In the greenhouse, before planting the main crops, you can grow high-quality seedlings of various varieties of cabbage. These are early varieties, medium and medium varieties of white cabbage, as well as cauliflower and others. Therefore, it is important to know when to plant cabbage for seedlings. Seeds in white cabbage already begin to germinate at 3 degrees. And at 20 degrees of soil temperature, this process accelerates and reaches optimal germination (3-4 days from sowing). It is best to place in the greenhouse the peaked and already taken root seedlings that were previously grown at home.
For white cabbage, standard seedlings should have no more than five true leaves. Her age should be from the moment of emergence about two months. Accordingly, it is necessary to calculate when to plant cabbage for seedlings. If you are going to plant seedlings at the end of May, then sowing should be done somewhere around March 25th. All frosts can withstand and at the same time give a high yield only high-quality, strong and hardened seedlings. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly observe the procedure for properly planting cabbage seedlings.
The key to good and strong seedlings is the correct pre-sowing treatment of seeds. First of all, you need to select seeds manually by size, the best are seeds having a size in diameter of about 2 mm. For the purpose of processing, before planting cabbage for seedlings, the seeds are placed for 20 minutes in water with a temperature of almost 50 degrees, then cooled in cold water for 3 minutes and dried to flow.
Against the keel and bacteriosis, you can warm the seeds for another 20 minutes, the temperature should be 50 degrees. And after this temperature treatment for 1.5-2 hours, you need to place them in a solution with a concentration of 0.5 g / liter of ammonium molybdate and boric acid. To increase seed germination, they are treated in a 0.5% urea solution.
Some gardeners recommend sowing cabbage seeds as early as January 15th. The timing of sowing seeds when planting cabbage for seedlings is determined by the fact that from sowing seeds to the appearance of friendly seedlings, it takes from 8 to 12 days, and from germination to the formation of a full seedling, another 45-50 days elapse. The timing is also determined when planting seedlings of cauliflower.
In the sowing boxes, seedlings should grow until the first true leaf appears, then they are peaked. During a dive, all late ascendants and weak ones, as well as seedlings affected by the “black leg” and lack of an apical kidney, should be discarded. When picking, seedlings (especially if they are extended) are buried almost to the cotyledons, so that the seedlings are strengthened by the formation of additional roots. Special seedling soil for growing cabbage seedlings is not required, it should be the same as for seedlings of other vegetables.
If seedlings are grown in a greenhouse under a film, then the light conditions are quite favorable for it, so plants will not need additional light hardening. It should be borne in mind that the seedlings of cabbage can not tolerate dimming from the moment the first seedlings appear and until it is ready for planting. In the greenhouse, seedlings are best placed in boxes, and a plastic film is laid on the ground surface under the boxes. The bottom of the boxes is also covered with a film, but holes are made in it so that excess moisture drains from fertilizing solutions and irrigation. Such growing seedlings in boxes makes it more convenient to move it around the greenhouse if necessary and makes it easier to reject low-quality sprouts.
Watering seedlings should be plentiful, but not too often. The temperature of water for irrigation should be slightly higher than the temperature of the soil in which it is grown. For proper care of seedlings, the temperature regime should be observed , this will ensure its air hardening. Before planting seedlings in open ground, it is necessary to compare the temperature regime in the greenhouse with the temperature of the outside air for several days.