Watering beets with s alt water for top dressing with s alt: how and when

Among experienced gardeners, it is widely believed that watering beets with s alt water increases the sugar content of root crops. But the secrets of a good harvest are not only that. Knowing what and how to feed beets will affect not only their taste, but also the size and keeping quality of vegetables.

Why water beets with s alt water?

Crop nutrition is the application of nutrients (fertilizers) during the growing season. Most often, mineral mixtures are dissolved in irrigation water and liquid top dressing is carried out. This way the plants will get what they need as soon as possible.

The method of top dressing, according to which you need to water the beets with s alt water, is based on the increased need of the crop for sodium. This element is rarely found in sufficient quantities in soil with a heavy and dense structure, so for many gardeners in central Russia, the crop does not give the best harvest.

Growing beets: watering with s alt water

Washing the plants with s alted water 2-3 times per season, the vegetable grower introduces the necessary amount of a trace element useful for them into the soil. But when carrying out such feeding, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise, instead of sweet vegetables, you can get the opposite result. Excess of any fertilizer for beets is harmful, so you need to learn how to determine how many times to feed the crop and what solution is suitable for the conditions on the site.

What is the watering rate?

Determining the plant's need for sodium, boron, potassium and other trace elements is easiest in appearance. When beets are deficient in nutrients, the leaves become small, flat, and red in color. A vegetable in a normal state has a large leaf blade, slightly wavy, saturated green. Depending on the variety, only the leaf petiole or even the veins can be red.

You can feed a bed with root crops with special complex fertilizers for beets. The manufacturer indicates the proportions in the instructions for the drug.

When watering plants with s alt water, the proportions can be determined independently:

• if the beets look he althy, then 1 tsp. s alt is dissolved in 10 liters of warm water and 1 m² is poured with this amount of liquid;
• when the leaves turn red, the dose of s alt is increased to 2 tbsp. l. per 10 l and per 1 m², focusing on the severity of the lack of trace elements.

S alt does not dissolve in water too quickly, and when watering beets, it is important to prevent crystals of the substance from getting on root crops. Too high a concentration of the solution makes it dangerous for a young plant. Before watering, you should wait until all the s alt has dispersed in the water. The infusion time of the solution can be up to 10 minutes.

Irrigation recommendations

In order to have delicious vinaigrettes from homemade beetroot on the table in summer and winter, beetroot feeding is combined with the correct watering regimen:

• before germination, the soil must remain constantly moist;
• young seedlings are watered as the top layer of soil dries 0.5-1 cm deep;
• when a rosette of 4-6 leaves appears, the first top-dressing is carried out with a solution of common s alt in the minimum dosage (1 tsp per 10 l per 1 m²);
• as the plants grow, you need to take into account that the root crop only accumulates nutrients and moisture, and absorption occurs at a depth of 10-15 cm, so the soil must be wetted to this depth, pouring 2-3 buckets of water per 1 m²;
• when the diameter of the root crop reaches 5-6 cm, dissolve s alt, boric acid and ash infusion in water, pour (how to water and what amount of top dressing to take is indicated below).

When there is little rainfall, beets will have to be watered every 3-5 days to keep enough moisture in the soil. If the leaves begin to turn red again, another top dressing with s alt and ash may be required.

Besides watering, there is another way of processing - foliar feeding. Plants can be enriched with the substances they need by spraying the aerial parts with the indicated solutions. Spraying is also used to prevent beet diseases.

Increasing sugar content in a different way

In addition to the treatment of beets with s alt, the addition of boron, potassium and phosphorus is often required. To enrich the soil with boron, 10 g of boron fertilizers (borax, boric acid, Kemira-Lux and others) must be dissolved in 10 liters of water. Wood ash also helps to enrich the soil with microelements. It needs to be sifted, pour 300-500 g of powder into 1 liter of water and let the mixture stand for 24-36 hours.

Mix the resulting solution with 10 liters of water and pour the liquid over 1 m² of beet beds. Processing can be repeated after 3-5 days until a visible result is obtained - the leaves acquire a normal appearance.

To enrich the soil with potassium and phosphorus, necessary for the formation of the root crop and the accumulation of sugary substances in it, complex-type fertilizers are used (Agricola-4, Kemira and others). You can also take potassium monophosphate (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water), mix superphosphate 1-2 tablespoons.l. and 1-2 tsp. potassium chloride or 1 tsp. potassium nitrate in 10 liters of water. A small excess of these elements will not hurt the beets, the plant will take only what it needs.

Reasons why beetroot might not taste good

For the sweetness of beet roots, not only watering and feeding are important. Plants do not absorb nutrients well if the soil is acidic or waterlogged (in swampy areas). Under unfavorable conditions, roots grow ugly, may crack or form voids inside, and their structure becomes fibrous.

If a vegetable grower has such problems from year to year, then it's not a bad variety or improper planting care. Beetroot simply does not suit the soil. It can be improved by adding lime materials (fluff, chalk, dolomite or marble dust) and sand.

These measures reduce the acidity of the soil and make it looser. For 1 m², up to 1 bucket of sand (fine and without clay) and 1-1.5 kg of lime will be required. To enrich the soil with nitrogenous substances necessary for the growth of beets, an additional 1 bucket of last year's humus is added.

Sawdust (not shavings) will help make the soil loose. If the farm has poultry or pigs, then sawdust can be used as bedding, and after manure is overheated, fill the soil in the beds with this humus. In the absence of livestock, sawdust can be piled up, moistened and left to rot for 1 year.

The development of root crops is often hindered by pests and diseases. Spraying the leaves with a strong s alt solution (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) often helps to get rid of leaf-eating insects, fungi and bacteria. When processing, you should try to moisten both the underside of the leaf blade and the soil around the plants.

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