Autumn efforts: how to plant seedlings for the winter

The best time for planting is spring, when all the forces of nature help the plant to develop the root system and start growing. And the best time to buy seedlings is in the autumn, when many varieties are on sale in excellent condition and at a fair price. But the root formation does not occur at this time, only callus is growing.

This discrepancy raises the question: "If the bought plant does not take root in autumn (except for the currant), what to do with cuttings and seedlings until spring?" The solution is, it is the sapling of the seedlings for the winter.

Let's wait till spring

Simple gardeners hurry to immediately identify plants in a permanent place, and agronomists consider autumn planting to be the worst kind of prikopki and do not rush to spring. What is the opinion of professionals?

The quality of purchased seedlings is not known reliably. In appearance, it is difficult to determine if the growth process has come to an end, and how much the plant is ready for winter.

To dig seedlings is necessary for them to go through the whole cycle: from spring to late autumn. The sapling saved in prikopke in time will start a new stage of development and will perfectly survive the next winter.

Determine the time frame

If not to plant, what to do with new plants, when and how to plant seedlings?

For the winter, you can save them in the earth at any time: from early autumn to the time when the snow has already fallen.

In the early fall, they buried, covering the ground with only the roots. With the onset of cold weather stems fall asleep, leaving 1/3 of the length outside.

Sometimes valuable varieties ordered in nurseries come late in the autumn. They can also be saved until the spring.

We place the latecomers

How to prick the seedlings for the winter, if the soil is frozen and covered with snow? In advance it is necessary to do two things: to prepare a sack of land in an ice-free room and to dig a hole in the garden on a bayonet of a shovel. When the long-awaited package arrives, it is necessary to deflate the snow, put the plant in a groove, sprinkle with the harvested soil and cover it with snow.

If the pit is not excavated, the ground should be poured with hot water, immerse the seedling in the formed slurry, and put a snowdrift on top. It is possible to act simpler: the plant is placed directly on the snow, they fall asleep to it and wait for spring.

Cooking place

For a better wintering, an even or elevated place is chosen, where snow always lies in the winter, and melt water does not accumulate in the beginning of spring. The soil must be loose, free from weeds and without lumps. If the area is damp, you can make a drainage groove.

Nearby there should be no compost heaps and hay: in these places like to winter the mouse.

Orient the groove for prikop should be in the direction of "east-west". The roots lie to the north, the crowns to the south.

Material preparation

It is not enough to know how to plant seedlings for the winter. They still need to be properly prepared for hibernation:

• Healthy strong plants are bought;
• From the stem all leaves and petioles are removed;
• Cut damaged, rotten and dry roots;
• If there are suspicions of disease, the seedlings are treated with copper sulfate;
• Pruning the crown should be postponed until spring.

How to prick the seedlings for the winter

In winter, the seedlings have three enemies: damping, freezing and mice. If everything is done correctly, they will perfectly carry the winter and will go well into growth in the spring.

In the earth, you need to make a groove deep into the bayonet bayonet. One wall remains vertical, the other - at an angle of 30 degrees. The seedlings are laid perpendicular to the groove, in rows (roots to the vertical wall). In this case, ½ the length of the stems should be below the soil level by 3-4 cm.

In addition, it is possible to lay agglomerates under the upper half of the stems, this will protect them from obstruction. To combat mice, you can close the prikop with spruce paws, then fill it with earth.

Then they should be well watered and gently pricked the roots and the lower third of the stems with loose ground. The hill must be compacted and watered again abundantly. When the water is absorbed, sprinkle with earth.

As a result of prikopki under the platen from the ground there are reliable hidden roots. A thin layer of soil (no more than 5 cm) covers half the stems. Leaving the earth at an acute angle remains ½ the length of the seedling.

In spring, plants are planted as soon as possible, as soon as the top layer of the earth is thrown off.