Planting sorrel seeds in spring and autumn before winter: terms and rules
Did you know that in order to take everything from life at one time, you need to eat sorrel. The fact is that the "spring king" contains such a rich "live" vitamin and mineral complex that it fully copes with vitamin deficiency, reduces the risk of developing cancer, liver diseases, and is effective in treating rheumatism and tuberculosis, as well as menopause. A minor nuance that needs to be warned about - you can eat only the upper young leaves from it and until July. The "meadow apple" has gained special sympathy among summer residents due to the fact that it can be sown almost all year round. In addition, it is interesting that for "wild beets" (another Old Russian name for sorrel), planting in acidic soil is most natural and productive.
How to properly plant sorrel seeds in spring and autumn before winter, we will tell in our article.
Content
When is it better to sow sorrel: in spring or autumn (before winter)
It is difficult to name the optimal sowing time for sorrel, because it can be sown throughout the summer cottage: both in early spring and in summer, but most often it is done in the fall, so to speak, it is planted before winter.
Advice! As a rule, in the southern regions, sorrel is planted in spring and summer, but in regions with temperate climates, for example, in the Central lane (Moscow region), it is sown before winter.
Spring sowing sorrel is usually carried out in March-May, when the ground warms up to + 3-5 degrees. With such a planting, it will be possible to harvest the crop this year.
If you decide to plant in summer, it is very important to carry out regular and abundant watering of crops, because when the soil dries out, the probability of seed germination is very much reduced. If you plant in June-July, you will have time to harvest in August.
Most summer residents are used to sowing sorrel. before winter... Autumn sowing is optimal in the second half of October-November. The main thing is that the seeds do not have time to germinate before the first frost, otherwise the plant sprouts will simply die from frost, so it is better to sow it already with the onset of cold days. In this case, the germination rate of crops is lower than during spring planting, which is why more seeds need to be sown and not spared.
According to the lunar calendar in 2020
Many gardeners often turn to the lunar calendar for specific dates for more discipline.
According to the lunar calendar in 2020 auspicious days for planting sorrel in open ground are:
- March - 2-8, 26-29;
- April - 1, 2, 11-15, 17-20, 25-30;
- May - 2-4, 6, 9, 10-12, 15-17, 20, 21, 25-29;
- June - 2-4, 7-9, 11-14, 16-19, 30;
- July - 8-11, 13-16, 27-29;
- August - there are no favorable dates;
- September - there are no favorable dates;
- October - 18, 19;
- November - 5-7, 22-27.
Unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar for 2020, the following dates are for sowing sorrel (days of the Full Moon and New Moon, as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, since this is a barren and dry sign -italicized):
- in March - 9,19-21, 24;
- in April - 8,15-17, 23;
- in May - 7,13-14, 22;
- in June - 5,9-11, 21;
- in July - 5,7-8, 20;
- in August -3, 4-5, 19, 31;
- in September -1, 2, 17, 27-28.
- in October - 2, 16,24-26, 31
- in November - 15,20-22, 30.
According to the lunar calendar from the magazine "1000 Tips for Summer Residents".
Popular sorrel varieties
Today on sale most often you can see the following names of sorrel varieties:
- Belleville;
- Odessa 17;
- Malachite;
- Champion;
- Broadleaf.
How to collect sorrel seeds
But you can also sow the seeds of your own plants. To obtain sorrel seeds, you need to do the following: remove all the green mass from the bushes, leave only the peduncles, let the plant direct all its forces to setting the seeds. Somewhere in 10-14 days, when the flower stalks turn brown, they will need to be cut and dried.
Advice! It is better to sow seeds in open ground that have been stored for at least 1 year.
It can also be propagated by digging and dividing an adult bush.
How to sow sorrel in open ground
You will not have to fantasize about your sorrel crop if you pay enough attention to choosing the right place on a plot that matches the soil, as well as competent outdoor care.
Site selection and suitable soil
You can grow sorrel anywhere in the garden, but it is better to choose more shady areas (light partial shade), although can plant and in the sun, but then you will have to water more often.
As for the soil, while it can actually grow even on poor land, betterso that it wasfertile soil. It is certainly optimal if it is loam or peat, as to get a rich harvest, sorrel needs acidic earth (optimally slightly acidic).
If your soil alkaline or lime, then it must be followed acidify.
It is good to fertilize the soil before sowing by adding 1 sq. meter of humus bed (5 kg), potassium sulfate (20-30 grams) and superphosphate (30-40 grams or 2 tablespoons).
Wood ash you cannot make it, becauseit is a soil deoxidizer (it reduces acidity, but it must, on the contrary, be increased).
Sowing seeds
Step-by-step instructions for sowing sorrel seeds in open ground:
- Choose the best place for the garden.
- Prepare the garden bed, dig up and deacidify the soil as needed.
- Do furrow depth 1-1.5 centimeters at spring sowing, 1.5-2.5 cm - at autumn before winter.
- The distance between the rows should be about 15-25 centimeters.
- In the spring furrows desirable spill water, in winter do it do not.
- Place the seeds in the furrows. It is better to sow thickly (especially before winter) so that after germination it can be thinned out.
- Cover with earth on top and level. If you didn't watered at step 5, then do it now.
- In spring or summer, cover the bed with plastic wrap to get earlier shoots, in winter you can use fallen leaves and snow (if it already exists) as shelter.
Video: sowing sorrel seeds in spring
Care for sorrel in the open field: growing rules
Sometimes it seems that the care of sorrel is not necessary at all, because it actually grows like a weed. However, if you do not take care of him at all, then the harvest will not be very large.
To grow a good sorrel crop, regularly loosen and weed the weed bedsand also don't forgetwater well.
If your soil is not acidic, then during the summer periodically water (feed) the beds with a solution of vinegar, diluted water (150-200 ml per 1 bucket of water).
During the season, you can perform the order of full 5-6 cuts (when the leaves reach 10-12 centimeters), if, of course, you cut it off in time. Otherwise, oxalic acid will form in old leaves, which is extremely undesirable for humans.
If you do not need seed, then do not forget to regularly remove the flower stalks.
During last autumn cut of greenery sorrel (in August-September), it is advisable to cut off its entire above-ground part (for wintering he needs a green mass, which he just has time to grow), and then pour it with liquid fertilizer (1 tbsp.a spoon of urea per 10 liters of water) and mulch with humus or compost (you can also use peat) with a layer of about 3-5 centimeters.
The plant is very hardy, so no additional shelter is required for the winter period. By the way, mulching is mostly a kind of feeding.
Video: sowing and growing sorrel
Important! Annually, in the second year after sowing, every spring, you should cut off old leaves, loosen and feed with nitrogen fertilizers (if for the winter you mulched it with humus, then you no longer need to fertilize it).
Video: what to do with sorrel in spring
Diseases and pests
Like any plant, sorrel is susceptible to disease and pest attacks.
Often the leaves of its leaves can be damaged by various diseases, for example, powdery mildew, spotting or even rust.
Very often you can see how the sorrel leaves are all in holes, as if someone had eaten them. This is the work of the hands (more precisely, teeth) of a beetle - a sorrel leaf beetle. So that he does not attack the plantings so often, the garden must always be kept clean and free of weeds. The best measure of protection is to throw spunbond over the garden at the beginning of the growing season, then the beetle will not be able to penetrate. And you can also spray the plants with infusions wood ash and tobacco dust, or pyrethrum or yarrow. But if there are a lot of beetles, then it is best to use various insecticides (optimally biological, for example, "Agravertin" or "Akarin", and you can also use "Fitoverm" and "Aktofit".
Note! If you grow sorrel in one place for more than 4-5 years, then its yield and usefulness will ultimately decrease significantly, so you should try to renew the plantings of sour and juicy greens every 2-3 years.
Nothing will stop you from harvesting a significant harvest of fresh green sorrel leaves, if you take into account our recommendations and advice on the skillful selection of seeds, on competent sowing and growing in the open field. Also, the use of effective means to combat pests and diseases, the renewal of vegetable planting sites remains in force.