Sorrel is an unpretentious vegetable plant, which is one of the first to please summer residents with fresh herbs. It is not difficult to grow sorrel - it is cold-resistant, grown in a reckless way, and does not require special care. We learn how and when to sorrel to provide yourself with vitamin greens by the right time.
Description and specifications
Sorrel is a herbaceous dioecious plant. Annual or perennial. From the buckwheat family. Botanical features:
- Root. The rod type, branched, fleshy, penetrates deep into the soil.
- Stem. Erect. Reaches 1 m in height. Dark purple at the base. At the top is an inflorescence.
- Leaves. Basal - long-leaved, 15-20 cm long. They have an arrow-shaped base and a pronounced median vein. Stem leaves are arranged alternately. They have an ovoid-oblong shape, the base is swept.
- Inflorescences. In the form of a panicle. Polygamous type. The flowers are pink or pale red. Blossom in June-July.
- Fetus. Pointed smooth achene with sharp ribs and convex edges. The color is brownish black. The length of the achene is up to 1.7 cm.
Sorrel grows wherever plants can survive. But prefers moderate latitudes. It settles on the slopes of ravines, forest edges, inhabits the shores of swamps and lakes, grows in meadows and on roadside curbs.
The first crop appears in May, and ends in July. During the season, the leaves are cut 4-5 times in 10-15 days. Then the leaves coarsen, the concentration of oxalic acid grows in them - because of this, they become less useful. Sorrel has a lot of ascorbic acid, carotene, various vitamins, flavonoids, proteins, organic acids and trace elements.
Characteristics of sorrel as a vegetable crop:
- Not afraid of winter frosts and spring frosts. In the spring it is able to withstand temperatures up to minus 7 ° C.
- It differs in early germination. The first sprouts appear when the soil warms up to +3 ° С.
- Prefers moist soils. With a lack of moisture, arrows begin to throw out, and the sheet plates become coarse. But in places of constant accumulation of water it grows poorly - moderate humidity is needed.
- Soil prefers slightly acidic or neutral.
- Able to produce stable crops in one place for 4-5 years.
- It grows well in shaded places - near trees, sheds, fences.
- Cultivated sorrel leaves are larger, and the taste is less acidic than that of a wild-growing counterpart.
What are the varieties?
High-yielding sorrel varieties have been bred by breeders. Specialty stores sell sorrel varieties that differ in leaf shape and size, taste, cold resistance and other characteristics. Sorrel is re-planted every 3-4 years, otherwise the plantings will degenerate. Planting scheme for any grade - 20x5-8 cm.
There are sorrel varieties that are used as ornamental plants to decorate flower beds. Moreover, their leaves are quite edible.
Popular varieties of sorrel:
- Emerald snow. High yielding variety. From the appearance of seedlings to cut takes 46-52 days. Seeds are sown in spring, before winter, in summer. Leaves are slightly bubbled, collected in a spreading, raised rosette. Arrows throws out late. Harvest from 1 square. m - 7.5 kg. The leaves taste good, they make salads, put in soups, salt, freeze and canned.
- Belleville. An old, proven variety does not lose ground - gardeners love this frost-resistant sorrel with thick petioles. For 1 square. m grows up to 7 kg of leaves. The variety is universal - the leaves are eaten fresh, boiled, canned.
- Malachite. Early winter hardy grade. It has a high rate of leaf growth. From seedlings to cut - 40-45 days. The leaves are wavy at the edges, slightly bubbled, 12-15 cm long. The rosette is erect, loose.
- Large-leaved. Very early and frost resistant variety. Ripening - 30-45 days after the appearance of the first shoots. Light green leaves have a pleasant taste. Stem relatively stable.
- Broadleaf. One of the most popular varieties. Early ripening - the crop is cut for 40-45 days. The leaves are elongated-ovate, long-leaved. With 1 sq. m collect 8 kg of greens. The leaves taste slightly acidic - good for salads. Minus - it shoots strongly if the summer is wet. The last cut is mid-August.
- Odessa broadleaf. Early winter hardy grade. Harvest cut 45 days after germination. The leaves are dark green in color, elongated in ovoid shape. Length - 16 cm, width - 7 cm. Rosette loose, erect. m - from 3 to 8 kg of greenery. Salads, soups are prepared from leaves, winter preparations are made.
- Altaic. Spear-shaped leaves. Young leaves are dark green, later acquire a reddish hue. Petioles are thin and long. The taste is medium acid or sour. High frost resistance. Upright outlet.
- Lyonsky. The leaves are large, fleshy, greenish yellow. The form is ovoid. Petioles are thick. High yielding variety. Minus - low frost resistance.
- Bloody Mary. Decorative grade. Novelty On the leaves - a pattern of burgundy veins. Edible leaves - they are used like leaves of other varieties.
- Red veins. Decorative grade. Plant height - 40 cm. Leaves are green, spear-shaped - on their surface are burgundy red veins. The socket is erect. The plant looks beautiful surrounded by stones. The pattern is especially bright in plants growing in the sun. Seeds germinate for about three weeks, so this variety is better to grow seedlings. The leaves are edible, they are eaten young - until they become coarse.
grade Emerald snow
Belleville variety
malachite
Large leaf variety
Broadleaf variety
Variety Odessa broadleaf
Altai variety
grade Lyons
variety Bloody Mary
grade Red veins
Gardeners who are interested in new breeding products can also appreciate the varieties - Meal, Vegetarian, Avdeevsky, Shchi-borsch, Sanguine.
Choosing a landing place
A sorrel bed is arranged in a place where a shadow falls during the sun. Better to plant it in partial shade of trees. Soil characteristics are not important - sorrel produces crops under any conditions. A place for sowing is chosen in the fall in order to properly prepare the soil. When choosing a site, crop rotation rules are taken into account - sorrel grows well after greens, onions and pumpkin plants.
If the sorrel is planted for its own consumption, 1-2 square meters will be enough for planting the sorrel. m area - a crop from such an area is quite enough for a large family.
Soil preparation
Prepare the soil in the fall. The procedure for processing the plot for sorrel:
- dig up;
- weed vegetation is removed;
- In the fall, they add organic fertilizer - ash and compost;
- a couple of weeks before sowing, nitrogen fertilizers are applied;
- before sowing the seeds, the beds are loosened and leveled.
The terms and volumes of fertilizers applied for sorrel planting are shown in table 1.
Table 1
Fertilizer | Weight, g (for 1 sq. M) | Season |
humus + potassium + phosphate (6: 1: 1) | 2 | fall |
ammonium nitrate + potassium salt (1: 1) | 4 | Spring |
superphosphate | 4 | Spring |
urea | 40 | Spring |
humus | 3000 | Spring |
Seed preparation
To increase germination, sorrel seeds are soaked in water, wrapped in gauze. Soaking time - 2 days. After absorbing moisture, the seeds will sprout faster than dry ones. Nutritious fertilizers are added to the water. But all these manipulations are optional, if there is no desire to mess around - sow without soaking, the sorrel will rise under any circumstances. But without special seed preparation, it will not grow so big and strong.
How and when are sorrel seeds sown?
Sorrel is a very cold-resistant plant, therefore, seedlings are not needed for its cultivation - the seeds are sown directly in open ground. Optimum sowing dates:
- In early spring. Harvest - 40-45 days after germination.
- Summer. Seeds are sown in June - after harvesting early ripe vegetable crops. The plant manages to take root before the winter cold.
- Late fall. Sowing is carried out before winter - in October-early November. They are sown after the onset of cold weather, in dry weather, there should be frosts at night - under these conditions, the seeds will not germinate and will transplant the winter safely.
Sowing conditions for sorrel seeds:
- Depth. Seeds are buried 2 cm into the prepared soil.
- Distance between seeds. Seeds are sown with an interval of 4-5 cm.
- Aisles. The optimal distance between the rows is 15 cm.
The planting is mulched with peat and covered with a film.
Watch the video on how sorrel seeds are sown:
When do the first shoots appear?
If the crops are covered with a film, then after 5-7 days the first leaves will appear. Without a film, seeds will sprout in 2 weeks, not earlier. As soon as the first greens appear, the planting is thinned out - there must be a gap of 10 cm between neighboring plants.
At a late landing, instead of a film, it is advisable to use agrofibre - under it a favorable microclimate is formed. This option is good during the onset of heat, when the soil dries quickly.
Sorrel Care
Sorrel is unpretentious and requires a minimum of care. After the emergence of seedlings, the main task of gardeners is to timely loosen and water the plantings. And if the sorrel is also regularly fed, several high yields are provided.
When and how much to water?
Sorrel is responsive to soil moisture, so it needs regular watering. At ambient temperatures above 26 ° C, the plant is oppressed, grows poorly and quickly fades. The quality of the crop is declining. Watering helps to prevent a drop in productivity - they should be generous, but without stagnation of water.
A break in watering and drying out of the soil provokes the ejection of peduncles.
Do weeding and tilling?
Sorrel, like any garden crop, requires loosening - to prevent the formation of a crust and air to the roots. In the spring, row-spacing must be loosened, adding humus mixed with ash to the soil. Along with loosening weedy vegetation.
Mulching and fertilizer
To make weed control easier, the soil is mulched. Mulch is laid between the rows. As mulch use:
- peat;
- humus;
- fallen leaves.
Spring feeding provides sorrel with nutrients and activates the growth of young plants. Superphosphate, potassium chloride, urea, nitrogen fertilizers are suitable for feeding. Choosing a fertilizer, take into account weather conditions. Dry fertilizers are scattered in the rain; in dry weather, the plant is watered with liquid formulations.
After spring loosening of the soil, top dressing per 1 square. m:
- mullein solution (1: 6) - 1 bucket;
- potash and phosphorus fertilizers - 10-25 g.
To maintain a high yield, plants are fed with complex mineral fertilizers after each cut. The emphasis is on the nitrogen component.
Autumn Care
The last cut should not be carried out later than mid-September, otherwise the plant will not have time to recover by winter. For every 1 square. m contribute:
- superphosphate - 30-40 g;
- potassium chloride - 15-20 g.
After fertilizing, mulch the aisles with humus or compost - 3-5 cm layer. Mulch cover the sorrel roots - if they are bare. m grabs two buckets of mulch. If the weather is dry, the plants are watered, not forgetting to break out the peduncles. It is not necessary to cover plantings for the winter - the sorrel is rather frost-resistant.
Diseases and Pests
In the garden there are enough people who want to feast on sour leaves. Sorrel pests and control measures are shown in table 2.
table 2
Pest | Damage / signs of illness | Control measures |
Sorrel leaf beetle | Eats leaves of a plant | Spraying with ash, solutions of laundry soap and garlic, tobacco dust. If you plant a pyrethrum in the aisles, the leaf beetle will not appear on the sorrel. |
Aphid | Drinks juice from the leaves - they turn yellow, die, plants die. | Spray with infusion of wood ash, tomato tops and burdock, adding a little liquid soap. |
Sawfly | Caterpillars gnaw leaves, leaving only skeletons from them from veins. | Prevention - removal of weeds. Spray with infusion of chamomile with the addition of liquid soap. |
Winter scoop | It eats foliage all summer, and in autumn it moves closer to the soil. | Digging a site, installing traps - at a height of 1 m, tanks with fermenting liquid (stewed fruit, honey water, molasses) are suspended. |
Wireworm | These are the larvae of the nutcracker. They damage the roots and foliage. | Timely removal of weeds. Neutralization of acidic soil. Digging a plot after harvesting. |
Powdery mildew | On all aerial parts of the plant - a white coating. | Spraying with Bordeaux fluid. |
Rust | On all aboveground parts there are brown small spots. Swollen and bursting spots spread harmful spores. | Mulching, application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizing, treatment with a copper-soap solution, Fitosporin, various fungicides. |
Peronosporosis | The inner side of the leaves is covered with spots with a gray coating. Leaves twist, become fragile. | 10 days before harvesting, the plants are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid. |
White spotting | On the aboveground parts - petioles, stems, leaves, dirty white spots with black dots appear. | Timely cleaning of the remains of diseased plants. Fungicide treatment. |
Gray rot | The causative agent is a fungus. There are brown spots on the leaves, they quickly grow and become watery. Leaves rot, turning into a gray dusty mass. | The disease appears with high humidity. Mulching the soil with peat, pollinating the soil with lime-fluff / ash - near the plants. |
Harvesting
Mass foliage cut begins about 2 months after sowing. Sorrel sown in spring will be ready in June. If you sow seeds in the fall, the first greens will appear much earlier - as soon as the snow melts.
The best time for harvesting is morning, when the leaves are as juicy as possible. Ready sorrel leaves are removed by cutting or tearing. It is recommended to leave the central leaves - they are smaller than the rest, and they will go to a new crop.
If agricultural technology is followed, 4-5 crops can be harvested per season. Cleaning ends in August. Leaves that appear after the last cut leave - with them the plant will survive the winter better.
The best way to harvest sorrel is by freezing. With this storage method, it is possible to maintain a maximum of nutrients.
The combination of sorrel with other plants
Sorrel is considered a neutral plant, so it grows well in any neighborhood. But there are still recommendations for combining sorrel with other cultures:
- Black currant. Sorrel grows well in the shade of her bushes. Currants benefit from this neighborhood - its leaves become more juicy and healthy, and the fruits acquire a pleasant aftertaste.
- Raspberry. Sorrel is placed around the perimeter of the raspberry. Powerful sorrel roots prevent root processes from spreading through the garden. Shadowing from raspberries is good for sorrel - its leaves become brighter and juicier.
Sorrel has a beneficial effect on the yield of radish and carrots, its presence and cabbage will not be damaged. The plant also coexists well with garden strawberries, gooseberries, lettuce, mint, lemon balm.
Undesirable neighborhood of sorrel with:
- spicy herbs;
- Tomatoes
- legumes.
Why sorrel does not rise?
If sorrel seeds are of high quality, tested for germination, and seedlings for some reason do not appear within the time indicated by agricultural technology, the matter is probably in the depth of the sowing. Many gardeners do not know that sorrel seeds cannot be buried more than 1 cm. The seeds of this crop are very small, sown deep, they simply can not break through the layer of earth.
When sowing seeds, deep furrows are not made - it is enough, having a chopper, to make a small depression. Top seeds lightly sprinkled with earth.
Sorrel value
Sorrel is especially appreciated in early spring, when there are no vegetables in the garden. Sour sorrel leaves are added to soups and borscht, to salads, toppings for pies. The green part of the sorrel contains (100 g) 3% of the daily protein intake.
The most nutritious and useful are young leaves. Sorrel should be consumed sparingly, as the acids contained in it can negatively affect the kidneys.
Sorrel is a source of potassium, iron, manganese, iodine, organic acids, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), vitamins A, E, K, H, PP, group B and many other useful substances. In folk medicine, this plant is used as a choleretic, antiseptic, fixing, anti-inflammatory, anti-zingotic, antitoxic and hemostatic agent. Sorrel normalizes the stomach and metabolism.
Sorrel is an affordable source of vitamins, tasty and healthy. Simple agricultural techniques allow you to have fresh greens of this plant from early spring to late autumn. And thanks to the variety of varieties, everyone will choose sorrel to their taste - acidic, medium or slightly acidic.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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