Valerianella
General information: one of the main frost-resistant varieties of winter salads. Forms oblong petiolate, whole pink leaves, differing sweetish specific taste. Valerianella is also called feldsalatom or field salad.
Requirements: to the soil valerianella does not impose special requirements. It only needs to contain enough lime. It is necessary that the place is sunny.
Ingredients: contains a significant amount of vitamins A and C, provitamin A, minerals.
Cultivation: sowing is performed from the end of July. Plants sown until mid-August, can yield crops in the fall. Later sowing does not make sense. The deadline for sowing in places with mild climates is the end of September. Under glass, crops can be produced as early as October.
Sowing seeds should be carried out at a great distance, taking care that soil is evenly protected. This is quite reasonable, especially if valerianella is supposed to be used as a prior culture, since its roots loosely ground the soil. Sowing is recommended in rows with a distance between them of 15-20 cm. Within the range, the interval between young plants should be 10-15 cm. The depth of sowing is 1 - 1.5 cm. Valerianella somewhat unevenly sprouts. The use of a film promotes a normal germination process. Valerianella is satisfied with the nutrients that her predecessors leave behind. To grow it in the winter months, a greenhouse is often used. The best results are achieved at a relatively low temperature and, above all, with free access to fresh air. Valerianella does not withstand a long-term greenhouse effect. Starting at 18 ° C inside the greenhouse, or even better at a lower temperature, ventilation is necessary. Winter growing in a greenhouse or a greenhouse has the advantage that the harvest can be collected all autumn and winter.
Care: water plants should only be in the morning, so that the leaves dry by the evening. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the windows to ensure good lighting. If the soil in the greenhouse is noticeably frozen, and the air temperature under the influence of intense sunlight greatly increases, valerianella can wither, since the roots in the frozen ground do not receive moisture. Drying can be prevented by covering plants with a film or a nonwoven material. Late sowing has the advantage that less weeds grow in autumn than in spring and summer. Nevertheless, the soil must be loosened at any time of the year. When implementing summer sowing, care should be taken to ensure that the soil is sufficiently moist, especially during the germination period. The bed should be watered regularly, otherwise, if there is a lack of moisture, the plants will bloom early.
Valerianella is content with those nutrients that her predecessors leave behind in the garden. Compost is quite enough for her. Only in exceptional cases there is a need to introduce a little fertilizer, for example horny flour, into the soil before sowing. Although a large number of nutrients contribute to the growth of beautiful, dark green leaves, with increasing fertilizer mass in valerianella, the content of nitrates increases, which is high by nature. The deficit of light, observed with
winter growing, also leads to an increase in the content of nitrates. Under the glass on the plants there is sometimes gray mold, the cause of which is a lack of air. On the open ground, this fungal disease threatens plants only in the case of dampness and cold. The problem is solved by the dry weather following this. The fallen leaves are removed, the soil is loosened up.
Harvest: the earliest sowing, the first leaves can be harvested at the end of August. In most cases, a later harvest is desirable.
In autumn, it makes sense to cover plants with a film, although the intensity of lighting decreases. Practice shows that the leaves grown under the film are more tender. With a sharp knife, the outer leaves are cut off, and thus the harvest can be collected further. Since the stems have a higher nitrate content, only the leaves should be cut or cut. When blossoming valerianella becomes unsuitable for use.