Sorrel - is one of the most common garden crops, which is unpretentious in the care and often gives a good harvest.
It grows on its own, on the slopes, near the roads and in the fields. Eat sorrel in food, adding it to soups, salads, so that the dish gets spicy sourness.
And although it is easy to grow this plant, every gardener should know the nuances of planting seeds in open ground. We will tell you what you need to know in order to plant material and get a good harvest.
What varieties are best for growing?
To grow sorrel from seeds, you must use the following varieties:
- Large leaf. This is a variety of early ripening. It has oval leaves of soft green color. It has a pleasant taste, medium acid.The grade belongs to high-yielding and resistant to frosts.
- Ordinary garden. The most popular sorrel variety.
His leaves have a pointed shape and a dark green color. The grade differs in resistance to cold and high productivity.
- Altaic. It has smooth and sharp leaves that grow on a straight rosette. The variety withstands low temperatures.
- Broadleaf. The leaves are large in size, their taste is sour and tender. The advantage of the variety is in resistance to drought and heat, as well as in high yield.
- Lyon. The leaves are large, dense and wide. Variety resists frost.
- Belleville. It has a slightly sour, tender taste. Variety refers to the early and high-yielding. He is afraid of low temperatures.
When to plant - spring, summer or winter to get a good harvest?
Sorrel is a cold-resistant plant, its seeds begin to germinate already at +3 degrees, so they can be planted even in winter. Pre-cultivation of seedlings is not required, the seeds can be immediately planted in open ground.
There are 3 optimal sowing dates:
- Early spring. Planting material can be sown immediately after the possibility of soil treatment appears. Harvest will be collected in the same season.
- Summer seeding. It should be carried out after harvesting vegetable crops of early ripening (June). Sorrel can root well before the onset of winter frost.
- Sowing in the winter. You can plant seeds in late autumn (late October - early November). It is necessary to wait for severe cold weather with night frosts and dry weather. The fact is that the seeds should not germinate before the onset of winter. When sowing before winter, it is important to fill the rows with high-quality humus, connected in equal proportion with the garden soil.
Choosing a landing site
Culture develops well in moderate shading. It is worth choosing a site where fertile soil prevails. It should be wet, but without stagnant water. The optimum level of groundwater is not more than 1 m.
Sorrel grows best on loamy and sandy soils rich in humus. It is desirable that the earth had a weak acid reaction.
Selection and preparation of material
Photo and description of how healthy seed should look
Healthy seeds have an oblong shape and dark brown color.
Where to get?
How to collect yourself To collect the sorrel seeds, you must follow the following instructions:
- The selected plant does not cut the leaves at all.
- Culture blooms in May, and the seeds ripen in the first half of July.
- Sorrel panicles, on which seeds are formed, turn brown. After that, they can be cut, knitted into corollas and dried for 10 days.
- After that, it is necessary to carry out threshing of seeds by rubbing the panicles with hands and eliminating garbage.
- The seeds thus collected are suitable for use for 4 years, but only if they are stored in a dry place.
Can I buy and where?
You can buy planting material in a specialty store. or order online. You can buy sorrel seeds in Moscow and St. Petersburg at a price of 10-18 rubles.
When choosing seeds, it is necessary to carefully study the packaging, paying attention to such nuances:
- marking;
- shelf life;
- planting dates;
- landing time in the ground.
Quite often this information on the packaging is incorrectly interpreted. This happens due to incorrect translation, as a result of which climatic conditions are not met.
How to process and whether to soak before the procedure?
In order for the planting material to fully emerge, it will have to be properly prepared, following the following procedure:
- Soak the seeds in warm water, after wrapping them in gauze. Leave them for 2 days. Due to the fact that the seeds absorb all the moisture, they will emerge faster.
- Various nutrient fertilizers can be added to the water. This will allow the plant to be stronger and more resistant to external stimuli.
By doing these simple manipulations, you can get 100% germination of sorrel seeds.
Sowing scheme
After all the preparatory work has been carried out, you can proceed directly to planting seeds. Procedure:
- To sow seeds stands in rows with a distance of 15-20 cm.
- In the spring of planting material close up to a depth of 8 mm-1 cm.
- Friendly shoots can be observed after 8-11 days, and if the crops are covered with film - in 3-5 days.
- After a week, sprouts must be thinned so that there is a distance of 5-7 cm between them.
- If sowing is done in the summer, then in 2-3 days the soil will have to be saturated with moisture. To do this, thoroughly pour the garden bed with water so that the earth is well soaked.
- If you sow the seeds for the winter, then the bed should be prepared in advance, so that the earth is settled, and the planting material is not washed away by precipitation into the deep layers of the soil.
How to care to quickly ascended?
Between individual plants should remain 10 cm. If this condition is not fulfilled, the sorrel will stop growing or will give weak, thin leaves.
In addition, the care of young plants is as follows:
- Weed removal. They interfere with the full growth of sorrel. Only weeds are important to pluck, not tear. After this, be sure to break through the ground.
- Top dressing. It can be done by any available means. Chemistry and organic chemistry are suitable for this. The latter option is less harmful, but no less effective. For young sprouts it is best to feed with humus and ash. This composition will contribute to the active growth of new leaves. Fertilizers with superphosphate, urea, potassium chloride or any nitrogenous substances are suitable from ready-made preparations.
- Watering. It should be regular. Sorrel responds positively to water, so drought is not recommended. The soil must always remain wet. Use only warm and separated water. In case of insufficient watering, the plant will begin to throw out flower stalks.
Growing sorrel from seeds in the country or in the garden is a simple matter, but requires compliance with all recommendations for processing planting material and its further planting. Even a novice gardener will be able to cope with the task. It is only important to choose the seeds more carefully, trusting only proven producers. And the best thing is not to be lazy and collect them personally, to be exactly sure as a result of the work done.