Growing Scorchonera In Cold Climates

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Scorzonera or black carrots are still known in Russia to only a few amateurs who are keen on growing various rarities. It is not so easy to buy its seeds, although if you wish, you can still, and there are practically no Russian varieties.

At least in the State Register of the Russian Federation today there are only two varieties of this plant - Solnechnaya Premiere and Healing, although it happens that on sale or from amateurs you can stumble upon old Russian varieties of scorzonera: Russian giant, Ordinary or Vulkan.

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At the same time, in some European countries, breeders are very actively engaged in the development of new varieties of this plant. The reason for this interest is quite trivial: scorzonera is surprisingly useful and has a delicate exquisite taste, reminiscent of oysters and asparagus at the same time. And it is no coincidence that this culture is rather actively grown by amateur gardeners in a number of European countries. As for cultivation on an industrial scale, its plantations are available in Belgium, which is the largest supplier of scorchonera in the world, as well as in France and the Netherlands, which are literally on the heels of Belgium in terms of exports of this crop. In addition, there are industrial plantations of scorzonera in Poland.

In Russia, this plant is known very little and is cultivated only by a few enthusiastic gardeners, although our climatic conditions are quite suitable for its cultivation, since the scorzonera is quite cold-resistant. In terms of taste, of course, this is an amateur vegetable, and the peculiarities of the process of peeling the root crop will not inspire any housewife to feats, because peeling carrots is much faster and easier than scorzonera, although this vegetable often appears under the name "black carrot". However, this is not the main thing - scorzonera is an ideal food for diabetics, since it contains a very large amount of inulin. In addition, it has diuretic, cleansing and immunity-enhancing properties, and therefore will be useful to everyone, without exception.

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Features of agricultural technology

From the point of view of growing scorzonera, it is unpretentious: it is cultivated in about the same way as carrots, but there are subtleties and problems here, which will have to be discussed in detail.

Scorzonera is sown in the spring in the same way as carrots on ridges well-lit by the sun in rows that can be placed at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. When the first true leaf appears, the seedlings are thinned out, leaving the plants in a row at a distance of 15 cm from each other. When placed more densely, the roots will grow small.

Water and weed as needed. It should be borne in mind that although scorzonera is considered to be quite drought-resistant (although this quality appears only after the formation of the root crop), it is better to water it in a timely manner and prevent the root layer from drying out, as this will lead to a sharp decrease in yield.

Mulching and loosening are desirable, as they provide plants with more favorable conditions for development, which has a beneficial effect on the yield.

As for fertilizers, the same fertilizers are used as for carrots. It is most reasonable to simply fill the soil well with complex mineral fertilizers, preferably Kemira. But if your soil is not fertile enough, and you have to feed the carrots, then you will have to feed the scorzonera, and according to the same principle: it is best to use complex mineral fertilizers with microelements twice a month until mid-August.

Scorpion harvest

Root crops are harvested in late autumn, around the end of September, along with carrots, although selectively the largest specimens can be harvested earlier - around the end of August. Poorly grown, and therefore too thin roots can not be dug out and left for the next season. In this way, next year you will get large and thick roots long before the onset of autumn. It should only be borne in mind that scorzonera can freeze under severe frosts (below -20 ° C) in the absence of snow cover.

The main difficulty of harvesting scorzonera is that its roots are long and break easily, and broken ones are not stored for a long time. Therefore, you need to dig very carefully. But digging in the literal sense of the word is not the best option, since a lot of roots break. It is better not to dig, but to tear off the roots, slowly removing the soil from them to the entire depth of the roots with your hands, and only then, again with your hands, gently freeing the roots.

If the option with the use of hands is not very to your taste, then you can first dig a trench with a shovel along the row, and then gently shove the root crops into the trench with the same shovel along with the soil. Then you still have to act with your hands, otherwise you will spoil all the root crops. With this option of cleaning, the aisles should be wider, at least 50 cm, otherwise it will not be possible to dig a trench. Some plants, like carrots, can be left to winter in the soil for harvesting in early spring or to obtain seeds.

For long-term storage, it is better to freeze root crops. However, they can be stored for two to three months in a basement at a temperature of about 0 ° C, after placing them in wet sand, which is kept moist throughout the storage period. If the sand is dry, the roots will quickly become flabby.

Growing problems

Western experts identify the following problems in scorzonera agricultural technology:

• a short period of preservation of seed germination - in well-ripened seeds, germination in the first year is approximately 80-90%, and in the second it is only 30-40%. Therefore, it is better to sow fresh seeds; under the best storage conditions, scorpion seeds can remain viable for up to two to three years;
• slow germination (usually from sowing seeds to emergence takes about two to three weeks) and in the initial period, the need for constant monitoring of soil moisture levels. To speed up germination, you can sow with wet or germinated seeds;
• a scorzonera sown in cold soil is prone to flowering, and although the taste of root crops in flowering plants does not deteriorate, and they do not become hollow (with the exception of old Russian varieties), their size decreases, and the flowers have to be constantly broken out, which, you see, is tiring;
• not on all soil and not with any care, the scorzonera forms long and even root crops; ugly root vegetables are difficult to clean;
• root vegetables in any case are difficult to harvest, since by their nature they are very fragile;
• root crops may contain a high amount of nitrates with an excessive dose of nitrogen fertilizers, therefore it is better to use complex mineral fertilizers, where the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is completely balanced.

Western breeders are actively engaged in solving some of these problems. In particular, they have created varieties that are resistant to flowering - one of the most resistant varieties in this sense - the Schwarze Pfahl variety. Work is underway in other directions as well - in Belgium, for example, they are developing varieties of scorzonera that can be sown and harvested using combines (the most suitable varieties from this point of view are Lange Jan, Hoffman 83 and Flandria). In Poland, they are concerned about the problem of creating varieties that are best suited for canning and freezing.

Now breeders recognize the great prospects of this culture. They name two reasons for the prospects - on the one hand, scorzonera is a vegetable with a very delicate aroma and taste, which is especially appreciated by gourmets, and on the other, unlike most other root crops rich in carbohydrates, it is very useful due to the presence of inulin. Therefore, it is quite possible that in the coming years we should expect the appearance on the market of new promising and less labor-consuming varieties of scorzonera in agricultural technology.

In addition to problems and difficulties, there are also pleasant moments - the scorzonera is not susceptible to any diseases, and therefore no difficulties arise in this sense.

So that the scorchonera does not bloom

On the one hand, taking into account the susceptibility of scorchonera flowering already in the first year in case of sowing in cold soil, its seeds should be sown when the soil temperature rises to 12 … 15 ° С.

On the other hand, if you sow the seeds late (and our summer is short), then you will not be able to get full-fledged root crops in the first year. The roots will be too thin, and it will be pointless to remove them in the fall. Of course, the root crops will winter well under a layer of snow and will harvest next year, but this will not suit everyone. You can try to find a compromise and sow with wet or even germinated seeds, as many sow carrots, but in already warm soil. The result is much better.

So that the roots are even and long

The quality of the roots of the scorpionfish directly depends on the growing conditions. Root crops can be even and very long, and then it will not be difficult to peel them, or they can be short and ugly - no housewife will want to cook such, no matter how tasty and healthy they are. Therefore, the task is to get just such root crops.

• Stony or clayey soils are completely unsuitable for growing scorzonera: ugly and branched root crops grow on them. And although, at first glance, the scorchonera is rather unpretentious and seems to grow on such soils, one cannot expect a good harvest from it in this case. Therefore, soils should only be sandy and breathable.
• The thickness of the root layer is very important. If the layer available for root growth is insignificant, then the roots will not be large and even, because they will have to bend and branch out in order to fit into the existing thin layer of root soil. Therefore, the thickness of the soil layer must be at least 60 cm - this is the length that the roots of the scorpion can reach.
• Scorzonera is very fond of fertile soil - it is on such soil that root crops are the most tender, however, on soil fertilized with manure, root crops also form ugly, they branch, and you cannot get a full harvest. Therefore, manure can be applied only for the previous crop (the best predecessors are cucumber, potatoes, tomato, cabbage), and for scorzonera it is necessary to do with complex mineral fertilizers.
• Regular watering is of no small importance, and good watering so that the entire root layer is soaked. Surface watering, however, only worsens the matter and leads to the appearance of freaks: ugly root crops of scorzonera are formed, in which not one long root, but several short roots departs from a very wide head.
• Do not forget about the timely thinning and, of course, weeding of the scorpion. With strong thickening (or clogging of the beds with weeds), small and ugly root crops are formed. Therefore, it is in no case to be late with thinning.
• In addition, there is a serious mistake that gardeners make. The fact is that the scorzonera should not be transplanted, for example, replanting the plants pulled out during the thinning process. Scorzonera, it must be admitted, is taking root quite well, but there is not much sense from this. And the harvest obtained from such ridges can be used only for livestock feed. The root vegetables are small and so highly branched and ugly that it is completely impossible to clean them.

Read the next part. Scorzonera Recipes →

Svetlana Shlyakhtina, Yekaterinburg

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