REINFORCE GARDEN SOIL TO BULK UP THOSE BEETS
To overwinter spruce trees in garage, be sure to wrap container with insulation
Q About 15 years ago I landscaped my yard, including space for a vegetable garden area. The garden was dug about 18 inches deep, garden mix was used to fill the area, and in the first few years everything I planted grew well. I have planted Cylindra Formanova beets every year — I love to make borscht and find these beets are the best for that purpose — and always rotate the crop location. I usually plant around the May long weekend, and I have a compost bin (for all my eggshells) that I use to amend the garden soil once every two or three years.
When I first started out I had massive beets and was giving them away by the boxful. However, during the last five years my crop has become less abundant and the beets are much smaller. (Sadly, I didn’t make any borscht this year.) What would you recommend I do to my garden soil to grow gargantuan beets again? A Beets are heavy feeders, and the soil needs to be reinforced on a regular basis with organic matter and some amendments. The first thing I would recommend is adding compost or well-rotted manure to the soil every year. Beets also don’t like to be crowded, so give them lots of room to grow. Try thinning the seedlings to between one and three inches apart, and keep your rows 12 inches apart.
Another issue might be the phosphorus content of the soil. Low phosphorous can result in smaller beets. Adding bone meal to the soil is a good way to increase its phosphorus content. If the nitrogen content is too high the beets will produce lots of green tops, but very little in the way of roots.
Beets also don’t like acidic soil. If you have been adding peat moss to the soil you may have inadvertently increased the acid content. If you think this may be a problem then taking a soil sample is a good idea. One final tip: Beets prefer to grow in soil that is well drained. If the organic content in the soil is tired and old then the soil may be compacting, resulting in poor drainage. This brings us back to the first part of this answer, as adding organic matter will also help with drainage.
Q I have been overwintering dwarf Alberta spruce the past two winters in an unheated garage. Last year there was about six inches of needle drop (from the bottom up) and this year the branches ‘filled out’ a bit, but one spruce only had two inches of new growth at the top. I gave them evergreen fertilizer three times and watered them well before freeze-up, and then once again in early spring. Is there anything else I should be doing? Any tips for fertilizing next growing season?
A Sounds as if you are doing all the right things, but one suggestion I might have is to insulate around the container (including the bottom) with fibreglass insulation. The biggest problem with overwintering dwarf Alberta spruce outdoors during the winter is the wind, which can dry everything out and cause damage. By keeping yours in the garage you have eliminated that part of the overwintering problem, but you still have the problem of the roots being exposed to temperature fluctuations. The insulation will help with that issue.
As for fertilizing, I would recommend giving the plant some slow-release fertilizer (14-14-14) in the spring. I have found that the plants like the slow-release formula rather than a rapid influx of fertilizer with a oneshot application. Good luck keeping your spruce healthy during the long, cold winter.