Parsley universal hero seedlings how to grow

By its nature, parsley is an unpretentious plant. In whatever way and method it is planted, the seeds germinate almost always and almost everything. However, this is still not enough, because the main thing in a difficult gardening business is not only to plant a crop, but also to get an excellent harvest from it.

Unfortunately, quite often, friendly, beautiful seedlings are not at all pleasing with lush and juicy greenery. Either the leaves are too small, or in general, most of the landings go into the arrows. To avoid such phenomena, it is necessary to properly plant the spice and give it a little attention. You also need to take into account the variety.

Varieties of parsley

Everyone can choose a fragrant herb to their liking, starting from the appearance and shape of the leaves and ending with the final purpose of use (tops or roots).

Among the popular varieties, the following are worth highlighting:

1. Root parsley Spicy... It is grown for the sake of obtaining fragrant root crops. Biennial. This variety is unique: even if you cannot get large roots, you can leave them in the ground for the winter, and in the spring the very first greens will grow on such a bed. In addition, the plants later form flower stalks and sow themselves. So, without unnecessary hassle, already good root parsley grows by the next season.
2. Leaf parsley Italian giant... An annual plant, it has large leaves on long petioles, reminiscent of parsnips. Quickly builds up leaf mass.
3. Leaf parsley Gloria. It is able to hibernate in the open field and itself renews. Early ripe variety.
4. Parsley is universal Bogatyr. As the name implies, the bush grows not only leaves, but also small roots.
5. Curly parsley Petra. It differs in the original shape of the leaves - they are not simple, even, but corrugated, while retaining their appearance after cutting. The variety is often used to decorate dishes.

Curly parsley looks very beautiful on flower beds as a border. Compact, low, lush and green bushes will favorably set off a multi-colored flower bed until the very frost.

Where does parsley grow best?

Unlike dill, parsley is very shade-tolerant and can be easily planted under trees. Moreover, there can be no other option on sandy soils, the bushes will simply burn out in the sun, because such soil dries out quickly. But if you sow seeds in the shade, the plants will feel comfortable there - and the sun does not heat up, and the moisture lingers longer.

To make the sandy soil more suitable for cultivation, you need to add compost to the site, and water the plantings themselves more often.

How to sow seeds outdoors?

In order for parsley seeds to germinate better, the area for the beds should be well loosened - dig up the soil and level the surface with a rake. But in the presence of a Fokin flat cutter, a shovel is no longer needed - it is enough for them to walk along the future beds.

If you wish, you can make grooves or simply scatter the seeds over the allotted area. Then water abundantly. For the first time (7-10 days), the beds can be covered with spandbond or foil, so that shoots appear faster.

To accelerate the germination of seeds, before sowing, they must be rinsed in warm water to remove the film from essential oils.

Does parsley need feeding?

If the soil is fertile and nutritious, the greens will grow juicy and without additional fertilization. But it is advisable to fertilize the beds on scanty sandy soils by watering the bushes at the root several times per season with an infusion based on manure or grass.

Growing parsley, at first glance, does not seem difficult. Many gardeners grow parsley on a "residual basis." But there are several simple rules for growing parsley that you need to know to get a high yield.
Parsley is one of the most popular green spicy vegetable crops. It is a source of vitamins, salts and microelements valuable for humans.
Gardeners can grow green parsley at any time of the year using special techniques.
There are 2 types of parsley: leaf and root. Leafy differs in that it gives a lot of greenery. She, in turn, is divided into 2 groups: ordinary leaf and curly leaf.
Many people grow the old variety Common leaf, which produces a large lush rosette. Of the modern varieties, Breeze parsley with beautiful delicate leaves is especially fruitful, which does not linger and is stored for a long time. Fragrant Titanium is suitable for fresh consumption and drying. Gentle Gloria grows well after cutting, its underground parts overwinter, and in spring they quickly give fresh greens. The Biser variety has an unusually delicate leaf blade with a thin petiole and high aroma, perfect for fresh consumption, freezing, drying and canning. The Italian giant is a mid-season, smooth-leaved variety with large fragrant leaves that grows well after cutting. Bogatyr's leaf parsley is simply universal.
Intricate "hairstyle" Curly parsley is shorter than usual, has elegant leaves with strongly wavy corrugated edges, does not fade for a long time after cutting, retaining freshness and elasticity. This parsley is tougher. It is often used to decorate dishes. We can recommend the Moskrause variety - drought-resistant, with small fragrant curly leaves. Esmeralda is also suitable with bright green, strongly corrugated and twisted decorative leaves with a pleasant taste and aroma, which grows well after cutting.
Parsley is an unpretentious plant. Good cold resistance allows it to withstand frosts down to -9 degrees, so it overwinters well under the snow. Seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of + 3 ... + 4 degrees, although for a very long time (up to 30 days). This is due to the high content of essential oils that inhibit germination.
Reference books recommend sowing parsley as early as possible. But weeds, which grow much faster, manage to fill the entire garden in a month, so there is a need for weeding. And seedlings require thinning. These two laborious operations are the bottleneck in the parsley growing technology. Therefore, I prefer the preliminary cultivation of seedlings of leaf parsley, followed by planting it in the land already cleared of weeds. You can get seedlings by growing them on the windowsill of a city apartment, starting in March. I want to remind you that it is undesirable to grow root parsley in this way, since during transplantation, the main root from which the root crop is formed is damaged and cut off.
The advantage of the seedling method is that before planting in the garden, the parsley grows in favorable conditions, therefore, by the middle of summer, it already forms large bushes.
A dozen of these plants are enough to meet the needs of the family in this vegetable crop. Although seedlings are unnecessary worries, they are fully justified. For several years I have been growing parsley just like that and I am very happy with the results. The varieties Italian Giant and Gloria are most suitable for seedlings.

How to start growing parsley:

To remove essential oils from seeds, I soak them for 3-4 days in warm water, which I change 2-3 times a day. Then I put it in a growth stimulant solution for 10-12 hours. I sow thickened in small plastic food boxes with a volume of 250-500 ml with drainage holes. The basis for the planting mixture is purchased peat soil with the addition of washed river sand, perlite or vermiculite in a ratio of 4: 1 by volume. It would be nice to add a hydrogel swollen in water to the mixture to increase the moisture content of the soil. I fill the prepared containers with soil, be sure to moisten it with a solution of biofungicide and sow the seeds to a depth of 0.5–0.8 cm. I dive seedlings at the stage of 1–2 true leaves into standard disposable plastic cassettes for 6–9 places. A few hours before the pick, the seedlings in the school need to be watered abundantly with warm water and sprayed with a growth regulator.
After all, transplanting is stressful for the plant. When planting, I deepen the seedling to the cotyledonous leaves, then water it with humate, which promotes rapid rooting.
Seedlings are unpretentious, require moderate watering in sunny weather with settled water. If the plants develop poorly, you can feed them with a solution of a water-soluble complex mineral fertilizer, preferably with trace elements (1 teaspoon per 3 liters of water). It is possible to plant parsley in open ground from the end of April on a well-prepared bed according to the 25 × 25 cm scheme.The soil should be fertile, light texture, neutral in acidity.
For digging I bring in one incomplete bucket of well-rotted compost, 2 tbsp. spoons of complex fertilizer, 1 glass of ash per 1 m2 of the bed. The soil must be prepared a week before planting the seedlings. I water the ground abundantly with a solution of a biological fungicide and cover it with a film. I spill the planted seedlings with a humate solution. At the stage of 5-7 true leaves, I carry out mineral fertilizing with complex fertilizer (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water), combining it with watering. With an interval of 2 weeks I spend 2 more feeding. After watering, you can add wood ash.

On the topic of growing parsley:

If the cut parsley remained to winter on the ridge, then in the spring, after the snow melts, it is cleaned of mulch and watered with a warm solution of urea - 1 tbsp. spoon without top for 10 liters of water. The earth needs to be loosened and covered with lutrasil. Soon, greens will grow back, which can be used until the flower arrow appears and the leaves are tough.

Attached Images

Curly parsley Curly Sue.

Parsley Bogatyr

You can get parsley greens at home in two ways: sowing seeds in the ground and forcing from prepared roots. The second method, although it requires some preliminary preparation, is generally simpler. Even if you have not prepared planting material since autumn, you can look for high-quality root crops for distillation in the vegetable departments of stores.

For our purposes, absolutely healthy medium-sized root crops (30-60 g in weight) without signs of wilting are suitable. They must have an apical bud - heavily trimmed plants will not produce greenery.

Having well moistened the soil in a box or flower pot, we plant root crops, covering their tops with soil. Too long can be cut (sprinkled with charcoal cut to avoid rot) or planted obliquely. The latter option is considered even more preferable than the regular fit.
If you grow seed parsley, it is necessary to take into account two nuances: the plant is photophilous, and its seeds germinate rather slowly. When sowing, the containers with parsley were not very well located relative to the light source, and the seedlings immediately began to stretch out. And it was possible to accelerate germination thanks to the preliminary soaking of the seeds in a solution of Gumi (I will certainly tell you more about this wonderful preparation somehow).

Parsley is not afraid of cold weather, so it feels great on the windowsill.The plant also does not impose special requirements for moisture - we water it as needed, depending on the conditions in the room. I already traditionally add hydrogel for all such plantings, so I usually don't have problems with watering my home garden at all.

Fresh herbs are a tasty and healthy addition to many dishes. But if you've ever bought parsley in a store in the winter, you should know how tasteless it is. First, it is rough, because usually overgrown. Secondly, it is dark green, which sometimes indicates the presence of nitrates in it. And thirdly, it certainly is not as fragrant as the home grown in the garden.

What varieties of parsley are suitable for a windowsill?

Not so much depends on the variety, but it is desirable that it beearly maturing... Early ripening varieties of parsley can be cut 10 days earlier than mid- and late-ripening varieties.

The following varieties can be attributed to early maturing: Aster, Gloria, Ordinary leaf, Beads, Emerald lace, Morning freshness, Russian feast, Fitness, Green pearls, Vorozheya, Grandma's bed, Fragrant alley, etc.

Note that both common leaf parsley and curly parsley are listed here. It is believed that curly is better suited for decorating dishes, although I personally prefer the usual one.

Growing parsley from seeds

• Soak parsley seeds for 1-3 days before sowing. Change the water twice a day. Then the seeds will sprout quickly and amicably. And a couple of hours before sowing, put them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
• Take a box (always with drainage holes) and fill it with soil. You can use both land harvested in advance at a summer cottage, and special, bought in a store.
• Pour hot water over your home garden and tamp lightly.
• Make grooves according to the instructions on the seed bag. However, the distance between the grooves can be reduced.
• Sow seeds shallow, no more than 0.5 cm. The soil should be moist. In order to exclude the formation of a "crust" on the soil, sprinkle it with loose earth with a layer of about 1 cm.

To grow parsley from seeds on a windowsill, it is important to observe someconditions:

• Do not allow both drying out of the soil and its excessive moisture... To do this, water moderately once a day: carefully, not eroding the soil. When shoots appear, watering can be increased. Especially if there is dry air near the battery and in the room.
• It is important to observe the optimal thermal regime... Ideally - from +15 to + 20 ° C. As the temperature drops, growth will slow down, and as the temperature rises, the parsley may dry out.
• Maintain daylight hours... To do this, a fluorescent lamp can be placed above the box, about 60 cm from it.
• Young shoots are recommended to thin outif planted very often.

When the parsley is old enough, you can cut it off. It is believed that the optimal "maturity" is twigs 10-12 cm high. Disadvantages of this method: a lot of trouble. In addition, the first harvest will only take place in 1.5 months. But such parsley will grow for more than a year!

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Planting parsley

The soil for parsley should be normal or slightly acidic and have a loose structure. For planting, you can choose a sunny place or partial shade.

Parsley can be planted in the soil where cabbage, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes grew last season. After parsley, the same crops (carrots, cilantro, cumin, dill) are best planted after 3-4 years.

Sowing parsley

Parsley is a biennial plant. Parsley seeds are stored for about 2-3 years after harvest.

Parsley is a very hardy plant, so fresh greens can be obtained from the garden from early spring to late autumn, until it snows. To obtain young greenery, many gardeners use the so-called conveyor method, in which seeds are sown at intervals of 2-3 weeks and can continue until late autumn (suitable for leaf parsley).

The planting beds are best prepared in the fall, at the same time organic and mineral fertilizers are introduced into the soil for digging. In the spring, additional potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are added, urea and ammonium nitrate can be added.

The seeds must be soaked for a day in water or 0.2% solution of potassium permanganate. Then place them in cheesecloth and germinate until white sprouts appear. If you urgently need to get seedlings, then soak the seeds for 4 hours in milk and then in a solution of potassium permanganate.

In the ridge, we make grooves 1-2 cm deep with a distance of about 15 cm from each other. Sprinkle the grooves with fine quicklime at intervals of about 15 minutes several times.

After planting, compact the soil by patting it lightly and mulch the soil with humus.

Seedlings will appear in a period of 9 to 15 days, they can withstand frosts down to -10 ° C.

Dry seeds can also be used for sowing. However, such seeds will sprout 7 days later than previously soaked ones. Also, dry seeds are used for sowing before winter, in frozen ground.

Breeding parsley

Parsley is propagated by seeds. At the beginning of full ripeness in the second year, the seeds are harvested. To do this, leave the heads with seeds on the parsley. Mow or cut the parsley and put to dry in rows, after a few days thresh the dry plants, then dry the seeds and remove unnecessary husks.

Parsley care

Caring for parsley is extremely simple, for this water the greens in the evening (root parsley loves the August watering, at this time the roots are gaining useful substances), thin out, free the greens from weeds, loosen the soil.

If you constantly take greens from the garden (which you can eat at any time the plant develops), the bushes naturally thin out as they grow. If you planted root parsley, be sure to thin it out, regardless of whether you need greens.
The first thinning - about 3 cm is left between the plants.
After a couple of weeks, we thin out again, the final distance between adjacent plants should be 5-10 cm.

Make sure that the parsley leaves are healthy, free from signs of disease and damage by insects, so that you can take action in time and not lose your harvest. Parsley is susceptible to the following diseases and pests: rust, white rot, carrot flies, carrot flies, melon aphids, onion and garlic stem nematodes, white spot.

Collecting and storing parsley

Root parsley is harvested in the fall, before frost, the leaves are cut off, stored in a cool place, sprinkled with sand (like carrots). You do not need to dig up the root parsley, then in early spring, when the snow melts, you will get fresh greens. Parsley root vegetables can be used in winter for forcing greens in pots by the window.

Parsley is cut at any time of development and dried in a dark, but not dark place, or frozen.

Parsley varieties

There are few varieties of parsley, in this article I will give several varieties suitable for the middle lane.

Sugar (root)  - mid-early variety, consumed in summer and autumn. Root crops are shortened, conical, have a grayish-white color
Bordovician(root)  - medium late variety with elongated roots, excellent storage. It is eaten in autumn and winter.
Yielding (root) - mid-ripening variety, lying, root crop length 20-30 cm, yellowish-white flesh.
Common leaf (leaf) - spicy leaves, strongly dissected, powerful rosette. The variety is early maturing.

Growing parsley from root vegetables

How is this method convenient? There is no need to wait for the seeds to sprout. In addition, if you transplant parsley from your garden, you will know for sure if it is a good variety or not. How to plant parsley with root vegetables? It's simple:

1. Prepare a planting box. Disinfect it first. A weak solution of potassium permanganate is suitable. Fill the very bottom with drainage (about 1.5 cm).And the rest is a mixture of peat, humus, sand and ordinary sod land (2: 1: 1: 1). Ready-made soil mixture will work too.
2. Desirableat the end of October, before the ground freezes, dig out the thin roots of the parsley. Their optimal size: length - 5 cm, width - 2-4 cm. Although it is believed that the larger the root, the more buds it will have. In general, size is not that important. Dug out? Now transplant them into the box. It is not necessary to maintain a long distance: you can plant more often, almost back to back. In this case, the soil must be moistened. We leave only the apical buds outside. Or rather - so far only the heads.
3. Squeeze the soil lightly and water liberally.

Conditions for forcing parsley from root crops:

• at first, it is better to put the box in a cool place: for example, on a warmed balcony;
• you need to water in moderation;
• when sprouts appear, transfer the box to a warm place (up to 20 ºС);
• periodically turn the box the other side (this should also be done when growing parsley from seeds);
• turn on additional lighting, especially on cloudy days;
• when the parsley has grown, water often and abundantly.

If everything is done correctly, then by the New Year you will have your own harvest of parsley, right from the windowsill. Imagine how beautiful it is: there is a blizzard outside the window, and lush, lush greenery on the window! Another plus of growing from root crops is that several such forcing can be made during the winter. And all winter will have its own greenery!

Parsley can be fed with special fertilizers. This is if you notice that the plants are weakened. And in the spring, the plants can be moved to the balcony. If they live;))

Features of curly parsley and the way it is grown

The history of a person's acquaintance with this culture begins in the Mediterranean countries and dates back to the era of the construction of the pyramids and ancient Greece. Parsley earned the greatest recognition later, among the Romans, who introduced the other Europeans to the spicy herb. The Latin name for parsley, Petroselinum crispum, can most likely be translated as curly celery growing on rocks. This speaks of the similarity of cultures, but does not mean at all that already in Ancient Rome one could see the modern curly parsley, which is well known to gardeners all over the world.

Wild plants still found throughout Europe, European Russia and the North Caucasus have flat leaves with a jagged edge. This variety is still called Italian parsley, and neapolitanum is added to the main name of the species. The youngest parsley, the root one, has the prefix tuberosum, and Europeans prefer to call these varieties Hamburg.

Curly parsley, with a characteristic leaf shape forming dense green caps above the beds, 15 to 40 cm high, is called Petroselinium Crispum var. Crispum.

In Russia, this variety appeared relatively recently, but in European countries it is curly parsley that holds the palm among the listed related species.

What does curly parsley look like in the photo?

Interestingly, the spread of curly spicy herbs, for example, in the UK was not at all spectacular foliage or great taste. Even in the Middle Ages, planting plants with smooth foliage in beds was primarily feared because of their resemblance to the dangerous weed Aethusa Cynapium or dog parsley, which grew in abundance everywhere.

To understand what curly parsley looks like, you just need to glance at the photo showing both leafy species side by side. Such a plant cannot be confused with any cultivated or wild-growing relative. In ordinary garden parsley, the lower leaves, forming a basal rosette, have a triangular shape, blunt toothed ends and a smooth leaf plate of a dark green hue.

Curly parsley greens are more rounded and cut.The denticles, which is clearly visible on young plants, are also rounded, and the leaf blade acquires a pronounced wavy shape as it grows. The rest of the features of related forms are almost identical. True, the disputes between culinary specialists and gardeners about the merits and weaknesses of curly and Italian parsley have not subsided for several centuries.

Those who prefer varieties with a wavy leaf shape talk about the greater decorativeness of the plant and its unpretentiousness:

• Curly parsley grows great outdoors and in greenhouses.
• Due to the corrugated leaf plate, the culture loses less moisture on hot dry days.

Therefore, when growing parsley at home, experienced gardeners advise choosing exactly curly varieties:

• Garden parsley with smooth foliage can delight you with a bright aroma inherent in the foliage of the culture and its roots.
• The smell of parsley persists after heat treatment, which is not typical for the curly variety.

Curly foliage, with sufficient watering, has a softer and more juicy consistency, is used fresh. Chopped foliage is good as a seasoning for many dishes, it is used to make juices, mashed potatoes and sauces, and it is also dried.

How to plant and grow curly parsley outdoors?

Before planting parsley, a place for future beds is being prepared in the fall. In order for the harvest of spectacular greens in the next season to be friendly and abundant, it is better to set up a plantation for parsley in an area where cabbage, cucumbers or other types of pumpkins, potatoes, eggplants or tomatoes were previously grown. If you sow curly parsley in the place of related plants, you can involuntarily reduce the yield, since pathogens dangerous for the culture of diseases and larvae of pests can remain in the soil.

How, growing parsley, prepare the beds for this culture?

• Before winter, the site is dug up, while introducing humus, rotted compost or manure.
• And in the spring, when the snow melts, the soil is necessarily loosened, combining this process with the introduction of mineral additives.

Tightly emerging seeds of curly parsley are washed in warm water before spring planting and left to swell for 18 hours. Since the culture has good frost resistance, it is possible to sow seeds in open ground from the second half of April. You can sow curly parsley until August. And before winter, dry seeds are buried in the ground until November, with the expectation that shoots and juicy greens will appear in early spring.

Furrows 0.6–1.2 cm deep are made at a distance of 7–10 cm from each other, and seeds are lowered into the ground at the same distance. In open ground in one hole, you can sow 2-3 seeds in order to thin out the plantings later and choose the strongest shoots. After the parsley is planted, the beds are carefully watered so as not to erode the soil, and mulch. If the spring is protracted, and the danger of frost has not passed, it is better to cover the beds with foil.

Dry seeds will sprout only after 2-3 weeks, and germinated ones will please with sprouts a week earlier.

The leafy varieties of parsley can be sown during the summer until the end of July. For the formation of green mass, curly parsley is fed twice during the summer with a nitrogen-containing fertilizer. For example, nitrate per square meter should be from 50 to 60 grams. We must not forget about watering the plantings. To prevent the foliage from being burned, it is better to water the beds in the evening.

The first greens can be cut in July and harvested until the coldest days. The photo shows what parsley looks like next year. This season, curly parsley will delight you with a thick head of foliage already in April or early May.

Growing parsley at home

It is possible to use fresh greens for food not only in the warm season, but all year round if you plant curly parsley in an apartment, on a windowsill, on a balcony or loggia. In this case, sowing is carried out in February, so that the emerging sprouts grow stronger with lengthening daylight hours.

The seeds are pre-soaked and sown in soil, consisting of two parts of garden soil and one part of sand, peat and humus taken. Further cultivation of parsley at home practically coincides with agricultural technicians in the open field.Particular attention should be paid to watering, since in a limited amount, the soil loses moisture faster.

You can simplify the production of curly greens by using annual parsley roots for forcing. How to plant parsley in this way? In the fall, annual rhizomes are dug up and transplanted into deep pots with a 2-centimeter drainage layer and a loose nutritious soil mixture. Before planting parsley, the roots can be treated with a growth stimulant, which activates their growth and speeds up the appearance of greenery.

For growing on a windowsill, even large roots with healthy apical buds are chosen, which, when backfilled, remain above the soil level.

Sometimes it is advised to plant parsley roots very close. This will produce a lot of foliage, but will quickly deplete both the rhizomes and the soil. Therefore, in this case, you cannot do without regular feeding. Home-grown curly parsley, if watered and sometimes fertilized on time, gives a dense head of foliage within a month and a half, ready to be cut and consumed.

Secrets of growing parsley - video

Curly parsley Curly Sue

Early ripe variety. The period from germination to leaf cutting is 55-60 days.
The socket is half-raised, dense, of medium height. The leaves are dark green, strongly corrugated, shiny.
Recommended for fresh and dried use as a fragrant and high-vitamin seasoning, as well as in cooking (for decorating dishes).

Variety value: cold resistance, intensive regrowth of greens after cutting, fragrant and decorative greens.

Agrotechnics: parsley prefers fertile, deep-arable, loose, loamy soils. Best predecessors: cucumber, tomatoes and onions.

Sowing seeds spend in several periods: in early spring (late April-early May), in the middle of summer (late June), before winter (October-November). Podzimny sowing is carried out with dry seeds.

In spring, parsley is sown in moist grooves at a distance of 3-4 cm in a row and 20-30 cm between rows. Crops from above are mulched with peat. To accelerate seed germination, the crops are covered with a film, which is removed when seedlings appear.

Care for parsley includes weed control, two thinning of crops, feeding after thinning, which are combined with the next watering.

A variety of universal use (forms both abundant greens and medium-sized root crops at the same time). The rosette contains from 30 to 100 large, dark green leaves with high aromaticity. They are harvested for greens when the leaves reach a height of 15-20 cm. After cutting (at a height of 4-5 cm), fertilizing is given (preferably liquid), the aisles are loosened, and after 25-30 days the greens are again ready for cutting. Greenery yield 3.0 kg / m2; it is consumed fresh, dried or salted, as a seasoning for soups, side dishes, salads and meat dishes; canned by dry salting. Root vegetables have a delicate and pleasant taste (reminiscent of parsnips and celery), they are used fresh and dried (as a spicy seasoning for the first and second courses). Variety value: high yield, shade tolerance, high growth rates of greens after cutting, high aromaticity. When sown with dry seeds, shoots appear in 15-20 days. In spring and summer, the seeds are soaked before sowing (until 1/3 of the seeds are slightly peaking), then sown in rows and covered with dry soil on top. Seedlings can withstand frosts down to -5-6 ° С, adult plants up to -10 ° С. The soil around the plants is regularly loosened and watered. Root crops are harvested before the onset of frost (selective harvesting can begin at the end of September). Some of the roots are not harvested in order to get greens in early spring and seeds.