With the advent of seedlings, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the room within + 6-7 ° C, such a temperature regime at night is especially important. The optimum air temperature for seedling development is 6°C. Therefore, as soon as sprouts appear, it is urgent to move the boxes with Plants to a relatively cold place. Otherwise, the seedlings will begin to stretch, the result of this may be the development of weak seedlings of low quality or their complete death. This temperature regime must be maintained for a week, then the day temperature should be increased to 15 ° C, and the night temperature to 12 ° C. At the same time, cabbage seedlings on the windowsill should be well lit during the daytime. However, with an increase in illumination, it is necessary to protect the cotyledons and leaves of seedlings from direct sunlight so that they do not burn and fade.

Watering cabbage seedlings

Before picking, cabbage seedlings should be watered with very moderately warm water (18-20 ° C) or not watered at all if the soil is sufficiently moist. Humidity in the room should not exceed 70-75%, i.e. the air must be relatively dry.

Watering seedlings is carried out only as the soil dries out, the water should be at a temperature of 18-20 ° C. After watering, you need to regularly ventilate the greenhouse or greenhouse, or any other room where cabbage seedlings are located.

With an increased level of soil and air moisture, the seedlings may develop the "black leg" disease, which can lead to the death of the seedlings. Therefore, seedlings need to be watered rarely, but plentifully.

As a preventive measure, about once a week, seedlings should be watered with potassium permanganate - a light pink solution (3-5 g per 1 liter of water) at room temperature. Also, as a preventive measure against the development of the "black leg" disease, calcined sand or wood ash can be poured close to the stems, but so that the hot sand does not touch the plants. If, despite the measures taken, the disease still appears, you should immediately remove the damaged plants, and pour good seedlings with a pink solution of potassium permanganate and sprinkle the soil with dry, calcined sand with a layer of 1-1.5 cm.

Watering cabbage seedlings should be stopped a week before the planned planting in the ground in order to restrain its growth.

Picking seedlings of cabbage

Many gardeners dive seedlings of cabbage in the phase of expanded cotyledons or the beginning of the formation of the first leaf, when 1-2 true leaves are shown in the seedlings 10-12 days after emergence. Thanks to timely picking, you can get high-quality seedlings: the younger the dived plants, the easier they tolerate picking and start growing faster. In sufficiently mature seedlings, roots are more often cut off when picking. However, young cabbage plants have a high regenerative ability of the root system - already on the 2-3rd day after picking, new roots appear.

Usually, a pick is made by transplanting them into a greenhouse or box. But nutrient pots are best suited for picking, which are tightly installed in a greenhouse and covered with a nutrient mixture. This procedure improves the lighting regime and strengthens the root system. Seedlings need to be watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and start picking. All underdeveloped seedlings when picking should be thrown away without regret.

For transplanting seedlings, peat-humus pots, cups are used, or they are immediately planted in a heated greenhouse. The containers must be filled with the same nutrient mixture as for sowing seeds. On a bucket of the mixture, you can add 20 g of ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and 10 g of potassium chloride. For good placement of seedlings, cups or pots should be taken at least 200 ml in size, and the containers should be taller than those that were used for sowing seeds. In new containers, the layer of earth should be at least 8 cm.

Make holes in the soil with a thin stick and transplant seedlings into them, deepening them to the cotyledon leaves. Too long roots in seedlings should first be pinched to one third of their length. During picking, you need to carefully monitor that the roots in the hole are evenly spaced, do not bend. After that, they need to be well sealed with a soil mixture. After transplanting, carefully press the soil around the plant from the sides in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe roots. Often inexperienced gardeners press the stem, and not the root of the seedling, this cannot be done. Picked seedlings can be grown both indoors and in film heated greenhouses.

During the first 10-12 days after picking, seedlings grow very slowly. But gradually its growth becomes more intense. During the first weeks, 2-3 true leaves are formed on seedlings.

Seedlings of mid-ripening cabbage until the beginning of May can be grown in boxes on the windowsill, and then planted in a cold nursery. Seedlings of late-ripening cabbage are usually dived into a cold nursery if the plants have 3-4 true leaves.

If seedlings are grown in boxes without picking or in separate pots, then at the same development phase, when picking is carried out, seedlings should be thinned out at a distance of 5-6 cm. This is necessary to increase the area of ​​soil and air nutrition. The resulting gaps should be immediately filled with soil mixture.

Caring for pickled cabbage seedlings

For convenience, cups with dived seedlings can be placed in pallets and placed in the brightest places. During the first 2-3 days after picking, it is better to keep the seedlings at elevated temperatures up to + 18 ° C -

20°C) which will allow seedlings to take root faster. Then again you need to return to a relatively low temperature: up to + 14-16 ° C during the day and up to + 10-12 ° C at night. When growing seedlings in a greenhouse, overheating should not be allowed, it is better to constantly maintain a daytime temperature not higher than 15-17 ° C and 8-10 ° C at night. Then the seedlings grow in a strong, pampered greenhouse.

The care of dived plants consists in watering, as well as in controlling the temperature and air conditions created inside the protective soil structures. The optimal temperature for the life of plants that gave the first true leaf is considered to be approximately + 13 ° C. When growing pickled seedlings indoors, where the air is almost always too dry, it is advisable to spray the plants daily.

Early varieties of cabbage are sometimes grown in greenhouses with picking and simultaneous thinning, sowing the seeds in a random manner. When picking, seedlings of these plants should be placed in a row at a distance of at least 4 cm from one another, and the interval between rows should be no more than 6 cm.

❧ Cabbage can be stored only in dry weather, when the heads are dry. If the cabbage was harvested in wet weather, then the heads of cabbage must first be dried. The quality of cabbage is determined by the heads of cabbage, they must be whole, fresh and unsprouted.

When growing cabbage seedlings without picking, from time to time it is necessary to add soil surface, which contributes to the formation of additional roots in plants.

If cabbage seedlings were supposed to be grown immediately in a permanent place (without picking), then thinning should be carried out so that as a result the plants are at a distance of 3-4 cm from one another. Between seedlings that were selected after picking, you need to make even more intervals.

To obtain seedlings of cabbage at an earlier date, you can sow the seeds in boxes or on racks. Sowing in this case should be carried out 2 weeks earlier than sowing seeds directly into the soil of a greenhouse or greenhouse. The emerging seedlings are transplanted into pots with a diameter of at least 4-5 cm or into cubes from a nutrient earth mixture. After that, pots with plants should be placed in a greenhouse or greenhouse on a layer of soil 3-5 cm thick, placing them as close to each other as possible. Seedlings need to be regularly watered at the rate of 8-10 liters for each greenhouse frame. To prevent hypothermia and freezing of seedlings, it is covered with frames and greenhouse mats. In warm weather, you need to harden off the plants, removing the mats and leaving the seedlings open for 1-2 days.

Caring for seedlings of mid-ripening varieties of cabbage grown in a nursery

Seedlings of cabbage of mid-season varieties that are grown in an open nursery must be regularly watered, weeded and thinned out, and, as necessary, loosen the soil on the site. Thinning seedlings after the appearance of the first true leaf in seedlings should be carried out so that the distance between the remaining plants in the row does not exceed 2-3 cm.

In the central regions of Russia, cabbage seedlings should be irrigated in an open nursery once a week. At the same time as watering, apply all the necessary fertilizers to the soil.

During the period of spring frosts, it is necessary to carry out protective measures, including smoke, sprinkling and shelter. Nurseries should be covered with special greenhouse mats and matting sheets, laying them on top of driven pegs or poles. They can serve as racks installed around the perimeter of the structure.

Seedlings that are grown in open nurseries are often attacked by the ground flea. This pest can be fought using such means as: a solution of hexachloran, a mixture of tobacco dust with slaked lime, a mixture of tobacco dust with wood ash, a 5% solution of anabazine sulfate.

Hardening seedlings of early cabbage

Hardening is one of the important measures for the care of seedlings of early cabbage. Cabbage seedlings need to be hardened off from the appearance of the first true leaves, about a week before planting seedlings in the ground. Seedlings need low temperatures and bright light to harden off.

When growing seedlings in a greenhouse or greenhouse, after warm weather sets in, remove the frames from the protective structure, leaving the plants open first during the day and then at night when there is no threat of frost. If seedlings are grown in a greenhouse or greenhouse under a film, then the film must be periodically lifted, providing access to fresh air. The film should not be closed at night if there is no threat of frost. Otherwise, the plants will stretch out too much and fall down.

On warm, frost-free (at + 4-5 ° C) days, seedlings grown in a room can be placed on the balcony for several hours. As soon as the temperature during the day outside rises to 8 ° C, seedlings should be taken out into the open air for hardening for the whole day, and brought back into the room at night. On frost-free nights, when there is no threat of frost, leave the seedlings on the balcony or put them in a cold film-coated greenhouse.

Seedling feeding

Cabbage seedlings are fed two or three times. Feed for the first time 7-8 days after the pick, or rather, when the plants take root after the pick and begin to grow. This time they can be fed with mullein, diluted with water 1: 5 or bird droppings, also diluted with water 1: 15. It is advisable to add superphosphate to the solution at the rate of 3 g per 1 liter of liquid. You can give bird droppings, diluted with water 1: 20, with the addition of urea at the rate of 0.25 tbsp. l. per 1 liter of liquid. You can feed cabbage seedlings after picking with a solution of urea (a matchbox for 10 liters of water), which contributes to the cultivation of high-quality seedlings. You can also use fertilizers: "Kemira Universal", "Mortar" and others in the appropriate amount.

Plants that have a second or fourth true leaf are especially in need of feeding. 10-15 days after the first feeding, you can feed the seedlings a second time with one of the following compositions:

An aqueous solution of mullein in a ratio of 1: 5 with the addition of superphosphate, 6 g per 1 liter of liquid;

Bird droppings diluted with water 1:10;

A mixture of 3-4 g of ammonium nitrate, 4 g of superphosphate and 2 g of potassium chloride per 1 liter of water.

You can give complex mineral fertilizers as top dressing. Specialized complex microfertilizer for cabbage should be given in the appropriate dose indicated on the package. It is good if boron and molybdenum are present in their composition - microelements that are actively used by cabbage plants.

Once again, you need to feed the seedlings about a week before planting in the ground. The third feeding should be given in the same doses as the second.

In one of the dressings, it is desirable to use microfertilizers. To do this, dilute in 1 liter of water: 0.10-0.20 g of boric acid, 0.15-0.20 g of copper sulfate, 0.05-0.10 g of potassium permanganate and zinc sulfate.

When fertilizing, you need to ensure that the plants do not stretch.

Signs of good seedlings

Seedlings of early cabbage before planting in a permanent place should be squat, have 5-6 well-formed dark green leaves with a stem height of 20 cm. It is acceptable if each seedling has 4-5 real dark green leaves.

When growing seedlings in pots, there should be 6-8 leaves, and the height of the stem is 12-15 cm.

Landing in open ground

Cabbage is not recommended to be planted in the same place from year to year, it is best to return with cabbage plantings to the previous site only after 4 years. It is preferable to plant cabbage where legumes grew last year, potatoes, onions, carrots, cucumbers or green manure are the best predecessors for cabbage. Cabbage should not be planted where

in the previous season, other cruciferous plants grew, namely rutabaga, yellow mustard, rapeseed, radish, radish, turnip and various types of cabbage plants. First, all these plants have common pests and diseases. Secondly, they draw the same nutrients and trace elements from the soil, as a result, the soil is depleted.

Cabbage is very demanding on soil fertility, and especially on potassium and nitrogen. Therefore, in the sequence of crop rotation, it is recommended to provide cabbage with priority placement after the main filling of the soil with organic and mineral fertilizers.

Soil and placement requirements

Cabbage is a photophilous plant; for beds with cabbage, you need to choose well-lit areas. If the cabbage does not get enough light, it is possible that the plants will stretch upwards, but will not form heads.

However, in strong heat, cabbage, if possible, should be shaded, since in hot weather the tying of heads is delayed.

It is especially important to protect cabbage seedlings from the bright sun after transplanting into open ground, you need to shade it for the first 2-3 days. To provide beds with cabbage light shade, you can plant corn next to them.

Cabbage is very demanding on the structure of the soil and its fertility. It is advisable to grow this crop in well-fertilized, moist soil, carefully caring for the plants during growth. Then more organic matter will form in the head.

Cabbage grows well in loamy soil with a high content of organic matter, which has neutral or slightly acidic properties and is able to retain moisture well. You can grow cabbage on non-marshy peat soils.

Acidic soils are not suitable for growing cabbages, since excess acidity contributes to the defeat of the plant by clubroot disease.

Headed cabbage is moisture-loving, it needs moist soil for successful heading. In conditions of low soil and air humidity, as well as at high temperatures, heads of cabbage are almost not tied. However, excessive soil moisture or stagnant water also has a bad effect on cabbage, especially growing on heavy soil. Under such conditions, the roots may die off and the plant may die.

The site for future plantings of cabbage should be prepared in the fall - lime should be applied. Also, during the autumn preparation of the soil, it is recommended to add phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and organic matter (manure, humus, compost).

In the spring, when cultivating the soil, apply organic fertilizers: 1 bucket of compost or humus per 1 m 2 of land. In the spring, if necessary, nitrogen mineral fertilizers should be applied.

Planting dates for cabbage seedlings

Cabbage seedlings are usually planted in the ground after the cessation of spring frosts. By this time, it should develop at least 3-4 true leaves.

Cabbage is able to withstand relatively small sub-zero temperatures, while it stops growing. When the temperature rises to + 4 ° C, then cabbage can grow. However, you should not risk planting too early, as freezing of the tissues of cabbage leaves can occur.

The term for planting early varieties of cabbage usually depends on the ripeness of the soil, on the adequacy of its processing before planting, and most importantly, on temperature conditions. In all areas of vegetable growing, the completion of sowing of early spring crops can serve as a guideline for planting seedlings of early cabbage in the ground. Usually, in the Non-Chernozem zone, cabbage seedlings are planted in early May. In the Chernozem zone, the landing date falls on the middle and end of April. In central Russia, after planting early varieties of cabbage, seedlings of late cabbage are planted.

❧ When harvesting cabbage, you need to cut the heads of cabbage at the level of the covering unbleached (green) leaves. The lower leaves are left in order to protect the heads of cabbage from damage by fungal diseases and mechanical damage.

If the planting of late varieties is postponed to a later time, then there will be no guarantees for the full formation of heads, their timely ripening and high yields. Having completed the planting of late varieties of cabbage, you can begin to plant mid-season varieties. They have time to ripen during the short summer of central Russia.

Cabbage planting technique

When planting seedlings in open ground, you can use the following planting schemes:

For early varieties - 50 X 50 cm;

For mid-season varieties - 60 X 70 cm;

For late-ripening varieties - 70 X 80 cm.

At the beginning of summer, while cabbage plants are not yet too large, compacted crops can be practiced.

To plant cabbage seedlings, you need to make planting holes in the beds, add a small amount of wood ash and organic fertilizers in the form of humus or compost to them. Mix the soil in the holes thoroughly with the applied top dressing. Wood ash in this case successfully replaces potash fertilizers. With sufficient fertility of the soil, it is possible to limit the application of mineral fertilizers. In this case, you need to add 2 tbsp to each cabbage well. l. superphosphate, 1 tsp urea and 2 cups of wood ash.

Seedlings of cabbage before planting in a permanent place must be sorted, selecting only healthy plants up to 12-15 cm high, which have an apical bud and at least 4-5 true leaves.

A week before planting in a permanent place in open ground, watering the seedlings with water should be completely stopped in order to slow down its growth. The night before, just before planting, you need to pour plenty of water on the seedlings. Once again, you need to water the seedlings with water 2-3 hours before planting in the ground. If the pickling of cabbage seedlings was made in peat pots or the seedlings were originally grown in pots, then you should refrain from excessive watering. Pots may not withstand the abundance of water and simply fall apart, in this case it is better to water the seedlings after transplanting into the ground.

Seedlings are best planted in cloudy weather or in the evening, when there is no bright sun. Each stalk of seedlings must be removed from the planting box along with the soil clod and carefully transferred to a bed prepared for further cultivation of cabbage. Seedlings that have been grown potless in boxes are recommended to be planted 2-3 cm deeper than the root collar, approximately to the depth of the first true leaves. Seedlings grown in pots should be planted at such a depth that a layer of soil covers it from above by about 2-3 cm.

Caring for planted cabbage seedlings

Immediately after planting in open ground, cabbage seedlings should be watered abundantly and compact the soil around the roots.

Cabbage is demanding on moisture, so in dry weather, cabbage beds should be watered frequently. In normal weather, cabbage is abundantly watered once a week, pouring up to 3-5 liters of water under the plant with a temperature of about 18 ° C. If you water cabbage seedlings with cold water, this can provoke the development of a "black leg". Excessive watering in abundance can lead to the fact that the roots of cabbage begin to rot. This causes the development of punctate necrosis on the leaves. Therefore, it is desirable to adhere to moderation in everything, to maintain optimal soil moisture at the level of 80%.

After watering and heavy rains, it is necessary to loosen the row spacing to a depth of 8 cm so that the soil is breathable. Along with loosening the soil, weeds must be removed. It is especially important to regularly loosen the soil if the cabbage grows in heavy soil. This measure will save the plants from stagnant water, prevent the death of the roots and death.

Seedlings of cabbage in the open field grow well at an air temperature of 15-18°C. In hot weather or during frosts, cabbage seedlings are recommended to be covered with special caps to protect the plants in adverse conditions.

If, after planting the seedlings in open ground, the weather changed and it suddenly got colder, then the beds should be covered with a special covering material. Sprinkle its edges with soil, with the onset of warming, remove the shelter.

Cabbage needs to be spudded, the first time the procedure can be carried out no later than 20 days after planting the seedlings. In addition, plants need to be hilled after rain or watering. This prevents the stem from stretching, in addition, cabbage gives additional roots, the presence of which significantly improves plant nutrition.

Simultaneously with weeding and loosening, it is necessary to make a recess around each seedling so that water does not spread during irrigation. If some seedlings have fallen out of their planting nests, new plants need to be planted, only it is better to move the hole further 5-6 cm from its original place.

With each tillage around the cabbage seedlings, the loosening area and the diameter of the water hole should be increased. In addition, caring for cabbage seedlings will greatly facilitate soil mulching.

In terms of time, the first hilling can be combined with top dressing with a solution of mullein. Cabbage responds very well to top dressing, especially to nitrogen fertilizers, which help the leaves gain mass. It is recommended to feed early cabbage 2 times, and middle and late - three times.

The first top dressing should be carried out at a time when the cabbage leaves are actively growing. Usually this period occurs two weeks after planting seedlings in open ground.

For a single feeding of each cabbage seedling, 0.5 l of mullein diluted in water (1: 10) is usually used. You can use an infusion of chicken manure prepared as follows. Pour chicken manure with warm water in a ratio of 1: 20, tightly close the lid and leave for about a week. Before direct use, dilute the infusion with water in a ratio of 1: 3. Infusion of mullein or chicken manure in the first dressing can be replaced with weed infusion, diluted (1: 8).

After the first main dressing, you can sprinkle the soil with wood ash between the rows at the rate of 1 glass of ash per 1 m 2. This technique is both an excellent protection against pests and additional feeding. After such a procedure, cabbage heads are tight, large and well stored.

Sowing cabbage for seedlings is not very popular, because you can use ready-made planting material, which is supplied by specialized farms. However, growing cabbage seedlings at home allows you to get strong and hardened plants that are easily adapted when transplanted. In this article - all the subtleties of caring for seedlings of cabbage, to help gardeners - video.

Planting cabbage for seedlings with your own hands

To obtain healthy and strong cabbage seedlings, it is very important to sow the seeds on time. It is allowed to grow absolutely all varieties of cabbage, including white cabbage, in seedlings; kohlrabi; savoy; Brussels; Beijing; redhead; color.

The timing of sowing seeds for obtaining an early, medium or late harvest, different ones are selected:

• Early cabbage - sowing seedlings begins in the period from March 15 to March 20.
• Mid-season varieties are sown for seedlings from March 30 to April 10.
• Late varieties - growing seedlings from seeds is carried out from April 25 to May 10, the second sowing, to obtain a crop for winter storage, is carried out in the first half of June.

cabbage sprouts

Soil preparation

For sowing cabbage seeds, it is necessary to carefully prepare the soil, the basis of which is peat with the addition of coarse sand or rotted sawdust, at the rate of up to 1/3 of the volume of harvested peat. For about 2 hours, the peat mixture with sawdust is steamed, which helps to save young cabbage seedlings from the development of fungal, viral and bacterial infections.

The mixture is immediately filled with organic fertilizers that stimulate the growth of seedlings. It is useful to add 1 cup of ash and 0.3 kg of dolomite flour to the soil for seedlings per 1 bucket of soil mixture.

Containers for growing cabbage seedlings

Advice! Cabbage quickly develops a strong root system when grown in separate containers, so it is best to sow in individual cups (peat ones are ideal).

Of course, cabbage seeds of any variety are distinguished by good germination when grown in boxes or cassettes, while transplanting seedlings does not cause any difficulties - cabbage has a high survival rate when transplanted into garden beds.

Sowing in individual containers allows you to dose the consumption of seed material, reduces the loss of finished seedlings during thinning.

The depth of embedding cabbage seeds in the soil is up to 1.5 cm. When sowing in boxes or greenhouse beds - a 3x3 scheme.

Seeds must be pre-treated before planting.

Preparing cabbage seeds for sowing

The quality of self-grown cabbage directly depends on the selected seed material.

Advice! Remove damaged seeds when preparing seed.

Some agrotechnical measures in preparing cabbage seeds for sowing will help to obtain high quality hardened seedlings.

• Seed sizing - choose the largest, fullest seeds before sowing.
• Disinfection of planting material - prepare a bowl of hot water (t up to 50C). Dip the selected seeds in water for 20 minutes. Quickly cool the seed in cold water and soak for 12 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Cabbage seeds sprouted, what to do next? Proper care of seedlings

The main requirement for caring for young cabbage seedlings is to ensure constant moisture. At the same time, it is worth carrying out watering in doses so as not to cause waterlogging of the soil. Constant overflow of plantings can provoke a sharp surge in fungal diseases.

The temperature regime when growing seedlings is maintained in the range of 20-22 C in the daytime, 6-9 C is enough at night, because cabbage is a cold-resistant crop and a sharp drop in temperature at night will not negatively affect the development of seedlings. Temperature drops are even useful for young plants - seedlings are less stretched.

Advice. Airing plantings is a mandatory requirement when growing cabbage from seeds. The influx of fresh air will help harden the seedlings and protect the plants from diseases.

Thinning - When growing seedlings in a bed or boxes, it is worth thinning, leaving the strongest plants.

The introduction of the necessary fertilizers, the timing of top dressing

The nutrient soil for growing seedlings is already filled with all the necessary fertilizers that nourish the plant in the first days of life.

Approximately 2 weeks after germination, young seedlings are fertilized for the first time, for which NPK complex fertilizer is used at a ratio of 2-4-2 grams per 1 liter of water.

The second top dressing is carried out with a complex of nutrients in the same proportions, only the fertilizer solution is prepared more saturated - by 0.5 liters of water. The timing of top dressing is 1 month from the date of sowing the seeds.

For the third top dressing, which is carried out 1-2 weeks before planting seedlings in the garden, a complex fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) is taken in a ratio of 3:5:8 (dilution in one liter of water).

Important! If the seedlings have pale leaves and weak stems, stretch out, additional manure is required.

Picking cabbage seedlings when propagating by seeds at home

Thickened plantings of cabbage seedlings do not allow plants to develop correctly and harmoniously. In this case, weak seedlings with elongated pale leaves are obtained, which adapt for a long time when transplanted into open ground, linger in development and give a low yield.

It is also necessary to dive cabbage seedlings in order to prevent the development of infectious diseases that occur during crowded plantings. 3 weeks after sowing, seedlings are subject to picking.

To make it easier to transplant seedlings into the ground, plant them in separate peat pots.

Cabbage seedlings - diseases and pests

The greatest danger to cabbage seedlings is improper watering. When overflowing, weakened plants are oppressed, stop growing, but what causes the greatest concern is the development of the “black leg” disease. The stalk of a cabbage seedling turns black in the middle and the whole plant dies. Fungal infection is exacerbated by improper watering, crowding of plantings and poor ventilation. For treatment, it is necessary to shed containers with cabbage seedlings with a solution of foundationol.

Young plants can be attacked by pests, especially aphids. By sucking juices from young seedlings, aphids spread viral infections that cannot be cured. Having found aphids on plants, it is necessary to treat the plantings from the pest as soon as possible with the help of special preparations.

Cabbage is harmed by many insects: cabbage fly, cruciferous flea, scoops - all these pests are also dangerous for young seedlings. Pests should be dealt with in a timely manner, using appropriate means.

12 secrets of growing cabbage seedlings

Cabbage is a vegetable beloved by many, which has long been called the garden mistress. Delicious and healthy, it is far from the last place in our diet. It is successfully used in folk medicine. Riddles are written about her. And a rare gardener is ready to refuse the opportunity to grow lady-cabbage on his land. But without good seedlings, it is often simply impossible to get an excellent harvest of this unique vegetable, so let's talk about the secrets of growing healthy and strong cabbage seedlings.

Secret 1: Careful Variety Selection

Before buying seeds, decide what kind of cabbage you want to end up with, what for and when exactly you need it. It is on this that, first of all, the timing of sowing cabbage for seedlings will depend. It's one thing if you want to eat early cabbage in salads, and quite another if you need cabbage for sourdough and long-term winter storage.

White cabbage is early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening. Early varieties are low-yielding, they have rather small (weighing about 1.5 kg) heads of medium density. Mid-season varieties of cabbage are suitable for both summer consumption and pickling, but cabbage of late varieties is the best suited for long-term fresh storage.

In addition to the fact that the timing of the ripening of cabbage is different, the timing of its sowing also differs - remember this.

Secret 2: Buying Quality Seeds

It is on the quality of the seeds, not least, that the quality of the seedlings, and hence the yield of cabbage, will depend, so purchase high-quality seed.

We talked about how to buy seeds correctly so as not to purchase expired, lost their germination due to improper storage, or generally counterfeit seed, we talked to you in the articles How to buy seeds on the Internet and 10 rules for buying seeds. And in order to avoid mistakes when choosing, read this useful material.

Secret 3: preparing the right soil mixture

To grow strong seedlings of cabbage, you need to properly prepare a nutritious soil mixture. Ideally, the soil for cabbage seedlings should be prepared in the fall, but if for some reason you did not have time to do this, you can do it right now. Mix 1 part of soddy soil and humus, add a little ash (10 tablespoons for every 10 kg of soil) and mix the substrate well. In this case, the ash will be a source of not only micro and macro elements, but also an excellent antiseptic that can prevent the appearance of a black leg on cabbage seedlings.

Of course, you can prepare any other nutrient soil mixture - not only on the basis of soddy soil, but also, for example, peat. The main thing is that the resulting soil is breathable and fertile. And also, when preparing the soil mixture for cabbage seedlings, never use garden soil on which cruciferous crops were previously grown: it probably contains infections characteristic of cabbage, and the likelihood of getting seedling diseases increases significantly.

Secret 4: choosing the right time for sowing cabbage seedlings

It makes no sense to sow cabbage seedlings in early January - it's too early - or at the end of May - it's too late. Every gardener knows this common truth. But although we know the approximate dates for sowing seeds, sometimes it can be quite difficult to determine a specific date. Let's talk about everything in order.

Remember: cabbage of early varieties should be sown for seedlings from the beginning of March until about the 25th-28th of the month, seeds of medium varieties can be sown approximately from March 25 to April 25, and late varieties of cabbage - from the beginning to the 20th of April.

If such dates for sowing cabbage seeds seem excessively vague and incomprehensible to you, and you are a lover of specifics, then you will appreciate the recommendations from the article When to sow vegetables for seedlings - it describes an algorithm that helps calculate the optimal sowing dates specifically for your conditions.

Well, I will give one more hint: you can determine the time for sowing cabbage for seedlings based on the fact that about 10 days pass from the time the seeds are sown to the emergence of seedlings (plus or minus a couple of days), and about 10 more days should pass from the emergence of seedlings to the time of planting. 50-55 days. Based on this, it is necessary to sow cabbage for seedlings 5-60 days before the desired planting in the ground.

Secret 5: mandatory seedbed preparation

In the case of cabbage seeds, you should not hope "at random" - before sowing, be sure to process them using one of the generally accepted methods of pre-sowing seed preparation.

Thanks to simple manipulations, you can practically eliminate dangerous cabbage diseases - such as black leg, powdery mildew, and so on - already in the seedling period, which means you will be able to grow healthy and strong seedlings.

If you purchased already processed seeds (this should be indicated on the package), it will be enough just to warm them for 20 minutes in hot water (at a temperature of about 50 ° C). Warming up the seeds, cool them for 5 minutes in cold water - this way you will increase the resistance of cabbage to various fungal diseases. Just keep in mind: not all seeds processed by the manufacturer can be soaked! For some species, this is completely unacceptable, therefore, in order not to be mistaken, read about what types of industrial seed treatment are used and what are their features.

Secret 6: Proper Seeding

It would seem that there is nothing to bother: I bought the seeds, prepared the soil mixture and go ahead - this as you like. But it's not quite like that. In order for the cabbage seedlings to be strong and stocky, it is better to grow it with a pick - only then the volume of its roots will be large, the seedlings themselves will grow more squat and strong, and it will be easier to transfer the transplant to a permanent place. How to sow cabbage correctly?

Seeds of early cabbage should be sown in a tray or planter. Before sowing, we thoroughly water the soil and try not to moisten it more until shoots appear - this will prevent the disease of the seedlings with the “black leg”. Why water the soil before sowing abundantly? The thing is that for germination, cabbage seeds need a lot of water - about 50% of their weight.

When seedlings appear, they need to be thinned out, leaving a feeding area of ​​​​about 2x2 cm. After 2 weeks, when the seedlings have already grown a little, they must be dived, planting according to the 3x3 cm scheme, for example, in cassettes. When diving, do not forget to deepen the stem of the seedlings to the cotyledons! After another half a month, the seedlings need to be transplanted again, but already in pots (peat pots, plastic or paper cups, or any other suitable container) - ideally, their size should be 5x5 cm.

Before diving seedlings into cups, it is advisable to treat them with a weak (blue in color) solution of copper sulfate or any other drug that prevents the appearance of fungal diseases.

If you do not have a desire to dive cabbage, then initially it is better to sow it in separate pots. When the time comes for planting seedlings in a permanent place, its root system will have a large volume, and due to the fact that the plants grew before transplanting in separate pots, it is almost not injured.

Secret 7: light for seedlings

In order for cabbage seedlings to grow strong and stocky, it is not enough to plant them correctly - you need to carry out additional illumination, because there is not enough ordinary daylight for cabbage at home. We illuminate the seedlings for about 12-15 hours a day using an ordinary fluorescent lamp.

Secret 8: timely watering

“Cabbage loves water and good weather” - this proverb-statement is equally true both in relation to already grown heads of cabbage and in relation to its seedlings.

Water the plants as needed, but try not to let the soil dry out or become too wet. In order not to overdo it with watering, loosen the soil more often.

Secret 9: Maintaining the optimal temperature

Growing seedlings of cabbage, you need to monitor the air temperature in the room. + 18 ... + 20 ° С is considered the optimal temperature before the emergence of cabbage shoots, when shoots appear, the temperature must be lowered: during the day to + 15 ... + 17 ° С, and at night - up to + 8 ... + 10 ° С (we are talking only about white cabbage!). Such seemingly sharp changes in day and night temperatures will make it possible to strengthen the seedlings and help prevent seedlings from stretching.

Regarding cauliflower seedlings, keep in mind: it does not tolerate low temperatures well, and this will only lead to a decrease in yield - the heads will be small and loose. The temperature regime for growing cauliflower seedlings, of course, can also fluctuate during the day and at night, but, on average, the temperature must be maintained 5-7 ° C higher than that of white cabbage.

Secret 10: Mandatory top dressing

When growing seedlings of cabbage, do not forget to feed it, because it is during the seedling period that young plants really need a balanced set of various nutrients that would come to them in the most easily accessible form.

The first top dressing should be carried out approximately 7-9 days after picking. You can prepare fertilizer as follows: in 1 liter of water, dissolve 2 grams of potash fertilizers and ammonium nitrate, as well as 4 grams of superphosphate. One liter of nutrient solution is enough to feed 50-60 plants. True, in order not to burn the young roots of the seedlings, first water them and only then “feed them”.

The second feeding should be carried out 2 weeks after the first. For her, we are preparing a new nutrient solution from the same fertilizers, we just double their number per liter of water. If the cabbage seedlings begin to turn a little yellow, they can be fed with a 1:10 solution of fermented slurry.

The third top dressing should be carried out a couple of days before planting cabbage seedlings in the ground, and for this we prepare a solution by mixing 3 g with 1 liter of water. ammonium nitrate, 5 gr. superphosphate and 8 gr. potash fertilizers. The dose of potash fertilizers in this case is increased so that the seedlings take root better in the open field, which is why such top dressing is called hardening. If you don’t want to bother with the preparation of dressings, you can use a ready-made liquid complex fertilizer, for example, Kemira Lux.

Secret 11: hardening

Hardening of seedlings means a set of measures due to which the root system of plants develops better and their high survival rate is ensured. Seedlings of cabbage begin to harden off about 10 days before planting in the ground.

In the first day or two, we simply open the window in the room with cabbage seedlings for 3-4 hours. In the next few days, we take the seedlings to the balcony (loggia, veranda, and so on) for a couple of hours, thereby exposing them to direct sunlight. Taking the seedlings out into the sun for the first time, lightly shade them with gauze so that the bright spring sun does not burn the young plants.

Starting from the 6th day of hardening, we reduce watering, making sure that the soil does not dry out, and we take the seedlings to the balcony permanently. There she will be until the moment of her landing in the ground. By the way, before planting in the ground, cabbage seedlings should have 4–5 leaves, and before planting it must be thoroughly watered.

Secret 12: disease prevention and timely treatment

If they didn’t see it: they overdid it with watering, didn’t follow the temperature, didn’t ventilate well, and so on, as a result of which the seedlings got sick: with a black leg, root rot or other ailments, don’t hope that the disease will go away by itself, immediately save the seedlings.

Blackleg

To combat the black leg, dry the soil inside the tray (pots), sprinkle the seedlings themselves with ash and loosen the substrate.

root rot

In the fight against root rot (and the black leg too) seedlings, treat it with trichodermin or rhizoplan. These are environmentally friendly biological preparations, whose effect is based on the action of a specially grown mycelium, which, developing, releases substances that inhibit various pathogens.

Treatment with trichodermin allows you to create a protective zone around the roots of plants from microorganisms, and treatment with rhizoplan promotes the absorption of iron by seedlings, due to which they develop immunity to the same black leg. In addition, the rhizoplan enables seedlings to fight not only with the black leg, but also with various bacterioses, stem and root rot.

How to administer drugs

Trichodermin must be applied to the soil mixture before picking cabbage seedlings into pots, at the rate of 1 g. preparation for 1 plant. Together with trichodermin, it is necessary to add a grain of barley, treated with microspores of the fungus, to the soil - it is cultivated on it. You can simply water the plants with Rizoplan or spray the seedlings with the drug, after diluting 1 g in 100 g. water.

cruciferous flea

In the fight against cruciferous flea (small striped bugs) - the worst enemy of cabbage seedlings - advance treatment of seedlings with Intavir will help you.

I revealed all the secrets of growing strong cabbage seedlings to you - well, at least those that I knew. I would be glad if you share your secrets of growing cabbage seedlings in the comments.

And a little more about planting and growing cabbage:

• How to choose a cabbage variety and grow seedlings?
• How to grow cabbage seedlings in an apartment where there is no balcony?
• Preparing seeds for sowing - a selection of videos

To get good cabbage seedlings when growing it in an apartment, the following rules must be strictly observed:

1. It is impossible to sow unprepared seeds, incl. and own production, since the vast majority of infectious diseases are transmitted precisely with unprepared seeds.

1. Do not use heavy soil mixture and peat of unknown origin for seeds. The soil for the preparation of the mixture, taken from the garden, must be cold treated on the balcony with double defrosting and mandatory heat treatment. But the best option should be considered the purchase of a ready-made soil mixture intended for growing cabbage in a specialized store.

1. You can not rush to grow seedlings. It is extremely important to accurately determine the timing of sowing. This can be determined quite accurately by everyone, knowing that seedlings appear on the 4-5th day, and another 45-50 days pass from seedlings to the formation of full-fledged seedlings for early, 35-40 days for mid-ripening and 45-50 days for late cabbage .

Seedlings of early varieties are often grown on the windowsill, because. its seeds are best sown in mid-March. At the same time, in order to extend the harvesting time of early cabbage, seeds can be sown at intervals of 2-3 days for 12-15 days.

It is better to sow the seeds of mid-ripening varieties of cabbage in the second half of April and first grow the seedlings in a box on the windowsill, and at the beginning of May, plant them in a cold nursery, or sow the seeds in a cold nursery at the beginning of May, additionally covering the soil with lutrasil.

Seeds of late-ripening varieties are best sown in early April in boxes (like early-ripening varieties), and then dive into a cold nursery (like mid-ripening varieties). But it is necessary to dive seedlings when the plants grow 3-4 true leaves. Therefore, seeds of late varieties should be sown in a box more sparsely so as not to carry out excessive thinning of seedlings.

And the average time for sowing cabbage seeds for a gardener living in a city apartment is as follows: early white cabbage - from 10.03 to 25.03; mid-ripening cabbage - from 25.04 to 01.05; mid-late cabbage - from 10.04 to 20.04; late-ripening cabbage - from 25.03 to 05.04; cauliflower for the first term - from 20.03 to 30.03 and further until the beginning of June every 15-20 days.

1. You can not thicken the crops, because. this leads to stretching of the hypocotyl genus and contributes to the defeat of plants by the "black leg". The optimal scheme for sowing cabbage seeds is 4x4 cm or 5x5 cm.

1. You can not place seedlings away from the light, because. this will immediately lead to the stretching of the seedlings. Boxes with seedlings should be placed on the southern, sunny windowsill. In any case, it must be illuminated with fluorescent lamps so that the total daylight hours are 12-14 hours. To improve lighting, it is necessary to install a reflective screen near the box with seedlings, pulling foil over cardboard for this.

1. Seedlings cannot be cold. The optimum temperature at emergence of shoots is 24-25°C, and after emergence of shoots during the day - 15-18°C, and at night - 12-14°C of heat.

1. You can not get involved in watering. Excessive soil moisture when growing cabbage seedlings causes the disease "black leg".

1. You can not water the seedlings with cold water that has not settled during the day. The water temperature should not be lower than 22-24°C.

1. It is impossible to water the seedlings before transporting to the garden, because. slightly wilted plants break less from careless touches. But immediately after arriving at the site, the seedlings must be plentifully watered with warm water.