How to plant chufu and care for earthen almonds

Some vegetable gardens have strange crops. It looks like an ordinary sedge, only high and well-groomed, moreover, it grows in rows, which does not look like a weed. You can puzzle over the solution for a long time, since the chufa culture is unusual for our latitudes. Her other name is less annoying - earthen almonds. The plant is also known as walnut rush and edible rump. The last name can be considered as saying: the chufa fruits are incredibly nutritious. Its tubers contain up to 20% oil. They are so rich in protein, sugar and starch that the once record-breaking peanuts are far behind.

The homeland of culture is the hot south. Earth almonds have long been cultivated in North Africa and the Mediterranean coast. Residents of Spain, Morocco, Italy, Egypt, South America love to feast on useful chufa tubers. Cultivation of feed is also practiced in regions with colder climates, but only in an annual culture.

Suitable plot

Chufa loves light and warmth, so for the beds you need to take the sunniest place where there are no drafts. It is allowed to plant its tubers in light partial shade. Outwardly, plants do not suffer from a lack of light, but less fruit is formed on their roots, and their taste is deteriorating.

Earthen almonds thrive best in light soils that are high in nutrients. The best option for chufa is black soil. The soil should be reasonably moist, but not soggy. It is important that it allows air to pass well to the root system of the plant. Chufa is not capricious, it grows almost everywhere: on salt marshes, in dense clay soil, on medium loam and even on sand. But the amount of the crop depends on the structure of the soil. The least suitable for growing crops are soils with a high chalk content.

It is better to prepare a site for planting chufa in advance - in the fall. Its relief is of no particular importance. If possible, the beds are made on gentle southern slopes. The soil is dug up and filled with fertilizers. Suitable for chufa organic (compost, humus) or complex mineral compositions.

Advice

In order to save space, you can plant earthen almonds even outside the site. Its inconspicuous appearance will save the beds from ruin.

Getting seedlings

Chufu is bred in two ways:

• through seedlings;
• placing the tubers directly on the beds.

Planting earthen almonds in open ground is more commonly practiced. With her, less time and effort is spent on caring for the chufa. The disadvantage of the seedling method is also that the plants placed on the beds take root badly. Many of them die.

Chufa seedlings are grown in separate containers. Plastic cups or peat pots are suitable for this. Filling them half with a loose fertile substrate, lay the tubers of earthen almonds in them. It is not worth saving seed. 2-3 chufa tubers are placed in each container. Sprinkle them on top with a 5-6-centimeter layer of soil. Such a planting is carried out in mid-March. To seedlings appear faster, tubers are immersed in water for 2-3 days before being placed in the ground, often changing it.

Containers with crops are kept warm and exposed to light. They should not be exposed to direct sunlight. Chufa shoots will have to wait for about 2 weeks. It gets dark at this time too early, so it is recommended to light up the sprouts. But you can do without it.

Caring for chufa seedlings involves regular watering and feeding. Moisten the soil with extremely warm water. Watering plants need moderate water stagnation at the roots will affect them badly.To prevent earthen almonds from stretching, they need to provide a temperature regime. During the day, the air in the room should be warmed up to 23 ° C. In the evening, its temperature is lowered to 15 ° C.

The soil near the plants is loosened from time to time. For top dressing, you can use one of the following fertilizers:

• mullein or bird droppings solution;
• superphosphate;
• ammonium nitrate.

Chufu is planted on the beds when the heat is finally established - in the last week of May or the first days of June. Plants begin to prepare for the procedure 1.5-2 weeks before it, carrying out a gradual hardening and reducing watering.

Seedless method

Chufa tubers are placed in open ground a little earlier - from mid-May. The procedure can be started if the threat of frost has been reduced to a minimum, and the air temperature does not drop below 10-15 ° C. Planting is carried out with tubers pre-soaked in rain or melt water. There is no need to add growth stimulants to it.

Before soaking, chufa tubers are carefully examined. Having found rotten areas, they are carefully cut out to healthy tissue. It is better to discard tubers diseased and damaged by pests. The root crops selected for sowing can be immersed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes or simply washed in it. This will improve their germination and increase plant immunity.

First, holes are marked on the garden bed. The optimal layout is 60x60 cm. Compliance with this rule will make it easier to care for the plantings - it will be easier to huddle the plants. 3-4 chufa tubers are placed in each, leaving 20 cm of free space between them. Buried earthen almonds 3-5 cm.

Features of agricultural technology

In the open field, the chufa needs easy care:

• watering;
• hilling;
• dressing;
• loosening;
• removing weeds.

It is important not to overdo it with moistening the beds. In moist soil, the roots of the roost easily rot and become vulnerable to fungal diseases. And the chufa itself is actively increasing the green mass to the detriment of the formation of fruits. This can only be useful if the crop is cultivated for the leaves. They are used as nutritious and vitamin feed for animals, as well as for the preparation of medicinal tinctures. But basically, summer residents want to get edible tubers-nuts from chufa, which taste like almonds. And here, abundant watering will only hurt.

Advice

When planting a chufa, it is advisable to place a drain on the bottom of the hole. A layer of broken brick, pebbles or small expanded clay will protect the plants from moisture stagnation.

In dry weather, plantings are watered every 3-4 days. You can focus on the appearance of plants. If the tips of the chufa leaves are dry, watering is needed. In a rainy summer, plants will not need additional moisture.

Earthen almonds are fed with mineral compounds, humus or wood ash. They are brought in during the growing season 3 times. Like all root crops, chufa loves loosening and hilling. The latter are carried out twice a season: when the height of the plants is 10-15 cm and 30-40 cm.

After watering and heavy rains, the mounds poured around the bushes and the soil in the aisles is loosened.

Pests like to feast on earthen almonds:

• bear;
• ants;
• wireworms.

They fight pests in the same way as when growing other garden crops.

Harvesting and storage of crops

The growing season for chufa, depending on the variety, lasts 130-150 days. You can eat nuts unripe. But they become most useful only by mid-September, if the summer is hot, and by mid-October, if cool days prevailed. By the end of the growing season, they accumulate the most oil.

The plant will tell you the harvest time itself. If its leaves have begun to turn yellow, you can dig up the tubers. In some regions, they start picking nuts after the first frost. After mowing the tops, dig in the plants and shake the soil from their roots together with the fruits into a sieve or oilcloth (cardboard).

Chufa has a high yield.With proper care and favorable weather conditions, each bush yields 400-600 nuts. Summer residents collect from 6 to 10 buckets of tubers from a hundred square meters. On the most fertile plants, a thousand nuts ripen.

Harvested by hand, since chufa tubers are easily damaged. This is the only flaw in culture. The nuts are quite small, and it takes a long time to pick them from the roots of the chufa. The tubers are scattered in the sun to dry, and then cleaned from the ground. When they are covered with small, subtle wrinkles, they are collected in bags or cardboard boxes. The thickness of their layer should be no more than 20 cm.

It is better to store nuts in a dark and warm place that is well ventilated, stirring occasionally. They deteriorate quickly in high humidity conditions. If you follow the storage rules, the tubers of earthen almonds do not lose their germination for 3 years.

Application of ground almonds

Growing chufa is a useful activity in all respects. This culture is practically waste-free. Its leaves are put in tea, which helps to eliminate radionuclides from the body. The dried tops are stuffed into pillows that treat sleep disorders. When insisting on alcohol (5%), a composition that acts on the body like ginseng is obtained within a week. Decoctions and powders are prepared from chufa rhizomes. They relieve toothache, and when combined with red peony, they help get rid of urethritis. You can also put the mowed tops on the compost.

From the fruits of chufa, oil is made that vaguely resembles olive in taste. They are put in ice cream and baked goods, fried, baked. The Spaniards make almond milk from them - an aromatic drink with the addition of cinnamon, vanilla and sugar, which is especially good when cold. Chufa tubers tone up and provide the body with energy. Their inclusion in the diet improves the functioning of the nervous and immune systems, increases the speed of reactions, and improves mood.

Fluffy chufa bushes look attractive, merging into a solid green carpet in the garden. This allows them to be used in landscape design. Earthen almonds are especially good as a border crop. In a single planting, it will add zest to a flowerbed, lawn, alpine slide.

The amazing unpretentiousness of the chufa makes its cultivation easy and not burdensome. She will need minimal care, in many respects it is close to the agricultural technology of potatoes. And an abundance of delicious fruits will be the best reward for your efforts. The ability of chufa to increase soil fertility and improve its structure also speaks in favor of planting a crop on the site. The roots of earthen almonds are the habitat of bacteria that assimilate nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form accessible to other plants. It will be the ideal predecessor for most garden crops.

Those who do not have a summer residence can also experiment with breeding chufa. It also bears crops in potted culture on windowsills. The main thing is to prepare a spacious container by filling it with a fertile and loose substrate. At home, earthen almonds can be cultivated as a perennial plant, admiring its beauty all year round.