Growing cabbage

Gardeners have been growing cabbage for a very long time. They grow it in a garden in open areas, since this culture does not need greenhouse conditions. However, she is picky enough and in order to grow a good harvest, you will need proper care. This article will focus on growing cabbage in the open field.

Growing cabbage - preparing a plot in the garden for seedlings

growing cabbage

It makes no sense to grow cabbage in a greenhouse, it can grow well in open areas. To grow it, you will need a large, flat sunny space, since the vegetable does not tolerate shading.

If the heads of cabbage do not have enough light, they will develop poorly. The soil prefers loose, well-drained, low acidity or neutral soil. In soils with a high level of acidity, this vegetable crop is often sick.

The preparation of the garden plot takes place in the fall. To do this, it must be fertilized with humus and compost. And add mineral fertilizers in the form of superphosphate at the rate of 40 grams per 1 sq. meter.

The addition of dolomite flour will be needed if the soil is highly acidic. To do this, add 0.5 kg. 1 square meter.

After fertilizing, the site must be well dug up. During spring preparation, use urea at the rate of a tablespoon per 1 sq. meter.

Growing cabbage requires a crop rotation as this will help prevent many different diseases. It is possible to plant on the same plot only after 4 years.

The same applies to areas where other cruciferous plants grew. An excellent option for planting a plant would be a place where potatoes, beans, cucumbers or tomatoes grew.

How to properly grow cabbage seedlings

growing cabbage

The cultivation of cabbage, or rather, its seedlings, begins with the purchase of seeds. The manufacturer is of great importance when choosing them. It would be more correct to choose already known and proven ones. Information about them is always on the packaging.

We can offer you to pay attention to such as "Gavrish", "Aelita", "Plazmas". Be sure to check the production date as well. Seeds older than 5 years do not need to be used, as their germination is very low.

If you decide to purchase seeds that have a bright shell, then they can be sown immediately in the garden, since they have already been trained by the manufacturer.

Step-by-step instructions for preparing cabbage seeds

First of all, it is necessary to select seeds, removing empty, weak and light ones. To do this, you need a 3% solution of table salt, place the seeds there and leave for 20 minutes.

Seeds that have not sunk to the bottom do not need to be used for sowing. Seeds that have settled to the bottom are placed for 20 minutes in a 2% potassium solution for the purpose of disinfection.

The next step is to wet them in a solution to stimulate growth. You can get these solutions in specialized stores.

Place the seeds on a paper towel, dampen well and wait for them to swell. Next, the seeds are hardened by placing them in a refrigerator at night, and during the day they are stored at room temperature. After three days, the seeds will be ready to plant.

There are a lot of recipes for preparing the soil, so you can easily do it yourself.You may like the option of preparing two parts of black soil and bottom peat and one part of river sand.

River sand will provide good drainage. Add a tablespoon of wood ash and a tablespoon of phosphate to this mixture for one bucket.

Or you can purchase ready-made soil from a specialized store.

Growing cabbage: sowing seeds

Before sowing, containers must be filled with soil and made small holes with a depth of no more than 1 centimeter and furrows at a distance of about 5 centimeters from each other.

Having planted the seeds, the ground must be well sprayed with a spray bottle. Cover with a dark film and place the containers in a place where the air temperature is not lower than 18 degrees and not higher than 22.

As a rule, after a week you will be able to see the first shoots. After that, the film must be removed and the plant must be placed in a cooler place with a temperature of 15 to 17 degrees.

At night, the temperature should be between 8 and 10 degrees. During this period, it is important that the plant receives enough light, at least 13 hours a day.

The picking of seedlings begins after the appearance of the first two leaves. When transplanting, the central root is shortened, which stimulates the development of lateral roots. Peat pots are ideal for replanting sprouts.

Before planting plants in open ground, hardening is necessary. Take them outside for several hours, increasing the time every day. It is important that the air temperature is at least 5 degrees.

A couple of days before planting, the seedlings can be taken outside and left there.

Growing cabbage outdoors - planting seedlings

Transplanting into open ground begins when the air temperature is at least 5 degrees, the plant reaches at least 10 cm in height and 5 or 6 leaves will be formed.

The exact timing of planting depends on which variety of cabbage you plan to plant and in which region of the country. Prepare the holes in advance before planting. The distance between them should be about 50 centimeters, and about 70 centimeters between the rows.

Since cabbage varieties are different, see the information on the package where the planting rules for the variety you bought are indicated. Each hole must be fertilized with one liter of humus and half a liter of ash.

Next, the seedlings must be lowered to a depth of the lower leaves, watered well and lightly covered with dry earth.

When planting, do not wait until the threat of frost has completely disappeared. Cabbage is a frost-resistant vegetable crop and night temperatures down to -5 will not destroy it.

However, in regions such as Siberia, the Urals and the north of our country, it is better to take precautions and cover the plants with agrofibre at night. When the temperature has stabilized, the shelter can be removed.

Growing cabbage with seeds

Cabbage is also grown by sowing seeds on an open plot of land. This cultivation option is suitable for the south of Russia. Here, varieties with an early ripening period are usually chosen for sowing.

The seeds are processed in the same way as for seedlings. You can sow them already in April. Before planting, prepare holes no more than 1 centimeter deep at the same distances as for seedlings.

Moisten them, dip 3 seeds in each and lightly sprinkle with earth. Some gardeners prefer to make furrows instead of holes, this may be convenient for you.

It is very important to ensure that the soil does not dry out and moisten it in time. After the seeds are planted, they must be covered with a black film, and removed after the first shoots.

If, after the appearance of the first leaves, the temperature drops below 5 degrees, then the plants will need to be covered with agrofibre. This plant requires care and therefore should not be deprived of attention.

After two or three weeks, thin out your plant, leaving the strongest ones, and huddle up, lifting the soil up to the lower leaves.

Vegetable cabbage: growing and care in the open field

As mentioned above, cabbage needs care. And to get a good harvest, you will need to devote time and attention to it.

Watering

Perhaps the most important thing in caring for this plant is watering. Although the irrigation schedule varies with crop growth, the topsoil should always remain moist. Since the roots receive moisture from there.

This is especially important at the first stage of development. The watering interval for the first two weeks after planting cannot be more than three days. When the leaves become large and the formation of heads of cabbage begins, irrigation can be reduced to once every 7 days.

However, if the weather is hot and dry, this should be done more often. You should constantly monitor the moisture content of the soil.

Just take a handful of earth and squeeze, if it crumbles in your hands or a lump made from it crumbles falling to the ground, then the plant needs to be watered.

At the same time, make sure that there is no stagnation of water, as this provokes root rot and the development of fungal diseases. Use drip irrigation systems to keep the soil moist and prevent water stagnation.

This is perhaps the perfect watering option for cabbage. Watering is carried out exclusively in the early morning or late evening, in order to protect the leaves from burns.

After watering, lightly dust the area with wood ash, this will help protect the plants from the invasion of snails and slugs. Make a watering schedule and stick to it to keep the soil from drying out.

If the plant doesn't get enough moisture, your heads of cabbage will be loose and cracked. Watering should be completely stopped only 21 days before harvest. Hilling and loosening:

Loosening and hilling

After the seedlings take root, you need to start the first loosening to a depth of at least 5 centimeters. After a week, you can do repeated loosening to a depth of 8 centimeters. Further, the soil must be loosened after each watering to a depth of 10 centimeters.

This procedure should be stopped only after the leaves have closed, so as not to injure the heads of cabbage. Loosening is important for the plant, it provides access to oxygen, which is very important for the good development of our vegetable culture.

Hilling is also an integral part of grooming. It stimulates the development of additional roots, which has a good effect on the nutrition of the head of cabbage. You can start hilling for the first time three weeks after planting the seedlings.

The second time should be spud only if the planted varieties do not have short stumps. This can be done three weeks after the first.

Mulching

Mulching is beneficial for all plants in the garden. It allows you to retain moisture, protects from crusts on the surface of the soil, which allows the culture to breathe, and is also an excellent fertilizing and supply of nutrients after it has been milled.

Mulch can be made from compost, humus, rotted sawdust, cut grass, sunflower husks. The only problem that can arise is pests that grow in the layers of mulch.

The drip irrigation system will help to avoid this.

Fertilizers

What and when to make them when growing cabbage in the open field. Since during the entire growth period, cabbage needs nutrients, fertilizers should be applied regularly.

The first time fertilizers should be applied in the fall in large quantities and with a superphosphate content. Do not forget about urea, it is irreplaceable as a source of nitrogen.

During this period, it makes no sense to add potassium, since it will evaporate from the soil by the time of planting.

Fertilize the soil a second time just before planting by spreading them into the holes. The potassium solution is applied 2-3 weeks after planting the seedlings, then again after 10 days. For early varieties, dressings are no longer required.

Complex fertilizers are well suited for feeding, since they contain all the necessary trace elements.Such mixtures are sold in specialized stores and used according to the instructions.

As for the late varieties, they need further feeding. Liquid organic fertilizers work well. You can use both mullein and bird manure. Herbal infusions are also good.

For cooking, you need a barrel or bath in which 2 liters of cow dung or 1 liter of poultry manure is mixed with 10 liters of water and infused for 10 days.

If you decide to use herbal infusion, then you will need 7 kg of cut grass, pour 10 liters of water and wait for fermentation, as a rule, this is a week. Next, dilute the infusions at the rate of 1 liter per bucket of water and pour the cabbage under the root.

You will need one bucket for 1 square meter. Fertilizers must be applied 4 times at intervals of two weeks. Top dressing should be stopped three weeks before harvest.

Folk remedies for feeding cabbage

Growing cabbage is impossible without top dressing. Many gardeners prefer to use folk remedies to feed their plants. There are many recipes for preparing such dressings. We will tell you about some of them.

· To enhance the growth of leaves, you can prepare a solution of boric acid. To do this, dissolve 5 grams of acid in a glass of hot boiling water and dilute in a bucket of water. Spraying heads of cabbage with such a product should be carried out in early July.

Brewer's yeast or bread yeast is also suitable for enhancing growth and mass gain. For cooking, you need to dissolve 100 grams of pressed yeast in a bucket of water and let it brew for one hour. It is necessary to water the plants with such a solution twice, in July and August, at the root on a warm day. After processing, feed the plants with wood ash, it will replenish the loss of potassium.

• Baking soda works well to prevent heads from cracking. Dilute 20 grams of powder in a bucket of water and pour over with a watering can. This procedure should be carried out in early September.

• Nitrogen is very useful for plants at the first stage of development and in order to enrich the soil with this element, ammonia is suitable. To do this, dilute 3 tablespoons in a bucket of water and pour at the very root during the first feeding.

• Providing the plant with the required amount of potassium, banana peel will help. To do this, it must be dried, chopped finely and allowed to brew for 4 days in water. To prepare one liter of infusion, you will need one peel. After the infusion is filtered and the plants are watered.

• In order to saturate their cabbage with calcium, many gardeners use dried eggshells. She is an excellent supplier of this element and is used for planting. Just add one tablespoon of crushed shells to each well.

• Give the plant all the necessary elements, potatoes will help. To prepare such a bait, you will need to chop it finely and spread it out into the holes when planting.

Collection and storage

The collection of early varieties lasts from July to August. When harvesting, do not remove the heads, as they can be used to get a second crop from small heads. The main thing is not to forget to water them.

It will be possible to start harvesting late varieties in September. Late varieties, as a rule, are stored or used for pickling, so they need to be harvested when they become strong and elastic.

It is important to know that cabbage will be stored better if it is harvested at a temperature not higher than 8 degrees.

After the heads of cabbage are collected, leave them together with the cabbage stumps for several days on the ground.

In order for the cabbage to withstand frost, do not cut the stumps completely, removing them from the garden. This is important to know especially for those who grow this vegetable in the cold regions of our country.

For long-term storage, you need to select strong heads of cabbage and place them in a dark and cool, up to +5 degrees, place. Lay out on shelves or hang from any sturdy beams.Loose heads of cabbage can be used for sourdough.

Features of growing in the regions

The territory of our country is huge and climatic conditions are very different in one region from another, therefore there are differences in the care and cultivation of this crop.

In Ukraine

In Ukraine, the climate is temperate and well suited for different varieties of cabbage and different ripening periods, cabbage cultivation is favorable in this region.

Seedlings are grown in greenhouses and planted in the garden in May. In these climatic conditions, shelters for protection from the cold are rarely used and only to protect seeds that are sown directly into open ground in April.

In the western regions of Ukraine, dry periods are frequent and can last up to three months. Therefore, cabbage is watered quite often, up to 3 times a week. This is probably why drip irrigation systems are so common in garden plots.

In central Russia

In the middle zone of our country, the climate is temperate and therefore the most suitable for cabbage. Suitable for growing both early varieties and late varieties.

After the seedlings are planted, it is recommended to cover it with agrofibre for two weeks. Shelters must be used when planting seeds in open ground.

For planting seeds, you can use such varieties as, "Kolobok", "Valentine", "Glory". Any varieties are suitable for the Middle Lane, so the choice is large.

In outskirts of Moscow

The climate in the regions of the Moscow region is also moderate, but there are already much fewer sunny days than in the middle lane. However, the high humidity in the region is favorable for a good cabbage harvest.

Given that the weather is unstable here, gardeners prefer to grow seedlings in warm beds. Seedlings are planted in the garden in early May.

The best varieties for cultivation are those in which the ripening period does not exceed 4 months.

In Siberia

In this region, early or mid-late varieties are best suited.

The varieties from the Altai Territory have shown themselves well. They were created specifically for growing in Siberia. They have good taste, the heads of cabbage grow dense and their weight ranges from 2.5 to 3.5 kilograms.

Such varieties as "Blizzard" are especially popular in this region - it is well suited for long-term storage, harvested in September, and "Hope"- it is perfect for sourdough, harvested in August.

In Siberia, preference is given to growing seedlings in polycarbonate greenhouses. The seeds are sown in early March. In May, they are transplanted into open ground and covered.

Seeds are not planted in open ground, as in this case the result may be zero.

In the Urals

It is especially difficult to grow this vegetable crop in the Urals. The weather conditions are extremely unstable here. Temperature changes are sharp, from hot daytime temperatures to frosty nights.

Therefore, seedlings are grown exclusively in greenhouses. Seeds are never planted in open ground. In mid-May, the seedlings are transplanted into the garden and covered with spunbond with a density of at least 60 g per 1 square meter.

The most popular variety in this region is Losinoostrovskaya 8. However, now there are many new hybrids that are gaining popularity among gardeners.

In the Far East

In this region, it is necessary to choose varieties that are resistant to diseases and cracking. In the Far East, the weather is very unstable. Summer can be hot and dry in the first half, and in the second half it can be cold and pouring heavy rains.

In the first case, you need to water your plant often. In the second, given that high humidity provokes fungal diseases, growing on the slopes can save the situation, since excess water will not stagnate.

If this is not possible, then one can only hope for the chosen variety.

Popular varieties are: "Blizzard", "Glory", "Gift"

Lately, many other varieties have appeared that are very popular among gardeners.

Cabbage growing - photo

Conclusion

Cabbage is a vegetable that requires care and a lot of attention, but this does not stop our gardeners. Of course, because it contains many elements useful to humans and great taste.

Cultivation of cabbage is a laborious process, but the result then cannot but rejoice.