Cabbage is one of the traditional types of vegetables that have been cultivated in our country for many centuries. Among its features, it is worth highlighting the presence in the composition of a large number of nutrients that are not lost not only during culinary processing, but also during long-term storage.
Cabbage is a cold-resistant crop. Thanks to this, its cultivation can be carried out in regions with different climates. Cabbage is not only a valuable vegetable, but also offers ample growing opportunities due to the variety of species, each of which has its own characteristics. The leader in popularity is considered to be white cabbage, the varieties of which can have different ripening periods.
Early ripe cabbage
If you want to get fresh vegetables on the table as early as possible, then it is best to plant early varieties in the spring. This fully applies to cabbage. The early varieties of white cabbage offered in stores allow the heads to form in the period from 100 to 120 days… Although in this case, you can get the first heads of cabbage a couple of weeks earlier if you plant cabbage using seedlings. Usually, for planting white cabbage seedlings in open ground, seedlings are used that have reached the age of 45-50 days.
When to sow cabbage for seedlings?
Even before looking for planting material and preparing it for sowing cabbage for seedlings, you need to decide exactly when to plant seeds for seedlings. Finding out the optimal timing is quite simple. You can determine the most suitable timing for planting seeds by knowing the following two parameters:
- The timing when it is planned to plant seedlings of early white cabbage in the garden;
- Seedling age.
Provided that the weather is good outside, and it is planned to plant young cabbage seedlings in early May, the most suitable time for sowing seeds will be mid or late March. Thus, from the date of planting plants in open ground, you need subtract 45-50 days… As a result of the calculations, the date will be obtained, which will be the guideline for planting cabbage for seedlings.
Terms of obtaining the first heads of cabbage
Likewise, any summer resident can calculate when it is time to harvest. To find out when it will be possible to get the first heads of June cabbage on the table, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of the early cabbage variety. Therefore, it makes sense to dwell in more detail on some of them. All varieties of early white cabbage provide different ripening periods… The waiting time, starting with the appearance of the first shoots and ending with the achievement of technical maturity, can be different for different varieties:
- 92-100 days – June;
- 102-110 days – Golden Hectare;
- 120 days – “Gift”.
Therefore, if we assume that we have seedlings of early cabbage 45 days old and we planned to plant it at the beginning of May, then we can expect the appearance of the first heads of cabbage variety “June” in early June. It is important to remember that when choosing the time for planting seedlings, it is necessary to pay attention to the climatic features of the region.
Suitable for planting early cabbage is a period when the day is warm enough and there are no strong temperature fluctuations. at night… These terms may vary depending on the region. For this reason, when planting seedlings, it is necessary to focus on the characteristics of a particular region. For seedlings of early cabbage, it is necessary to use film shelters so that accidental frosts do not harm the young seedlings.
Methods for planting cabbage seeds for seedlings
In order to collect large heads of cabbage with excellent taste in the fall, it is necessary to use high-quality seedlings for planting. The easiest way to solve the issue with it is if you buy it from summer residents. However, difficulties are possible here, since during harvesting there is a risk of detecting signs of illness in heads of cabbage… Some may not live up to this moment at all or may not have time to mature. Therefore, it is still recommended to independently cultivate planting material.
Thanks to this event, the gardener gets a race in time, as a result of which he has the opportunity to harvest earlier than usual. There are several methods for growing seedlings. The simplest and most affordable is the use of film greenhouses and heated greenhouses. If this is not possible, then you can grow seedlings indoors. In the latter case, there are also peculiarities that provide for the picking of plants or its absence.
Seed preparation
In the process of preparing seeds for sowing for seedlings, they must first be processed. Thanks to this, you can be sure that the seeds will grow strong and healthy seedlings… If we talk in more detail about seed processing, then it includes sorting. It is recommended to use full-weight grains for sowing. They can be determined by their diameter, which must be at least 2 mm. All damaged seeds or small fractions identified during the selection process must be removed. After that, they need to be placed in a saline solution. To prepare it, you need to take 50 g of salt and mix it with one liter of settled water.
The seeds will be full-bodied, which, after getting into the saline solution, will sink to the bottom of the container. Grains that float must be removed. Then all the seeds must be washed. Now the successfully sorted seeds must be heat treated. To do this, you need to take water heated to 50 degrees and place the seeds in it for 20 minutes. This procedure will allow you to disinfect the grain. It also does not hurt to carry out the treatment of seeds with microelements. For these purposes, you can use a tincture based on wood ash. To prepare it, you need take the following components:
- wood ash – 200 g;
- settled water – 10 liters.
The seeds placed in the tincture should remain in it for 4 hours. Particular attention should be paid to the temperature of the water. Next, the planting material is pulled out of the water and allowed to dry. Additional measures for preparing seeds for sowing are soaking and germination. However, it is not necessary to carry out them, therefore, after carrying out the above steps, you can start sowing seeds.
Tanks for seedlings
Indoor early cabbage seeds can be sown in small containers, which are pre-filled with soil. For this purpose, you can use plastic pallets or wooden crates. However, in this case, the plants must be picked. Alternatively, they can be plastic cassettes or cups.
A common option is sowing in peat and coconut briquettes. However, then the plants will not have to dive. In the absence of ready-made containers for sowing cabbage seedlings, they must be made on their own using available material. As it, you can use plastic or cardboard bags, various boxes, plastic bags, paper cups, etc. But regardless of the type of containers in which you will sow seedlings, it is imperative to make drainage holes in them. If it is not possible to remove excess moisture, then this can cause the development of diseases in plants.
Soil preparation
If you follow the agrotechnology of growing seedlings of early cabbage, then it is necessary to use specially prepared earthen mixtures for it. Ordinary garden soil is not a good option as it can contain pest larvae that can cause serious illness in cabbage. Therefore, it is recommended to do more in the fall. preparation of earth mixture for seedlings.
If, in due time, certain circumstances prevented the preparation of the land for seedlings, then you can get out of the situation by purchasing ready-made mixtures in the store. When choosing them, it is necessary to take into account the composition and date of manufacture. For growing seedlings of early cabbage, you can use a mixture prepared at home. Moreover, the owner can choose one of several options for preparing such soil compositions:
Composition No. 1… The ratio of the components is 1: 1: 1:
Composition No. 2… Component Ratio 1: 1/4: 1/4:
- wood ash;
- lime;
- coarse sand.
Composition No. 3… Mixing ratio 1: 3: 1/4:
- sod land;
- peat;
- coarse sand.
To obtain strong and healthy seedlings of early cabbage, the soil used for cultivation must not only be fertile, but also have an air and moisture permeable structure. These qualities are possessed by any of the above compositions. If necessary, such mixtures can be prepared several months before sowing and stored in a cold room.
Before planting seeds, the soil must be brought to a warm state. This can be done most quickly by heating it with steam. This operation has a twofold benefit as it also disinfects the ground. Further this the soil is laid out in containersprepared for growing seedlings. If plastic containers are planned to be used repeatedly, then before the next use they must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. A similar operation can be carried out with respect to the soil itself, if it has not been heat treated.
Conclusion
Although the cultivation of white cabbage is in itself quite a simple matter, many summer residents strive to get their first heads of cabbage earlier than usual. Therefore, they are engaged in growing it through seedlings. Naturally, this method is very troublesome, but with the correct implementation of all activities already in the first weeks of June you can get young heads of early maturing cabbage. However, it all depends on the preparation and cultivation of seedlings. It is necessary not only to choose the right cabbage seeds, but also to prepare the soil for it, as well as to determine the appropriate time for sowing seeds. If we take these points into account, then you can get an early harvest of white cabbage every year.
