White Cabbage - Features Of Cultivation. Photo

White cabbage is one of the main vegetables in any garden. It has been grown and used for a long time all over the world. In Russia, cabbage has found a kind of second home. Russian gardeners have long been considered masters of its cultivation. And given the fact that a head of cabbage is just a storehouse of vitamins, white cabbage is an obligatory inhabitant of our beds from season to season and today. Our article is about all the intricacies of growing it in the garden.

Content:

• Botanical features of white cabbage
• Conditions for growing white cabbage
• Loosening the soil and hilling plants
• Cabbage dressing
• Preventing heads of cabbage cracking
• Cabbage pest and disease control

Botanical features of white cabbage

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) includes several varieties, including head cabbage - Brassica oleracea var. oleracea; this includes white and red varieties.

White cabbage is an ancient culture, like other types of cabbage (except Peking and Chinese) comes from wild species growing in the Mediterranean regions of Western Europe and North Africa.

Cabbage heads have high taste and medicinal properties. They contain vitamins necessary for the human body (C, P, and others), organic acids, mineral salts, phytoncides, anthocyanins, and others.

Cabbage is a biennial plant. In the first year it forms a head of cabbage, and in the second year it develops a flowering stem and gives seeds. Heads of cabbage have a different shape, size, color, density, depending on the variety and growing conditions. Head mass - from 300 g to 10 kg or more. It is a cold-resistant plant with a well-developed root system that spreads in the main soil layer at a depth of 40-50 cm.

Conditions for growing white cabbage

The ratio of cabbage to temperature

Cabbage is an extremely cold-resistant plant. However, at all stages of growth and development, it reacts differently to temperature conditions. Seeds begin to germinate at 3-4 ° C, the optimum germination temperature is 18-20 ° C. In the first case, seedlings appear in 8-12 days, in the second - on the 3-4th day.

Cabbage plants continue to grow at 5-10 ° C, however, a temperature of 12-15 ° C is favorable for the growth and development of seedlings, and for adult plants in the open field - 15-18 ° C. Temperatures above 25 ° C adversely affect the formation of heads of cabbage. In this case, thickening of the tissues is observed, the lower leaves are discarded, the heads of cabbage crack. All this leads to a decrease in yield and the formation of small non-standard heads of cabbage.

The ratio of cabbage to light

Light is one of the sources of energy accumulation, which is spent on the formation of organic matter. Normal plant growth and development depends on the amount and quality of light, as well as the duration of daylight.

Cabbage is a light-demanding plant. Its relation to light changes as it grows and develops. This plant makes especially high demands on the intensity of illumination during the seedling period. Lack of light at this time leads to stretching of plants, lowers their resistance to various fungal diseases, the formation of small leaves, and subsequently - loose heads.

By its nature, cabbage is a long-day plant (varieties of northern origin). Varieties of Mediterranean ecotypes (Syrian and others) are short-day plants. In the first year of cultivation, with a long day, cabbage undergoes specific biochemical processes that ensure the formation of reproductive organs (flower-bearing shoots) in the second year.

The most intense growth and development of white cabbage is observed with a long day with a greater luminous flux, in which, along with long-wavelength rays, there are a lot of short-wavelength ones.

The ratio of cabbage to moisture

Cabbage is a very moisture-demanding plant. Its high demand for moisture is explained by morphological features: a large evaporating leaf surface and a relatively shallow location of the root system. It changes depending on the phases of growth and development in the process of ontogenesis.

The critical periods and phases of plant moisture requirements are: germination of seeds, survival of seedlings after planting in open ground, formation of a head of cabbage. During the period of head formation, the requirements for soil and air moisture increase.

The most favorable during the entire growing season is considered to be soil moisture at the level of 80% of the lowest moisture capacity and relative air humidity of 80-90%. With a decrease in soil moisture to 60% HB, the leaves become covered with a bluish bloom and acquire a pinkish tint, their edges are slightly bent, the stem of cabbage of early maturing varieties thickens and a small non-standard head of cabbage is formed prematurely.

However, excessive soil moisture, especially at low temperatures, stops the growth of cabbage and the formation of its heads; anthocyanin pigments (spots) appear on the leaves and petioles, and the plants develop bacteriosis.

The moisture demand of plants varies not only from climatic and weather conditions and development phases, but also under the influence of other factors. Early ripe varieties of cabbage, characterized by a more intense and rapid increase in yield, need more moisture than late ripening ones. Plants planted with seedlings are more demanding on soil moisture than plants sown with seeds directly into the soil.

The relationship of cabbage to soil and nutrition

Cabbage is one of the most demanding plants for soil fertility. It is better to grow it on light loamy and sandy loam soils with a deep arable layer and a high humus content. Sandy soils, when humus-forming substances are introduced into them, are most suitable for cabbage of early maturing varieties.

The soil for growing cabbage must be well cultivated, contain a large amount of nutrients, neutral or slightly acidic. The higher the soil cultivation, the less nutrients need to be added. Cabbage requires a structural, fertile, well-fertilized soil, effectively responds to the introduction of high doses of organic and mineral fertilizers into the soil, especially in combined form.

With sufficient fertility, the type of soil itself is not so essential for this plant, with the exception of heavy loamy, strongly acidic, gravelly and waterlogged, poorly aerated, which are of little use for cabbage. On acidic soils, it is affected by the keel disease, as a result of which the yield is sharply reduced.

Early-ripening cabbage varieties are more affected by keel than late-ripening ones, so they must be grown on non-acidified soils. Cabbage responds well to lime, which can be applied in autumn or spring 2-3 weeks before planting.

The role of fertilizers for white cabbage at the beginning of the growing season is very important. During this period, the soil contains little nitrogen in a form available to plants. Organic fertilizers for cabbage of early ripening varieties are applied in the form of humus. The use of fresh manure is ineffective, since organic matter does not have time to decompose during the growing season of plants.

Mid- and late-ripening cabbage varieties on almost all soils (except for lowland peatlands) respond well to the application of organic fertilizers. However, manure alone cannot sufficiently provide cabbage with nutrients, since its decomposition in the soil and the release of nutrients available for plants from it occurs more slowly than their need for nutrition increases. As a result, cabbage grows and develops better when combined with organic and mineral fertilizers.

The effectiveness of various types of fertilizers for cabbage depends not only on the type of soil, but also on its cultivation, the content of nutrients in it, the duration of the use of fertilizers, and irrigation. To obtain a high-quality white cabbage crop, it is very important that all nutrients are in an optimal ratio.

Loosening the soil and hilling plants

The first loosening of the soil and the destruction of weeds is carried out after the planted seedlings have taken root. Subsequent loosening of the soil is carried out as needed after 7-8 days or after watering until the leaves close in the rows.

The first loosening is carried out to a depth of 4-5 cm. The depth of the second loosening is 6-8 cm, followed by 8-10 cm until the leaves close. The width of the protective zone around the plants should be at least 12-14 cm. Loosening is especially important on heavy soils.

The first hilling of early varieties is carried out 15-20 days after planting of seedlings, and of late varieties - after 25 days. Later hilling leads to damage to the root system and the closing rosette of leaves. Hilling is carried out after watering or dressing, raking up the earth to the first true leaves. This procedure induces the growth of additional roots.

The second hilling is carried out 10-12 days after the first. For varieties with a short stump, one hilling is enough.

Cabbage dressing

Depending on the fertility of the soil and the fertilizer applied for the main and pre-sowing soil cultivation, cabbage is fed 3-4 times during the entire growing season. Moreover, top dressing is most effective in the phase of maximum leaf growth and during the period of head formation.

It should always be remembered that during the period of leaf formation, cabbage, especially in the northern regions, needs more nitrogen fertilizers, since in the early spring period at relatively low temperatures, microbiological processes in the soil, especially heavy, are weak. Therefore, plants do not receive enough nutrients in an accessible form.

The first feeding is carried out 10-15 days after transplanting. To do this, the mullein is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, spending 0.5 liters for each plant. In the absence of a mullein, top dressing can be carried out with a liquid solution of mineral fertilizers - 10 g of urea, 20 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium fertilizer for 10 liters of water.

If, when planting seedlings in the ground, a sufficient amount of fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers, were introduced into the holes, then the first feeding can be omitted.

The second feeding is carried out 25-30 days after planting the seedlings, that is, 10-15 days after the first feeding. In this case, it is best to use an infusion of mullein in water in a ratio of 1:10, making 0.5 liters of infusion for each plant. As a rule, this top dressing is combined with hilling. These two dressings are made with both early and late varieties of cabbage. But it is especially effective for early varieties of cabbage.

The third feeding only for cabbage of medium-late and late varieties is carried out 15 days after the second feeding in order to enhance the growth of the head of cabbage. To do this, in the same infusion of mullein, dissolve 30 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of water, spending 1-1.5 liters for each plant. If necessary, after 20 days with the same solution, it is necessary to carry out the fourth feeding of the cabbage.

If you scattered mineral fertilizer around the plants in a dry form, you need to be careful not to get fertilizer on the leaves in order to avoid damage to them, especially when the leaves are wet

Preventing heads of cabbage cracking

In favorable temperature and humidity conditions, cabbage heads often ripen before harvesting time. If at this moment their growth is not stopped, they may crack.

To avoid this problem, ready-made heads of cabbage, if the harvesting period has not yet come, must be bent to one side several times to disrupt the root system or slightly cut the roots with a shovel. This will drastically reduce the supply of nutrients and halt the growth of cabbage, and therefore, the cracking of the heads.

Cabbage pest and disease control

Throughout the growing season, cabbage is damaged by a lot of pests - cruciferous fleas and aphids, cabbage whites and scoops, moths. The crops should be treated once every 7-10 days with insecticides "Sumialfa", "Zolon", "Sherpa", "Karate", "Aktellik", "Volaton", etc.

Another harmful subject is the spring cabbage fly. Its flight begins in mid-late April, when the soil warms up to 12-13 degrees. The cabbage fly lays its eggs on the root collar of the plant or in the soil near it. The hatching larvae penetrate the roots, gnaw passages in them, as a result of which the plants begin to wither (especially in dry hot weather), the leaves acquire a bluish lead color, growth slows down or stops altogether, and often the plants die.

Cabbage fly control measures

Strict adherence to crop rotation, maintaining a high agricultural background, preventive treatments (at the beginning of summer of butterflies) with the above insecticides are the main control measures.

If the plant is damaged, add a 0.15-0.2 percent solution of "Bi-58" or "Bazudin" under the root. Consumption - 0.25-0.3 liters per plant. Very effective when planting granular "Phosphamide" or granular superphosphate, etched "Phosphamide" ("Bi-58").

The most harmful diseases are vascular and mucous bacterioses, fusarium wilting.

Disease control measures

Seed dressing, strict adherence to crop rotation, maintaining a high agrotechnical background are the main methods of preventing and combating cabbage diseases.

Cabbage is considered a real treasure of health, since along with excellent taste, it has excellent medicinal properties: fortifying, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, disinfecting, bactericidal, anti-sclerotic, hemostatic, diuretic, wound healing, normalizing metabolic processes and regulating the vitamin balance effect, contains a large set of vitamins …

Cabbage is an excellent (and most importantly, cheap) source of all kinds of vitamins that will help your body survive the dark and cold autumn and long winter without loss. Do you grow cabbage in your beds? Happy with the harvest? If you have your own secrets of growing white cabbage, share them in the comments to the article. Our readers will be very grateful to you.