It is impossible to get a good harvest of beets without top dressing. The composition, quantity and time of fertilization depends not only on the yield of the crop, but also on the qualitative characteristics of root crops - their taste, sweetness, structure. We will find out how, what and when to feed the beets in the open field.
Why feed beets?
Beets are a hardy and unpretentious crop that does not require much trouble from gardeners. But such undemandingness often plays a cruel joke with the owners of the beds - the beets grow, but the quality of their roots is low.
Fertilizers are necessary for beets to form root crops:
- in accordance with the varietal sizes;
- sweet and tasty;
- neither tough nor fibrous.
Lack of top dressing can lead to the fact that the beets grow completely inedible.
When growing beets, it is important to apply fertilizers according to the schedule - each growing season has its own set of fertilizers. At the beginning of the growing season, beets need nitrogen, at the end - phosphorus and potassium.
To grow tasty and sweet beets, you need to feed them even on fertile soils. The sweetness and taste of root crops is provided by sodium - this element is supplied to the culture by adding sodium nitrate or table salt to the soil.
How to understand what elements are missing in beets?
Experienced gardeners recognize the lack of nutrients by the appearance of beets.
Signs of a nutritional deficiency:
- Nitrogen. Usually the lack of this element is observed at the beginning of the growing season. The main symptom of nitrogen deficiency is pale and frail tops.
- Potassium. Observed in the middle of the growing season. The tops become dark red and even purple in color. Yellow spots appear on the leaves, they curl and dry. If top dressing is not applied in time, necrosis develops on the leaves.
- Phosphorus. Usually observed on light acidic soils that lack organic matter. The leaves become small, the aerial part turns red, and the tops stop growing. Root vegetables do not form and do not accumulate sugar.
- Magnesium. The lower leaves become light. Yellow spots appear on the tops, and then necrotic foci.
- Sodium. The tops take on a red tint.
- Bor. The core rots. Young leaves do not develop. The point of growth dies off.
An excess of nutrients can be just as harmful as a lack of them.
Signs of overfeeding:
- Nitrogen. The leaves become dark green, large, juicy. Root crops are lagging behind.
- Potassium. Slower growth, leaves turn light green, covered with brown spots.
- Phosphorus. Chlorosis appears on the leaves. Then tissue necrosis is observed on the tops, it turns yellow and dies off.
- Magnesium. Roots die off, the plant does not absorb calcium.
Fertilizers
All means are good for feeding beets. Along with purchased chemical fertilizers, gardeners actively use natural fertilizers.
Mineral
Mineral fertilizers are a product of the chemical industry. You can buy them at any agricultural store. The advantage of mineral fertilizers is ease of use, concentration of nutrients and high efficiency.
What mineral fertilizers are recommended to feed beets:
- ammonium nitrate;
- urea;
- superphosphate;
- potassium sulfate;
- potassium chloride.
Organic
Beets respond well to organics. Organic fertilizers contain the same nutrients as purchased "chemicals", and in an easily digestible form.
Manure or bird droppings are used to add nitrogen to the soil. Wood ash is a source of other useful substances. By using only these two organically fertilizers, you can grow beets without mineral analogues.
Other popular organic fertilizers are humus, compost, nettle infusion, peat and other natural products.
Complex
Along with simple mineral fertilizers, beets can be fed with complex formulations. Their difference from simple ones is the content of not one, but two or three basic elements at once. The most famous complex fertilizers are nitrophoska, ammophoska, nitroammophoska, etc.
For feeding beets, complex fertilizers are also used, which include trace elements that are important specifically for this crop. Thanks to a balanced set of elements, you can limit yourself to the use of one complex fertilizer throughout the growing season.
Rules and types of dressings
Fertilizers, both mineral and organic, can be applied in two ways - under the root and by spraying.
Root
Beets get most of their nutrition from the soil, so root dressing is the basis for a good harvest. Root crops should grow not only moderately large, but also tasty, and help to achieve this top dressing at the root.
Features of root dressing:
- During the growing season, at least two additional fertilizing is carried out - when thinning the seedlings and before closing the tops.
- Fertilizers are applied in the form of nutrient solutions. They are poured into specially made furrows 3-4 cm deep. The furrows are made between the rows. The distance from the furrows to the roots is 5-10 cm.
- After adding nutrient solutions, the beds are watered - this helps to prevent root burns.
- It is prohibited to add fresh manure or dung under beets. They are added only to poor soils, a year before sowing beets.
Foliar
Foliar top dressing involves spraying the plants and the soil around them. Such treatment is carried out as an addition to root dressing - if it is necessary to urgently fill the deficit of one or another element.
Features of foliar dressing:
- faster and more fully absorbed than root dressing;
- can be carried out in any growing season;
- even distribution with minimal risk of overdose.
For spraying, use solutions:
- Urea. For a bucket of water - 20 g of granular fertilizer.
- Manganese. A slightly pink solution is used. Plants are sprayed 5 times per season. Such processing allows not only to compensate for the deficiency of manganese, but also to prevent the defeat of beets by putrefactive infections.
For foliar dressing, solutions of boric acid and sodium chloride are also used.
Beet feeding scheme
When growing beets, it is extremely important to apply fertilizers at certain stages, and at each of them, fertilizing of a different composition is used.
Beets are fed:
- at certain stages of the growing season;
- depending on the condition of the plants;
- during agrotechnical activities.
Fertilizers for beets are applied at the following stages:
- Preparing the soil for planting. The area for beets is prepared in autumn and spring. Features of the preparation of the site for beets:
- Rotted manure is brought in in the fall for digging - it should cover the area with a layer of 2 to 5 cm.
- Dolomite flour or crushed shells are brought in in the fall - 2-3 glasses per 1 sq. m.
- In the spring, wood ash is added to the soil - 500 g per 1 sq. m.
- Sandy soils and sandy loams are fertilized twice - in autumn and spring. Fertilization in autumn is enough for chernozems.
- An increased dose of potassium is injected into heavy soils, as well as sawdust, sand and lime.
- When sowing. During this period, fertilizers are applied if they have not been added earlier. Top dressing is poured directly into the grooves. For each square meter, put 10 g of nitrate, superphosphate and potassium sulfate.
- During cultivation... Top dressing is applied according to schedules that are guided by calendar dates and growing seasons. Approximate feeding scheme:
- Fertilizers are applied for the first time after thinning the plantings. Take superphosphate, potassium sulfate and carbamide (urea) - 30 g each, dissolve in a bucket of water. This amount is enough for 10 sq. m.
- The second feeding is done after 3 weeks. Fertilizer is applied with the same composition as for the first time.
- The third is carried out after another 2-3 weeks. Its composition is already slightly different from the previous ones. Take double superphosphate and potassium sulfate - 40 g per bucket. The prepared solution is poured over 10 sq. m. Garden beds are watered with this composition to enhance the growth of root crops.
- When growing late varieties of beets, one more top dressing is often carried out. It must be done 3-4 weeks before harvesting.
Folk remedies
Gardeners, trying to obtain an environmentally friendly product, replace mineral fertilizers with organic matter, and also use various folk recipes. A variety of ingredients are used - weeds, yeast and other improvised means.
Saline solution
To feed the beets, use ordinary table salt, not iodized. Salt dressings are a source of sodium, on which the sweetness of root vegetables depends.
How to feed beets with brine:
- Dilute with 1 tbsp. l. table salt in a bucket of water.
- Water the beds at the rate of 10 liters of solution per 1 sq. m.
- Apply the top dressing three times per season:
- when the plants have 6 leaves;
- when the roots stick out of the ground by 3 cm;
- half a month after the previous salt feeding.
Saline solution is used not only for root dressing, but also for spraying. They are especially important if the tops turn reddish - this sign indicates a sodium deficiency. For foliar top dressing, twice as much salt is taken per 10 liters of water - 2 tbsp. l.
Using salt dressings, you must accurately observe the dosage. An increase in salt concentration leads to soil salinization, which negatively affects the development of crops.
Chicken droppings
Bird droppings are a generous source of nitrogen. Therefore, it is used at the initial stage of the beet growing season. This top dressing is useful on any soil, but it shows the greatest efficiency on acidic soils.
How to apply chicken droppings:
- Dilute the droppings 1:12 with water. The solution must not be poured directly under the roots - they may burn.
- Pour the diluted droppings only into specially dug grooves or simply between rows. The consumption rate of chicken manure per 1 sq. m - 1-1.2 liters.
Infusion of nettle
It is a fertilizer known among gardeners, with the help of which the beets are supplied with the necessary trace elements and vitamins.
How to make a nettle feed:
- Pick up young nettles - you need plants on which seeds have not yet appeared.
- Place 3 kg of chopped nettle in a 30 liter barrel and fill with water.
- Cover the barrel with a lid and leave to infuse.
- After 4-7 days, the infusion is ready for use. Water the beets with it 1-2 times a month, 1/2 liter for each plant.
Weed infusion
Even weeds can be used to feed beets. After weeding, do not rush to throw out weeds - you can make a good fertilizer from it.
How to prepare weed infusion:
- Place the weeds in a barrel - they should take up about a third of its volume.
- Pour water into the barrel to the very top and leave to infuse.
- After 5-7 days, the infusion is ready. Dilute it with water 1:10 and water the beets. This top dressing is allowed to be poured directly under the plant roots. For each plant - 1 liter.
- Water the beets with weed infusion once every half month.
Ash infusion
Wood ash is prized as a source of phosphorus and potassium. It also contains boron, magnesium, copper. Ash improves the structure of the soil, deoxidizes acidic soils.
Beets are fed with ash twice:
- Immediately after sowing seeds in the ground.
- At the stage of formation and growth of root crops.
How to prepare an ash solution:
- dilute two glasses of ash in a bucket of water;
- insist the ash for 2 hours and immediately water the beds.
Yeast
Regular baking yeast added to the soil enhances the growth of beneficial bacteria that process organic matter in the soil, saturating it with potassium and nitrogen.
Yeast dressing enhances root development and plant immunity.
Recipe number 1:
- Take live yeast - 1 kg. Dissolve them in 5 liters of water.
- Infuse the yeast for 2 hours.
- Add water in a ratio of 1:10.
Recipe number 2:
- Dissolve 10 g of dry yeast and 2 tbsp in 10 liters of water. Sahara.
- Insist 2 hours.
- Dilute 1: 5 with water.
Beets are watered with yeast solution three times:
- In the spring, immediately after germination.
- 20 days after the first feeding. The second feeding falls on the month of June.
- Approximately two months after the first feeding - the last yeast feeding is applied in August.
Boric acid
Boric acid is especially needed for beets grown on sandy soils and sandy loam.
Why do you need boron:
- activates seed germination;
- improves the taste of root vegetables;
- prevents root rotting;
- boosts immunity.
When boron is added:
- During seed preparation. 0.2 g of acid is diluted in 1 liter of water. The seeds are kept in the solution, being prepared for sowing.
- At the stage of growth of tops and root crops. The solution is introduced - 0.5 tsp of acid is taken for 1 liter.
To dilute boric acid, they take exceptionally hot water.
Top dressing of beets by month
The beets are fed, taking into account the growing season. For many gardeners who grow beets in the open field, it is more convenient to navigate by the calendar.
In June
In June, ground beets are at the initial stage of the growing season, when they need nutrition for the growth of green mass and the development of roots.
How to feed beets in June:
- As soon as the second leaf has appeared on the plant, the beds are watered with mullein diluted in water 1:10. Top dressing is poured into the furrows between the rows.
- After 2 weeks, the beds are watered with ammonia, diluted with water - 1 tbsp. 10 liters. The introduction of an ammonia solution helps to repel pests and increases the immunity of plants.
In July
In the middle of summer, beets form a root rosette. The feeding introduced during this period should contribute to the formation and pouring of root crops. For this purpose, the culture is given potassium.
How to feed beets in July:
- Potassium nitrate. In 8 liters of water, dilute 2 tbsp. drug.
- Table salt. Bred 2 tbsp. in a bucket of water.
In August
At the end of summer, the development of root crops ends, they begin to intensively accumulate useful elements and acquire a certain taste. In August, beets are fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
What fertilizers to apply in August:
- A solution of mineral fertilizers. Superphosphate (2 tablespoons), potassium chloride (1.5-2 tablespoons) are diluted in 10 liters of water. Fertilizer should be applied 4 weeks before harvesting.
- Instead of a mineral "cocktail", many gardeners introduce more harmless products - for example, wood ash or yeast solution.
Tips from experienced gardeners
Farmers and seasoned gardeners with experience in growing delicious beets advise:
- Apply only nitrogen fertilizers during the growing tops.
- Keep a close eye on the condition of the leaves and apply fertilizer according to the needs of the plants.
- Apply top dressing after watering.
- Give preference to organic fertilizers.
- Do not limit yourself to root dressings alone, use foliar dressings - spray the plants with nutrient solutions.
When growing tasty and sweet beets, top dressing is crucial. With the correct and timely fertilization, you can get root crops that match their varietal sizes and taste characteristics.
Author of the publication
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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