Growing white cabbage in the open field is not so simple. I can’t say that I know everything about cabbage. Of course not. But I can share some secrets of growing white cabbage. I grow it every year. In the early years of her gardening, she was afraid. It seemed to me that I could not cope. The very first problems I had at the stage of choosing a variety. Then I had to look for information, ask more experienced gardeners about fertilizers and top dressing. And I don’t want to remember about the unsuccessful moments of pest control. Now it's all over. Cabbage is growing, makes me and my loved ones happy.
Varieties, hybrids of white cabbage
Varieties, hybrids of white cabbage are very many. By maturity, they are divided into early ripening, mid-early, mid-ripening, mid-late and late ripening. Early ripe and mid-early varieties are usually grown for summer consumption (salads, soups, borscht, main dishes). Mid-late varieties can be fermented. Fresh they are well stored until the New Year. Later varieties of cabbage are well stored until the new harvest.
I really like Dutch hybrids. Usually I plant early or mid-early varieties - they manage to get away from the July heat.
Last year, the Nozomi F1 and Parel F1 early hybrids were grown. Fell in love with both varieties, one might say, at first sight. Very large leaves, large succulent heads - a very pleasant delicate taste. Varieties such as Cossack F1 - early, ripen in 45-55 days, Amtrak F1 - late-ripe hybrid, cabbage weighing up to 3 kg - very tasty, juicy, sweet, well stored until the new crop is well established.
Growing cabbage seedlings - conditions, features
White cabbage is grown in seedlings. Of the medium-late varieties, the Agressor-F1, Krasnodar 1, Braunschweig (one of the best for pickling), Mozharskaya, Podarok, Yelenovskaya, Stolichnaya, Judges 146 from the later ones, Amager 611, Kharkov winter, Snow White, Lika, Ukrainian autumn, Biryuchekuta give a good harvest 13, Sugarloaf.
After emergence at the first stage, seedling illumination should be sufficient. It must not be allowed to stretch out. For the future cabbage harvest, it is very important that the distance from the surface of the earth to the cotyledonous leaves is no more than 2.5-3 cm. A longer stem will weaken the seedlings. And to prevent this from happening, the temperature regime of the content of cabbage seedlings is no less important, since it does not tolerate high room temperature. Try immediately after the emergence of seedlings to take the seedlings into the room, where at night + 6-8 ° C, and during the day + 10 ° C for 5-7 days. At this time, watering should only be necessary.
Cabbage seedlings are dived when 2-3 real leaves appear. Cabbage seedlings do not like picking, so the day before spray it with Epin-Extra or HB-101 (see dosage for instructions). After two days, spray again. By doing this, you will help remove the negative effects of stress on plants. But it is best to grow seedlings in peat tablets or cassette drawers.
White cabbage grows better, gives good yields if its predecessors were pumpkins, zucchini, onions, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. It is not recommended to re-plant cabbage in the same place. This is best done not earlier than after 4 years. This way you prevent diseases, protect cabbage plants from pests that winter in the soil.
Top-dressing cabbage in the open ground
Experience suggests that top dressing is top dressing. For cabbage, the optimal number of top dressings per season is three:
- 1.5-2 weeks after planting in open ground - with a manure solution (1 part of manure into 5 parts of water) - 1 bucket of solution is divided into about 10 cabbage bushes;
- the beginning of twisting the leaves into heads of cabbage - 1-2 tablespoons of ash are added to the manure solution (1 part of manure to 5 parts of water) - 1 bucket of solution is divided into 5 roots of cabbage;
- after 3 weeks, feed with the first solution - 1 bucket for 10 plants.
If you notice that the cabbage leaves are pale in color, then add urea (15 grams per bucket of liquid) to the solution.
It is very important to feed seedlings, and the plants themselves with mineral fertilizers, which include boron and molybdenum. Fertika Lux (formerly called Kemira Lux) is well suited for this.
Cabbage belongs to those vegetable crops that, by their appearance, can tell the gardener what they lack in care, and what we overfed it with.
With a lack of nitrogen, the lower leaves become yellowish-greenish, sometimes this color sometimes turns pinkish, and only then these leaves begin to dry out. The head of cabbage stops growing, remains small.
If the plant lacks potassium, then the leaves become wrinkled, very wavy. The lower leaves from the edges begin to lighten, then turn yellow, finally, turn brown.
With a lack of calcium, young plants appear whitish spots, and white stripes form on the edges of the leaves. In adult plants, leaf edges begin to curl. If the plant is not helped in time (and it needs to be done much earlier than the cabbage is ripe), then the head of the head dies away, it freely breaks away from the attachment point.
With a lack of magnesium or manganese, the lower leaves of the plant become lighter, and marbling appears between the veins, although the veins themselves remain green right near the veins. The leaves are juicy, brittle. By the way, the lack of these particular elements in the soil is a fairly common occurrence in any growing region. And it is cabbage that most often suffers from this.
Lack of boron and molybdenum affects the size of heads of cabbage, in addition, small heads of cabbage may be tied between leaves, which will take away nutrients from the main head. Plants can go in color without heading out. The head of the cabbage has voids (such cabbage will not be stored) - there is not enough boron in the soil.
A lack of phosphorus is noticeable in the dullness of the leaves, they turn dark green with a strong purple hue. The head of cabbage does not tie for a very long time.
In the process of forming the head, the lower leaves are removed, while more nutrients go into the head. The soil after rains, irrigation must be loosened. Weeds must be destroyed on time, although the cabbage itself copes well with them, but already when it has grown in breadth. The site should be well blown by the wind. Hilling is one of the important agricultural practices when growing cabbage, as it creates the conditions for the appearance of additional lateral roots, and this is an influx of additional nutrition of heads of cabbage.
At first, cabbage should be watered more often, since at the beginning of development a powerful rosette of leaves is formed. The lack of water affects not only productivity, but is also visually noticeable - first a bluish coating appears on the leaves, then they turn slightly pink, and the edges of the leaves begin to bend. Excess water also harms plants - head growth is delayed, and large heads cannot be obtained.
How to prevent cracking heads of cabbage
Why do heads of cabbage crack?
- Firstly, the soil should not be allowed to dry out during the period of setting and heading out. This is only then you can reduce the number of irrigations.
- Secondly, watering during the period of intensive growth of heads of cabbage will lead to their cracking. Therefore, 2-3 weeks before harvesting, watering should be stopped altogether.
- Thirdly, try to grow varieties that do not crack with excess moisture.
There is an interesting and witty way to prevent cracking heads. This usually happens when irregular watering or constant rains. The method reduces the flow of moisture into the head of cabbage - cracking stops. Turn the head along with the root system half a turn. Some of the roots will break off - the flow of excess moisture will be interrupted. Cracking will stop. This does not interfere with the ripening and densification of the cabbage head.
For later varieties, light frosts are not terrible. They will suffer a drop in temperature to -6ºС. But if this cabbage is intended for long-term storage, then it is better to remove it from the field before night frosts occur.
The densest heads of cabbage are left in storage. All leaves from them do not break off - leave 2-3 green outer leaves. The root stem, the stump, also not all cut off - leave 2-4 cm.
Pest Control
Cabbage has a lot of pests. To use chemicals less when they are destroyed, it is advisable to plant plants that attract insects that destroy pests on the beds. These are plants such as dill, carrots. I advise you to sow dill twice during the ripening period of cabbage. The first time at the same time as transplanting, and the second time in two weeks. It is useful to plant celery between the beds of cabbage. He scares away the cabbage fly. It can also be dealt with with the help of tobacco dust. Usually tobacco dust is mixed (1: 1) with soil or sand, and then poured around plants.
Cruciferous fleas are another malicious cabbage pest. From it, periodic pollination of cabbage plants with wood ash or spraying with an ash solution (1 glass of ash, 100-150 g, per bucket of water) will help.
Ash-soap solution, infusion of dandelion roots will scare cabbage aphids. The spraying procedure is repeated every 1.5-2 weeks.
To prevent slugs from encroaching on your cabbage, sprinkle the powder of mustard, black pepper, coarse eggshells on the ground around the heads of cabbage.
But the pest now resistant to survival has gone. Not every year folk remedies help me. Kinmix drug against cabbage whites, scoops, moths has proven itself very well. I process immediately 5 days after transplanting seedlings in the evening, because the drug is dangerous for bees. The manual recommends repeating the treatment every three weeks, but I process it once. And then I cover the bed with the thinnest SUF -17 brand spanbond. Sometimes I even water through it without lifting it. He misses the rain and the sun well, and does not allow any midge-fleas to the cabbage. Of course, the covering material protects the plants from sharp fluctuations in humidity, but it is noticed that watering is less necessary in this case - moisture during the shelter also evaporates quickly, as without it. This is probably due to the thickness of the covering material - it is the thinnest of all that is. Spanbond to cover a large area with cabbage is difficult, but I plant 10-12 roots, so there are no difficulties. The edges of the spunbond must be thoroughly sprinkled with earth.
But here I must share one secret. Actually, I already mentioned about it - you can not plant cabbage in the same place. Spanbond from flea midges will not help if you plant it in the same place where it grew last year. They are wintering in the land - they will find your cabbage without any problems.
I’ll tell you about another way to protect white cabbage from pests. I want to try it out this year. The essence of this method is in sowing between rows of cabbage of tall marigolds (we call them Chernobrivtsi). Between the rows of cabbage seedlings are two rows of flowers. Marigolds will grow much higher than cabbage, they will hide it from the hot sun, moisture will be better preserved in the soil, there will be no midges-fleas - they do not like such flowers.