The nuances of planting carrots with starch

All summer residents know that carrots are a rather capricious culture. In addition, you have to wait a long time for the emergence of seedlings, and after germination, you need to thin out the plantings twice. That is why an alternative method of sowing carrot seeds was invented - in a jelly solution, we will tell about all the tricks of this technique in our article.

Carrots are hard-growing crops. Its seedlings are quite small, and it takes 2 to 3 weeks to wait for germination. In addition, if you pour the seeds into the groove immediately from the bag, then they will be unevenly placed: in some place it is dense, and in some there is a void. In this case, after the emergence of seedlings, you will have to thin out the young plants, usually it takes a lot of time.

Questions may arise, is it so important to thin out the garden, why not let the carrots grow as they were sown. The answer is simple: in this case, an excessive number of vegetables will grow and form in a limited area. As a result, root crops will receive less useful micro- and macroelements, as well as moisture. Under these conditions, carrots will grow small and thin. In addition, nearby fruits often begin to intertwine, and this significantly impairs the external characteristics of the crop. Sowing carrots in starch helps to avoid these troubles; it involves a wet method of planting. Even if you lay out individual seedlings on tape or toilet paper, this will not ensure uniform adhesion. And if you plant dry seeds, you will have to wait too long for them to be saturated with water and begin to swell.

Let's list the advantages of the technique.

• Ease of landing. The seedlings do not crumble and remain in the place where they were placed.
• Saving... A strict proportion and the use of an adhesive substance can significantly save planting material.
• Moisturizing... The paste retains moisture near the seeds and thereby increases the parameters of their germination.

However, there are also disadvantages.

• Expenditure of time and effort. Planting is necessarily preceded by a long preparation, including moistening, preparing a paste, holding and other manipulations. In addition, it is necessary to plant as quickly as possible, since the solution retains its effectiveness for no more than 5-6 hours.
• Demanding care... To dissolve the paste at the first stage after planting, abundant watering of the earth will be required.

To weld the paste, you need to prepare the inventory:

• a saucepan;
• deep bowl;
• a tablespoon;
• gauze;
• non-woven fabric;
• polyethylene film;
• awl;
• ruler;
• cocktail tube;
• a plastic bottle of 1.5 liters.

The paste is prepared on the basis of starch jelly, this will require 500 ml of water and 2.5 tbsp. l. dry starch. Water is put on fire, brought to a boil and turned off. In a separate bowl, dilute the starch with cold water in a small amount. The resulting composition is poured into hot water in a thin stream, stirring continuously.

Before planting seeds, it is necessary to check them for germination. To achieve a rich harvest of juicy and tasty carrots, you need to use only viable and large seeds. The simplest sorting method involves the use of a 5% sodium chloride solution. Seedlings are dipped in this liquid and wait 10-15 minutes. Seeds of good germination will settle at the bottom. Empty and sick people will float up, they can be safely discarded. The remaining seeds are sorted by size - for planting carrots, it is best to use seed material 0.7–0.8 mm in size.

The preparation includes several more activities. To begin with, the seeds are soaked in clean warm water until signs of swelling appear, usually this process takes 3-5 days. In this case, the water must be changed every 12 hours, all floating seeds are removed. At the end of soaking, the liquid is drained. Seeds are sprinkled in a thin layer on cheesecloth to remove all excess moisture, and cover from above. The seedlings are left for 3-4 days at a temperature of 25-26 degrees. All this time, you need to ensure that the fabric does not dry out, it is best to sprinkle it with water from a spray bottle from time to time.

As soon as the seeds begin to germinate, they must be planted immediately. If for some reason it is impossible to do this, then it will be possible to store them in the refrigerator (but not longer than two days), avoiding freezing. If the seeds were obtained from their own garden or purchased from summer residents, then they must be disinfected before planting. This measure will allow the destruction of pathogens of fungal and bacterial infections, and in addition, it will significantly increase the plant's immunity and its resistance to external unfavorable factors. Most often, summer residents resort to soaking in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 10-15 minutes or keep the planting material in Fitosporin for 10-12 hours.

It is not difficult to calculate the number of seedlings required to mix with the finished paste. For every 250 ml of a sticky substance, 10 g of germinated seeds will be needed. This proportion ensures even distribution at regular intervals. Stir the mixture very carefully, breaking all the resulting lumps. The finished composition is poured into a prepared plastic bottle, a hole is made in its cap and a tube is inserted into it. After that, you can transplant into open ground.

Planting carrot seeds in starch is not particularly difficult. The work is done in the spring.

• First, you need to form grooves in the garden. 2–4 cm deep and about the width of the palm.
• The earth slightly moisturize with a watering can and tamp with a board.
• The starch mixture is carefully squeezed into the resulting landing hole. Consumption is 200-250 ml of starch for each running meter of the bed. After the seedlings are sprinkled with earth and well watered. Landing is complete.

There are alternative methods of sowing carrots using starch.

• Using toilet paper. This is a rather laborious method; in this case, carrot seeds are glued to toilet paper with a step of 5–6 cm. The resulting tape is placed in a groove prepared in advance and watered. If all the work is done correctly, then the seedlings will be even, like in the picture.
• Pelleting of seeds. This treatment allows you to get seedlings wrapped in a shell in the manner of granules. For this method, you will need a mullein diluted with cool water in a ratio of 1 to 10. The resulting mixture is filtered, filtered and micronutrient fertilizers are added. The rest is simple.

Carrot seedlings are poured into a large jar and moistened with paste. As a result, the starch solution is firmly fixed on the seeds, but they themselves do not stick together. Next, a nutrient mixture of fertilizers is added to the container and shaken well so that the seeds are "powdered". And then they are moistened again with paste. Pelleting involves alternating treatment with starch and organic matter until balls with a diameter of 3-4 mm are obtained.

Carrots planted with paste must be properly cared for. At first, the seeds will need a high level of soil moisture. To do this, the beds must be regularly watered and covered with plastic wrap on top so that the earth does not dry out. As soon as the first shoots hatch, watering can be reduced to 2 times a week. At this time, it is better to replace the film with agrofibre and allow the plant to develop under it for another 10-14 days. To feed carrots planted in this way, you need to fertilize twice. The first is carried out two weeks after germination, and the second - after 3 weeks. To enrich the beds, you need to take 30 g of superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and potassium salt each and dissolve in a bucket of water. The composition is used immediately after the main moistening.

Agricultural technology of root crops involves mandatory loosening. This should be done the next day after watering, when the ground is covered with a crust. This is important to provide airflow to the roots, otherwise they will suffocate. It is important to remove any weeds in a timely manner. They will take useful substances from the growing root crop. And besides, they will limit the area for germination. Such carrots are thin and tasteless.