Growing horseradish on the site is not difficult, especially for an experienced gardener. The plant has an unpretentious character, and there are so many benefits from it that you simply cannot do without this product in your garden.
Elementary care techniques will provide you with a regular harvest, and if you take care of the plant with love and attention, the result will exceed all expectations. The leaves will be large and rich green, while no pests or diseases will damage the crop.
General information
Growing horseradish is a kind of tradition for Slavic gardeners. After all, when the time comes for preparations for the winter, this particular product is most popular, and it is very convenient when it is always at hand, and even fresh.
As a member of the cabbage plant family, horseradish has large leaves and an edible root with a specific taste. The plant came to us from the Mediterranean. It can grow both in garden plots and in the wild. Prefers moist soil, so it can often be found near bodies of water.
A feature of the plant is not only its spicy taste, but also the saturation of useful substances. Both leaves and roots contain the following elements:
- vitamins;
- ascorbic and nicotinic acid;
- carotene;
- lysozyme;
- phytoncides;
- alyl mustard oil.
From the components of horseradish, preparations are prepared for the treatment of colds, flu, for the prevention of scurvy, inflammation, tumors, etc. It is possible to list all the advantages of this plant for a very long time, but today our goal is to acquaint the reader with the rules for caring for the plant.
Growing horseradish
The plant has good frost tolerance and easily winters without harm to the crop. Without transplanting, you can grow it up to ten years. But still, the young plant is distinguished by the most intense taste. A very beneficial factor is that no matter what soil you have on the site, you can grow horseradish everywhere.
Cultivation and care will not differ much from fertile lands, where everything grows by itself anyway. The same can be said about lighting. He will suit both the shade, and the sun, and partial shade. If there is a choice, it is recommended to plant the plant in partial shade with a wet bud, where humus is present. Horseradish is good for feeding with organic fertilizers. For this purpose, you can use both manure and peat. And if you add a mineral complex later, it will strengthen the plant even better. Although even without special feeding, it will grow, just not as lush as it could.would. To get roots, you need to wait for autumn, and only then dig up a bush.
Preparation
In order to plant new bushes of a plant such as horseradish, the growing conditions of which we describe, you need to prepare planting material. The seed method is not used, since the plant very rarely produces seeds. Gardeners prefer the cutting method. The cuttings should be from twenty to thirty centimeters long with a stem with a diameter of at least a centimeter. Choose only strong roots, removing all unnecessary parts.
After you have collected the required number of cuttings, tie them into a bundle and place them in a cool place for storage until spring. It could be a basement or a barn. It is recommended to cover the roots with sawdust or sand to prevent root development before they are planted in the soil.
With the onset of spring, the cuttings should be moved to a warmer room and covered with a damp cloth. Planting cuttings in a greenhouse is also allowed. Immediately before planting, it is necessary to prepare the stalk. To do this, you need to cut off the upper part at a right angle, and the lower one - obliquely. As soon as the cutting, planted in the soil, sprouts, it is important to remove them in the middle part of the plant. The upper sprouts will subsequently turn into leaves, and the lower sprouts into roots. If this is not done, then the plant will be too branchy.
Landing
By the way, the industrial cultivation of horseradish is almost the same as home-grown. Only the scales differ. For planting cuttings, you need to prepare a place in advance.
- You can plant cuttings in the middle of spring, but you can do it in the summer.
- Dig up the ground to the depth of a shovel bayonet, while adding fertilizer. You can sprinkle with humus, as well as add mineral fertilizers.
- Water the bed to be planted.
- When choosing a place, consider the fact that beds are ideal where tomatoes, potatoes or cucumbers used to grow. It is also necessary to plant horseradish away from other plants, so most often it can be seen along the fence.
- You need to plant a cutting in loose soil using a peg or stick. Having deepened it into the ground at an angle, they pull it out, and a cutting is planted in the hole formed. In this case, the oblique cut is in the ground.
- It is recommended to maintain a distance of about thirty centimeters between the bushes for normal growth and development of the plant.
- After all the cuttings have been planted, tamp down the soil well so that all seedlings are well rooted.
Plant care
As already mentioned, growing horseradish does not require excessive care. It is necessary to weed the bed, removing weed plants, and also to loosen the soil for air access to the root system. If you notice that the earth is very dry, then you need to water the bed, because horseradish loves moisture. Diseases and pests rarely attack this plant, but sometimes it can suffer from powdery mildew or aphids. In this case, it is recommended to use standard means to combat uninvited guests inproblem.
Harvesting
Growing horseradish in the country is not only care, but also timely, proper harvesting. In the fall, when digging up the roots for consumption or propagation, you can also thin out the bed right away. The fact is that horseradish grows quickly, and you may encounter an excessive amount of it if you do not thin out and dig out extra bushes in time. Therefore, when harvesting, analyze immediately which bushes can and should be removed in order to keep the plant within its territory.
