Cabbage is one of the most common vegetable crops, but novice gardeners may have problems growing it. Crops of early varieties of cabbage in seedlings are carried out in the first half of March, medium - from March 15 to April 15, late in the first half of April.
Growing cabbage seedlings at home usually takes place in two stages. First, cabbage seeds are sown, seedlings are grown, and then in the phase of cotyledons they dive into the greenhouse, box, and better in nutrient pots, which are set in the greenhouse and fall asleep with the nutrient mixture.
In our article we will tell you how to properly grow seedlings at home, in the open field, in cassettes and in an unheated greenhouse, as well as the nuances of sowing seeds and growing time.
How to plant a vegetable?
Many gardeners are wondering if it is better to plant cabbage with seeds or seedlings? Choosing how and when to plant cabbage, using seedlings or sowing it directly into the open ground, you should focus on the climatic conditions. No seedlings can be harvested in the Central Black Earth zone and the Far East. In other regions, sowing in soil is suitable for late varieties, when sown in a heated and sufficiently moist soil. Thus, the late cabbage becomes strong and hardened, quickly goes into growth.
Of course, in regions with a temperate climate, it is dangerous to rely only on a seedless method and some of the seeds should be planted with seedlings, especially for early cabbage, which has been sown in seedlings since the beginning of March.
Top Grades
Now there are so many varieties of cabbage and, first of all, you need to decide for what purposes you are going to grow it. Early cabbage is perfect for salads, but it can not be stored for a long time.. Her heads are small, and the overall yield is low.
In mid-season - better harvest, cabbages of average density. It can be stored and sour. Late kvasyat for the winter and it is resistant to frost. To taste, it is considered the best, and its yield is the highest. The head of the late varieties more dense than the early and mid.
Among the early varieties of the most popular:
Malachite.- Find
- Golden hectare.
- Tauras.
- Rosava.
- Zora
Malachite.Among mid-season leaders among the varieties:
- Glory.
- Volunteer.
- Present.
- Stolichnaya.
Good reviews among the late ripening at the Moscow Late, Kolobok, Sugar Loaf, Kamenka, Turquoise plus, Caliph.
Planting dates
When choosing a variety for planting, it is necessary to give preference to zoned varieties, as they are derived from the area of cultivation. Often dates of sowing seeds are indicated on the bags. Average 60-65 days should pass from sowing to the desired planting of seedlings in the ground.
Early varieties are sown in March, and seeds of mid-season and late varieties - in April. There are several ways to grow a vegetable, including seedlings at home, and how to plant it properly. Below is an overview of these methods.
Cassette method
The nuances of growing in cassettes are as follows:
- For this method of growing seedlings, special cassettes with cells of 15-30 cm are used. One seed is planted in each cell to a depth of 1-2 cm. Only high-quality soil mixture with top dressings is used. Apply and a mixture of peat and sawdust, which is desirable to steam and process drugs against pests and diseases.
- The soil or mixture is poured into the cells in advance, heated it and watered. The time spent cabbage in cassettes 30-50 days.
They are located in heated greenhouses with a temperature of 21-22 degrees and humidity of 85%. Seed germination in cassettes is significantly higher compared to sowing greenhouses in the ground, and seed consumption is less. Wherein the plants do not need picking, which means that the root system will not be damaged.
At emergence of shoots temperature of the room should be lowered to 15-20 degrees. It is important to avoid over-wetting due to the risk of blackleg. Two weeks before planting, the plants begin to harden, airing the room. When planting cabbage must have 4-6 of these sheets.
In the open ground
Kohlrabi, broccoli and Peking cabbage are good for open field. Planting and cultivation in the open field has a number of features and rules:
- Choose areas where legumes, carrots, onions, garlic or cucumbers used to grow.
- Planting seedlings in open ground next to dill or marigolds is welcome.
- In areas where radishes, radishes or cabbages grew, it is better to refrain from planting. On poor soil make humus with peat.
Acid soils lime dolomite flour. Cabbage sown from May, Kohlrab and Peking until the end of July.
- The beds are leveled with a rake, then the holes are prepared, which are filled with ashes.
- Water is poured into each well so that the soil is moistened to a depth of 20 cm.
- Fall asleep the ground and put on 3-4 seed to a depth of 3-4 cm.
- Covered with a glass jar or plastic cup.
We offer to watch a video about planting cabbage in open ground:
In a polycarbonate greenhouse
Growing in a greenhouse is as follows:
- In the greenhouse prepare the soil, filling it with peat and evil. Before sowing, cabbage seeds are dried and sown to a depth of 3-5 cm. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained with the expectation that it will be 16-20 degrees during the day and not fall below 10 at night.
If there are too thick shoots, the seedlings thinned, leaving the most robust. It is important that the soil in the greenhouse does not dry out.
- With the appearance of 3-4 true leaves, 3-5 cm of soil or peat are being sown. This contributes to the appearance of an even stem.
- If the decision is made to leave the seedlings in the greenhouse, it is planted 60 to 30 cm. Care in the greenhouse is standard: abundant and rare watering, feeding with nitrogen and potash fertilizers, dusting with ash, hilling around the stem and cleaning the weeds.
- In an unheated greenhouse, additional heaters are used to maintain the optimum temperature constant.
We offer to watch a video on how cabbage is grown in a greenhouse:
How to grow at home?
Growing cabbage at home, or rather cabbage seedlings do not have any fundamental differences. Seeds are sown in boxes or in another suitable container. In a moist soil, grooves are made with a toothpick, seeds are laid at the above distance, then the soil is leveled and covered with a film. The first shoots of seedlings appear in a period of 4-5 days after planting, 18-20 degrees. Seedlings are kept in bright places 14-16 hour light conditions are necessary for receiving healthy sprouts.
Seed treatment
Seeds are carefully selected and poured for 5 minutes with 3% solution of table salt. The spilled seeds are thrown away, and the remaining ones need to be washed and dried.
If it is written on the bags of seeds that they have already been processed, it is sufficient to carry out only the heat one. Heat treatment is created using hot water at 48-50 degrees.
For heat treatment, seeds are dipped for 20 minutes in the water of 48-50 degrees. It is important not to exceed the temperature, as germination may be lost due to this..
When buying raw seeds they are disinfected with potassium permanganate and washed with water.
Care
At emergence of shoots they are thinned out, leaving the strongest plants. The distance between seedlings should be at least 1.5 cm. If it is later decided to dive the seedlings, then during transplantation the plants are deepened to cotyledon leaves.
For the grown-up plants withstand temperatures of 17-13 degrees during the day and 7-10 degrees at night. About 2 weeks before landing in the ground, the seedlings begin to harden. First, open the vents, then seedlings take out for 2-3 hours on the balcony, gradually increasing the time.
Transplanting process
After the threat of frost has passed, the seedlings are planted in open ground. For this:
- They prepare the soil by removing all weeds from it.
- Seedlings are planted at a distance of 50 cm, the depth of the hole is 15-18 cm.
- Add humus to the well, and ashes on top.
- Pit plentifully watered with water and after the water is absorbed, start planting plants.
- Plant roots are slightly powdered with a root, then putting the plant in the hole, sprinkled with earth to the cotyledon leaves.
- After that, the ground around the plant is pressed down and watered.
- Faded or too shallow seedlings are rejected.
We offer to watch a video on how to grow strong and healthy cabbage seedlings:
Possible problems
Lodging
The reason - exceeding the seeding rate. Seedlings develop unevenly and a higher one begins to bend toward the light. The way to save from lodging is to pinch weaker shoots.. After this procedure, a greater flow of air is provided, the lighting and nutrition of each plant are improved.
Pulling seedlings
This problem is due to lack of lighting, as well as high temperature and soil moisture.
Help extended plants help extra lighting and reducing the sequence of watering.
For normal growth, plants need 12-14 hours. To do this, use fitolampy.
To enhance the brightness of the lighting from the window, you can install a reflective foil screen. To reduce soil moisture, the soil is dried with dry fine sand, and later a pultivator is used for irrigation.
Wilting plants
Causes - soil drying out or indoor air too dry. Also the cause of wilting can serve as fertilizer overfeeding. Another reason is aphids or pests, as well as bacterial and fungal diseases.
It is necessary to constantly monitor the seedlings, monitor the temperature, humidity of the air and soil.
With the appearance of aphids carry out protective measures. When the first signs of wilting appear, the ground near the stem is carefully loosened and watered with warm water.
In the article we looked at how to properly grow cabbage with seeds and seedlings while observing the necessary requirements for a particular place. These relatively small efforts are worth growing such a beautiful and healthy vegetable.
