Content
- 1 Description of sorrel
- 2 When to plant sorrel in open ground with seeds
- 3 What kind of soil does sorrel like?
- 4 How to plant sorrel seeds in the ground
- 5 How long does it take for sorrel to sprout?
- 6 Sorrel care
- 7 How to treat sorrel against pests
- 8 Harvesting
- 9 What can you plant after sorrel?
- 10 Conclusion
Planting and caring for sorrel in the open ground is not a difficult task. It is considered one of the simplest garden crops, sometimes runs wild, and on acidic soils it can grow as weed. In spring, sorrel is one of the first to begin to grow green mass.
Today, mainly the first green leaves are eaten, making up for the lack of vitamins and microelements after winter. Then the culture is most often safely forgotten until the next season. And more recently in Russia, cabbage soup, side dishes, and filling for baked goods were prepared from young greens. Sorrel is often used in modern French cuisine - it is added to omelettes and sauces. The most popular is the “health soup” – potage sante.
Description of sorrel
Sour sorrel (Rumex acetosa), which belongs to the Buckwheat family, is grown as a food crop.It is a food, medicinal and technical perennial herbaceous plant. Depending on the variety and growing conditions, it reaches a height of 15-40 cm, and together with the flower shoot - 100 cm.
The root of the plant is taproot, with a large number of lateral shoots. The stem is ascending, simple or branched at the base. If you constantly pick off the leaves and prevent flowering, it will be short and almost invisible. Sorrel that receives excess fertilizing, especially phosphorus, or is left without pruning shoots out an arrow, causing the stem to stretch.
Leaves up to 20 cm, spear-shaped, located on long petioles. At the top of the stem they have a lanceolate shape and at the point of attachment they form a torn film socket. The leaves located directly on the shoot are sparse, small, sessile.
In July-August, unremarkable greenish or reddish flowers appear, collected in a loose panicle. By September-October, small shiny seeds ripen, resembling a brown triangular nut.
The most popular varieties are those called spinach. They are distinguished by large leaves, high content of carotene and vitamin C. Spinach sorrel contains 1.5 times more proteins than regular sorrel and 3 times less acids.
When to plant sorrel in open ground with seeds
In one place the crop grows from 3 to 5 years. It produces little in the first year, so it makes sense to start a new bed before removing the old one. You can choose the timing of sorrel planting at your own discretion. Sowing seeds in open ground is carried out in early spring, as soon as the snow melts, in summer and late autumn in regions with cool and temperate climates.
What kind of soil does sorrel like?
Unlike most garden crops, sorrel prefers acidic soils. It also grows well in slightly acidic soil conditions. At neutral, development occurs slowly - the leaves become small, the harvest will be small. But sorrel is not a green that is eaten daily and in large quantities. If you are not planning to bake pies with it or freeze it for the winter, a dozen bushes are usually enough for your own consumption, so gardeners rarely think about acidifying the soil with a neutral reaction.
But if you need a lot of greens, for example, for sale, and the acidity of the soil “does not reach” the requirements of sorrel, it is increased artificially. For this purpose, high-moor (red) peat is used. It also increases the permeability of the soil and improves its structure.
The plant will produce the greatest harvest on fertile soils rich in organic matter. But for your own consumption, it is not necessary to specifically enrich the beds with humus or compost. They are added only if you really need a lot of greens, or if there is enough organic matter on the farm in excess for all crops.
How to plant sorrel seeds in the ground
The easiest way to plant sorrel in the spring is to divide the bush into several parts. But the most tender and delicious greens can be obtained by sowing seeds in open ground.
What to plant sorrel next to
Sorrel is planted next to the following crops:
- between the bushes of gooseberries and black currants;
- along the edge of the raspberry tree;
- next to garden strawberries;
- Vegetable crops can be planted together with radishes, carrots, and cabbage;
- Of the spicy aromatic plants next to sorrel, only mint and lemon balm will feel good.
You cannot plant crops near:
- leguminous plants - they mutually inhibit each other;
- tomatoes;
- any herbs other than those listed above.
Preparing the landing site
A bed for planting sorrel in open ground with seeds must be prepared in advance. Ideally, the area is dug up and allowed to settle for 2 weeks. But it is not always possible to do everything according to the rules due to lack of time or other reasons. Then the bed intended for sorrel is loosened and watered, and the next day the seeds are sown.
If necessary, add acidic peat and organic matter during digging. Humus and compost enrich the soil with essential nutrients. If the soil is poor and there is no excess organic matter, you will have to use mineral fertilizers. They should not contain phosphorus, as this substance promotes bolting. Nitrogen can be given in any form, but potassium-rich ash cannot be added to sorrel - it deoxidizes the soil.
Seed preparation
It is not necessary to prepare sorrel seeds for planting. They germinate at a temperature of +3° C, although +20° C is considered optimal. When sowing in early spring and late autumn, preparing the seeds can lead to them not germinating on time and the seedlings dying.
You can soak and stimulate planting material during late spring and summer planting and growing sorrel under a film cover or in a greenhouse. Then the tender seedlings are no longer afraid of weather disasters.
It is possible to grow sorrel through seedlings, but it does not make sense.
How to plant sorrel correctly
Sorrel is sowed in pre-prepared beds. First, make shallow furrows and water them generously. Rarely sow seeds and cover with 2 cm of soil. Additional moisture is not needed; there will be enough moisture in the soil for seedlings to germinate.
The distance between the rows is approximately 15-20 cm. Per 1 sq. m of planting consumes approximately 1.5 g of seeds.
Is it possible to replant sorrel?
If necessary, the plant can be replanted or moved to another place. It is easily propagated by division in spring or autumn and quickly takes root. But the crop is easy to grow from seeds, and the greens of young plants are much tastier than those picked from an old bush.
It makes sense to propagate rare or ornamental varieties by division. This should be done in the spring, as soon as the sorrel begins to grow, at the end of summer or beginning of autumn, after the heat subsides.
- The old bush is dug up.
- Shake off excess soil from the roots.
- Using a sharp knife, divide into several parts, removing old, diseased or pest-damaged areas.
- Too long roots are shortened.
- In pre-prepared soil, shallow holes are made at a distance of 10 cm from each other. The rows should be 15-20 cm apart.
- The cuttings are planted, the soil is compacted, and watered abundantly.
How long does it take for sorrel to sprout?
When sowing dry seeds and temperatures above +3° C, sorrel begins to sprout after 2 weeks. If you build a film shelter, the first shoots will appear in 5-8 days.Sorrel will also hatch faster if you first soak the seeds in a growth stimulant or ordinary water, but not with early spring or late autumn plantings.
Sorrel care
Growing sorrel and caring for it in open ground does not take much time. Perhaps this is the simplest garden crop that can be planted even in partial shade and only harvested. But if you give the plant minimal care, you can provide yourself with fresh vitamin-rich greens from early spring to late autumn. It is used for salads, soups, freezing and baking.
Thinning of seedlings
An important step in planting and caring for sorrel is thinning out the seedlings. No matter how often gardeners try to sow seeds in open ground, some of the young plants will still have to be removed.
The bushes should not grow close to each other - this way they cannot develop normally and you will not be able to get a high-quality harvest. When the planting is dense, the feeding area is reduced, the leaves block each other's light, and favorable conditions are created for the development of diseases and the proliferation of pests.
As soon as 2-3 true leaves appear, the seedlings break through, leaving 5-10 cm between the bushes in the rows. The distance depends on the nutritional value of the soil and the variety.
Watering and feeding sorrel
Sorrel is not considered a drought-resistant crop, but even in the south, planted in partial shade, it can withstand hot summers. Of course, the plant needs to be watered several times a season, but it needs loosening the soil more than water. If there is a lack of moisture, sorrel is unlikely to die, but its leaves will become small and hard, and young ones will stop growing even after complete pruning.
In order for a lot of greenery to form, in early spring the crop is fed with nitrogen, no matter whether it is of mineral or organic origin. After each mass pruning, the procedure is repeated. At the end of August or beginning of September, the bushes are fertilized with potassium and stop producing nitrogen. In this case, ash cannot be used, as it reduces the acidity of the soil.
Phosphorus should generally be excluded from the sorrel “diet” - it promotes flowering. As soon as the arrow appears, young leaves stop forming and all the plant’s forces are directed to the formation of seeds.
If you do not fertilize the sorrel at all, in the first year after planting it will still produce a lot of greenery. In subsequent seasons, only spring collection of leaves will be satisfactory.
Loosening and mulching
Loosening the soil is an important stage in crop care. It should be carried out regularly, which will allow the sorrel root system to receive enough oxygen, prevent the appearance of weeds and reduce the number of waterings.
It is not necessary to mulch the beds. This is not particularly important for the culture itself, but it can make care easier. It is best to use acidic peat - it brings the soil reaction to the requirements of sorrel. You can cover the ground with paper or humus. Some gardeners plant crops on black agrofibre.
Removing flower arrows
Flowering depletes sorrel, promotes aging of the root, and prevents the formation of young leaves. The arrows are left only if they want to get their own seeds. To do this, select a few of the best bushes, since it simply does not make sense to allow all plants to bloom.
On other plants, the arrows are removed as soon as they appear. At the same time, it is better to cut them off rather than tear them off by hand.
How to treat sorrel against pests
Despite the high acid content, the crop has its own pests:
- sorrel aphid, sucking juice from leaves;
- sorrel leaf borer;
- sawyer caterpillars.
Among the diseases we should highlight:
- downy mildew of sorrel, manifested as a white coating on the leaves;
- rust, which causes brown spots to appear on greenery;
- rot resulting from overwatering, especially on dense soils.
It is impossible to solve problems by using ash, as many sources advise - when this substance, invaluable for most crops, is added, the soil deoxidizes, which harms sorrel. A soap solution, the benefits of which are already questionable, is an alkali in its pure form, only diluted with water.
Although sorrel pests oppress the culture, and fighting them is a troublesome task, the use of chemicals is not recommended. It is better to treat with infusion of garlic, wormwood, and hot pepper. Diseases are treated by spraying the plantings with phytosporin.
As a preventive measure, we can recommend:
- adjust watering, sorrel does not need a lot of water;
- regularly loosen the beds;
- thin out the planting.
Harvesting
Sorrel is rich in citric and malic acid, which give it a sour taste, proteins, potassium, iron and vitamin C. The first green leaves that appear in early spring are especially valuable.
It is precisely because of the presence of oxalic acid in greens that many gardeners bypass this unpretentious crop that begins its growing season early. But they forget or simply don’t know that young leaves completely process the harmful substance during the growth process.Acid accumulates exclusively in old, hard and rough leaves, which are easy to distinguish from soft, tender fresh leaves.
During the summer, the bushes need to be cut off completely twice. Removing old leaves stimulates the constant appearance of new ones, which allows you to consume vitamin-rich greens from early spring to late autumn.
You can simply pick off the young sorrel growing in the center of the rosette as needed. But at the same time, you should not forget to remove and throw away old leaves on the compost heap.
With intensive cultivation from 1 sq. m per season, 2-2.5 kg of greens are collected. The crop produces its greatest yield in the second and third years after germination.
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What can you plant after sorrel?
After sorrel, you can plant any crops, except other greens and plants belonging to the Buckwheat family.
Conclusion
Planting and caring for sorrel in the open ground will not cause trouble even to the laziest gardener. You can simply plant a dozen bushes and eat the first tender leaves in early spring, when the body needs vitamins and microelements more than ever. Then other crops will arrive, and sorrel can be forgotten until next spring.
