the pits, they are sprinkled with soil, slightly pressed down from above.
As you can see, there are enough options for planting a vegetable. By adopting the most convenient sowing method in your case, you will annually provide yourself with tasty carrots grown by your own hands with minimal labor in the open field.