Content
When looking for a carrot variety for the new season, many want to buy a carrot variety without a core, fearing the harmful substances that accumulate there. Vita Longa carrots are one such variety.
Description
Refers to late-ripening, high-yielding varieties. Carrots were selected by the Dutch company Bejo Zaden. Suitable for cultivation in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. The variety takes 160 days from sowing seeds to harvesting.
Under favorable conditions, root crops reach a weight of 0.5 kg. The usual weight of carrots is up to 250 g and length up to 30 cm, conical shape with a blunt tip. The color of the root vegetables is orange. The variety grows well in heavy soil. Productivity up to 6.5 kg/m².
The Vita Longa carrot variety is resistant to diseases and pests, has good shelf life, and is not prone to cracking. According to the seed manufacturer, it is suitable for long-term storage. Designed not only for fresh consumption or cooking, but also for preparing baby food and juice. The variety is interesting for industrial cultivation.
Sowing
Seeds are sown in grooves located at a distance of 20 cm from each other. Ideally, carrots of this variety are recommended to be planted at a distance of 4 cm from each other. But due to the size of the seeds, it is very difficult to maintain uniform planting.
For the 2018 season, the company released a new product called “Bystrosev”, including the Vita Longa variety.
The seeds in the package are mixed with dry gel powder. To sow, just pour water into the package, shake well, wait 10 minutes until the powder turns into a gel mass, shake again to evenly distribute the carrot seeds in the gel mass, and you can sow after first removing the seal.
The manufacturer claims that this method has several undeniable advantages:
- productivity doubles;
- seeds are saved;
- there is no need to thin out the crops, since the seeds fall evenly;
- the gel protects seeds from diseases;
- high seed sowing speed.
Of course, there are no reviews about this method yet. Neither the germination rate nor the percentage of seed germination is known. Most likely, this information will arrive in time for the 2019 season.
To be fair, vegetable growers used a similar method of sowing carrot seeds even before the company, using a liquid paste made from flour or starch. Pour several packages of carrot seeds into a liter jar with warm paste and mix. Then the contents of the jar are poured into an empty detergent or shampoo bottle and the prepared grooves are filled with the resulting mass. The uniformity of seed distribution is quite satisfactory.
If there are doubts that the seeds from the manufacturer have been processed properly or there is a desire to speed up the germination of seeds by first removing essential oils from them, you can use the old method by purchasing a regular package of seeds and planting the seeds in any available way.
Most likely, Vita Long carrots are very sensitive to excess organic matter in the soil.There were cases when, instead of one root crop, under one rosette of leaves, up to five carrots were found, fused at the tops, while other varieties of carrots growing nearby had ordinary root crops.
Branching of carrot roots is possible either when there is an excess of organic fertilizers in the soil, up to fresh manure added last year, or when damaged by pests, or when carrot roots are damaged by a careless gardener during weeding. The last two versions are unlikely if there are other “normal” varieties of carrots nearby. It is unlikely that garden pests are so well versed in carrot varieties, and the gardener was careless only when weeding Vita Long.
When planting Vita Longa carrots in the beds, you should take into account its sensitivity to excess organic matter. It is always better to add fertilizer later than to add too much fertilizer to the soil.
Pests
On the websites of online stores that sell seeds, you can often find recommendations to buy seeds only from trusted manufacturers, but under no circumstances do not buy them directly. The advice is not without reason, although, at first glance, it may seem that this is a publicity stunt.
Not to mention the possibility of buying mismatched or simply low-quality seeds, it is worth dwelling on the possibility of introducing such a “cute” pest as the root-knot nematode into your garden beds.
Root nematode
From the point of view of the risk of infection with this parasite, seeds are the safest. But the nematode can overwinter not only in the soil and roots of plants, but also in seeds. Therefore, before sowing, it is better to disinfect doubtful seeds in water heated to 45°C for 15 minutes.
Carrots affected by root-knot nematodes look like this:
Unfortunately, this parasite cannot be eradicated. Once he gets into the garden, he won’t leave it alone. Unlike other macro pests, this one is not visible to the naked eye and cannot be picked out by hand. The size of the worm is only 0.2 mm.
The nematode penetrates root crops, forming swellings-galls. Plants affected by this worm die from lack of nutrients. Nematode eggs are stored in the ground for years, waiting for favorable conditions.
Control measures
There are practically no measures to combat this parasite. In industrial cultivation, methyl bromide is the most effective for plant protection. But it kills not only nematodes, but also all microflora in the soil, including beneficial ones. Aktofit and Fitoverm are not so dangerous for microflora and protect healthy plants well from nematodes penetrating into them, but do not work if the plants are already infected.
Nematicides used to treat infected plants are extremely toxic to humans and their use in garden plots is unacceptable.
Therefore, for a private owner, prevention comes first:
- buying seeds in stores, not from hand;
- disinfection of equipment;
- soil disinfection.
These measures will reduce the risk of nematode infection. If the plants are already affected by the worm, they are removed and destroyed. If carrots are damaged by a nematode, the tops will begin to wither and lag in growth. When these signs appear, it is worth checking the carrots for the presence of galls on the root crop.
Hawthorn aphid
Fortunately, this pest cannot be carried with seeds.The hawthorn aphid overwinters on hawthorn, and at the end of spring it moves to the leaves and petioles of carrots, where it parasitizes until autumn, slowing down the growth of carrots, or even destroying them altogether. After which he again goes to sleep on the hawthorn tree.
There are no effective methods to control this type of aphid. As a preventative measure, you need to place beds with carrots as far as possible from the hawthorn.
Bacteriosis of carrots
No longer a parasite, but a fungal disease, which can also be introduced with untested seeds.
During the growing season, a sign of bacteriosis in carrots is yellowing and then browning of the leaves. With severe damage, the leaves dry out.
Carrots affected by bacteriosis are no longer suitable for storage. Another name for bacteriosis is “wet bacterial rot.” If during the growing season bacteriosis does not look very dangerous, then during storage it can destroy the entire supply of carrots, since it can be transmitted from a diseased root crop to a healthy one.
Control measures
Maintaining crop rotation. Carrots can be returned to their original place no earlier than three years later. Do not sow carrots after onions, cabbage, garlic and umbrella crops, such as dill or celery.
Buy only seeds from healthy plants, that is, in specialized stores.
It is better to grow carrots in light soils with good water permeability and aeration. Nitrogen fertilizers should not be applied before harvesting.
Considering the resistance of Vita Longa carrots to diseases and pests advertised by the manufacturer, information about diseases and pests of carrots may not be useful to the lucky owners of bags of seeds of this variety, and Vita Longa will delight its owners with a good harvest.
