Any seedlings should not only be properly grown, but also competently planted in the ground. In addition, careful preparation of the soil plays an important role, after which planting cabbage, radishes or onions. In this article we will talk about the features of planting cabbage, starting with growing or choosing seedlings and ending with transplanting it into the open ground.
Features of the selection and planting of seedlings
If you do not grow cabbage from seeds, but prefer to buy ready-made seedlings, remember some rules. First, you need to choose bushes stocky and strong, avoiding stems with black threads - they talk about the disease of a vegetable. Secondly, you should not take seedlings, which have swelling with nodules - this indicates the defeat of the keel.
How to plant seedlings of cabbage? To begin with, we select only good and healthy bushes that have at least five strong leaves. We dig these bushes into the ground until the outlet, it is important that the roots do not remain on the surface. After planting, the earth should be tamped, and then watered.
Care Features
Cabbage is a very demanding vegetable, so care for it must be thorough. Firstly, you need to prepare rotted manure - one square meter will require 10 kg of manure and several tablespoons of mineral fertilizers, after which the earth needs to be dug up. So how to plant cabbage not everyone knows how to, very often seedlings planted in the same place where she grew up last year. This is fundamentally wrong, because pathogens of various diseases will accumulate in the ground, larvae will appear that will harm the roots. To avoid this, you need to cover the planted seedlings, for example with a transparent cap.
To obtain strong seedlings, you need to do the proper preparation of a nutritious soil mixture, and then plant cabbage. To do this, since autumn it is advisable to prepare the ground: mix part of the turf and humus, add ash to them (one tablespoon per kilogram of land) and mix the resulting substrate thoroughly. Ash will allow you to nourish the soil with micro and macro elements, and will also serve as a good antiseptic, so that black legs will not appear on the seedlings.
What varieties to choose?
If you want to get vegetables as early as possible, pay attention to the varieties "Polyarnaya", "June" or "Gribovskaya", in August "Nadezhda" and "Belorusskaya" will ripen, but the latest varieties - "Amager" or "Moskovskaya". In this case, do not forget - cabbage for seedlings must be strong and powerful. By the way, it is not necessary to be limited only to white cabbage. For example, kohlrabi is no less tasty and healthy - this variety can be planted in the corner of the greenhouse, and then plant the bushes after about 20 days already in the garden.
Cooking seeds
Growing cabbage seeds is also a long process. Its success depends on how high-quality planting material is selected. If you encounter improperly stored or counterfeit seeds, you should not wait for the crop. That is why even before planting the seeds should be checked for germination. To do this, they can be wrapped in a damp cloth, and then left for 5 days. After that, the seeds are placed in cold water and soaked in a solution of nitrophosphate and water.
To achieve cold resistance of seeds, you need to place them in a refrigerator and store at a temperature of -1 degree. Many are interested in when to plant cabbage for seedlings. It is worth noting that the timing here is different - it depends on the variety. For example, early varieties can be planted as early as March 15, and medium late varieties from April 10. Seeds are planted in a soil mixture, which is prepared in advance. In the ground you need to add 2 tbsp. wood ash and a spoonful of superphosphate. Then the soil is poured into a box, grooves 1 cm deep are made in it at a distance of 10 cm from each other. Seeds are lightly covered, after which the earth needs to be watered. After the seedlings have developed well - the stem will be 5 mm thick, at least 5 leaves will appear on it - we plant the cabbage in open ground.
Best neighbors
From a well-chosen neighborhood with other vegetables, cabbage will grow much better. Many gardeners cannot decide where to plant cabbage. First, it’s worth saying that it’s worth following a few rules:
- The best predecessors for this vegetable are beans, crops, root crops and cucumbers.
- You can not grow cabbage for two to three years in a row in the same place.
- The soil for cabbage should be fertile and structured, and therefore the ideal option is a loam, in which there is a lot of humus and which holds moisture well. The soil should be neutral.
Experts say that the right combination of crops in the garden is a guarantee that the harvest will be large. This is due to the fact that various plants (vegetables, berries) can have an adverse effect on their neighbors, for example, taking away useful substances or causing metabolic disorders. It is noteworthy that cabbage along with cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkin, celery and onions takes a lot of nutrients from the ground. Therefore, the question of how to plant cabbage remains relevant.
Gardeners adhere to the following rule when planting seedlings: ideally, the proximity of plants with a long root structure and those crops that do not have pronounced roots is good. This planting ensures that plants do not compete for nutrients and water. You can not plant cabbage next to spinach, since the latter requires frequent watering, and for cabbage it is enough and to the extent of dry land.
We prepare the site in advance
If the plot has acidic soil, then it should be prepared in the fall. To do this, when digging, add fluffy lime, which can be replaced with dolomite flour or powdered chalk. One square meter will require about a glass or two of powder. The bed needs to be dug in the autumn and spring, add organic and mineral substances to it, and then plant the cabbage. The best option for fertilizing the soil is scatter, however, it is very expensive. Do not forget that cabbage is very sensitive to organic fertilizers contained in the ground. However, you can not do without them, so fertilizing the soil is worth it competently.
So, manure should be added to poorly cultivated soil - depending on the type of land. In spring, you can fertilize the earth with compost or dung humus at the rate of 3-4 kg per square meter of land. If there are few fertilizers, you can apply them immediately when planting in each hole, where you then plant seedlings.
When and how to plant?
As already mentioned, this process should be carried out depending on the type of variety. Early cabbage can be planted from late April to the first week of May, and later by late May, late varieties can be planted. It is noteworthy that the dates when to plant cabbage differ in individual regions of the country depending on the climatic zone.
The landing technology also has certain features:
- Early varieties are planted as follows: between the rows there should be a distance of 45 cm, and in the row the distance should be about 25 cm.
- When planting late varieties, the distance is greater: between rows - 60 cm, between bushes - 35 cm.
To know at what distance to plant cabbage, it is important that the vegetables develop well and do not interfere with each other while tying a head of cabbage. The process of planting seedlings also has a number of nuances. Firstly, planting should be in cloudy weather, and if there is heat, then only in the afternoon. Secondly, the seedlings should be deepened to the first true leaflet. Thirdly, for improved grafting of bushes in the first 5-6 days, cabbage from a watering can should be sprayed. Fourth, in order to avoid burns of cabbage leaves, one should plant bushes in shaded places.
Care features: watering and loosening
To grow cabbage, it is important to pay great attention to this process. Immediately after planting, watering should be thorough - every few days the first two weeks, while at least 7-8 liters of water are needed per square meter. Then watering can be done less often - once a week, about 10 liters per square meter of beds. The loosening process also plays an important role. If it has rained, you should loosen the soil to a depth of about 8 cm, and loosen every 6 days. Three weeks after transplanting the seedlings into the ground, the first earthing up is carried out, and another 10 days later - re-earthing. During this process, it is important not to touch the base of the head and roots.
Do not forget about feeding
In order to grow good and strong cabbage, it is important to feed it. So, for starters, we are doing everything possible to make the vegetables greener and grow faster. To do this, 20 days after planting, you need to start feeding seedlings. By the way, for all the time of growth and development of cabbage, top dressing should be performed at least three to four times. For the first time, create the following solution: take 10 liters of water and dilute 2 tbsp. fertilizers (for example, the drug "Effekton"). Top dressing is performed at the rate of about half a liter per bush.
After 10 days after the first feeding, the second time comes. To do this, again in 10 liters of water we dilute half a liter of mullein or chicken droppings, where we add a tablespoon of Kemir fertilizer. For one plant, we need about a liter of solution. These two top dressings are needed when planting both early and late varieties of cabbage.
The third top dressing is carried out by gardeners in June. To do this, take 10 liters of water and 2 tbsp. superphosphate, as well as a tablespoon of potassium sulfate. For each square meter you need to pour about 7 liters of the composition. The fourth dressing should be carried out in August: we make a composition of 10 liters of water and a tablespoon of nitrophoska and spend about 8 liters per square meter. Do not forget about pests in the form of snails, aphids and slugs. They can be fought with wood ash - one glass per square meter.
We plant cabbage in the ground: process features
Late cabbage, as a rule, is grown in open ground, however, and this process, which seems simple, actually needs to be carefully verified. Moreover, for planting in the spring they use not seedlings, but seeds. Before sowing, it is required to loosen the soil well, thoroughly rid it of weeds, and then sow the seeds to a depth of about 3 cm. The peculiarity of growing in open ground is that you need to monitor the appearance of the first seedlings. The problem is that they can be attacked by fleas, and therefore you need to take care of protecting the bushes in advance. How to do it?
First, you need to regularly inspect the seedlings. If you suddenly notice a hole on the cabbage leaves, it's time to act. First, we process the site with ash, however, it is better to do this with moist soil. Effective use of infusions based on garlic, onions, tobacco dust. Secondly, plants can be pre-coated with a film, while simultaneously processing chemicals. Thirdly, cabbage planted in open ground requires a sufficient amount of moisture. This is explained by the fact that because of the large leaf surface, too much water evaporates. With a lack of moisture, the yield will decrease, so ideally you need to know how to plant cabbage correctly: this is best done in low reliefs or near water bodies. Fourthly, there should not be too much moisture, otherwise the cabbage will stop growing and become stale. Accordingly, you can not even dream of a crop.
From whom to protect cabbage?
It is worth remembering that any errors in care - improper or missed watering or poor ventilation - will affect the appearance of various diseases. The most popular disease is considered to be a black leg, which can be controlled with a substrate based on wood ash. You can fight root rot by treating the roots with the help of Trichodermin and Rizoplan. These preparations are biologically pure, therefore they do not have any harmful effect on the seedlings. Thanks to the treatment of the first of them, a zone is created around the roots that is protected from microorganisms, and the Rizoplan preparation allows the seedlings to absorb iron, which means that they will have immunity to the black leg. Sredsto "Trichodermin" need to be added to the soil mixture, and then plant cabbage.
Cabbage can be different: Beijing, Brussels and cauliflower ...
In the main part of the article, we talked about the features of cabbage - preparing the soil for its sowing, growing seedlings and its further planting in the soil, and the peculiarities of care. However, in addition to white cabbage, many today plant varieties such as cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi or broccoli. Despite the fact that the basic rules for growing different varieties are approximately the same, it does not do without nuances.
For example, Beijing and Chinese cabbage should be planted directly with seeds directly into the ground, since the plants are not good for transplanting. In addition, their food organ is formed only in early spring or late autumn, that is, when the day is short. Cauliflower seedlings are very capricious and demanding on the quality of the soil: they should be planted in fertile soil saturated with manganese and boron. With this seedling should be enough moisture and heat. But too high temperatures of cauliflower are harmful, as well as overdried soil.
The peculiarity of Brussels sprouts is in a high stalk, on which cabbage heads are formed in the axils of the leaves - there can be up to 90 pieces. The growing season of this vegetable is almost 160 days, so they plant it mainly in seedlings. For seedlings, seeds must be sown in the 20th of April in open nurseries. Seedlings already appear on the 5th day, and therefore at this time they must be treated with ash or tobacco dust in order to protect the seedlings from the cruciferous flea.
... kohlrabi and broccoli
These varieties of cabbage are not sown so often, but still there are also enough lovers. Broccoli has a loose head, painted from green to purple. This variety is less demanding compared to cauliflower. However, the seeds should be prepared before planting. To do this, they are placed in hot water for 15 minutes, then in cold water for a minute, and then for 12 hours in a trace element solution. After this, the seeds need to be washed and dried. A broccoli plot should be prepared in the fall by introducing liming substances into the ground. But under the cabbage itself, fertilizers must be applied already in the spring: these can be organic substances, superphosphate, wood ash or urea.
If broccoli will be grown using seedlings, then a soil mixture will be required, which includes peat, turf land and sand in a 1: 1: 1 combination. It is undesirable to use the old earth from the garden, as it can be infected with a black leg. After sowing seeds, you need to strive to maintain a temperature of about 20 degrees, and when seedlings appear, the temperature can be reduced to 10 degrees. It is important not to overmoisten the substrate, otherwise the seedlings can become sick. At the age of two weeks, seedlings dive, but seedlings can be planted in open ground gradually so that it gets used to sunlight, wind and temperature changes.
Kohlrabi is distinguished by a juicy and tender stem-fruit. This cabbage can be early, as well as middle and late ripening. To obtain early varieties, seedlings are needed, it can be planted already in late April. As soon as a few real leaves appear, seedlings can be planted in the ground. If you grow kohlrabi without seedlings, then the seeds must be sown in two to three runs, while the interval should be at least 20 days. The best time for this is mid-June to early August. This type of cabbage should be constantly moistened: after seedlings are planted, watering should be every 2-3 days. Then you can switch to watering once a week. After each moistening, the soil needs to be loosened to a depth of 5-8 cm.
Cabbage is a healthy vegetable, and therefore beloved by many. To grow a good crop on your site, you need very little - just know when and how to plant seedlings and how to prepare the soil.