Instructions for properly growing horseradish on your own plot
Horseradish is a frost-resistant and hardy plant that grows in almost every garden and is often used in cooking. Despite its unpretentiousness, there are a number of nuances that you need to know in order to obtain a bountiful and high-quality harvest. We will tell you in detail about planting and caring for horseradish in open ground, and we will share how to grow it so that it does not occupy the entire garden.
Choosing a horseradish variety for cultivation
The best varieties of horseradish, suitable for cultivation in Russia: Accord, Picadrome, Wasabi, Atlant, Mid-season, Tolpukhovsky, Valkovsky, Latvian, Suzdal, Malinsky and Variegata.
When choosing a variety, we take into account the desired taste and available growing conditions. Those who prefer a milder taste opt for Katran or Malinsky, while lovers of spicy horseradish choose the Suzdal, Tolpukhovsky or Valkovsky varieties.
Horseradish, bred by domestic breeders, is easy to care for, but growing exotic Wasabi requires attention and effort. Most often it is grown in greenhouses and greenhouses, which allows you to adjust the temperature and humidity of the air.
They also focus on the climatic conditions of the region. For cultivation in the southern regions with a mild and warm climate, Katran and Tolpukhovsky are suitable, for planting in the middle zone and North-West region of Russia - Latvian.The Atlant variety is not afraid of frost and the temperature contrast between cold winter and hot summer, which is why it is successfully grown in Siberia and the Far East.
Ways to grow horseradish
There are several ways to plant horseradish on your own plot. The most popular of them are in open ground and in containers.
In the ground
When growing horseradish in open ground, high or raised beds are formed. To do this, use a shovel to make a ridge of earth so that the bed is located above the soil level.
Cuttings with prepared roots (the lateral roots and buds are cut off and left at the ends) are planted in the ground at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other at an angle of 30°, buried by 10 cm and sprinkled on the top with a layer of soil 3-4 cm thick.
Reference. This planting makes it easier to dig up long roots and protects the plants from being flooded with water during heavy rainfall.
In a container
For landing and growing horseradish in a container, select a suitable container (barrel or bucket), fill it with a mixture of soil and humus, bury it in the ground so that only sides 2-3 cm high remain on the surface, and plant several horseradish rhizomes in it. The frequency and method of watering and fertilizing do not change.
To harvest, the container is pulled out of the ground and turned on its side. In this case, the horseradish roots are not damaged, and clearing them from the soil is not difficult.
Landing dates
Due to the endurance and resistance of horseradish to adverse conditions, planting is possible at almost any time of the year:
- in the second half of April, when the soil warms up to at least +5°C to a depth of 10 cm;
- in summer - provided there is no drought and air humidity is at least 70%;
- in the fall, 2 weeks before frost - in central Russia this is the 2nd decade of September - mid-October.
Pre-winter planting is carried out in late October - early November, after first clearing the soil of weeds and plant debris and digging it up. In this case, the cuttings are buried 3-4 cm to protect them from frost.
Preparation
To plant horseradish, choose a well-lit place or partial shade with fertile, moisture- and breathable soil. The best option is chernozem, loam, sandy loam or drained peatlands enriched with organic matter. The best predecessors are tomatoes, potatoes and other vegetables.
The plot at the dacha is prepared in advance (for spring planting - in the fall): the soil is cleared of weeds, organic fertilizers are applied and dug up. Immediately before planting horseradish, they dig again and add a mixture of equal parts of superphosphate, potassium and ammonium nitrate (30 g per 1 sq. m). An additional bucket of peat and sand and 10 kg of manure per 1 square meter are added to the clay soil. m, in acidic soil - ash at the rate of 400-500 g per 1 sq. m.
Reference. In heavy clay soil, horseradish roots become bitter, hard and woody; in sandy soil, they become tasteless.
Containers (metal buckets or barrels) for growing horseradish are pre-washed and treated with a solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.
Horseradish is most often grown from cuttings. 2 weeks before planting, they are cut so that the lower cut runs diagonally and the upper cut crosses. Leave in a warm place and cover with a damp cloth or a layer of peat for germination. After this, the buds that appear in the middle part are removed to prevent excessive branching.The buds are left at the bottom and top of the cuttings: roots will grow from the bottom ones, and a leaf rosette will grow from the top ones.
How to plant horseradish correctly
The prepared cuttings are planted in the ground at an angle of 30-45° with an oblique cut downwards, deepened by at least 10 cm, and the upper part is sprinkled with a layer of earth 4-5 cm thick. The distance between plants should be 30-40 cm, between rows - 70 cm.
After planting, the soil is compacted and watered. This promotes rapid rooting of cuttings.
Further care
Despite the unpretentiousness of horseradish, it still needs basic care: watering, fertilizers and loosening the soil.
Watering and fertilizers
During the first time after planting, horseradish is watered once every 7-10 days, using 2-3 liters of water per 1 square meter. m, after rooting - only in dry weather at the rate of 3-4 liters of water per 1 sq. m.
The plant does not require fertilizer. Monthly fertilizing with a solution of complex fertilizers (50 g per 10 liters of water) is acceptable.
Thinning, weeding and loosening
Thinning is carried out immediately after the first shoots appear, removing all weak shoots. Weed the soil as needed, preventing the growth of weeds.
The soil is loosened 3 times during the summer:
- a week after planting to a depth of 3-4 cm;
- after emergence of shoots 6-8 cm in depth;
- after 12-14 days to a depth of 10-12 cm.
The soil is loosened carefully, at a distance from the plants, so as not to damage the root system.
Protection from diseases and pests
Diseases and pests that can affect horseradish are described in the table.
| Pest/disease | Signs | Treatment/prevention |
|---|---|---|
| Wavy flea beetle | Females lay eggs on the ground surface and eat leaves, leaving holes in them. | The earth is loosened, the plantings are sprayed with insecticidal preparations, for example, “Foxim” or “Aktellik”. |
| Cabbage moth | Pest eggs can be seen on the underside of the leaf blades; the larvae gnaw off the leaves. | The attack of pests can be completely eliminated by planting horseradish early, before the butterflies appear. To get rid of insects, insecticidal preparations (Karbofos, Actellik) are used. |
| Cabbage bug | Yellowing and dying of leaves. | The foliage is treated with a soap solution, the plantings are dusted with a mixture of wood ash and tobacco dust, and sprayed with chamomile decoction or onion peel infusion. |
| Babanukha (horseradish leaf beetle) | Pests chew out plant leaves. | In case of a small number of insects, they are collected manually; in case of serious damage, the plants are treated with a decoction of yarrow, wormwood or chamomile. |
| White rot | The rhizomes are covered with a white coating. | The soil is dug deeply, lime is added to it, horseradish is treated with copper-containing fungicides: “Ordan”, “Previkur”, “Acrobat MC”. |
| Belle | A coating resembling white oil paint appears on the leaves, and the foliage gradually dries out. | Affected plants are removed and the plantings are treated with Ordan or Previkur. |
| Ascochyta blight | Brown-yellow spots appear on the plants. | Horseradish is treated with Bordeaux mixture. |
Harvesting, storage and processing
The rhizomes are harvested at the end of October, at least 2-3 years after planting, by digging them out of the ground and clearing them of small roots and soil. Leaves are cut off earlier so that stems no longer than 10 cm remain - they protect the roots from damage.
When fresh, no part of horseradish lasts long. The leaves are placed in a bag and kept in the refrigerator for 10 days. It is important not to wash them before storing them.Freshly dug roots are stored in the same way (after a while they become soft, but retain their taste until spring) or put in wooden boxes, sprinkled with sand and put in a cellar at a temperature of 0...+3°C.
The harvested crop is processed and a spicy seasoning is made from horseradish, which, after being rolled into jars, is suitable for eating for six months.
Another way to preserve horseradish for as long as possible is to make dry powder out of it. To do this, the roots are washed, peeled and cut into pieces, after which they are laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet, dried for an hour in the oven with the door open at a temperature of +100°C and ground in a coffee grinder. Store the powder in paper bags. To obtain the finished product, stir it for 15 minutes. pour hot water.
How does horseradish reproduce?
For seed propagation, sowing is carried out in early spring, when the soil warms up to +5°C, or at the end of autumn, 2 weeks before frost. The seeds are buried 2.5-3 cm, 7-10 cm apart, maintaining 90 cm between rows.
Horseradish rarely produces seeds, so it is most often propagated vegetatively:
- By cuttings. Planting material is harvested in the fall by cutting branches 20-30 cm long and at least 1 cm in diameter from the main root of 1-year-old plants. Thin stems with an apical bud are also used as cuttings. The prepared planting material is tied up and stored in a cellar or basement, covered with sand or sawdust.
- Apical buds. The buds at the ends of the main or lateral shoot are cut off along with pieces of rhizome, rooted in a fertile substrate, and then planted in separate containers, periodically removing excess leaf rosettes, leaving a maximum of two.
How to prevent overgrowth
Horseradish reproduces vegetatively and without special care, so the roots left in the ground after harvesting grow greatly over several years and complicate crop rotation, turning from a garden crop into a weed.
To avoid this, timely thin out the horseradish roots with a pitchfork or remove excess horseradish from the garden by covering the area with roofing felt or similar opaque material - lack of light provokes the death of plants.
You can prevent the growth of horseradish by limiting the space for its cultivation. To do this, it is planted in wooden boxes, buckets, barrels or “sleeves” made of polymer film.
This is interesting:
Ways to use horseradish leaves and their benefits for health and beauty
Conclusion
Growing horseradish in the garden is not difficult. The culture requires virtually no maintenance; all you need to do is choose a suitable planting site. Often gardeners have another problem: horseradish grows too much and clogs the area, suppressing other crops. You can combat this by growing the plant in a container specially designated for this purpose. Knowing the rules for cultivating horseradish, you can get a rich harvest for many years.