Egg pots are affordable and easy-to-use material that can be useful for planting carrots.
This method of planting seedlings is convenient because the seeds are always at an equal distance from each other, which allows you to get rid of the laborious process of thinning of seedlings (removing excess plants from rows or nests to improve growing conditions).
Also, when planting seeds in cardboard boxes, there is no need for weeding. The article below contains full information on this method of planting carrots.
Method definition and description
Planting carrots in egg cartons is an economical and uncomplicated process, which consists of unfolding a pair of seeds in each cell and then planting them directly in the ground. A root crop planted in this way is fully formed. The cardboard base will prevent the evaporation of moisture and weed germination. This is a safe and environmentally friendly way to grow carrots, available to both experienced and novice gardeners.
Benefits
- No need for a thinning process.
- Long-term preservation of moisture in the soil.
- Minimum financial costs.
- Availability of material.
- Degradability of cardboard cells from under the eggs.
- Environmentally friendly and non-toxic material.
- Easy to use.
- Aesthetic view of the beds due to the even rows of seedlings.
- No need to get rid of weeds.
disadvantages
But it is fair to note that this disadvantage can occur with any method of planting carrots in open ground.
Step-by-step instruction
Training
Garden tools
For planting carrots you need to prepare tools such as:
- cardboard egg trays;
- garden rake for leveling the soil after planting carrots;
- garden watering can for watering.
Trays from under the eggs
Immediately before sowing carrots themselves, trays must be soaked with water to soften the cardboard. It is also necessary so that the cardboard cells do not take away moisture from the fertile layers of the earth, which is necessary for the normal development of carrot roots.
Seed
Seeds must be fresh. Already in the second year of storage, germination drops sharply, and the third drops to 30%.
Carrot seeds contain essential oils that are best removed before germination to avoid slowing the growth of seedlings. Seeds are prepared using the following technology:
- Warm up the grain soaking them for 20 minutes in water heated to 50 degrees Celsius.
- Carry out the process of seed decontamination, placing them for 15-20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate.
- Saturate the seeds with nutrients. Grains are treated with growth stimulants, such as aloe juice or the drug "Epin". In the solution of these substances, the grain is kept for a day.
With this preparation, the seeds give fruiting shoots.
Sowing
Using a cardboard tray for storing eggs, you need to determine where there will be holes for planting carrots, sketch out them. To do this:
- Cardboard cells need to be laid on the site for planting seedlings and flatten.
- Then put a couple of carrot seeds in each of the cells.
- Seeds are poured over the ground and watered with a garden watering can by sprinkling.
How to plant in egg trays?
In the fall you need:
- Treat the garden where the carrots are planted, from weeds.
- Then dig the ground with a shovel or any other available method.
- To fertilize the land with humus at the rate of 10 kg per square meter and wood ash at the rate of one glass per 1 square meter.
If it is necessary to neutralize the pH level in the soil, you can use such a method as adding lime or dolomite flour to the soil per 1 cup per 1 square meter.
If there is heavy soil in the sowing area, it should be facilitated by adding sawdust, clean sand or charcoal. This process is called mulching. This agrotechnical technique allows longer retain moisture, useful for seed germination, in the soil. Mulching is necessary to maintain plant health. In the hot summer, mulching is able to protect the carrots from dying, it allows you to maintain the temperature necessary for the growth and development of plants.
Mulch has a beneficial effect on soil and seeds and has the following properties:
- retains moisture, useful for seed germination, in the soil;
- prevents overheating of the soil in summer;
- prevents soil erosion;
- retains the necessary soil looseness.
Seed germination is affected by favorable temperature conditions. The soil is ready for planting when it is heated to 5-8 degrees Celsius. Carrots are planted in April or May, but when planting seeds should also take into account the climatic conditions of the region.
In the spring you need:
- Dig the ground again with a shovel or any other available method.
- To form a plot under the carrot.
- To make organic fertilizers: humus, compost. The introduction of fresh manure in preparing the soil for carrots is prohibited - it does not accept it.
- A few days before planting, the ground must be loosened and leveled with a rake. Loosening the soil is useful because after it the soil is enriched with oxygen.
- Then pour the land for planting with a garden watering can.
To sow roots in the tray, produce the following manipulations:
- a hole is cut in each cell;
- cardboard cells are pressed into the bed to mark the landing area;
- in each cell put two seeds;
- all fall asleep ground;
- watering with watering can, sprinkling method, so that the grains remain in place
Planting carrots in the egg cells can be done without cutting the bottom. This is done when the container is thin and loose. In this case, the cardboard will not prevent the growth of carrots and the absorption of moisture and minerals from the soil.
Plant carrots with a tray can be at home or in any other accessible place, and then transfer it to the garden bed. It will be necessary only to bury the cardboard box in the ground and water the garden bed with a garden watering can. Approximately two weeks after sowing, the expected seedlings will appear.
Primary care
Soil fertilizer when planting
If during planting all necessary measures were observed and fertilizer was applied on time, then repeated mineral application is not required. But, if mineral fertilizers were not used, they should be added in two stages:
- at the first stage fertilizers are applied one month after the emergence of carrots;
- in the second stage - after another six weeks from the first application of minerals.
Watering
Compliance with the rules of plant care allows for unprecedented yield of root crops:
- Not enough moisture in the soil will lead to the fact that carrots can not fully grow.
- Excess moisture also detrimental effect on the growth of carrots and leads to decay of its roots.
Soaking the ground with moisture for carrot seedlings should be at a depth of 30 centimeters.
- For irrigation of carrots and care for seedlings produced drip irrigation. It helps to saturate the plants with moisture.
- After seed germination and the emergence of carrots, watering should be increased to ten liters of water per square meter.
- After the appearance of such properties as closing the leaves, you should water the carrots at the rate of twenty liters per square meter. This contributes to the development of the root and the collection of its mass.
- One and a half months before harvesting, the amount of water should be reduced to 10 liters, and a week before harvesting, it is necessary to completely stop watering the land where carrots grow.
Errors
- Seeds. They must be fresh. Already in the second year of storage, germination drops sharply, and the third drops to 30%.
- Wrong watering - This is the first reason for sluggish and bitter root vegetables. With a deficit of moisture, carrots grow weakly, roots become ligneous, acquire a bitter taste.
But too abundant watering in dry weather, too, can not be carried out. Excessive moisture, as well as a sharp precipitation, cause an increase in root crops from the inside. Formed in conditions of drought, root crop tissues, having lost their elasticity, do not withstand the pressure of newly growing tissues; as a result, root crops become covered with cracks.
- Failure to feed fertilizer. Fertilizing seedlings with fertilizers can have various manifestations. Productivity depends on the type of soil and on the degree of its cultivation. Feeding with nitrogen improves the protein metabolism in carrots, increases the percentage of carotene, but their negative impact is reflected in a decrease in the percentage of sugar and dry matter.
Excessive feeds contribute to the accumulation of non-protein nitrogen, which is a favorable breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. Therefore, there are diseases of seedlings, and then fruits, which reduce the "keeping quality" and increase the likelihood of carrot germination during storage.
The method of planting carrots in the egg cells is a find for those people who love original ideas and strive to achieve a large crop with minimal financial costs. Thanks to the method of planting carrots in the cells from under the eggs, the beds on the land plot will look aesthetically and well-groomed, due to the even rows of seedlings and the absence of weeds.
