From my own experience I know that carrots sown in the autumn season form larger root crops, less is affected by infections and pests, and the harvest can be harvested in comparison with spring sowing for 7-14 days earlier.
Selection of variety, location
For autumn sowing, carrot varieties with a high cold resistance index are suitable. I choose varieties such as Incomparable, Queen of Autumn, Nantes-4. Vitamin-6, Chantenay, Nastena-sweetness demonstrate good results. You can plant Dayana.
The plot is sunny with a slight elevation. Snow will melt on it faster in spring, and moisture stagnation is also excluded. I provide protection against drafts.
I give preference to places where there is less weed vegetation, which emerges early and serves as a serious obstacle to young carrot seedlings.
The soil is required loose, light and nutritious. If heavy loam comes across, then I bring in a bucket of sand and the same volume of well-rotted compost per sq. meter. I also use sawdust as a baking powder. I pre-season them for a year in heaps for re-maturation. This helps to avoid soil acidification.
If the soil is sandy, then be sure to sprinkle leaf humus (3-4 kg / m2) or put a bucket of high-quality compost on a similar area.
Carrots develop poorly on acidic soil, forming curves, deformed, covered with small shoots of roots. Given such features, if necessary, before digging, I sprinkle crushed chalk or add fluff lime. Slightly acidic soil is allowed, Neutral soil is preferable. With an acidity index of pH up to 6, the rate of chalk or lime is 300 g / m2.
I do not use ridges for carrots after cumin, beans, fennel. Unsuitable predecessors include parsnips, parsley, and all varieties of carrots.
I choose plots where zucchini and onions were cultivated in the current season. Tomatoes, potatoes, and garlic are considered good predecessors.
Ridge preparation and sowing
I am digging up a site freed from plant waste, trying not to break the lumps too much. I start this operation a month before the planned sowing, around mid-October.
Preliminarily based on 1 sq. m I sprinkle 3 kg of rotted compost or manure, adding a glass of ash. I also add 10-15 g of potassium salt combined with 25-30 g of superphosphate to the mixture.
I remove the rhizomes of weeds in the process of digging. I form the beds, loosen the surface with a rake and make grooves in the sandy loam with a depth of 5-6 cm. On heavy clay soil, this indicator is reduced to 2-3 cm. I keep a distance of 15-20 cm between the grooves. I cover the bed with foil.
After 28-30 days, approximately in mid-November, I start sowing. At this time, a stable temperature should be established in the range of + 3… -5 ° C. I sprinkle dry carrot seeds into the grooves quite thickly. Sprinkle with soil, and then with a layer of 2-3 cm of loose humus or crushed peat. I compact it with a shovel. When it snows, I put it on the garden bed, and I put spruce branches on top.
It is dangerous to sow carrots too early. Seeds can germinate if prolonged warming occurs in the fall. This leads to the freezing of the sprouts. If you carry out the procedure correctly, next year you will be able to get large juicy roots.
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