How to plant sorrel and care for it outdoors?

Many summer residents are interested in such a plant as sorrel. Growing this culture will not cause much trouble - it is quite easy to get an excellent harvest of greens with a pleasant sour taste. Usually sorrel appears in early spring, sprouting from under the snow. Thus, these greens are the first and main supplier of essential vitamins for the body. That is why people used to look for sorrel in forests and fields. But now the majority prefers to plant this crop on their site and get the harvest without much difficulty.

Plot processing

To get a good harvest, you need to carefully prepare the soil for planting. It is advisable to choose a place in the shade, under the crowns of trees. You can also use tall bushes for this - currants, cherries or raspberries. The greens are not very picky about the composition of the soil, however, you should not plant sorrel in swampy lowlands. The places where onions or pumpkin used to grow are best suited. But if this cannot be done, it's okay, you can choose any other area on your site.

Mechanical processing of soil for sorrel is carried out in the fall. The earth is dug up and the weeds are removed. This is a must, as some weeds can prevent the sorrel from growing. When digging, the soil should be fertilized with humus and wood ash. After that, the land is carefully loosened and laid in a low bed. It is worth noting that for growing greenery, you do not need to prepare a large plot, two square meters will be enough.

Varieties

Only experienced gardeners know that sorrel can be of different varieties. Most of them are common weeds, but there are also those species that are of considerable benefit.

• Large-leaved. This variety is the earliest. It tolerates low temperatures well and is frost resistant. Its leaves are light green, very beautiful in color.
• Belgian. Sorrel easily tolerates frost. The leaves do not have a pronounced taste, although it is very pleasant and very slightly sour. The size of the leaves is small - up to 15 centimeters in length.
• Malachite. It matures long enough. To harvest, you need to wait about 50 days. The leaves are slightly sweet and slightly sour.
• Spinach. This sorrel has very broad leaves that contain incredible amounts of vitamin C.

How to plant sorrel?

Since sorrel is frost-resistant, it can be planted early enough. Thus, you will be harvesting throughout the summer cottage season - from summer to autumn. Some summer residents also practice winter planting of greenery before the very first frosts, so that the seeds do not sit down to germinate until spring.

For all cases, there is a general procedure that must be strictly followed if you want to get a decent harvest.

• Furrows in the bed are made about 1.5 centimeters deep. The distance between them should be at least 20 centimeters, ideally 25. This is necessary so that the greenery has free space for growth.
• Seeds are planted at a short distance from each other - 5-7 centimeters. After that, the furrows are covered with earth. By the way, seeds can be planted both dry and pre-soaked.
• If you need to accelerate the germination of sorrel, then the beds should be covered with plastic wrap. In this case, you can see the first shoots in 5-7 days. If not used, the greens will sprout in about 2 weeks.

Advice

If you are afraid that the greens will not germinate well, then soak the seeds in water for two days. The water must be changed a couple of times during the soaking process.

It is important to consider that when sowing greenery before winter, you should not count on a very good harvest. However, this option also takes place. Planting sorrel in October-November is appropriate if you live in a temperate climate. For residents of Siberia, this option will not be very convenient.

Care features

Sorrel does not require special conditions of detention, as it is unpretentious. However, some nuances are still worth considering.

• The sorrel should be watered abundantly. The soil under the sprouts should always be moist, in no case let it dry out if you do not want the greens to release flower stalks too early.
• It is advisable to regularly loosen and weed the soil between the rows. This will allow the water to remain in the soil longer.
• Sorrel is very fond of various dressings and responds well to them. In the spring, mineral fertilizers must be added to the soil. After you massively cut the leaves, you need to feed the soil with mullein infusion - this will help the greens to recover as quickly as possible.
• Leaves must be cut off completely before winter. This is done to provide oxygen to the roots.
• Keep in mind that various pests such as aphids and caterpillars are very fond of sorrel and can seriously damage your crop. That is why greens need to be processed. This can be done with various folk remedies, as well as products from stores. Here it should be borne in mind that any treatments are carried out only after harvest.
• Rust is very dangerous for sorrel. Because of it, yellow spots may appear on the leaves. You will need to fight infections with copper medications. Some of them are acceptable to use even on the day when you plan to cut the leaves. Beforehand, you should carefully study the instructions.

If you take proper care of the greenery, it will delight you for at least 4 seasons. However, there is one condition here - the sorrel must be transferred to a new place every three years, only in this case a good harvest can be expected.

Collection

You know all about planting and caring for sorrel. Now it is worth learning about how to properly harvest the crop, because it depends on whether it will grow next year. Plus, given some rules, you can end up with incredibly tasty greens.

• It is best to cut the leaves in the early morning or, conversely, in the late evening. This approach will allow you to get the most juicy and tasty sorrel.
• Harvest from the very edges. The leaves are cut with a knife. You can do it with your hands.
• In no case pull the leaves - you will either simply tear off only the edge of the leaf, or you will rip the bush together with the roots from the ground. If the roots are damaged, then the plant is unlikely to take root.
• Harvesting should be stopped about one month before the first frost. This is necessary so that the plant has time to get stronger before the cold weather.

If you want to get your own seeds for future crops, you should leave a couple of bushes without harvesting them. Then they will be able to bloom and give a small amount of seeds. Unlike those sold in the store, they will be of very high quality. Flowering will begin in mid-May, but seeds need to be removed only in July, when the inflorescences are already brown. The bundles are removed and dried for about 10 days. Once dried, the seeds can be peeled and bagged until spring. You can plant them even after three years, germination will still be preserved.

So, growing sorrel is not a difficult and time-consuming procedure. Even with the wrong care, you can get a good harvest. If you pay a little attention to the greenery, the result will be amazing.