Seedling cabbage from seeds: proper sowing, care

The article describes in detail how cabbage seedlings are grown from seeds: sowing, rules of care, hardening of seedlings.

Cabbage in Russia has always been loved and popular, they grew it in large quantities, cooked cabbage soup, stewed it, baked cabbage pies, and, of course, fermented it for the winter. Now it can be found in almost every vegetable garden, and not only white cabbage, but also colored, Brussels and other species. Not everyone is able to grow seedlings on their own, they are often bought in garden centers or accepted as a gift from generous neighbors in the country. In this article, we will discuss how to grow quality cabbage seedlings, which will ensure an excellent harvest in the future.

Seedling cabbage from seeds: choose a variety

Seedling cabbage from seeds: choose a variety

If you have made the decision to plant and grow cabbage on your own, then first decide why you are doing it. No, of course it's clear what for food, but in this case, the details are important. If you plan to plan cabbage salads and cook cabbage soup in the summer, then early ripening species are suitable for you, usually these are medium-sized heads of cabbage that are not stored for a long time. Mid-season cabbage is suitable for pickling, and later varieties are very well stored, providing you with vitamins for a long time. If you are a big fan of cabbage, and there is enough space in the garden, then the ideal solution would be to plant different varieties of cabbage, which, ripening at different times, will satisfy all your needs.

Seedling cabbage from seeds: we purchase planting material

Seedling cabbage from seeds: purchasing planting material

Many gardeners have recently complained that the quality of the seeds leaves much to be desired, and despite the shelf life indicated on the packaging, their germination capacity is often extremely low. Therefore, it is very important to choose high-quality planting material. Consult with friends, consult in shops and garden centers, buy seeds only from manufacturers who have proven themselves well. And even in this case, purchase seeds with a stock - there is always a possibility that some percentage of the seeds will not sprout, and some of the seedlings may die during transplantation, so it is always better to have a stock.

Preparing the soil for cabbage seeds

Never use soil from the garden for seedlings, especially from the garden, where the cruciferous cultures (radishes, turnips, radishes and any kind of cabbage) used to grow. Firstly, they have already sucked out all the nutrients from the ground, and secondly, the likelihood of infections in this soil is very high. So let's agree, garden land is a taboo.

You can buy a ready-made soil mixture for vegetable crops, it is quite nutritious and at first will provide the seedlings with everything they need. But the most correct solution would be to prepare the mixture yourself (you can buy everything you need in garden centers or flower shops, and the leftovers will be useful to you for growing other seedlings or indoor plants). To prepare the mixture, you will need humus and sod land (equally), as well as wood ash - 10 tablespoons per 10 kg of soil mixture.Ash in the mixture will play a very important role - it will not only enrich the soil with additional nutrients, but also disinfect it, acting as an antiseptic. It turns out something like a "vaccination" against black leg - the main disease of seedlings.

You can prepare a nutritious soil based on peat, it is also suitable for growing cabbage. The main requirement for the soil is that it must be nutritious and loose so that air can easily penetrate into it.

When to sow cabbage for seedlings

As much as you would like to speed up the onset of summer, you should not plant cabbage seedlings in February. And if you realized it only in May, you'd better buy a ready-made one, because you definitely won't have time to grow your own. The seed packages always contain information on the timing of planting and ripening of the crop, be sure to adhere to these recommendations, but there is a little secret, knowing which you can always easily calculate the optimal time for sowing seeds. By the time of transplantation to a permanent place, the age of cabbage seedlings should be 50-55 days. From the moment of sowing to the emergence of seedlings, it takes an average of 10 days (plus or minus two days), so sowing cabbage seeds for seedlings should be two months before the intended planting in the ground.

Early varieties are sown for seedlings in the first half or mid-March. In late March - early April, you can sow mid-ripening cabbage varieties, and at the same time you can plant late-ripening cabbage seedlings.

We carry out pre-sowing preparation

No matter how much you are assured that all the seeds are properly processed, it is still worthwhile to insure yourself and carry out additional pre-sowing preparation, this will help protect your cabbage from dangerous diseases that can destroy the plants already at the seedling stage, and this is very important, since healthy and strong seedlings tolerate transplanting better and adapt faster in the garden.

If the packaging of the seeds indicates that they have already been processed, then the only thing that is required of you is to hold them for about 20 minutes in water heated to 50 degrees, and then cool - put them in cool water for 5 minutes. This will make the cabbage more resistant to fungal infections. If the seeds were not pretreated, then do it yourself - prepare a solution of ascorbic acid (1 gram per one liter of water) and soak the seeds for 10 hours, then rinse in running water and dry.

You can also use a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection - keep the seeds in it for no more than 15 minutes and then rinse them. But a solution of ascorbic acid for cabbage will be the most suitable option.

Seedling cabbage from seeds: correct sowing

At first glance, everything seems very simple - you bought a bag of seeds, a bag of ready-made soil, cassettes for seedlings, planted and wait. In practice, unfortunately, everything is somewhat more complicated. To get strong and strong seedlings, you will have to try and put a lot of effort.

Initially, the seeds must be sown in one common container. Do not forget that it is imperative to ensure good drainage in both the general and individual containers in order to avoid stagnant water.

Moisten the soil well so that you no longer water it before the shoots appear - this will also help protect them from the black leg. Cabbage seeds require a lot of water to germinate, so pre-watering is very important.

After the seeds sprout, thin out the seedlings, there should be one sprout for every 4 square centimeters. After about a couple of weeks, a pick should be carried out - plant the cabbage in seedling cassettes or peat pots about 5 by 5 cm in size. When transplanting, deepen the sprout to the level of the cotyledons.

Previously, the containers in which the seedlings will be further grown for prevention purposes can be treated with a weak solution of a preparation containing copper (for example, copper sulfate) to prevent the likelihood of fungal diseases.

If there is no desire to mess around with a pick, then you can initially plant the seeds in separate pots, so the cabbage will develop a good root system and are less injured at the time of transplanting to the garden.

Lighting

Another difficulty is that cabbage seedlings need a long daylight hours for full growth - from 12 to 15 hours, and in spring it is rather difficult, especially in March and the first half of April. Therefore, to get strong seedlings, you will need to provide additional lighting. Conventional table lamps are not suitable for this, ideally a special phytolamp for plants is needed, but in extreme cases a fluorescent fluorescent lamp is also suitable. If the seedling "lives" on the windowsill, then do not forget to periodically turn it so that it does not stretch in one direction and develop fully.

Watering

There is a saying among the people “cabbage loves water and great weather”. This applies to both mature plants and seedlings. After the seedlings have appeared and got stronger, it should be watered as the soil dries up. At the same time, the soil must not completely dry out and remember that waterlogging is also undesirable (and sometimes dangerous). Do not forget to regularly and carefully loosen the soil - by providing air access to the roots, you create additional ventilation, which can save them from rotting.

Comfort temperature

Cabbage seedlings are also quite demanding on the air temperature, so it should be constantly monitored. While you are waiting for the emergence of seedlings, the temperature should be maintained at + 18 ... + 20 degrees. When the seeds germinate, it is desirable to lower the temperature to + 16 ... + 17 degrees in the daytime and up to +10 degrees at night. This only applies to white cabbage seedlings! It is possible that lowering the temperature will not seem like a very logical step to you, but believe me, in fact it helps to grow stronger seedlings and prevents them from stretching.

If you grow cauliflower in parallel, then keep in mind that it does not welcome a drop in temperatures, this may affect the quality of the crop. Temperature fluctuations and the difference in daytime and nighttime are permissible, but still, compared to the climate for white cabbage, it should be 6-7 degrees warmer.

Seedling cabbage from seeds: how to fertilize

Initially, the nutrient soil contains everything necessary for the development of plants, but this does not mean that over time they will not need additional nutrition. During the period of growing seedlings, three additional feeding will be required, and the first must be done 7-9 days after the pick, which means 3-3.5 weeks after the sprouts appear. Dissolve mineral fertilizers in a liter of water: 4 g of superphosphate, 2 g of nitrate and 2 g of potassium salt - this is enough for 50-60 cabbage sprouts. Remember that fertilizers must be applied at the same time as watering - watering first, and then feeding.

A couple of weeks after the first, a second feeding can be done. The ingredients are the same, but their dosage should be doubled per liter of water. Pay attention to the leaves - if they start to turn yellow, then you can additionally feed with organic matter.

The last feeding should be done 5-7 days before planting outside, this will help her gain strength and adapt faster when transplanting. To do this, we increase the dose of potassium salt to 8 grams, add 3 g of ammonium nitrate and 5 g of superphosphate, still dissolving it in a liter of water.

In case it is not possible to measure the grams and prepare the solution yourself, purchase a ready-made liquid dressing, while be sure to follow the instructions and carefully measure the dosage.

We harden the seedlings

We harden the seedlings

Hardening of plants is necessary, because after indoor conditions, transplanting into a garden will cause severe stress, which plants do not always withstand. And thanks to the gradual hardening, the cabbage grows stronger and gets used to outdoor conditions.

Cabbage seedlings should be hardened a couple of weeks before transplanting to the garden. For the first four days, it is enough to open the window over the plants, increasing the time every day. Then start taking it out to the balcony, first shading it, and then gradually accustoming it to bright sunlight. After seven days, we reduce watering and no longer carry the seedlings from the balcony - they begin to get used to the temperature difference. The main thing is not to overdry or freeze the cabbage - all this should happen when the threat of night frosts has passed, so carefully follow the weather forecast. Water the plants well on the eve of planting so that the earthy clod does not fall apart when you transplant them.

Diseases and pests: treatment and preventive measures

If it suddenly happened that you did not keep track of the seedlings (overflowed, did not ventilate, overcooled) and she fell ill, then do not waste time, this is not a runny nose, it will not go away by itself. It is imperative to treat the plants, because otherwise they may die.

If you find a black leg, then you should dry the soil, then sprinkle it with ash and loosen it well (good, but carefully, without damaging the roots).

To combat various types of rot, use biological preparations (Trichodermin, Rhizoplan), which are absolutely environmentally friendly and will not harm the plants. They not only destroy harmful organisms, but also help the seedlings develop immunity and make them more resistant to diseases. You can not wait for diseases, but carry out preventive treatment with trichodermine before picking (1 gram per one sprout). If you plan to process cabbage with risoplan, then dilute 1 gram in 100 milliliters of water and water or spray the plants with a spray bottle.

In addition to diseases, there are also harmful insects; at the stage of growing seedlings, you may encounter a cruciferous flea. To avoid meeting this unpleasant insect, pre-treat with Intavir, following the instructions and observing the dosage.

There are no special tricks in growing cabbage seedlings. As in any other business, you should act consistently and methodically: study the theory, prepare everything you need and act. If you properly prepare the soil and seeds, carefully monitor the temperature and humidity, take preventive measures and temper the seedlings in a timely manner, then everything will definitely work out and you will collect an unprecedented harvest of delicious cabbage.

Seedling cabbage from seeds