How to properly feed carrots for growth in the open field with folk remedies
It is important to think about how to feed the carrots after germination. To form tasty and healthy root crops, it is necessary to select and apply fertilizer correctly. Not only a deficiency, but also an excess of feeding can become harmful to the vegetable.
Useful material
What he loves carrots when grown outdoors? Each microelement becomes important in the formation and development of root crops. What fertilizers are needed for carrots?
For normal development, the following additional trace elements are required:
- Nitrogen fertilizers for carrots can increase the carotene and protein content. Application is advisable at the beginning of summer, when there is an increased growth of greenery. Without nitrogen, the tops turn yellow, and the fruits become small and dry.
- Phosphorous dressings make the vegetable sweet, the core hard. The root crop needs it in the hot period, which occurs in the middle of summer. Without this trace element, the green part of the vegetable turns yellow, withers, and the fruit becomes elongated and tasteless.
- Thanks to potassium, carrots become tender in taste, and immunity to many diseases increases. Top dressing can be carried out throughout the entire growth of the vegetable.
- Boron promotes the formation of succulent, sweet root crops, strengthens the plant. Without it, pollination is disturbed, the plant slows down growth, the root crop stretches and becomes thinner. Boric acid is best sprayed on carrots during the second feeding.
The secrets of foliar feeding will help answer the question of how to use complementary foods correctly and at what time:
- to increase the sweetness, the tops can be sprayed with a solution of humates;
- magnesium sulfate is treated with magnesium deficiency;
- to impart strength and fluffiness to the tops at the beginning of growth, it must be sprayed with urea.
Fertilizers for carrots can be of mineral or organic origin. Many people prefer natural ingredients. Agricultural technicians often spray and water the soil with manure, bird droppings, peat, deciduous humus.
Before planting seeds in the ground, it is useful to soak them in nutrient solutions. For example, the following recipe is suitable: 1 gram of potassium permanganate and 2.5 ml of any liquid fertilizer are dissolved in a liter of warm water. Traditionally, gardeners love to handle cultivated plants with mullein.
Phased work
Preparatory work begins in the spring. How can you feed the soil at this stage? IN fertilize the soil before planting carrots: you can use nitrate, superphosphate, potassium chloride. If the soil is clay, then it needs to be stirred with sand and peat.
It should be borne in mind that carrot seeds absorb a lot of water during germination, so you need to water the beds abundantly before and after planting.
How should carrots be fed during the growing period so that there are no problems? The standard feeding scheme for the entire growing and ripening season of a plant includes several stages.
You need to carry out at least four feeding carrots:
- The first feeding is carried out after thinning the beds. By this time, several leaves should have appeared. A mixture containing potassium magnesia, urea and superphosphate may be suitable. All these components are diluted in 10 liters of water.
- The ideal time for a second feeding is considered to be 2.5 weeks after the previous one. You can feed with ash or buy ready-made fertilizers: Nitrofoska, Solution or Kemira Universal. The dosage is approximately 60 g per 10 l of water.
- The third meal is carried out in the summer, when the root crop is gaining strength. Fertilizers should be applied to increase the sugar content. Dry ash or an infusion of it can be useful.
- What is the last thing to fertilize carrots with? The last feeding in the garden is necessary to reduce the amount of nitrates in the root crop. Carried out one month before harvest. Usually, a solution of sulphate or potassium chloride is used together with wood ash.
With this method of caring for cultivated plants, the desired result will be obtained. The tops will be smooth and green, and the root vegetables will be straight, juicy, tasty and healthy.
For sweetness, carrots are treated with boron and manganese in August. Not only does the sugar content rise, but also vitamins. It is necessary to take 5 ml of boron and manganese and dilute in 10 liters of water. Water between rows. After feeding, it is recommended to water the beds with clean water.
For growth, carrots can be fertilized with special purchased fertilizers. You need to breed strictly according to the instructions that come with each package:
- The use of Kemira Universal leads to intensive plant growth, including root crops. The amount of sugar and vitamins rises. The composition contains a useful nitroammophoska.
- Gardeners often choose Agricola 4 food for carrots because of their rich composition. The composition contains organic and mineral components. Can be used for root and foliar nutrition. Top dressing should be stopped two weeks before harvest.
It is important to correctly calculate the amount of each ingredient, as an excess of substances can be more dangerous than a deficiency.
Folk recipes
How can you feed carrots without purchased solutions? Many gardeners prefer not to use mineral fertilizers for carrots, but to prepare the compositions themselves. Popular means are folk remedies based on ash, herbs, yeast and other components.
It is useful to feed carrots with nettle infusion. The herb contains many fertilizing microelements: potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium. Chopped stalks of nettle are placed in the prepared container and poured with water. Cover with a lid and leave to ferment for a couple of days.
To ferment the infusion well, you can add a pack of yeast and ash. Before feeding, 60 ml of the solution is diluted with 10 liters of water.
If the tops do not look good, then foliar dressing can be applied. To do this, filter the fermented composition, dilute with water in a ratio of 1:20 and spray the tops. She will not only receive useful substances, but will also be protected from pests.
Among the common ingredients for feeding carrots with folk remedies, wood ash is very popular.
Top dressing of carrots in the open field at any stage of vegetable development can be accompanied by ash. You can simply sprinkle it on the ground where carrots grow, or you can make an infusion. It is necessary to pour 60-70 g of ash with a liter of boiled water and leave for two days. The resulting solution is diluted in 10 liters of liquid before watering.
Ash not only has useful components, but is also able to scare off many pests.To scare away insects, it is useful to cultivate the land between the rows every 10 days.
Is it possible to feed a vegetable with solutions with yeast? Yeast top dressing will make up for the lack of phosphorus, nitrogen, and enrich the soil with vitamins and minerals. Thanks to the nutritional base, the quality of the root crop improves, the activity of the beneficial microflora of the earth increases. You can use both fresh and dry yeast.
If a recipe is made from fresh yeast, then take 500 g of raw materials and dissolve in 2.5 liters of water. Before use, the solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. Dry yeast will need 5 g. They are dissolved in 5 liters of water and 35 g of sugar are added. Then the mass should be left for two hours to infuse. Before watering, dilute in water in a ratio of 1: 5.
It is recommended to feed carrots with yeast formulations in warm weather. Their use falls on the third top dressing. Best mixed with wood ash as yeast absorbs potassium.
At any stage of feeding, you can use chicken manure. Before watering the beds between the plants, the chicken droppings are poured with water, infused for 5 days, and then diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. Do not process the soil with undiluted chicken droppings - this will lead to the death of the vegetable.
After planting, it is recommended to process carrots with formulations that contain iodine. It stimulates growth, the taste of root vegetables becomes juicy and enriched with vitamins. Getting into the soil or on the tops, it acts as an antiseptic. It is enough to dilute two drops of iodine in a liter of water.
Water, milk and iodine will help protect the plant from diseases and pests. Enveloping each leaf, the composition forms a white film that prevents the penetration of pathogens.
You can feed your carrots with fresh mullein. But you should not abuse this fertilizer for carrots, as the level of nitrates increases in the vegetable. In addition, the greenery becomes lush, and the growth of root crops stops. Mullein can be sprinkled on the ground in spring during digging, or you can prepare an infusion and spray a green plant.
Infusion with mullein is easy to prepare. Manure is poured into the container and poured with water (1: 5). It is recommended to additionally add wood ash. Leave to infuse for two weeks. Before watering the beds, the solution is diluted with water (1:10). A month before harvesting, the mullein treatment is stopped.
Folk remedies are good, but you should not neglect the modern achievements of agronomic science. I, for example, use a growth activator BioGrow and very happy with the yield of carrots.