Red cabbage in the central regions of Russia and to the north is grown exclusively by seedlings; in the southern regions it can be grown by simple sowing of seeds in the garden soil.
If you want to get consistently high yields of cabbage with high taste, then you need to grow the latest cultivars and hybrids of this culture, these include: Klimaro, Mikhnevskaya Krasavitsa, Roxy, Malvina, Rondal, Amethyst, Varna, Resima, Krasnaya Golovka, Rexoma and Zeus ...
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All these varieties can be grown through seedlings or sown directly into the ground. We will tell you how to get red cabbage seedlings.
Seeds can be sown in regular disinfected garden soil, which must be placed in wooden boxes. For convenience, we will calculate the seed consumption rate per square meter - about 420 seeds (about 1.5 g) are needed for this area. Naturally, it is best to sow seeds pointwise, that is, make rows and aisles. The row spacing should be left about 4 cm wide, and in the row the distance between the seeds should be made equal to 3 cm. Thus, in the future you will get a fully developed seedling.
Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked for an hour in water with a temperature of about +40 degrees, and then rinsed in running water for a couple of minutes.
Seeds are usually sown on March 10 - early varieties, and on March 15 - medium and late varieties.
When sowing, the seeds need to be buried by about a centimeter and a half, preferably not more, since a deeper planting will delay the emergence of seedlings.
After planting, the soil in the boxes must be watered well, it is better to do this with a spray bottle so as not to wash out the soil. After watering the soil, cover the boxes with a film (regular or perforated) and put them in a room with a temperature of +13 to + 16 ° C, but take them out to a cooler room with a temperature of about + 10 ° C at night in order to simulate the change of day and night.
It is permissible to sow seeds directly into peat-humus pots, they can then be planted in the ground without removing the seedlings from them.
After the formation of sprouts, the usual film must be removed immediately, and the perforated one can be kept for several more days.
Immediately after the emergence of seedlings, it is advisable to maintain the temperature at + 13 ... + 18 ° C and make it so that it is 2-3 degrees colder at night than during the day.
You can water the seedlings during the period of their appearance, then moisten the soil as it dries up, in no case allowing waterlogging.
As soon as the first real leaves appear, the room must be ventilated - this will allow the seedlings to harden. In addition, the soil will dry out by morning and moisture will not stagnate.
As for the percentage of seedlings yield, it can be calculated based on the sowing conditions. For example, when sowing seeds for seedlings in boxes and installing them in a greenhouse, the yield is maximum and is about 70%, when sowing in boxes and covering them with a film, the yield of seedlings is about 60%, when sowing in boxes without covering with a film - about 50%.
You should know that in order to obtain optimal quality seedlings, plants need to provide 8-hour daylight hours using supplementary lighting. At the same time, the seedlings should not be allowed to stretch out, in the future this will grow poorly.
It is advisable to feed the seedlings a couple of times, first in the phase of 2 true leaves and the second time - a week before planting the seedlings in the ground. Usually nitroammofoska serves as top dressing, which is dissolved in an amount of 15 g in a bucket of water. Top dressing should be carried out in such a way that the first time each plant receives 0.15 liters, and the second time - 0.5 liters.
About a week before planting the seedlings, hardening should be carried out by lowering the temperature in the room, increasing the ventilation of the room and reducing watering to a minimum.
Red cabbage seedlings ready for planting should reach a height of about 19-21 cm and have 4 true leaves.
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Pick-up location
Seedlings are transplanted into open ground at the age of 40-50 days (usually by this time 4 true leaves are formed), at the end of April (early varieties) - at the beginning of May, when the risk of severe frosts will be minimal.
Before planting, the soil must be well prepared, dug up on a full bayonet of a shovel, at the same time removing all weeds and adding 2 kg of humus for digging and a couple of teaspoons of nitroammophoska per square meter.
Before preparing the soil, you need to decide on the planting site for seedlings, it should be even, rain or irrigation water should not stagnate on it, and cruciferous crops should not grow before that for about three seasons. The optimal precursors for red cabbage are all legumes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, and all perennial herbs without exception.
Top dressing
Red cabbage responds quite well to the introduction of organic matter, such as manure. Per square meter at the beginning of the season, a week before planting seedlings, it is necessary to add about 0.5 kg of manure (diluted 5 times with water). Red cabbage responds well to the introduction of humus and bird droppings, which must be diluted with water 12 times.
Red cabbage responds well enough to the application of mineral fertilizers. Usually, 10-11 days after planting the seedlings, a couple of teaspoons of nitroammofoska, dissolved in a bucket of water, are introduced - this is the norm per square meter of soil. Before closing the rows, it is necessary to feed the plants with nitrophos again in the amount of 10-12 g per plant.
Planting seedlings
First of all, you need to follow the planting scheme, between the rows you need to leave about 60-70 cm of free area, and the distance between the plants depends on the variety and on the size of the head - the more powerful the head of cabbage forms the variety, the more distance you need to make, but usually it varies from 35 to 50 cm. Usually, the planting scheme for a particular variety is indicated on the seed package, but the average data can be given. So, early varieties should be planted according to the scheme 70 cm between rows and 32-33 cm between plants, medium - 75 x 55, and late 70 x 85.
When planting seedlings, attention should be paid to the soil. Before planting seedlings, it is necessary to make ridges 1 m wide and 20 cm high, then moisten the soil well.
It is desirable to plant the most well-developed seedlings on the ridge; it is advisable to discard all weak plants, especially if the area of the site is not very large.
When planting seedlings, the hole must be well moistened, pour 1.5 liters of water into each and add 150 g of wood ash or soot.
Planting seedlings is best in the afternoon. About 2 hours before planting, the seedlings need to be watered, this will allow it to be removed from the soil without damaging the roots.
The planting depth of seedlings should be up to the cotyledonous leaves - such that the heart remains on the surface, it cannot be buried.
After planting and compaction of the soil, the seedlings must be watered, the volume of water must depend on the type of soil, but must soak the layer to a depth of about 0.5 cm.And to scare off the cabbage fly, sprinkle the soil with tobacco dust (20 g per 1 m2).
In the future, it is necessary to carefully loosen the soil near the plants, preventing the formation of a soil crust, be sure to remove weeds and periodically water the cabbage in order to prevent the soil from drying out.
The initial processing of the row spacings is usually carried out 10-11 days after planting the seedlings, while the row spacings are loosened to a depth of 4 cm. closing of leaf blades.
As for hilling, cabbage of the early ripening period is hilled once in the phase of 7-8 leaf blades, then after 18-22 days from planting seedlings. Cabbage of medium and late varieties should be hilled at the very beginning of the formation of the head, before the leaf blades close, ideally 2-3 hilling should be carried out in 5-7 days.
Watering should be done when there is no natural moisture in the form of rain; the soil should be soaked about 2-2.5 cm deep. You can water the cabbage before the heads of cabbage start to form; during the period of their active development, it is better to limit watering, excess moisture at this time can lead to the fact that the cabbage heads will crack and will not be stored. Usually, from 8 to 12 waterings are carried out per season, the number of waterings usually depends on the humidity of the season - the more rains, the less watering is needed.
If frosts are expected, then, just in case, the plants need to be covered with plastic wrap, by building small tunnels of stiff wire.
Diseases and pests
- Cabbage aphid - when it appears, cabbage can be treated with approved insecticides or a solution of wood ash (250 g per liter of water). You should know that aphids are usually carried by ants, therefore, first of all, you need to deal with them, otherwise the fight against aphids will be practically useless.
- Cabbage fly - its larvae harm, which literally destroy the above-ground mass. You should also use approved insecticides against cabbage fly. Treatment with hot pepper infusion (20 g per 5 l of water) helps.
Harvesting
Red cabbage is usually harvested by hand, especially if you need a high-quality crop, which will not be immediately put into processing. When collecting heads of cabbage, it is advisable not to damage them; damaged heads of cabbage are extremely poorly stored. They usually start harvesting from the beginning of September. Those heads of cabbage that you plan to save must be harvested while maintaining the maximum number of integumentary leaves. It is imperative to harvest the crop before the onset of severe frosts, small frosts are not terrible for cabbage.
Storage of cabbage
Best of all, red cabbage is stored in a room with a temperature of about 0 ° C and a humidity of 95%. Mid-season and late varieties are well stored, early ones practically do not lie. Under such conditions, mid-season and late varieties can be stored for up to 3 and 5 months, respectively. You should be aware that red cabbage is fairly well transported.
