2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Horseradish is by nature a perennial plant, but it is best to cultivate it as an annual crop. Its rhizome has an amazing ability to branch and develop. Thanks to this property, dormant buds on roots more than half a meter long give life to new plants under favorable conditions. And if you do not uproot the horseradish, he will seize more and more new territories
Selection and preparation of planting material
Many gardeners have already used a good portion of the grown horseradish. This sharp root and its large leaves are indispensable when you want to spice up canned vegetables. In addition, it is good in itself as an original seasoning. But the mass harvesting of horseradish begins in the fall, at the end of October, when the aboveground part of the perennial dies off. It is necessary to very carefully select rhizomes from the ground, leaving nothing in the garden so that they do not give new shoots. After that, for prevention, the area where horseradish grew must be thoroughly dug up.
Future horseradish beds are also fertilized in the fall. To do this, add 5 kg of organic matter per 1 square meter. area. Digging of the site is performed to the depth of the shovel bayonet. In the spring, repeat the digging, already 15-20 cm deep. At the same time, harvesting of planting material for horseradish propagation in the next season is performed. To do this, horseradish must be sorted by size and thickness. The largest, thickest two-year-old roots are taken for food, for harvesting for the winter and conservation.
Thin annual specimens, less than 1 cm in diameter, will go to cuttings for spring horseradish planting. These roots are cut into a length of about 20 cm. The top of the cutting is cut at a right angle, and an oblique cut is made from the bottom - so when planting, you definitely won't be mistaken which end to plant the horseradish in the ground with. The planting material is tied into bundles and tied with twine. They need to be stored under a layer of dry sand in the basement. The optimum storage temperature is from 0 ° to + 1 ° C.
Cuttings in gauntlets
In the spring, you can help the horseradish wake up sooner and better take root in a new place. To do this, about two weeks before the expected date of planting on the garden bed, the cuttings are interlayered with moist peat and transferred to a room where the temperature reaches + 18 ° C. Here, the leaf buds will receive an impulse for growth, which will have a beneficial effect on the further development of the plant.
Another technique that helps in caring for horseradish beds is rubbing with a coarse cloth, rough thick mittens on the middle part of the cutting. When the time comes to dig out the rhizomes, you will be grateful that you were not too lazy to do this before planting, because thanks to such simple actions, small roots and buds are removed, and the root grows thicker and less branched.
Horseradish planting care
Cuttings are planted in the garden in May. They are placed in the well obliquely, at an angle of approximately 45 °. In a row, the distance between the holes is made about 20 cm, the row spacing is left about 60 cm. The planting is carried out to such a depth that there is a layer of earth above the tops of at least 3 cm. The first loosening of the beds is carried out after the leaves appear on the surface. The earth needs to be loosened to a depth of about 5 cm. In the future, as horseradish develops, they deepen to 10 cm.
Horseradish grows on almost any soil. But it works best on loam and sandy loam. It is not picky about soil moisture. However, if you do not water, especially during dry periods, the root will be coarse. To improve the palatability of horseradish roots, when the aboveground green mass begins to grow actively, it is recommended to cut out a few leaves right at the top of the cutting. The optimal number of outlets on one plant is no more than two.
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