I usually plant carrots in the spring. However, a few years ago I also discovered the pre-winter sowing of this vegetable. I want to tell you why I am doing this, and what subtleties there are that gardeners often forget about.
Why sow before winter
Carrots, which were sown in the fall, have only one serious drawback: they cannot be stored and will not last the winter. Therefore, I sow it only as much as I can eat in summer and autumn. But this method has a lot of advantages:
- When the main crops are removed, the beds are freed, and the gardener has free time. In the spring, there is already a lot of work.
- After pre-winter planting, carrots ripen a couple of weeks earlier than the earliest varieties with spring planting. The first crop can be harvested at the beginning of summer, when there are few other vegetables.
- Carrots grow much juicier and larger. It's all about the spring flood: it soaks the ground well.
- In the middle of summer, when the pre-winter carrots are ripe and all are harvested, there will still be time to sow something early in its place. Radishes, black radishes, or lettuce come in handy.
Winter sowing rules
First, briefly about the timing. I have found from experience that there are two dangers:
- If you plant it early, the carrots will move too hard and freeze in winter.
- If you plant it late in the already frozen ground, it will not start to grow at all until spring, and you will get not a pre-winter sowing, but an ordinary spring sowing.
The time in each region will be different, but I personally focus on the condition of the soil: the soil should freeze slightly, but still be loose. Usually this is the time when the subzero temperature has just been established.
It is important to choose the right place for the plot:
- The best option is a hill where the snow will melt faster. Worst of all are areas where water stagnates in the spring: the seeds will get wet.
- Sowing on the slope is not worth it: the streams will wash away the seeds.
Well, it's banal: you can't sow carrots over carrots. The best predecessors are potatoes or cucumbers, as well as all legumes.
I prepare the garden in advance. First I clean the plot of all plant residues, then I dig it up on a full bayonet and collect about a bucket of soil - it will be needed during planting. I put compost (4-5 kg per square meter) and ash (no less than a glass for the same area) on the garden bed itself. Superphosphate (45-50 g per square meter) and potassium sulfate (25-30 g per square meter) are also good, just don't mix them with organic matter.
After the fertilizers have been applied, I loosen the surface with a rake and cut the grooves in advance. For carrots, they should be 2-3 cm deep and about 20 cm apart. Then I cover the bed with agrofibre or plastic and leave it until the frost starts.
The sowing itself takes place in the same way as in spring, but the seeds need to be placed about a fifth more: losses are inevitable. And you can't soak the seeds. When the sowing is completed, I fill the grooves with the soil that I collected in advance, tamp it with a shovel and cover it with spruce branches until spring. When the snow falls, I also throw it off on the plot.
Pre-winter carrot care
Until spring, no carrot leaving is needed. When the snow begins to melt, I remove the spruce branches and cover the bed with agrofibre or foil so that the earth warms up faster. When shoots appear, I remove the shelter.
Further care is the same as for ordinary carrots:
- at the stage of the second true leaf - the first thinning;
- after 2-3 weeks - the second, so that there is 4-5 cm between the plants;
- regular loosening and weeding.
There is one subtlety: if the winter was snowless, and the spring is dry, then the beds will have to be additionally watered. I usually don't do this: after the snow melts, there is so much moisture in the ground.
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