Nikolai Kurdyumov - "The main mistakes of summer residents." Leave earthworks for later
Even if you are well versed in suburban construction, this does not save you from mistakes when arranging a summer residence. Because punctures often happen where you least expect them: site planning, home filling, agronomic subtleties. We have already written about. The theme does not lose popularity! And so we continue.
1. Neglect trees
The suburban area is primarily a green area. Therefore, the fate of trees must be planned along with the construction of the house. The tree problem is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is a risk during construction to destroy those that are already growing on the site. On the other hand, tree roots can destroy the foundation of a house. Other buildings, especially brick fences, may also suffer from them.
What measures to take to protect the foundation? The roots are able to find a crack in concrete or masonry and significantly expand it. Therefore, from the side of a possible "attack" you need to use smooth and durable materials. For this, a stainless steel sheet is perfect, for example. You can also use sheet slate. Bitumen will also become an obstacle to the roots. waterproofing materials, tightly glued with mastic to the concrete foundation.
We figured out the foundation, but how not to destroy the trees during construction? Heavy equipment should not come close to the trunks you want to keep. Also, do not store building materials under trees. The root system extends over an area equal to the projection of the crown plus one meter. It is advisable to fence this area before starting construction, at least with the help of pegs and rope. Overconsolidation of the soil here leads to the oppression of the plant and can cause its death.
Sometimes, clearing a place for construction, you have to saw off thick branches. The saw cut places are the gates for the penetration of the infection tree into the body. The main enemy in this case is fungal spores. If you want to prolong the life of a tree, treat the saw cut. Special formulations are sold in garden stores. In extreme cases, you can get by with improvised means. Take the clay, mix it with water, make a dough and cover the "wound".
2. Leave excavation for later
A novice developer always wants to quickly build walls and a roof, that is, to see at least the outlines of the future house. But the experience of many summer residents says that first you need to deal with "earth" affairs: install a septic tank, install water supply and other underground utilities, and level the surface of the site. This problem is especially relevant for small areas. After the construction of the house, they simply do not have room for the movement of equipment. This means that all work will have to be done manually. It takes longer and sometimes more. In addition, the question arises: where to put the extra soil, if it is impossible to load it into the car?
3. Mix soil with clay and gravel
To an inexperienced summer resident who arrived outside the city in bad weather, the earth seems like dirt, and the grass looks like weeds. He hurries to fill up his site with rubble, roll the site with heavy machines. As a result, by the end of the construction of the house, there is no living soil on the site. The chernozem is recompacted and mixed with stones, sand, and cement. It turns out a typical courtyard of a city high-rise building in a not very good area. Is this what a cottage is built for? The summer resident must protect the soil. Where there will be a house and other buildings, the black soil must be carefully removed. If you don't know where to put it, try suggesting to the neighbors who have already lined up. Perhaps they will take it from you at their own expense.
Cover the place where you are going to store bulk building materials with geotextiles. Then you lift it up and get clean land for a flower bed or vegetable garden.
4. Fit in
Additions to an existing home are all problems. How to avoid uneven subsidence of foundations? How to tie the walls and how to finish them later? What to do with the roof? After all, you don’t want to re-finish all the walls and block the entire roof. And when it comes to the heating and ventilation system, the owner understands that it was almost easier to build a new house.
Therefore, it is better not to mess with extensions. If necessary, it is better to make redevelopment inside the house or build an attic. Calculate carefully, it is possible that these options will be cheaper and easier to implement.
If there is a need for an extension, then do it on a separate foundation with a separate roof.
It turns out a new house, built close to the old one. As for the roof design, there are two universal recipes. Or flat roof with a parapet, or a multi-pitched high and steep roof, which will look like a turret against the background of the entire building.
Houses and outbuildings that have different heights look best.
5. Make a cellar inside the existing foundation
To build a cellar or basement in a residential building, few people will come to mind. But to supplement the project of a house already under construction with a cellar is a quite common idea. And not very good. The foundation must be built as it was originally designed. If the project did not include a cellar, then it is better not to risk it. Excavation during the construction of the "underground" can lead to uneven subsidence and even collapses.
In the worst case, the foundation will be pressed into the contour by the forces of frost heaving and destroyed.
The cellar is better to build separately. This is not as inconvenient as it seems at first glance. There are several arguments in favor of a separate cellar:
- it will not be a source of dampness and an unpleasant smell in the house,
- if rodents start on the site, they will first of all go to the cellar, and not to the house,
- in the cellar it is easier to clean up than in the basement,
- V separate cellar you can make a comfortable staircase and even a check-in for a wheelbarrow, and you will have to go down to a basement that was not made according to the project ladder through the hole.
6. Build a temporary fence
A temporary fence is a waste of time and materials. Only very wealthy people can afford it. If the budget is limited, then temporary structures should be avoided. Immediately build capital fences on at least three sides - from the neighbors. First you need to agree with them about who pays for what. The sooner you do this, the better. Rebuilding fences in already inhabited areas is fraught with quarrels and insults. Moreover, it is better to plan the location of the house and green spaces on the site when the fence has already been built. A fenced area is perceived differently than an open one.
A temporary fence can only be placed from the side of the street if a permanent fence interferes with construction work.
7. Install doors and windows in winter.
As a rule, the box of the house is completed in the fall. And the owner is in a hurry to install doors and windows to close the house from the weather. If you manage to do it in warm weather - good. If the column on the thermometer approaches zero, it is better to postpone until spring. This applies to cottages. In the house for permanent residence, the calculation is different, there every month counts. But you will use the cottage mainly in the summer. And windows and doors installed in winter in hot weather will be capricious: they close poorly, open with a creak, etc. It's all about temperature deformations. If the doors were installed in the cold, then in the summer they become a little cramped in their place. But if it's the other way around, no problem.
By the way, this also applies to internal wooden doors. But it's not about temperature, it's about humidity. In summer the air is more humid and wooden door swell a bit. If they were installed in the winter, then in the summer you may feel that the latches do not work somehow.
8. Bring wires from the side of the roof overhang
The mistake, it would seem, is obvious, but nevertheless it is repeated from year to year.
In winter, frozen snow slides off the roof and cuts off electrical wires. Therefore, they need to be brought into the house from the side of the pediment. If the roof is hipped, then special snow retainers must be provided.
9. Allow ice from the split system
Some air conditioners are able to work on heating in winter. This is very convenient for giving, where you visit from time to time. In autumn and spring, you can do without stoves and additional electrical appliances. However, condensate is constantly flowing from the outdoor unit of the split system. In summer, a puddle forms, which dries quickly. But in winter, a whole stalagmite can form under the split in a couple of days. If measures are not taken, then in the end the entire device will be absorbed by the ice column. To avoid such troubles, you need to attach a tube to the outdoor unit to drain condensate away from home. Supply tube heating element which will keep the water from freezing. The power supply can be connected via a temperature sensor.
Reading the next instructions for growing any crop, you can be horrified at how much trouble is required. In fact, it turns out that many plants are quite tolerant of mistakes or carelessness in care. And it also happens that our green pets grow not thanks to our efforts, but in spite of: in our zeal to do what is best, we can do something superfluous.
How to make gardening and gardening easier
For a real summer resident, working in the beds is a pleasure and joy. But I also want to taste other pleasures, and the working owner of the garden-garden does not have much time: weekends, yes, if you're lucky, vacation. And in the rapidly disappearing summer, every day counts: I didn’t weed it in time, I didn’t feed it - I didn’t count the harvest.
I also want other summer pleasures
How to simplify the care of the garden and vegetable garden? I will try to put together numerous tips and experience and draw up an “Instruction for a country “lazy person”. Let's start with 10 basic rules.
1. Curb your greed
"Our greed ... makes us pursue so many goals at the same time that in the pursuit of trifles we miss the essential," said the French philosopher and moralist Francois de La Rochefoucauld. But how difficult it is for a modern gardener to limit himself in buying seeds and seedlings! Numerous real and online stores do not offer anything: dozens of varieties of vegetables, all kinds of flowers, exotic plants. Impossible to stop. And every spring we buy a bunch of bright bags. And then a problem arises, the scale of which depends on the magnitude of greed: how to plant everything bought, and most importantly, where to find the time and energy to take care of everything that has grown.
Every spring we buy a bunch of bright bags
If you feel that you are not doing well in your garden, stop. Try to pull yourself together in front of the counter of the seed store and curb your greed. Better yet, make a clear shopping plan before going to the garden center. Answer honestly, do you really need 100,500 varieties of tomatoes, an incomprehensible plant whose name you don’t remember and are trying to find by signs (“do you have anything with such leaves?”), An exotic vegetable or fruit, which definitely will not grow in the open field and needs to be “attached” to the greenhouse?
Maybe it just seems to you that such a number of pumpkins is necessary?
Behind the reduced range of vegetation will be better care there's enough time for everyone. And you will have the strength to admire your garden, which can be very difficult in the classic pose of a summer resident. At the same time, calculate how many cucumber-tomatoes and other vegetables you really need. Throwing away last year's pickles and marinades only to free jars for current preparations is not a good example of a zealous hostess. Or 2 buckets of tomatoes for a second cousin's niece ("what's her name?"). Maybe the acquired hump is too high a price for a good relationship with relatives?
2. Choose Low Care Plants
If you decide that taking care of the garden is not the only thing that attracts you to the country house, take a critical look at your site. Discard plants that require a lot of trouble. In flower beds, give preference perennials, long time feeling good in one place without a transplant.
Don't waste time digging up and planting tulips every year
For example, instead of large-flowered varietal tulips, plant botanical - natural species or varieties derived from them. Of course, they are more modest than their garden counterparts. But, firstly, among the varieties on sale now there is also a lot of variety in shape and color, and secondly, botanical tulips are fashionable. They are indispensable in the design of alpine hills, they will delight you with flowering almost 2 weeks earlier than the varietal ones and will free you from the annual ritual - digging the bulbs in early summer and burying them back in September. You can also replace part of an ordinary raspberry with a remontant one: you don’t have to bother with cutting out the fruiting shoots, bend down the bushes - in the fall you can just mow everything. This technique, by the way, facilitates one more job when growing this crop: by completely removing the shoots, you will destroy a significant part of the pests and the next year you will need to process the berry less.
3. Consider the frost resistance of plants
Do not try to grow pineapples in the Arctic in the open field: there will be little sense, but you will spend a decent amount of energy, nerves and time. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the fall building shelters for plants, winter worrying about wrapped pets, and spring unwrapping them, limit the number of plants that require warming for the winter.
Limit the number of plants requiring shelter for the winter
In addition to the time and effort saved, you will get a bonus: in the spring you will not puzzle over where to put tens of meters of covering material until the next use, and in the fall - where to get spruce branches in the right amount. I also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the publication of our website 5 common myths about winter shelter plants.
4. Plant fewer seedlings
Not all vegetables need a nursery on your windowsill. For example, cabbage can be grown by seedlings in a greenhouse or even by sowing immediately on permanent place. And believe me: cabbage will only get better. She will not stretch out in the warmth of the room, and will not get sick during transplantation. Strong and hardened seedlings are less damaged by cruciferous fleas and other pests. Read more about this in the publication Sowing cabbage before winter - a gamble or an effective method?
Cabbage seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse
Cabbage seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse In addition to cabbage, onions do not need too pampered conditions if you grow leeks and onion from seeds.
5. Buy seedlings
Of course, you can think that self-grown seedlings are a guarantee that there will be no sorting, infections and other problems. But if you buy seeds, then you still can’t guarantee purity - and you can get incomprehensible varieties instead of those you want when buying, and sores too.
Buy seedlings
Find reliable manufacturer, and your garden and flower garden will only please. After all, a professional approach to growing seedlings is correct temperature, lighting and humidity, which are almost impossible to provide in an apartment. You will be convinced that slightly increased costs will outweigh all your troubles and worries about the "black leg" and other plant problems.
6. Get a handy tool
In any case, you need a good tool. This does not mean that it must necessarily be expensive. But comfortable, ergonomic and reliable - a must.
Tool must be good.
The secateurs or garden shears should cut, the garden saw should cut, the handle should not slip off the scoop. A rake, shovel or chopper requires selection according to your height. And also garden tools should be different and match the tasks, so it is better to purchase it in sufficient quantities. The convenient tool saves forces, as a result, - time. The model or variety is worth choosing for yourself. If for some reason it is inconvenient for you to use, for example, Fokin's flat cutter, you do not need to do this just because you have read a lot of laudatory reviews. In our market you can pick up any garden equipment. Start, for example, with secateurs and garden shears. ^category
7. Use advances in technology
It is generally accepted that the Agriculture mostly archaic. However, achievements modern technology allow it to be refuted. For example, you can use a heating cable to heat a greenhouse: there will be no hassle with return frosts, and you will get an early harvest. See how Svetlana Ilyina from Krasnoyarsk equipped real warm beds. Read more about her experience of getting an early harvest in Siberia in the publication. Homework No. 3: greenhouse for early harvest.
Really warm bed of Svetlana Ilyina. Photo by Svetlana Ilyina
Another invention that is useful for gardeners and saves time and energy is drip irrigation. You do not need to run with a watering can - just turn the tap. And the installed automation will allow you to forget even about this little thing. You can find out more about how best to apply this achievement of civilization by reading the publication Where it is convenient to use a drip irrigation system: let's look at specific examples.
8. Automatic feeding
Preparing the soil for planting in the fall, making additional dressings during the season are common agrotechnical measures. This work can also be greatly facilitated by using apions (the name stands for "automatic feeding osmotic pumps"). Apion, once planted in a planting hole, will nourish the plant for a long time. Apion brand is chosen depending on the type of plants. Can be selected for annual and perennial crops, as well as shrubs and trees.
Apion is a long-acting fertilizer. Photo from the site d-collection-shop.ru Apion is a bag with complex fertilizer and microelements. The shell is made of a semi-permeable membrane, and the principle of operation is based on the phenomenon of osmosis (one-way penetration through the membrane). Apion gives back nutrients exactly as much as the plant needs. Using this dispenser will not only give you the freedom you want (no need to fertilize regularly), but it will also give you a richer, cleaner harvest. Overdose of fertilizers will not work - with a decrease in absorption by the root system, the rate of return of the nutrient mixture also decreases. This means that you will not have tomatoes with nitrates, and there will be no salinization of the soil.
9. Sow in the fall
Spring is a hot time for a gardener: growing seedlings smoothly flows into sowing. And you also need to prune trees and shrubs, treat the site from pests, as well as plant annual flowers and tidy up perennials. And time is short - May is short.
Sow in autumn
To cut garden work in the spring, move the part to the fall. Before winter, you can plant not only garlic and onion sets, but also sow dill and parsley, arugula, beets, carrots, cabbage, leeks. And, of course, flowers - calendula (marigolds), marigolds, asters, nasturtiums, morning glory and many others. For information on what can be sown before winter, see our video.
10. Choose the Right Garden Style
garden in regular style with ideal lawns, even bosquets and carpet beds - not for "lazy people". Opt for country style, landscape or any other design where there is some overgrown hedge or the picturesque mess of the mixborder will not greatly disturb appearance your site.
A perfect lawn requires constant care
If you absolutely want to have a smooth green lawn, pay attention to special lawn mixtures made up of grasses that grow slowly and do not require frequent mowing. Or organize a grass cover with low-growing ground cover plants, such as awl-shaped bryozoan or white clover.
Enjoy your garden
There are many ways not to become a "lamp slave" in your own garden. The main thing is to understand and accept that you have a dacha - for you and your family. And not at the dacha there is a gardener who has no other business than taking care of her. Enjoy your garden, don't work for it!
The past year has become a final turning point in my views and in relation to the land. As they say, life is just beginning in retirement. I am firmly convinced that organic farming has a great future.
So, where did it all start. Succumbing to fashionable advertising about drip irrigation, I bought all the necessary elements, installed plastic containers. Covered "drop" 7 acres of the garden in 2015. Planted seeds, seedlings of vegetables, potatoes. Watering was carried out at night, and during the day he conscientiously rushed around the beds with a chopper, removed weeds in the aisles. Seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants were covered with a shady protective net.
Water tanks - tons of plastic tanks with metal frame installed one on top of the other. During the day, the upper container in the sun heated the water, in the evening the water overflowed into the lower one. In a word, watering was carried out only with warm water. And early in the morning, water was pumped from a well from a depth of 12 m and watering continued as needed. It is enough just to open the tap on the next drip tape - and that's it: go and lead yourself, fight pests. However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.
The harvest seemed to be good. But the tomatoes tasted somewhat sour. They were missing something. No, they didn't get sick. Fruited until frost. But the feeling was that the plants want to say something. And in the evening at the end of July, I began to realize that I had made a lot of mistakes. But the one who does nothing does not make mistakes. In an instant, I saw the light when I saw cracks in the ground in the aisles. The cracks were quite deep - the earth seemed to sob from my agricultural technology.
There is a shortcoming here that the climate began to change around 2002, and the approaches to the land remained old. Although the neighbors envied drip irrigation, shady canopy, crops of vegetables, raspberries and grapes, but the feeling that something was done wrong did not leave me. And so, accidentally finding himself at the post office, he took the newspaper Senor Tomato and, in his free time from gardening, read a couple of articles and began to understand that everything was lost. Started to study useful material. I bought 50 varieties of tomatoes, flowers, spicy crops from gardeners with experience, and declared 2016 the year of correcting mistakes.
Working with tomatoes
TO work on the bugs pushed tomatoes. I think that each of us faced with the purchase of seedlings in the market. We have a particularly chic market in Bakhmut. Vegetable growers of dubious appearance sell any varieties and hybrids of vegetables. But most importantly, you don't have to ask. Varieties are available on handwritten plates. And if you ask, they will definitely offer something. They will coo in their own language, incomprehensible to us, and that's it - take it.
Well, I found almost everything. It remains to pick up plum tomatoes. Found them too. Planted in the evening in the cold. According to all the rules: what is under the film in the Snowdrop greenhouse, others - in the greenhouse (indeterminate varieties), and undersized ones - just in the garden.
After the seedlings were accepted, I made a pergola out of wire at a height of about 2 m. It turned out such a nice shady canopy made of green Chinese mesh. In the heat it helps and is very good. No overheating, less moisture evaporates. Yes, and so comfortable to sit and just relax in the shade. The size of the shading grid turned out to be 5 × 12 m.
And then the fruit began to set. Allegedly undersized varieties flooded in height, and where should the cream be
- grew in size like melons. So that the stems do not lie on the ground, I begin to tie up with twine to the wire. I think they are fattening
- overfed. No, the fruits are beginning to ripen, the stepchildren drove. I began to remove the stepchildren, put them in the water - a week later the roots appeared. God, I was surprised, but they also multiply. The question arose by itself: why then did you have to buy so many seedlings? The answer is also simple: we do not need 400 pieces and one hundred is enough.
After a heavy rain, there was nothing to do in the garden so as not to compact the soil, I did not go there for several days. He went out and gasped - the grid sagged, because he made spans between the pillars of 5 m to maintain the grid. And the tomatoes became heavy and pulled the net down. I had to urgently put props from poles.
Change in attitude to the earth
Finally, the harvest is harvested and products are processed - Autumn, but climate change continues and presents us with new surprises.
Decided to sit down for books. Although it is a shame - to work all my adult life in the seed production of vegetable and gourd crops and make miscalculations. For 8 years I have been keeping books by Nikolai Kurdyumov. I flipped through them, but there was not enough time to concentrate. And I did read it. Began to compare with the episodes in the work.
And what happens: we, agricultural workers, all the time harmed the earth, brought it to exhaustion, killed soil micro- and macro-inhabitants with chemistry. Plowmen were punished for shallow plowing, but they (the swindlers) had to be given medals for shallow cultivation. Yields were higher in those areas. But what to do - we, Soviet agronomists, were taught that way. And at the same time they forced their subordinates to cut their hair one size fits all. As the French say: the rulers rake in the heat with the wrong hands. More precisely, they drag chestnuts out of the fire.
After he mocked the earth in the manner described above, he decided to make amends and come to grips with soil fertility. The "offensive" began on all fronts. Realizing that the main pest in the garden is man, he determined the main ways of non-interference in the work of nature.
The first commandment: do not dig. On the beds in the winter, everything that was left was pruned with a sharp chopper. Many people use Fokin's vaunted flat cutter, attributing versatility to it. In my opinion, this is advertising. My chopper is made from the famous Druzhba-2 saw, with a long handle and a sharp edge. Without bending into three deaths, it is convenient to work with such a tool and perform no less number of operations than a flat cutter can.
In addition to farming, my hobby is fur farming. One of my hobbies is rabbits. Yes, rabbits are not only valuable fur. These are the manufacturers of Trichodermin's analogue. And Trihodvrmin, many people know, suppresses phytophthora. Confirmed in tests - rabbit manure is very valuable for crop production. The cages for my animals have a manure storage bin, and in the fall I use it as mulch. First, I mulched the garlic with a layer of about 8 cm, then I made the same layer in the greenhouse.
I believe that one of the commandments of the vegetable grower should be the principle of complete rejection of the use of any chemistry in his area and, of course, mineral fertilizers. Usage chemicals kills all living things. And this is not in our interests. We have stopped digging because we want to increase the abundance of soil biota and eventually increase the rate of organic recycling. The use of mineral fertilizers can affect acid-base balance soil. Over the past years, we have buried enough of everything superfluous in the ground. Now let this treasure go to the archaeologists after us.
Tomatoes prefer slightly neutral soil with a pH of 6.9-7.3. Theorists propose to determine such parameters either by the laboratory method - by taking samples in various places of the garden from a depth of 30 cm, or by using litmus paper. Everything is made much easier. It must be firmly remembered that phacelia as green manure perfectly neutralizes the earth. I think the preliminary preparation of the soil for tomatoes should include such a technique. And organic has never hurt anyone.
Site redevelopment
Due to the fact that I have a plot rectangular shape 15 × 75 m and is located from the northeast to the southwest, it is necessary to make beds in the same direction. Width about a meter. Any length. The passages between the beds are also about a meter. Straightness is ensured with twine.
Harvest residues, of course, remain in place. And the more organic, the better. Therefore, immediately after harvesting, spring crops should be sown as green manure. It is very convenient to use barley, oats. With the onset of frost, the plants will droop, remain lying on the ground. Over time, this straw will be processed by soil inhabitants into biohumus.
My shovel is now rusting. It is practically not needed. Only for planting seedlings, loading operations and for making warm beds. Yes, the shovel still has one important purpose - it is an umbrella. It turns out that from a large shovel - a large shadow.
On a wave of inspiration, I decided to make a warm bed. The length turned out to be 5 m, width 1 m, depth - by 2 spade bayonets. The filling was tree trimmings, grapes, hay, straw and paper. A thin layer of soil was poured on top, then 10 cm of rabbit manure and again a small layer of earth from the top layer. So the bed went into the winter.
Near the greenhouse on the west side disappeared old garden. These are apple trees damaged by the bark beetle and densely planted by the previous owners of the site. Therefore, only out of love for tomatoes, the garden had to be cut out. It turned out a good plot of 7 × 15 m. I marked 6 lanes on it and also introduced manure on the surface for future tomato beds. No cultivation has been carried out on this site. There were no weeds here, only a few low stumps remained. Let them remain as places to rest. Then they will rot and I will remove them.
This autumn epic ended - winter began. She, of course, came, as always unexpectedly. Well, do not drive her away now ... Some do not like the cold, unsettled life and other inconveniences. And I like winter: I like skiing, reading footprints in freshly fallen snow, feeding birds, which, as a token of gratitude, will begin to destroy pests in the summer. There used to be a fashionable expression: to look at everything through the prism of party spirit. So, if you look at the snow through the prism of vegetable growing, then this is moisture. And the more moisture falls in the winter, the less summer will have to be watered.
I throw snow into the greenhouse. It doesn't take much work. In the greenhouse, before making snow, he covered the beds with agrofiber. So far, there was little to do in the garden - I ordered seeds of tomatoes, flowers and started a special observation log for experiments. For future tomatoes, I cut pipes, purchased wire and made a sketch of a canopy.
In fact, he imagined how the tapestries would look like. I like tall tomatoes more, that's why everything is so complicated. But this is only at the beginning, experience and skill will come with time. The main thing is to get involved in the fight. I selected varieties of tomatoes according to sonorous names. I think I'll try. And which ones will show themselves better, I will opt for those in the future.
Multipurpose use of rabbit manure
By February 1, the snow on the warm bed simply disappeared, and seedlings of barley and wheat appeared throughout the area. During the day it was warm, at night the frost reached 8'C. But the greens were growing. The thing is that the rabbits are naughty and some of the food is lost.
Since you can’t feed with crushed grains, I feed only with whole mixtures. And here you are - another benefit of manure. The green went into action. He began to feed the female rabbits with the kids with greenery. Just great - where to find vitamins in winter. And here it turns out, as in Greece - everything is there.
I used this gift of nature until mid-May. Grass began to grow everywhere and the oasis had to be liquidated. Instead of cereals, they planted shallots under the newspaper. Newspapers were slightly crushed by the ground so that the wind would not pick up. Watering, of course, was carried out, but infrequently. Onions quickly caught up with the development of plantings carried out a month earlier. I was afraid in vain - warm beds really work. Conclusion: you need to make such beds several pieces every year. Yes, there is nothing to work.
And if you complicate it a little - make a polycarbonate sarcophagus? Then, I think, you can plant potatoes in early December early varieties(for example, Riviera) and by the beginning of April have young tubers on your table.
April last year was unusually rainy. A lot of earthworms popped up on the asphalt. Early in the morning, before the movement began, I began to collect them daily and drag them to my plantations. Both in the greenhouse and in the garden. Well, probably brought 2 thousand. Jokingly, he enrolled everyone in the staff, called them employees and promised that now I will give everyone good water and food. And they are contracted to loosen the earth and produce vermicompost.
I’ll also add why rabbit manure is so necessary on the site. What's in it is up to 25 useful plants elements is understandable. Its main value is that it is suitable for eating any kind of worms without pre-training. It is enough to moisten - and that's it: the food is ready. But only drives, mesh floors in cages should be present - this necessary condition to separate the liquid fraction. I think I'm making it clear? Well, if there is food, moisture, temperature regime and air exchange in the soil - everything grows by leaps and bounds.
10 mistakes when buying seeds
The February warming also affected the greenhouse - the snow began to melt quickly in it too. seedlings of tomatoes in open ground in our area we usually plant in the middle of May. Seedlings are about 60 days old. So, the seeds are sown on April 15th. By the way, about the seeds. When buying them, most make a lot of mistakes. I am a pro in this business: I know how to choose a product on the market. Therefore, I want to warn readers and arm them before going to seed stores. In short, buyers make 10 common mistakes when choosing seeds.
Mistake #1. Any seed store is a library of brightly colored bags. The names are just mesmerizing. beautiful pictures allow you to forget the basic rules for buying seeds. Here we show inattention to quality. When choosing seeds, we often forget that there are many ways to cheat in the seed market. As well as the dominance of low-quality products, expired seeds, regrading. Do not buy seeds from unknown manufacturers. Choose a company that values its reputation. Don't buy from market hawkers and random sellers (with rare exceptions, they take cheap imitations to sell them at exorbitant prices!). When buying in online stores, also remember the pitfalls of such purchases. In fact, this is the same private store where it is even easier to deceive you. After all, you do not even see the seller.
Mistake #2. Do not think that if you have a beautiful and attractive package in front of you, then the seeds in it are just as good. Often you pay for the packaging and its design, not for the content.
Mistake #3. Picture selection. Carefully read the characteristics: the number of seeds, the duration of the growing season, the timing of flowering, fruiting.
Mistake #4: Buying hybrid seeds to get your own. In the first generation, all hybrids are the same. In the second, there is splitting according to the 1:3 scheme.
Mistake No. 5. Refusing to use pelleted seeds if you do not do it yourself.
Mistake No. 6. Underestimation of the zoning of the variety and excessive craving for the exotic. “Straight-seeds are often more expensive, more capricious in cultivation, and require additional care.
Mistake #7. New doesn't mean better. 70% of everything seed should occupy already proven varieties, the quality of which you have no doubt.
Mistake #8. Purchase of seeds in reserve. Houses cannot be created ideal conditions for storage.
Mistake #9. Spontaneous purchase of seeds. Resist the instant temptation to get inspired by the description.
Mistake #10. Unjustified savings. Don't be fooled by the cheapness. They are either out of grade or defective (low germination and germination energy).
Preparing seeds for sowing
Everything described is purely from my personal experience.
First, we seed the seeds for 30 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 1 liter of water) or proportionally, depending on the volume. Time is limited, since the atomic oxygen released in the solution will begin to combine into molecules and, in fact, the solution will lose its activity.
We wash it in clean water and put it in an ash solution for a day (1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter of water). Here we add a teaspoon of aloe juice, a tablespoon of pomegranate peel tincture. Now we wring out the cotton cloth from the solution and place it in a plastic box. Spread the seeds, cover with a damp cloth, close tightly with a lid and put in a warm place.
This is where the seeds will germinate. The temperature is maintained within 20-25'C. As soon as the seeds hatch, I put them overnight in the refrigerator on the top shelf. Temperature + GS. Take it out of the fridge for a day and put it back in the heat. I repeat the procedure 5 times.
This shock therapy is very effective. It provides friendly seedlings and contributes to no less friendly fruiting. I recommend this type of hardening to owners of unheated greenhouses.
There is another method that reduces the ripening period by a week. The beginning of seed preparation is the same. Add a tablespoon of garden soil, a teaspoon of EM preparation or a teaspoon of Bionur, a little old jam to the solution with seeds and connect a regular aquarium compressor. And already in a day we get sprouts from the seeds. Now it's time to put the seeds in their place. If for someone seedlings are one of the elements of income in the market, plant them thicker, dive. To each his own.
I try to get first class planting material at no extra physical cost. I rarely sow - after 5 cm to a depth of 1 cm. I place one variety on one lane. The bed has a width of 1 m, which is very convenient. Between rows 5 cm. For 20 plants this place is enough, the seedlings develop perfectly. I cut a groove along the aisles. I water this groove as needed. Several times I spray with Bionur - first the soil, then the plants. Seedlings grow strong and resistant to lodging. All indeterminate varieties at the time of planting have a height of up to 50 cm.
Maltsev method
Preparing seedlings for further cultivation according to the Maltsev method.
So - the essence of the method. We lay the seedlings (and we have them very long in advance) with their roots to the south in a prepared furrow 10 cm deep, remove the extra leaves. We leave only one or two pairs near the top. We spill the furrow, and cover the stem with dry soil. We fix the upper part of the tomato about 10 cm with an earthen mound in a vertical position.
We will make a garter after the plant grows. The distance between tall tomatoes is kept at 1 m.
Because on the horizontally laid underground part, the root system quickly begins to develop, and the main roots rush down in a powerful bunch. I remember that I had to somehow eliminate the diseased tomato, but the root system is something unusual. There is a huge beard on the horizontal section, and the main roots have gone to a depth of over 60 cm.
With the development of the seedling (now the tomato can be called that), stepchildren begin to develop in the lower part of the stem. Our task is to grow two to a length of 50 cm. After that, we lay them to the right and left of mother plant. Approximately 30-35 cm.
Now we have 3 powerful roots per stem. And we have two ways: either we cut off two stems from stepchildren (although they are not so stepchildren) and get an even more powerful root system for one stem, or leave three in one. That is: three stems, three powerful roots and one seedling (by number) instead of three. It is not bad to throw a pair of worms into each groove when landing. I am silent about mulching - we have it. We only monitor the replenishment of the mulch and periodically add it as it settles.
The start of planting seedlings last year was May 13th. In exactly one month, the stems reached a height of 70 cm.
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Sometimes novice urban gardeners bend their backs all summer, “beautify” their beds on six acres, and vegetables, as if spoken, do not work out. What is the reason for these very offensive failures? What do not like tomatoes and cucumbers, cabbage and carrots in our garden? Perhaps you can find a fairly simple answer to some questions in this article.
But to make it easier to find the right answers to such questions, let's follow the entire sequence of our actions in this delicate issue, as they say, from "A" to "Z".
Common Mistakes
* The main mistake is the lack of crop rotation. Even on a small area, crop rotation must be observed. This will protect vegetables from pests and especially from diseases.
Only potatoes can grow in the same place for years, but on condition that organic fertilizers are applied to the soil every year.
* A very serious mistake is made by those gardeners who are in a hurry to put their products in the basement as quickly as possible. This can be done only when the air temperature in the basement drops no higher than 5-6 degrees. In warm autumn, it is necessary to keep the products in a shed or under a canopy with good ventilation, and only then bring them into a chilled basement.
Cabbage
* Cabbage will thank the gardener with a record harvest if it is planted on soil richly seasoned with organic fertilizers.
* Cabbage can not be planted in the shade of trees and buildings, because. at the same time, it will give small heads of cabbage or not form them at all.
* In no case should you plant cabbage after other plants of the cabbage family - radish, radish, turnip, swede, daikon, lobo, etc. Otherwise, the plants can get sick with clubroot, and then you won’t even have to count on a meager harvest.
Cauliflower
* Cauliflower does not tolerate dry and hot weather. Therefore, with the onset of heat, it must be shaded by covering it with a spandbond film or in a simple old-fashioned way, lifting and tying several of its leaves into a bundle.
Potato
* The most common mistakes in growing potatoes are dense planting or sparse seedlings. The reason for the first mistake is the desire to plant as many tubers as possible on each running meter.
The main reason for the second mistake is the planting of tubers with white ones that have grown during storage with long sprouts. Such tubers germinate slowly. Therefore, white sprouts that are more than 3 cm long must be broken off.
* To protect potato seedlings from recurrent frosts, it must be piled up to the very tops of the shoots. At the same time, this will cause the growth of an additional layer of roots on which tubers are formed.
* Before germination, the soil must be loosened with a rake. On re-fertilized soil, potato tops reach a meter height, and few tubers are formed. You can try to correct this mistake by taking a little tops from the plants.
* Contrary to the popular misconception that potatoes should not be watered, they are one of the largest "water drinkers". Moisture is especially necessary for him in June and in the first half of July. Experienced gardeners It is believed that the number of tubers in potatoes depends on irrigation in June, and the size of tubers depends on irrigation in the first half of July.
Bulb onions
* You can not plant onions and garlic in one place for two years in a row, otherwise the plants will be tormented by diseases and pests.
* Onion sets, when planted, are covered with earth only 1 cm from above, otherwise the bulb will develop poorly and be stored. If the bulbs are buried in the soil, then at the end of June, rake the ground from them.
* The bulb will not grow well if you cut a green feather from the plant.
* Bulb onions require abundant watering only at the beginning of growth. 20-25 days before harvesting, watering is completely stopped, otherwise the bulbs will not be stored well and will rot.
* If the onion sets go into the arrow (due to the fact that it was not stored correctly in the winter, and the seeds were not subjected to certain processing), then the arrows should be broken out at the base. If it again forms arrows, then it is better to remove these plants from the garden and use them primarily for food.
Carrot
* Carrots do not tolerate freshly manured soil. At the same time, root crops begin to branch, take an ugly shape.
* Carrots do not tolerate waterlogged areas at all, and on dense clay soils, it also takes on an ugly shape.
* The thinning of the plants is essential: the first time at a distance of 1 cm from each other (at the stage of 1-2 true leaves) and the second time after 3 cm from each other (at the stage of 3-4 true leaves).
* Watering carrots is especially needed in the first period of plant growth and at the very beginning of the formation of root crops.
* The main pest of carrots, the carrot fly, is well repelled by onions sown on the same or neighboring garden.
Cucumbers in a film greenhouse
* Cucumbers will thank the gardener with a record harvest if they are planted in freshly manured soil.
* Do not water the cucumbers in the evening, but only in the morning and only with settled warm water.
* Excess moisture provokes the development of rot and disease.
* The most serious mistake is the lack of formation or incorrect formation of plants, taking into account the characteristics of the cultivated variety.
* Cucumbers are afraid of drafts, prefer airing the greenhouse from above and really dislike sudden changes in temperature.
Tomatoes in a greenhouse
* At the time of planting, the seedlings must be fresh, because. withering of seedlings leads to shedding of the first flowers and loss of yield.
* Tomatoes are demanding on heat, but when the air temperature in the greenhouse is above 30 degrees, they stop growing and pollinating.
* Tomatoes love drafts. A "Finnish bath" in a greenhouse can do more harm to them than all frosts, pests and diseases combined.
* Dry soil and heat air leads to the shedding of flowers and small ovaries, and irregular watering leads to cracking of the fruit.
* In no case should you water the tomatoes cold water especially in hot weather.
* For better pollination of flowers, it is useful in the morning to lightly tap with a stick on the twine to which the plants are tied, because. this facilitates the movement of pollen.
* You can significantly increase the resistance of tomatoes to phytophthora by spraying them twice with a solution of iodine (3-5 drops) and 1 glass of skimmed milk per 1 liter of water with an interval of 7-10 days or spraying them with Uniflor-micro according to the instructions.
Radish
* Radishes do not tolerate dense planting. At the same time, its tops reach for the light, and the root crops do not grow. The main mistake was made when sowing seeds. They must be planted at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other so that the plants are spacious.
* Radishes love moisture as much as cabbages. In hot weather, it should ideally be watered both in the morning and in the evening. On fertilized greenhouse soil, it must be planted, as it were, in a dug trough. Leaving your garden for five working days, do not be too lazy to fill such a “trough” well with water.
Beet
* If you have multi-sprout table beet seeds, then you do not need to sow them immediately in the garden, because. then you have to pull the seedlings a lot. It is better to sow these seeds early in the greenhouse for seedlings, which are then planted individually in their place.
* Of particular importance is the timely thinning of crops: the first time in the phase of 2–3 true leaves at a distance of 2 cm from each other, and the second time after 20 days at a distance of 6–8 cm.
Apples and pears
* Fruits are poorly stored in the same storage with vegetables and potatoes. They are quickly affected by various fungal diseases, in addition, they acquire an unpleasant, unusual smell, while losing their special aroma and taste.
* Significantly better results in the storage of fruits are obtained when using polyethylene film, shavings, peat chips and other materials when packing fruits than when storing products in bulk.
* Before being stored in storage, the fruits must be sorted by size and variety, and each fraction must be stored in a separate container. Mixing varieties significantly increases fruit spoilage.
Pathogens and pests accumulate in the greenhouse soil, it becomes compacted and “tired” of the crops living in it. So the idea to replace the soil looks reasonable and correct. But just how real is it? After all, you will have to remove and attach a whole mountain of earth somewhere: a layer of 25-30 cm in a greenhouse measuring 3 × 6 m is more than 5 m³. Then you need to get somewhere the same mound of good soil (and how to make sure that it is better than the previous one?) And fall asleep back into the greenhouse.
How right. Immediately after harvesting in the greenhouse, spray the beds with a 5% solution blue vitriol or carry out the treatment with sulfur checkers (according to the instructions). If you want to remove only the most upper layer soil up to 5 cm thick and place it in compost heap, and add 5-6 kg of humus per square meter to the greenhouse. m. In the spring, before planting, add one of the preparations based on the Trichoderma fungus to the ground: Glyocladin, Trichoderma veride 471 or Trichocin.
From the history
Supporters of the idea to change the soil often refer to the fact that Russian gardeners have always done this with greenhouses. In fact, all the “stuffing” was taken out of the greenhouses for the winter, but only in order to fill them with fresh horse manure mixed with straw the next year. But gardeners used the land itself for planting plants (a layer of about 20 cm above the “biofuel”) for many years in a row!
2. Herbicides against weeds
At first glance, the moment after harvesting all the vegetables is ideal for a chemical attack on weeds. But in fact, popular herbicides work only in warm sunny weather. In the Nonchernozem zone since the end of September they are no longer effective.
How right. Chop weeds with a chopper or flat cutter, grow white mustard or other " green fertilizers”, cover the ground with black non-woven fabric. Autumn is the best time for liming slightly acidic soils (2.5 kg per 1 m² on light soils and up to 5 kg on heavy soils): among other things, this technique helps to restrain the annoying woodlice weed.
3. Spontaneous fertilizer purchase
Of course, the soil needs additives to increase fertility. But manure from a modern farm can be liquid or semi-liquid, and attach it for storage on small plot- a very difficult task. "Chernozem" often turns into either waste soil from the nearest greenhouse complex, or sludge from urban wastewater treatment plants.
How right. To improve the soil, choose bedding or dry manure, already rotted manure, lowland peat, chopped straw or sawdust. If you still got semi-liquid organics, try to get a comparable amount of peat or sawdust and layer one with the other for composting.
