Planting carrots and other vegetables in winter

After several years of living in the Kuban region, I came to the conclusion that at the beginning of my vegetable gardening I had chosen the wrong time for under-winter sowing. Planting carrots in the winter, other vegetables was too early, I was in a hurry, I sowed early. It turns out that this is the most common mistake novice gardeners. Therefore, my first experience was unsuccessful - in spring nothing came up. I could not understand in any way why the dill on the potato field sprouted itself in the spring, and, sown by me, the bush, did not even sprout.

The riddle with dill that sprouted in spring itself was solved simply. We plow a potato field with a tractor when it is already cold( November).This is the term for sowing dill( self-sowing) in late autumn, the friendly shoots of which appeared in spring.

If you ask any gardener what you can do in the garden, cottage, site in late autumn( November), you will certainly get an answer about processing, whitewashing or pruning of fruit trees, about the end of the shelter of thermophilic plants, etc. And some will answer that there is already nothing to do, but they will be mistaken, since November, even December is not time for idleness, there are some things that can still be, even need to be done. This, for example, podzimny planting carrots, some vegetables, flowers.

The advantage of sowing carrots before the onset of cold weather, and not only carrots, as well as other crops, is - we not only receive early produce - vegetables, flowers, 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. We get healthy plants, as planted in late autumn, they grow stronger, hardened, less sick.

There is one more plus for podzimny crops - we save spring time, which usually doesn’t have enough gardeners.

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Which crops can be planted, sown before winter?

These are cold-hardy vegetables, like carrots

• ,
• radishes,
• beets,
• parsley,
• celery,
• coriander,
• dill.

These are some medicinal cultures:

• Valerian,
• Yarrow,
• Hypericum.

flowers - annuals, perennial:

• eschscholzia,
• alyssum,
• calendula,
• delphiniums,
• marigolds,
• cornflower,
• echinacea,
• others.

When properly sown under the winter, they all sprout very well.

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Planting dates for winter vegetables

Sow carrots, other vegetables or flowers need, as late as possible. When not only it becomes cold, but the first frosts have already passed, the land will be caught in a frost. It is best to sow at all when a light frost hits. There are no specific dates for underwintering. No one will tell you a date. In the Kuban, it may not even be November, but December, closer to the New Year. After all, there is always a long autumn, rainy, without frost.

Wait for minus night temperatures of -2-3 ° С.Only then do you need to carry out subwinter seeding. That is why it is called this way - sowing before winter - that is, when it has almost arrived.

Seeds of carrots, radish, onion seed, other vegetables or flowers sown in late autumn should only swell, but not germinate. It was for this reason that failures comprehended me, that I sowed too early, the seeds germinated, and then the tender tender sprouts froze safely.

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Preparing beds for carrots in the autumn

Place the beds for planting in places where no melt water is accumulating. Of course, it should be sunny, quickly drying out after melting snow or rain.

We need to prepare a bed for the wintering of carrots, radishes, dill and other vegetables much earlier, when it is still relatively warm, when the soil is well digging, so as not to pick half-frozen ground. The bed should not just be dug up, it should be well loosened, there should not be earthy lumps. The soil structure should be finely boiled, because the seeds of any crops( carrots, radishes, parsley, dill, others) are sown shallowly at this time of year. In addition, the seeds under the ground should be well in contact with the soil, around them there should not be air voids.

You will sow almost over frozen ground, and it will be difficult to fill the grooves with frozen ground. For these purposes, I use pre-harvested loose earth, which was until that time inside a warm room. You can also use purchased land, as it usually has a fine loose structure. I advise her to mulch the podzimnuyu garden from above. No need to water.

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How to plant seeds in late autumn

Seeds are sown along small grooves of a depth of 0.5-1 cm. Grooves can also be made in advance to warm themselves, in order to facilitate the subwinter seeding. I cover the finished grooves on top with plywood, thick cardboard or a piece of roofing material so that they will not be washed away by rain.

The rate of podzimnogo seeding carrots, beets, parsley, radish, other crops increases by 50-70%, because, of course, during the winter months, some of the weak seeds may die, not germinate. I repeat once again - when sowing, the grooves are not watered - the land in the late autumn is quite wet, such seeds do not need excess moisture.

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Vegetable varieties for podzimnogo sowing

Of the radish varieties for sowing in late autumn, I would advise - “Pink-red with white tip”, because it does not arrow like some other varieties that are in cold ground for a long timemay at the onset of warm weather release flowering shoots - while you do not try radishes.

I advise you to choose early varieties from carrot varieties that will produce marketable products in early summer. But I warn you - such carrots planted before winter are not intended for long-term storage. It is only for summer consumption.

An unparalleled beet variety is well suited for sub-winter sowing.

Among the flower crops there are not only those that work well when we dowseed, but even need to plant them as late as possible. It is aquilegia, lupine, delphinium, yarrow. Astra, peretrum( chamomile) can also be sown when it is almost cold. But I would advise them not to sow to a permanent place, but first somewhere separately. They are well tolerated transplant, so then you will plant seedlings in a permanent place.

There are flowers that are well sown in the cold, but they do not tolerate transplantation, so it is better to sow them immediately to a permanent place. This is an ashlet, yarrow.

In conclusion, I will repeat the main rule of planting carrots before winter - sow as late as possible when a light frost grabs the ground. This, incidentally, concerns not only carrots.

All you get!