Cabbage: varieties, description, planting and care

Cabbage is a vegetable - this is one of the main vegetable crops, cultivated in suburban areas. The plant is very useful and necessary, so let's talk about how to grow it properly.

A bit of history

Cabbage belongs to the family of crucifers, to which mustard, turnip, rutabaga, radish, radish belong. In Europe, Eastern and Central Asia, the Mediterranean, more than 50 species of this family are distributed.

It is known that cabbages were also grown by the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. It became a food product four thousand years ago. To us cabbage garden from Western Europe was brought back in the heyday of Kievan Rus (XIII century). It is interesting that by the 18th century, culture had become firmly entrenched in Russian life, and a new tradition had begun to begin to prepare it together for the winter after the Orthodox holiday of the Exaltation (September 27).

Modern hybrids and best varieties

If you think about it, it becomes obvious that simple cabbage is the basis of many of our dishes. We are so used to it that we do not even notice how often we use it.

I want to note that there is a constant selection of new, more promising hybrids and varieties. However, good old varieties that have long been tested by truck farmers do not lose their relevance.

All varieties of cabbage are divided into early, middle and late ripening varieties. We want to bring the best, according to experts, to date varieties.

Early maturing:

1. June - ultra-rugged variety. Medium-resistant to diseases. Untimely cleaning can lead to cracking of heads.
2. Transfer F1 - ripens after 120 days.
3. Copenhagen Market - maturing after 115 days.
4. Ditmar's early - technical maturity comes in 115-120 days.
5. Gold hectare-1432. From planting to harvest is 102-110 days.

Medium-ripening varieties

It is possible to obtain good harvests of medium-maturing cabbage in the cultivation of such varieties:

1. Gift. The maturity is 130 days.
2. Menza F1. Agrees in 115 days.
3. Glory is 1305. From planting to harvesting, 137 days pass.
4. Glory of the Mushroom-231. Ages in 125 days.
5. The caporal F1. Ages from 90 to 100 days.

Late grades

Late varieties are the most popular for long-term storage and harvesting, conservation:

1. Amager.
2. Kolobok F1.
3. Valentines F1.
4. Biryuchek-138.

Seed sowing

It is clear that the quality of cabbage depends on the seeds. It is necessary to take responsibility for their acquisition responsibly. However, before buying, you should determine when and for what purposes you need it. Then you can decide which variety suits you best: late, early, or medium. As a rule, if people cultivate culture for themselves, the main emphasis is on winter varieties. And the early and middle can be planted in a small amount. We must understand that early cultures are not suitable for harvesting, they can not lie for long. Medium-ripening varieties are suitable for both fresh and salted. Well and for storage in the winter period it is necessary to use winter grades.

Early cabbage is sown in early March, but not later than the twentieth. Medium varieties can be sown after April 25. Late-ripening cultures are planted from the first days of April. Since the seeds are sown, and as a rule, 45-50 days pass before they are landed in the soil.

Cabbage garden - this is the culture that is very demanding on the composition of the soil. Therefore, it is better to prepare it in advance. It should be mixed in equal parts with sod land and humus. The mixture is added ash (1 tablespoon per 1 kilogram of soil), which will act as an antiseptic and source of trace elements. This will help to resist the appearance of such a disease, as a black leg, in young plants.

It is also possible to prepare a mixture and a slightly different composition, for example, based on peat. You can not use land for planting seeds from the garden, on which one of the varieties of cabbage or other cruciferous plants grew, as there are high chances of the presence of pathogens that can kill sprouts.

Before sowing the seeds should be warmed for twenty minutes in water. After that, they are lowered into ordinary cold water. This simple technique increases the immunity of seeds to fungal diseases. Than to process cabbage before landing? It is best to soak the seeds in a growth stimulant (Silk, Epin, Humate). Before planting, the soil should be well watered and no longer moistened until the sprouts appear. Seeds are sown to a depth of not more than one centimeter. Then the boxes are covered with a film from above, so that the moisture does not evaporate too much. Crops should be kept at a temperature of twenty degrees.

Getting the seedlings

The first shoots should appear in 4-5 days. After this, the film can be removed and the content temperature reduced to ten degrees. Under such conditions, the plants must remain until the first real leaves of cabbage appear . Then the seedlings are kept at a temperature of 18 degrees, they must be regularly ventilated. During this period, you can not pour or dry the soil. Than to process cabbage after emergence? Plants must be watered with a weak solution of manganese or copper sulfate.

How to dive seedlings?

One and a half weeks after the appearance of this leaf, vegetable cabbage is dived, as plants need a larger area for normal development. Before transplanting the soil is well watered. Next, each seedling is removed with a lump of soil and shortens the root by one-third. Then put in a glass with a mixture. You can initially sow the seeds in an individual pot, then you will not need to pick up sprouts. Plants from individual containers are easier to transplant into open ground, they are less injured.

Before planting cabbage in the open ground it is necessary to temper it for two weeks. To do this, the premises are ventilated, and then begin to take the plants out onto the balcony.

Cabbage: planting, feeding

Planted seedlings in the open ground at a time when she already has five or seven leaves, and the height will reach 12-20 centimeters. Such indicators are achieved at different times. So, for example, the early ones are ready already in early May, while the middle and late ones are ready by the end of the same month or by the middle of June.

Before you plant cabbage in the open ground, prepare for her a good plot. It must be sunny. Early varieties prefer sandy soils and loams, and clayey soil and loam for late and middle varieties. It should be remembered that the plants are categorically not suitable for acidic earths. In addition, cultivation can not be performed on lands that are infected with bacteriosis (eight years). It is also undesirable to plant cabbage on those sites where recently other cruciferous plants (rutabaga, radish, turnip, radish) have grown.

The soil is prepared in advance, beginning in the autumn. The earth is dug into the spade bayonet and left to winter. Its surface should not be leveled, irregularities favorably influence the process of moisture retention. In the early spring, when the snow comes down, the soil is leveled by rakes, the first weeds are removed.

Early varieties are planted at a distance of 50 to 60 centimeters, and late and medium - at a distance of 60 to 70. Too thick plants can not be located, because they need a lot of light and space.

Wells need to be done more than the roots of the seedlings. In each hole should be put on a handful of peat, sand, humus, fifty grams of ash and ½ teaspoon of nitrosfos. All this is abundantly watered. Then plants are planted so that the lower leaves are on a level with the ground.

Cabbage for garden: care

After planting for cabbage, it is necessary to observe for the first time how it will take root. Perhaps, it will be necessary to temporarily lighten it up. During the week, it is best to water the plants every evening. In the future, care of seedlings is not so complicated. It will consist of weeding, loosening the soil, watering, processing from diseases and pests, regular feeding.

After three weeks after planting the plants in the open ground, they need to settle down. Ten days later the procedure is repeated.

Watering

To grow a good crop of cabbage, you must certainly observe the irrigation regime. She needs a lot of water. It is best to water the plants in the evening. At low temperatures it is enough to do this once a week, but in hot weather, humidification should be done every two to three days.

Ideally, after each irrigation should loosen the soil. Professionals generally recommend mulching peat (up to five centimeters thick), which helps to retain moisture in the soil and simultaneously feeds the plants.

How to carry out fertilizing?

The first fertilizing is carried out ten days after the diving of the plants. For this, a mixture of 2 grams of potassium fertilizer, 4 grams of superphosphate and 2 grams of ammonium nitrate is dissolved in water. Such a quantity of substances is dissolved in one liter of water. This liquid is enough to feed 50-60 plants.

The following fertilizers are introduced in two weeks. The same composition is used. If you notice the yellowing of young plants, then they need to be watered with a solution of liquid manure (1:10). Another additional dressing is carried out before the cabbage is planted in the soil. It uses ammonium nitrate (3 grams), superphosphate (5 grams) and potassium fertilizer (8 grams). The components dissolve in a liter of water. Potassium fertilizers help to settle cabbage in the open ground. In order not to bother with the preparation of the solution, you can buy a fertilizer called "Kemira Lux".

Feeding of plants in the seedling phase will give more intensive growth in the future.

Processing of culture

After landing in the ground, cabbage is sprinkled with ashes mixed with tobacco dust. This will help protect small plants from fleas and slugs. Pesticides are not very good to use, because cabbage is still a food product. There are simple ways to protect against pests without using "chemistry".

Caterpillars and aphids are destroyed by spraying with the following infusion: the tomato leaves (2 kg) are poured with water (5 liters) and infused for four hours. Then the resulting liquid is boiled for three hours, after which it must cool. Before use, it is diluted with water (ratio - 1: 2). To make the solution better taken on plants, and not just drained, it can add grated tar soap.

In the fight against caterpillars and aphids, it is possible to use onion husks from which the tincture is prepared. For this, a liter jar of shells is poured into 2 liters of steep boiling water and insisted for a couple of days. The solution is filtered, two more liters of water and liquid soap are added.

Professionals recommend planting sage, marigold, coriander, rosemary, basil as a measure against insects. These plants scare off fleas, butterflies, and aphids.