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Carrots are a traditional vegetable culture. Afghanistan is considered its homeland, where it grew wild and was bright purple, less often white and yellow. The orange variety was bred by Dutch breeders. Carrots have become fully domesticated. But for a good yield, it is not enough to throw seeds into the hole. Simple procedures for preparing seed for planting will increase and improve the quality of the crop.
Terms of germination of carrots
Carrots are difficult to germinate. The temperature of the soil depends on how much carrots emerge. A cold-tolerant crop can begin germination at + 5 ° C, but the best temperature for emergence when sowing outdoors is between + 15 ° C and + 20 ° C. The seedling of carrot seeds is 45-70%. When sowing carrots with dry seeds, the sprouts can be delayed for up to three weeks. The average germination period, depending on the climate in the place of growth, fertility and lightness of the soil, ranges from 5 to 25 days.
Seedlings of carrots
Some factors affecting how many days carrots can germinate:
- Storage periods for seeds. Orange vegetable seeds are stored for 2-3 years, but last year's seed material is considered the best for planting;
- Varieties of different ripening periods: early (50-80 days), medium (80-125 days) and late (125-150 days);
- Seeds, released in a pellet shell, sprout, on average, a week later than usual;
- Zoning of the variety - relation to the climatic zone of growth;
- Shaded areas of planting of seeds delay their seedlings;
- Excessive or insufficient seeding depth. The optimum depth is 1.5-2 cm;
- Unfavorable predecessors that can reduce yields: parsnips, parsley, fennel, celery. Carrots are a bad predecessor for themselves. The break in planting for one place for culture is 5 years. Grows favorably after cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, onions and beets.
The shell of the carrot seed contains essential oils that inhibit germination, prevent the rapid penetration of moisture inside, to the embryo of the seed. During long germination, the increased content of spring moisture, favorable for germination, disappears from the soil. If the seedlings do not sprout well, when replanting, after mid-June, the roots may not have time to ripen. Therefore, in order for the carrot to germinate faster, various methods of seed treatment are used.
Pre-sowing seed preparation methods
Even grandmothers knew how to accelerate the germination of carrots and parsley, a method that gardeners still use. Two weeks before sowing, dry seeds are poured onto a piece of cloth, folded in an envelope or a bag and dropped into damp, unheated soil on the site. Before sowing, the seeds are removed and dried until crumbly. This method softens the seed coat and hardens the seed. After such treatment the seeds will germinate within a week, which is much less than without treatment.
Seed bubbling
There is a method for preparing seeds for planting along with the definition of live seeds. The method is called bubbling. For this, water is used, saturated with air, which flows through the aquarium compressor.The seeds are placed in a jar of warm water, the air supplied through the compressor permeates the water with oxygen. The duration of such treatment is 18-24 hours. When seeds germinate in the container before the established time, the air treatment is stopped. The water is drained, the seeds are dried and then sown. In this way, a good and quick result is achieved in stimulating the biochemical processes occurring in the seeds. Sparging allows you to accelerate germination, increase the field germination of seeds. Seedlings after such treatment begin to appear in 4-5 days.
Method for germination in 4-5 days
To wash off the essential oil from the seed shell for rapid germination, they are soaked in hot water. The method, which is convenient to use while in the garden, to sow the seeds immediately after processing, but the method is also suitable for remote preparation.
For processing, they prepare hot water with a temperature of 50-60 ° C, which the hand can endure. Hot water is poured into a container and the seeds are immersed in a gauze bag, leaving them there until the water cools. This immersion of seeds, followed by water cooling, must be done 3 times. After the procedure, the water turns dark yellow, then begins to brighten, which means the washing out of the essential oil. During the procedure, the seeds can be slightly peeled and squeezed very carefully, and after washing, they are left to dry.
Seed treatment
The garden bed is prepared in autumn, the soil is dug to a depth of 35 cm. In the spring, the ridge with fertile light soil is loosened with a flat cutter and leveled with a rake. The sowing furrows should be made not in width, but in the length of the ridge, for optimal ventilation and illumination of vegetables. In holes arranged along the width of the ridge, the carrots will strongly shade themselves. The crop grows best at the edges and a 2-furrow bed is the best planting option. The distance between the lines is 15-20 cm.On top of the hole, you can fill it with earth or prepare a more suitable germination substrate:
- Coconut substrate. For cooking, open the briquette and put it in a bucket, pour it with warm water, after 10-20 minutes. the substrate will turn into a loose organic product. Seeds covered with dissolved coconut substrate are easier to germinate, because, unlike soil, the substrate does not compact the soil and retains moisture well, creating a favorable environment for germination. Coconut substrate is an environmentally friendly, natural product that is not colonized by pathogenic microflora;
Coconut substrate
- Sawdust. For application to the soil, they should not be fresh, but only rotted. For the correct use of organic fertilizer, sawdust is spilled with a urea solution, leaving it in a tightly closed container for a month. From natural remedies, they are soaked with mullein, infusions: herbal and bird droppings. The holes covered with sawdust will create a breathable and lush surface that will increase the speed of seed germination.
Sawdust
Furrows covered with such substrates do not form a crust on the soil surface, which carrots do not like. After filling the furrows, the crops are covered with a non-woven special material, for example, spunbond or coarse mulch.
After sowing, with insufficient soil moisture, the garden bed can be watered over the covering material. Such watering will less compact the soil, helping the seeds to grow faster.
You can use the method of awakening seeds with hot water in another way. The seeds are soaked once in 50 ° C water for one hour. The water is drained, the seeds are evenly laid out on a cloth laid on a plate. The fabric is pre-soaked in a fertilizer solution. A plate with seeds is covered with a plastic bag or cling film and placed in a dark place for several days. Then the seeds are taken out, the bag is removed and allowed to dry directly on the material. Dried seeds are poured into a container - they are ready for planting.
Such processing methods are effective, give good germination and high yield of root crops.
How to plant carrots for better germination
Carrots don't like acidic soil. But you should not deoxidize the soil for carrots, which will contain a lot of potassium, which is also not suitable for the culture. If the soils are acidic, it is recommended to deacidify them for crops such as cabbage and onions. Onions and cabbage that have grown well on it will become an indicator of the normal acidity of the soil; after such crops, the soil will become most suitable for planting carrots next year.
Vegetable culture loves fertile light soil. On loams and heavy soils, germination will be weak, and the culture will spend half of the photosynthesis to try on the wrong soil. Root crops in such an environment will grow gnarled and short.
It is important to choose the right soil
It is important when sowing to know the depth of the topsoil. You can determine the amount of the fertile layer using an ordinary stick, immersing it in the soil without the use of effort. With a close occurrence of the clay layer, elongated cylindrical root crops should not be grown, you need to choose the average sizes of conical shapes. Growing carrots in loamy conditions for higher yields involves the construction of high beds, with the introduction of fertile soil.
Watering carrots after sowing is carried out only after the emergence of shoots. This important agronomic technique allows you to grow long, healthy, even roots. At the stage of root formation, in search of water, it goes deep into the ground, thus forming correctly. And with excessive watering, at the germination stage, the root, receiving moisture from the upper soil layer, is formed by uneven, bizarre shapes and weaves. A multi-finger root vegetable will be poorly stored in the future. Over-watering condenses the soil and cools it, delaying seed germination.
Root crops are harvested in time, according to the instructions for the variety, adding the germination time to it. Overexposing carrots in the soil, you can get the resumption of its growth, coarsening of root crops and the appearance of a hard core.
Winter sowing
Slowly sprouting carrot seeds require high soil moisture and are sown as early as possible in spring. If you are late with sowing, the seeds, falling into dry soil, give weak shoots or will not germinate at all. Planting before winter is favorable because the melt water nourishes the seeds in the best way. Soil temperature + 4 ° C is when winter carrots can sprout. At this time, you should not be afraid of frost, the seedlings of a cold-resistant culture tolerate a drop in temperature to -3-4 ° C.
The sowing bed is chosen horizontal, quickly freeing from snow. Seeds can be washed out from a site on a slope in the spring. The place for planting is prepared after the summer harvest, the soil is dug deeply, fertilizers are applied. Furrows are marked on loose soil, in October, making them twice as deep as for spring sowing at 4-5 cm. The soil will be compacted by the time of sowing, and the depth of the furrows will be 2-3 cm. The bed is covered with non-woven material from erosion by precipitation.
Winter sowing
Winter sowing of carrots is carried out with the onset of frost. A thaw can trigger the seeds to start growing, and they will die during frosts. After sowing, the soil for filling the furrows is stored in a warm room. The seeding rate for podzimny planting should be increased by 25% compared to spring. When the snow falls, a special material is thrown over the garden bed to warm the crops.
In order to recognize where they are sown and how the carrots and seedlings look, you can plant markers, such as lettuce, in the hole along with the plants. The salad will rise early and indicate where the carrots are sown, will allow you to carry out weeding and loosening correctly.
What to do when carrots do not grow well
In case of poor germination, carrots can be fed with diluted chicken droppings 1:15, mullein 1:10 or herbal infusion 1: 3. Add 1 glass of ash to a bucket of water.
To accelerate germination, watering should be abandoned, the plant brings the green mass to the surface only after rooting. With a decrease in watering, the root goes deeper, developing better.
In order for the seedlings to sprout better, they are covered with non-woven material.
Watering the carrots diligently after seeing the strong root
If seedlings did not appear within the maximum germination period of the culture - about one month, then a new sowing should be prepared. It is recommended to sow again until mid-June, otherwise the roots will not have time to ripen.
With simple agricultural techniques for growing carrots, pre-sowing preparation of seeds with a long germination becomes important for productivity. Healthy, even root crops are better stored and delight their owners. Carrots are useful in any form, they decorate dishes and soups with a bright color.
