Why does cabbage crack: causes and proper care

Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable. Refers to cold-resistant types of vegetable crops. It is divided into three kinds of ripeness varieties:

• early;
• average;
• late.

Fans of domestic vegetables used in growing all three varieties. It is planted in a greater degree seedlings in late April or early May. Many gardeners are faced with such an unpleasant phenomenon, when at the end of the growing season on some forks there are cracks. Why the cabbage is cracking, we will try to understand the article.

Do you care properly

As mentioned above, cabbage refers to cold-resistant types of vegetable crops. Her seedlings, when planted in the open ground, can withstand spring frosts to -5 ° C. And already mature forks of late varieties can stand before the autumn frosts (-8 ^о С) And below.

In order to collect a generous harvest, you need proper care for this plant. Why does cabbage crack? From improper irrigation and sharp temperature fluctuations. The optimum temperature at which this culture feels quite comfortable is +22 ^o C. If this figure is raised to +28 ^o C, its growth slows down. And if the vegetable is still lacking in watering, the growth process stops at all.

How to plant cabbage

The soil in which you are going to plant this vegetable, plays an important role. If there is such a possibility, then do it on the sites located closer to the river or water bodies. There, the yield of cabbage is increased due to increased humidity. We have already said that this vegetable loves water. If there is no possibility of frequent watering, then in hot and dry weather try to shade cabbage. Make a simple canopy from the burlap - under it it fades less in the sun and not so loses moisture.

Well grown seedlings in those places where before there were potatoes, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers. You can not plant cabbage seedlings where she grew up last year or where there were cruciferous kinds of vegetables (radish, rutabaga or turnip), so as not to infect the new plant with a whale.

Care

Why does cabbage crack and how do you take care of it? There are no special requirements for the vegetable. Care for this plant is no different from other vegetable crops:

• Correct watering;
• hilling;
• Top dressing.

Begin loosening a week after planting the seedlings, when the seedlings are stronger. Then do this at least once every 2 weeks. An important process in caring for a vegetable is hilling. Thanks to it, the plant becomes more stable, and the root system of cabbage forms new roots for effective growth. Early and medium ripeness varieties need hilling at least twice, and late varieties - at least three times a season. Do it better after heavy rain or watering. In other words, the land must be very wet, so that it sticks to the stump of a cabbage bush.

Watering

Cabbage crackles - what to do? Water it constantly, but moderately. Very often (especially in the case of summer residents) cabbage does not water for a long time. Then, upon arrival at the site, they try to catch up and miss it. This should not be done. If you are not at the dacha or vegetable garden for a long time, try to shade the vegetable so that the soil does not dry out very much. And before leaving, it would be good to pour cabbage. But this should not be done under the root (you will not get it anyway), but by sprinkling. That is, with a hose with a sprayer, so that all the ground under the plant is moistened simultaneously.

The cabbage is cracking. Why is this happening

Middle and early varieties of vegetables mature by the end of summer. Often their forks begin to crack. The crown of the head from round and beautiful turns into a "broad" one. In these cracks easily creep slugs or caterpillars, which can not be obtained from there. Such cabbage heads are not stored for a long time. Even in the refrigerator, they quickly deteriorate. Why does cabbage crack? The main reason - a sharp increase in watering or heavy heavy rains (if before that time there was dry weather).

As already mentioned in this article, at a temperature above 25 degrees the fork's growth slows down, and if there is a lack of moisture it stops at all. But with a heavy shower, the amount of water in the root system increases, and the fork resumes at an accelerated pace. Internal small leaves begin to grow intensively, and old top leaves do not keep up with them. As a result, they can not withstand the onslaught from within and break. That's why the cabbage heads are cracking.

How to protect cabbage

If a cabbage splits on the plot, what should the gardener do? When, after a dry, hot weather, it is time for heavy rains, the first thing to do is to cut the root system (on the one hand, a cabbage bush with a shovel). Then, moisture access to the root will be less and the growth of the heads will not be so rapid. Remove the ripened forks as they mature, without waiting for the rainy season. That's why cabbage on the bed is cracking - this is the result of abundant moisturizing. Therefore, large and ripe cabbage heads should be cut off immediately after the rain, otherwise they will burst. Keep them will not make sense, because the cracked head is not stored for long.