Cabbage is a very healthy and tasty product. It can be consumed fresh almost all year round. Do-it-yourself cabbage is especially tasty. When choosing varieties, hybrids are increasingly preferred for their high productivity. One of them is Valentine F1 cabbage.
Variety Characterization
Cabbage belongs to the cruciferous family. This is a plant whose full cycle is two years. But only plants of the first year of life consume food. They form a rosette of smooth leaves that are very tight to each other and form a head. The stalk becomes thick. It is called the stump, the stoker.
In the second year, cabbage blooms and gives seeds. Small flowers in the shape of yellow crosses. Pollinated by bees and insects. Easily interbreed with other types of cabbage. Seeds are round, dark brown, placed in pods. Growing cabbage for seeds at home is troublesome. And if it is a hybrid, then it is also useless. After all, the seeds of hybrids do not preserve maternal qualities.
At the time of Pythagoras, who grew cabbage, there were no more than ten varieties. In the 19th century, there were already about thirty of them. Now there are hundreds of cabbage varieties. There are various types: colored, broccoli, Savoy, leaf, Brussels, kohlrabi, white. The latter is characterized by the presence of a juicy white or light green head of cabbage.
White cabbage has different ripening periods:
- Early ripening matures in 60 days after planting seedlings. It is soft, juicy, has a loose head and is used to make salads. Unsuitable for fermentation. Seedlings of early varieties are distinguished by a lighter and brighter salad color.
- Medium early ready for use after 75 days. Salads are also prepared from them. They can be fermented, but for a short time.
- Mid-ripening ripens in 80 days. Use fresh autumn and early winter. Sour two to three months after harvest. Seedlings have dark green leaves.
- Medium-late give the finished product 105 days after planting.
- Late ripening ready for use after 170-180 days.
Varieties of the last two groups are well stored until the new harvest and retain almost all vitamins and nutrients. It is to the late-ripe cabbage that belongs to Valentine F1.
Description
A head of cabbage is round, a little oval in shape, which is also called obovate. A mass of one head of cabbage, equal to about 3 kilograms, has a white cabbage Valentine F1. Reviews of gardeners indicate that sometimes its weight reaches five kilograms.
It is well kept for 9 months. Cabbage Valentine F1 (description in section) the stalk has a short. The color of the leaves is gray-green, with a strong waxy coating. Cabbage Valentine F1, the description of which we are considering, has a light green dense head of cabbage. The color inside is white, a little greenish.
Cabbage is a frost-resistant crop. She easily tolerates spring frosts. In the fall, it can withstand a temperature drop of -5 degrees.
Suitable for raw consumption, as well as for pickling and pickling Valentina F1 cabbage. Customer reviews advise to cook cabbage rolls from its leaves. True, the head of cabbage is dense, so it is difficult to remove a whole leaf. To do this, head out for a minute in hot water. The leaf becomes soft and peels off easily.
Cabbage is used to prepare many tasty, healthy and low-calorie dishes. From them you will definitely not gain weight. Calorie cabbage - 24 Kcal per 100 g.
Benefit
Cabbage contains many chemical elements that the body needs to maintain normal functioning. It contains amino acids, a wide variety of vitamins, including vitamin U, which prevents the formation of ulcers. A very large amount of vitamin C, which is part of cabbage in the form of ascorbigen, which is not destroyed during heat treatment, makes it simply an indispensable vegetable in our diet. And if you take into account the availability of vegetables, then not using it is simply a sin. Especially valuable are late-ripening varieties, including Valentine F1 cabbage, which retains ascorbic acid until spring greens appear.
Fiber, which is a large amount in cabbage, regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Its juice has an anti-inflammatory effect, heals wounds. But with an exacerbation of diseases of these organs, with colic, pancreatitis, you can not eat a vegetable.
Cabbage lowers blood cholesterol, makes the walls of blood vessels strong. Therefore, it is a simple and effective treatment for atherosclerosis.
The use of cabbage is indicated for people with a disease of the cardiovascular system, since the potassium salts included in its composition remove excess fluid from the body.
Cabbage, due to its low calorie content, helps to lose weight. It is useful for people with diabetes. After all, its juice normalizes metabolic processes in the body, strengthens the nervous system.
The soil
Cabbage Valentina F1 grows well in bright areas with rich soil, neutral or slightly acidic. Feels good in partial shade. She loves loam and peat marshy soils. But waterlogging does not tolerate well. Prepare the soil in the fall. For this, humus is introduced into it, lime. The best predecessors will be cucumbers, potatoes or legumes. After them, cabbage gives a good harvest and does not get sick. Reviews of gardeners suggest that it can be grown in greenhouses. There she also gives a decent harvest.
Planting
Late varieties are sown in late March-early April. Seeds are immersed in a greenhouse or box to a depth of 1 cm, and then watered and set in a warm place. After about a week, shoots appear. Such is the cabbage Valentine F1. Reviews say that seeds have a germination rate of about 100%. In the cotyledon phase, they are dived into another dish. Plants are planted on a permanent place with four true leaves at the end of May, 40 days after sowing. They are placed on the bed according to the 60 × 60 pattern. Landing according to the scheme 70 × 50 is allowed. Dip into the ground until the first true leaf. Then cabbage Valentine F1 will quickly take root in a new place.
Reviews of some gardeners are advised to sow cabbage in a permanent place in the holes, covering, if necessary, with a film or agrofiber from frost. Stack several seeds. Then the extra ones (if any) dive into other holes. Reviews say that plants that have not been replanted need less watering. But other gardeners say that when diving, part of the root comes off, causing it to grow in width rather than in depth. This contributes to the formation of a larger head of cabbage.
Care
Cabbage - a plant that needs regular watering. It is especially necessary to replenish the moisture supply during the formation of the head of cabbage. The area on which cabbage grows is regularly weeded from weeds, loosened to improve aeration. Sprinkle the soil with ash to prevent the appearance of aphids and cabbage fleas.
Fertilizer
The first feeding is carried out after the appearance of the second true leaf. Next time - a couple of days before landing at a permanent place.
Harvesting
From the appearance of the first seedlings to harvesting, from 140 to 180 days pass. Harvested Valentine F1 cabbage in the last decade of September-first decade of October. Do not think that the longer the cabbage lasts on the bed, the better it will be stored. Reviews of gardeners indicate that after cold rains it can become saturated with moisture and crack.
Productivity of a cabbage of a grade of Valentine F1 is high. Although it depends on weather conditions and care, the average yield is 70-80 tons per hectare, other sources indicate 85-120 t / ha. Reviews gardeners indicate that the cabbage of Valentine's cabbage is very large. Therefore, they have been growing this variety for many years.
Diseases and Pests
Resistant to major diseases cabbage Valentine F1. Reviews of gardeners claim that she is almost not affected by the keel, black leg and Fusarium wilting. But still, preventive measures are being taken. So that the seedlings are not damaged by the black leg, they do not overmoisten it. For the prevention of keels (the formation of growths on the root), the soil is calcified. Crop rotation is observed: cabbage has not been planted for four years at the place where cruciferous plants grew . These are salads, radishes, radishes, mustard.
Treatment against powdery mildew will be protected by treatment with a solution of Bordeaux fluid or phytosporin.
If elegant white butterflies swirl over a bed of cabbage, then you need to look: it can be cabbage belan. From his eggs appear small, but very gluttonous caterpillars. Cabbage Valentine F1 may suffer from them. Reviews, photos indicate that if they are not destroyed on time, they can quickly spoil the cabbage by eating soft, delicate leaves that form inside the head of cabbage. Sprayed from the caterpillars by agrophyte or other similar means from pests.