Sorrel "Lyonski"

Sorrel "Lyonski" - Rumex acetosa L.
Early vitamin greens!
Sorrel agricultural technology: sorrel is grown by direct sowing of seeds into the ground. The seeding depth is no more than 0.5 cm. Seedlings appear in 12-15 days.
Further care consists in loosening the soil, regular watering and fertilizing with complex mineral fertilizers. The green mass is harvested at intervals of 15-20 days.
1 gram = 300-400 seeds.

* Sorrel is a perennial plant from the Buckwheat family.
Sorrel is a dioecious plant, i.e. some individuals carry only flowers with stamens, others have only pistils. Fruits are dark brown shiny nuts up to 0.2 cm long.
Only sorrel leaves are eaten. They are harvested in spring and early summer, when there is still little other greenery. Most often, green cabbage soup is prepared from them. Pies are stuffed with sorrel. Leaves are also consumed raw.
Oxalic, malic and citric acids give the leaves a sour taste. The leaves contain up to 11.5% dry matter, including about 3% crude protein, tannins, as well as up to 150 mg% ascorbic acid (vitamin C), up to 4 mg% carotene (provitamin A), vitamins Bv B2, PP , salts of potassium, sodium, iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, nickel, fluorine and other trace elements. Sorrel is propagated by seeds, which are sown either in spring, or before winter, in autumn.
Summer crops are also practiced (at the end of July).
Once sown, sorrel grows well in one place for 3-5 years. The plantations of this culture do not require much maintenance. With skillful breaking off of leaves (young, not fully grown ones must be left), since the "greenery" grows back quickly again.
Cool temperatures and relatively high air humidity are favorable for sorrel growth. In hot dry weather, plants drive out flowering stems, leaves coarse and lose their commercial quality. With good care, the total yield of fresh sorrel leaves with repeated cutting is 100-150 c / ha.
Seed preparation for sowing.
No special PREPARATION of seeds for sowing is required. Seeds with a two-year shelf life are considered the best in terms of germination. Before sowing, they can be soaked for two days.
Site preparation and sowing seeds in the ground.
The area for sorrel must be fertile and sufficiently moist, but without stagnant water. It is desirable that the depth of groundwater is no more than 1 m from the soil surface. The best soils for it are loam and sandy loam, rich in humus; drained peat soils are also suitable. Sorrel prefers slightly acidic soils (pH 4.5-5), therefore liming for this crop is not carried out.
Sorrel is a cold-resistant plant, tolerates frost and slight shading well. Seeds begin to germinate at + 3 ° C. Seedlings appear on the 8-14th day after sowing.
Attention! With strong shading, the leaves accumulate less vitamins, and the taste also deteriorates. At high temperatures and low soil moisture, a small leaf rosette usually develops, the plant blooms quickly, which also reduces the quality of products. On poor soils, the leaves grow small, skinny, tasteless.
In one place, sorrel is cultivated for 4-5 years. In subsequent years, as a rule, the yield decreases.
Care, watering and feeding.
In early spring, before the sorrel begins to grow, the soil must be mulched and loosened. It is useful to carry out 2-3 feeding with mullein, diluted 6 times with water, with the addition of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (10-25 g per bucket of solution). In autumn, compost or humus is introduced into the aisles (4-5 kg ​​per 1 sq. M). In the second year, in the spring, a complete mineral fertilizer is applied (15-20 g of urea, 30-40 g of superphosphate, 15-20 g of potassium chloride per 1 sq. M).
Sorrel beds should be weeded and loosened regularly. If the crop is heavily thickened, it is thinned out. Sorrel is watered only in drought and on very poor soils. After each leaf cutting, sorrel must be fed with mineral fertilizers with a predominance of nitrogen fertilizers. In dry weather, top dressing is done in liquid form, in rainy weather it can be given dry.
Harvesting.
Sorrel is ready for harvesting when 4-5 leaves of normal size for a given variety are formed on the plants. Before harvesting, the bed is weeded, and after harvesting, the aisles are loosened, the emerging flower stalks are removed. It is better to harvest sorrel in the morning. During the season, the leaves are cut 4-5 times, and their collection is stopped a month before the end of the growing season. With the mass formation of flower arrows, harvesting is also stopped, and the arrows are cut out so as not to weaken the plants. The leaves are cut with a knife 3-4 cm from the soil surface, being careful not to damage the apical buds of the plants.
Getting your own seeds.
The technology of growing sorrel to obtain seeds is almost the same as the technology of growing sorrel for green products. Sowing seeds is carried out in early spring, as soon as the soil is ready for processing. Sow in an ordinary way with a row spacing of 25 cm. Per 1 sq. m consume about 1 g of seeds. The sowing depth of seeds is 1-1.5 cm. After the emergence of seedlings, they are thinned out at a distance of 8-10 cm. During the summer, 3-4 loosening is carried out, several waterings are carried out. The next year, as soon as the snow melts, the plants are fertilized with mineral fertilizers per 1 sq. m: 8-10 g of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate, 10 g of potassium chloride. Leaves are not cut on seed plants.
In late May-early June, 8-10 g / m2 of superphosphate and 10 g / m2 of potassium chloride are introduced.
Sorrel is a cross-pollinated plant, therefore it can be pollinated with both cultivated and wild plants, therefore it is necessary to make sure that there is no blooming "savage" nearby.
Sorrel blooms in May, in June-July the seeds ripen. The testes are harvested when the stems and seeds acquire a brownish-brown color. It is impossible to hesitate with harvesting, since the seeds of sorrel quickly crumble and birds peck them. The testes are cut, dried, the seeds are sorted. Their yield is 40-70 g / m2, seed germination is 83-92%. Weight of 1000 seeds = 0.72-0.84 g.
Sorrel pests and diseases.
Sorrel is damaged by beetles and larvae of the sorrel beetle, the caterpillar of the sorrel sawfly, and aphids. Powdery mildew often appears on its leaves.
Pest and disease control using chemicals is only permissible after the last harvest of the season.