How to plant horseradish?
To grow a plant such as horseradish, cuttings are used. They need to be planted in open ground in early spring. Horseradish loves shade or partial shade, so you can choose a place for it among berry or fruit crops. It is advisable to plant no more than six cuttings per square meter. The buds that are located on the middle part of the cutting must be removed. The treated areas are rubbed with burlap. The buds should remain only on the top and bottom of the cutting.
The planted cuttings must be pressed against the soil to create tighter contact. The plant should be fed only once or twice. This is done during the growing season. In this case, dry or diluted fertilizers are used.
To obtain smooth and thick white root crops, planting cuttings are harvested in the fall. They are stored in a cellar in damp sand, tied in bunches.
Description of the plant
Before discussing the question of when to dig up horseradish, let's look at the plant itself. This vegetable is distinguished by the fact that in addition to gorgeous foliage suitable for use, it also has roots that are popular among chefs. Belongs to the Brassica family and came to us from Asia and America. Specific taste properties and a special aroma have made it one of the most popular in our gardens. Likes to grow in places with high humidity. The plant has a wide range of beneficial properties, including medical ones. Having pronounced antibacterial qualities, it is successfully used in folk medicinal recipes.
Landing Features
Each cutting must be planted in the ground at an angle of 45 degrees in deeply dug soil. The top of the cutting should protrude one centimeter from the ground. It is best to plant horseradish next to potatoes, as this plant repels Colorado potato beetles well. This crop, like all others, must be cultivated, loosened and weeded, and care must be taken that the soil does not dry out.
Horseradish reproduces vegetatively. To do this, you will need thin lateral roots, which are cut off from thick roots during the autumn harvest. The cuttings should be 20-25 centimeters long and no more than one centimeter thick.
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In the spring, before planting, the cuttings are brought into a warm room so that the dormant buds can wake up. The middle part of the cutting must be covered with burlap, while only the tips must be left open.
Weeding and loosening of rows
Horseradish is weeded several times during the summer to enrich the roots with oxygen, first, as the soil compacts and weeds appear, loosening is carried out (a week before emergence to a depth of 3-4 cm, after emergence - 6-8 cm, when the plant reaches a length of 20 cm - by 10-12 cm), when leaves appear - weeding and loosening the rows.
The procedure should be repeated four times per season. In addition, all weak leaves can be removed, the most persistent ones remain, which grow rapidly later, and the root is also strengthened.
Horseradish care
Timely care of horseradish plantings is crucial in obtaining a high yield and reducing production costs.
Work begins even before shoots emerge. The soil should not be compacted; it should always be loose. This helps conserve moisture, facilitates air access, improves the living conditions of microorganisms and promotes the accumulation of nutrients in the soil. A week after planting, you need to harrow the soil using a light rake. At this time, weeds are just beginning to germinate, forming a lot of whitish-pink “threads” in the soil. Timely loosening will destroy up to 80% of these seedlings, significantly cleaning the soil. Depending on the characteristics of the soil, the degree of contamination and weather conditions, treatment is carried out 1-2 times: before horseradish shoots and during their appearance.
In the future, caring for the plantings is reduced to carrying out 3-4 treatments between plants, 2-3 weedings and 1-2 hillings. Hilling of plants begins in mid-summer. With excess moisture, it promotes better drying and ventilation of the soil and an increase in its temperature. In dry years, it is replaced by loosening the rows.
On insufficiently fertile soils, plants are fertilized simultaneously with inter-row cultivation or before it. Horseradish is fed for the first time 3-4 weeks after planting, adding 5-10 g of ammonium nitrate, 7-10 g of superphosphate and 5-10 g of potassium chloride per square meter. The second time, fertilizing is done in mid-summer, simultaneously with hilling. Per 1 m² add 5-6 g of ammonium nitrate, 12-15 g of superphosphate, 8-10 g of potassium chloride. If the grown products are intended for winter storage, the doses of potassium fertilizers are increased. The specific timing of fertilizer application depends on the condition of the plants and weather conditions.
To obtain high yields of horseradish, watering is necessary, especially in the first time after planting, when leaves are growing rapidly and a significant amount of water is consumed for transpiration, and the still weak root system cannot provide the leaf apparatus with sufficient moisture.
Over the summer, several rosettes of leaves are formed on each plant. In this case, multi-headed rhizomes grow. To increase the marketability of products, at the beginning of summer, excess rosettes are cut off with a sharp knife, leaving no more than two on one plant.
On small plots in gardening conditions, in order to obtain marketable roots of higher quality, horseradish can be “trained” in late July - early August. To do this, in mid-summer, the soil is raked from the rhizomes and, with a sharp knife, the formed upper lateral roots are removed from the central rhizome by about 2/3 of its length and immediately hilled up. This technique allows you to increase the marketable yield and improve its quality. The rhizomes are smooth, with a minimum number of branches.
Horseradish rhizomes grow vigorously at the end of the growing season, so they should not be removed prematurely. In the conditions of the Leningrad region, the best time for harvesting is the end of September - the beginning of October, but you can also harvest in the spring. Moreover, due to the growth of rhizomes in late autumn, the spring harvest often exceeds the autumn one. However, it should be borne in mind that in the spring the plant begins to grow very early; flowering shoots often appear first, which consume the supply of nutrients deposited in the rhizomes. Delay in harvesting in this case not only reduces the harvest, but also reduces its quality.
When planting very small roots, the products do not reach marketable size by the fall, and they have to be left in the soil for the second year. In this case, the plants are buried deeply to prevent them from getting wet in the spring. In the second year, caring for such plants begins with removing dead leaves. They are raked and removed from the site. At the end of April - beginning of May, the plants are fed with 15-20 g of ammonium nitrate, 20 g of superphosphate and 10-15 g of potassium chloride per square meter.
Cleaning time
The time when you need to dig up horseradish depends entirely on the climate of your region:
- In spring, roots are dug up early. We must take time before the shoots begin to grow. As soon as the snow melts and the soil in the garden thaws, you can start digging. At the same time, the plants are transplanted to a new location.
- In autumn, you should wait until the lower leaves on the bushes turn yellow and droop. This is a sign that it is time to dig up the horseradish root for winter storage. In Siberia and the Urals, harvesting is carried out in September-October, in the Moscow region - in October or November.
- When can you dig up horseradish for harvesting? The answer is clear - in the summer from mid-July. It was at this time that housewives began to pickle cucumbers, and later - to make horloder and horseradish.
Attention! In warm autumn, horseradish root can take a long time to grow, so it is not recommended to rush to store them. Wait until the lower leaves begin to die and start digging.
There are two periods when you can dig up horseradish.
- You can harvest root crops without loss of marketability and taste in the spring. You need to dig it up immediately after the snow thaws, but the shoots will not begin to grow. This harvesting method is often combined with transplanting the bush to a new location or dividing it into several parts for the purpose of propagation.
- The second period for digging up root crops is late autumn. During this period, horseradish ripens well, and after digging it can be stored all winter in a cool place. A sign that the plant is ready for harvest is drooping and yellowed lower leaves on the bush.
We suggest you read: When to remove cabbage from the garden for the winter
Harvesting
It is necessary to harvest only when the lower leaves turn yellow. The rhizomes are dug up with a pitchfork, the leaves are cut off along with the lateral shoots. Cuttings are sorted by size. The area where the horseradish grew must be carefully dug up and the remaining roots removed from the ground. It should be taken into account that a new plant may grow from the remaining root next year.
It is advisable to replant horseradish annually, otherwise new, but small and coarse rhizomes will grow. It is not recommended to use them for food, as they do not have good taste. The same can be said about the healing properties.
Planting and growing horseradish is not difficult; it does not require much time and effort. As a result, you can get a rich harvest that will delight all household members.
Leaves begin to be picked at the end of July. Then they are used to prepare pickles and marinades.
You also need to understand how to dig horseradish correctly. At the beginning of autumn, without waiting for frost, when intensive growth of leaves has not yet begun, they are cut off, the root is dug up, tied in a bunch and stored buried in the ground in a garden bed or in a cellar in wet sand.
In addition, when harvesting, you need to carefully collect the rhizomes to avoid turning horseradish from a useful plant into a hated weed. If the diameter of the roots is less than 0.5 cm, they are mainly sent to waste, and roots with a diameter of 0.5 to 1.5 cm are saved for use in the spring as planting material.
The average horseradish yield is 150-200 kg per 100 m². In Russia, a popular dish is horseradish, to which freshly picked horseradish root is added.
Important! There is an opinion that horseradish retains its healing properties and vitamins only for a week after being collected from the garden, then only its taste and aromatic qualities remain.
Horseradish is harvested when its leaves turn yellow and begin to die, digging them out with pitchforks or shovels. The earth is shaken off, the leaves are cut off, the lateral and thin lower roots are removed and then used as planting material. Commercial horseradish for use in winter is transferred to storage and buried in the sand.
In the Yaroslavl, Vladimir, and Novgorod regions, old gardeners grow horseradish as a perennial crop. The peculiarity of this method is that a horseradish stalk 8-10 cm long and 2-2.5 cm thick is planted in the soil to a depth of 40 cm. In the first year, two or three shoots with rosettes of leaves make their way to the surface. The largest rhizomes are removed, and the weak ones are left. In subsequent years, the remaining shoots thicken and reach marketable sizes, and new ones appear from the rhizomes planted at depth. The most powerful shoots are removed annually by digging up the soil at the level of the planted cuttings. If necessary, you can remove all the shoots, leaving only the uterine rhizome.
Using this method of growing horseradish, the so-called coppice crop has been developed. It is based on the growth of underground shoots from the mother rhizome, which remains in the soil below the level of pruning during harvesting. One-year shoots have only one-year growth, which significantly improves the marketability of horseradish. The cuttings are even and smooth. When using this method, furrows are made 25 cm deep at a distance of 60-70 cm and pieces of rhizome are laid horizontally in them. The length of the rhizomes is 5-10 cm. It is imperative to water the furrows, after which the rhizomes are covered with soil.
During the summer, horseradish plantings are hilled several times as they grow. When harvesting in the fall (preferably in the spring), annual rhizomes are dug up 3-5 cm smaller than the uterine rhizomes were planted. As small roots accidentally dropped grow back, they are removed.
During the summer, do several waterings. Adding organic fertilizers between rows has a good effect.
The next year, the rhizomes are dug up again. When planting cuttings 10-15 cm long and about 2 cm thick, marketable products are obtained in the fall of the same year, and when planting thin and short ones, only the next year.
From 1 m² of planting, up to 1 kg is obtained with an annual crop, and with a biennial crop, up to 1.5-2 kg of horseradish roots for food purposes and about 200 g of planting material.
Horseradish rhizomes can be used for forcing greenery on the windowsill in spring. To do this, thin roots (less than 1 cm in diameter) 5-10 cm long, which were stored during the winter in a basement or other cool room in damp sand or sawdust, are planted obliquely in a flower pot, watered and after 2-3 weeks a tender root appears. rich in vitamins and phytoncides, spicy herbs for decorating dishes and adding to salads.
Fresh storage
To ensure that the roots survive the winter and do not lose their beneficial properties and spices, you can use the following recommendations to help preserve fresh horseradish for the winter at home:
- For storage, use wooden boxes filled with sand. To do this, you need to clear the root vegetables from the soil and place them in a wooden container in a row in one layer so that the fruits do not touch each other. After this, sprinkle a few centimeters of sand on top.
- To preserve the safety and freshness of horseradish, you need to keep the sand moist by periodically spraying water on it.
- Storing fresh horseradish in plastic bags is also possible. To do this, the roots need to be thoroughly washed in water and dried. Then place the fruits in bags and fill them with air, creating a seal. This packaging can preserve the roots for 4-5 months.
- You can keep the roots fresh with peat litter. To do this, the spread out roots are sprinkled with a thin layer of peat. It has an antiseptic effect and helps protect root crops from rotting.
The optimal storage temperature should be no lower than zero and no higher than 2 3 C. Humidity should be maintained within 80-90%. Horseradish root can only be stored fresh in a well-ventilated area.
Diseases and pests of horseradish. Use of horseradish in medicine
White rust. The disease manifests itself as small pale yellow spots on the leaves, in groups or singly.
Black rot. Affects roots and flower stems. Black and brown spots appear on them. With significant development of the disease, the core of the root darkens. This disease can be prevented by liming the soil.
Horseradish leaf beetle or babanukha. The beetle is ovoid in shape. Dark green with a metallic tint on top, black-bronze underneath. Overwinters in the soil under plant debris. In spring it feeds on horseradish leaves, gnawing through holes or eating leaves from the edges. When they appear en masse, the beetles eat the entire pulp of the leaf, leaving only the veins. The larvae feed on the skin of leaves. It causes especially great harm to plants in damp areas.
Shitty flea. It can be recognized by its yellow wings with narrow black edges on the outside. It overwinters under plant remains in the top layer of soil. Plants are attacked in early spring. It causes especially great harm when seedlings emerge.
Rapeseed leaf beetle. The beetle is reddish-red in color with a wide black longitudinal stripe along the seam of the elytra. Beetles and larvae damage plant leaves.
Cabbage whites. Sometimes it damages horseradish leaves. Caterpillars, when feeding, eat leaves, sometimes leaving only veins.
Cabbage fly. In years with a strong spread of this pest, the rhizomes are damaged by its larvae.
Ways to combat diseases are by maintaining crop rotation and using copper preparations. To protect against pests, in addition to observing the phytosanitary regime (rotation of crops, removal of horseradish plantings from cabbage and root crops of this family, timely removal of plant residues during long-term horseradish cultivation, loosening the soil to repel cabbage flies and destroy wintering pests), you can use insecticidal preparations recommended for destruction leaf-eating insects. It should be remembered that after the use of pesticides, the use of leaves as vitamin greens is unacceptable.
Use of horseradish in medicine
In traditional medicine, horseradish is used to treat hypovitaminosis and scurvy. It is used to wash wounds, ulcers, and rinse the mouth and throat. Its irritating effect is used in the treatment of neuralgia, myositis, radiculitis, sciatica, bronchitis (in the form of compresses). Taking grated horseradish internally improves intestinal function, so it can be recommended for the treatment of gastritis with low acidity and liver diseases.
In Western European medicine, horseradish is used to stimulate appetite, improve digestion, for rheumatism, gout, as an expectorant for catarrh of the respiratory tract, and as a diuretic.
In scientific medicine, horseradish roots and the syrup obtained from them are sometimes used as an antiscorbutic and diuretic. The use of horseradish infusion and fresh juice is effective for acute hepatitis with low acidity of gastric juice and for Trichomonas colpitis.
The hypoglycemic effect of horseradish was noted. Horseradish juice diluted with water (1:1) is used to rinse the mouth and throat for stomatitis, gingivitis, periodontal disease, as well as for diabetes, sore throat, and other inflammatory diseases.
Recommended as a general tonic for intense mental and physical work. It is successfully used for overwork, physical exhaustion, mental fatigue, anemia, headaches, and high blood pressure. Fresh grated horseradish mixed with water is used for diabetes and cancer.
Horseradish juice along with alcohol is used for rubbing. Horseradish root juice, diluted with water, is a good medicine for rinsing the mouth and throat for sore throat, stomatitis, and periodontal disease.
The healing properties of horseradish have long been used in folk medicine in the treatment of gastrointestinal and colds, as well as in inflammatory processes. It is used as a distraction for coughs, toothaches (in the form of gargles), for scurvy, stomach upsets, to stimulate appetite and improve metabolism. It is also used for salt metabolism disorders, dropsy, gout, kidney stones, skin diseases, liver diseases, rheumatism, radiculitis, lumbar pain, for delayed menstruation to enhance them, for removing age spots and freckles, for burns, carbon monoxide poisoning.
Horseradish leaves in the form of a patch are used for bruises. They are applied to sore spots. They can be changed several times. Grated horseradish can be used as mustard plasters.
Horseradish gruel is used for lumbosacral radiculitis, muscle pain in the back and lower back, rheumatism, and inflammation of the joints.
In folk medicine, a combination of grated horseradish and honey is often recommended. It is used for tuberculosis, bronchial asthma, hepatitis, and Botkin's disease.
An infusion of horseradish roots is easy to prepare. To do this, pour a dessert spoon of crushed horseradish roots with a glass of boiling water and leave for one hour. Strain and take two tablespoons three times a day to improve appetite.
Horseradish juice with kefir is prepared as follows: a tablespoon of horseradish juice is mixed with a glass of kefir. Drink a glass of the mixture in the morning, afternoon and evening 20 minutes before meals for diabetes.
Horseradish is contraindicated for gastritis, peptic ulcers, enterocolitis, nephritis and other diseases of the kidneys and liver.
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