Cabbage: how to grow a good crop

Before you start growing cabbage, you need to decide what you need it for. If you are going to use it in the summer for salads, cabbage soup and pies, then you need to choose early varieties. For fermentation and twists, mid-ripening ones are ideal. But only late varieties are suitable for winter storage.

Cultivation of cabbage

White cabbage can be grown through seedlings, but this is a troublesome task. Cabbage is a cold-resistant plant, so in most regions of Our Country it can be sown immediately in open ground.

It is useful to pre-soak the seeds for a day in warm water, and then wrap them in a damp cloth. As soon as they hatch, the fabric must be unfolded, put together with the seeds in a plastic container and sent for a week in the refrigerator. And then get it, stand for a day in a warm room and only then sow.

Such hardening will help increase the resistance of seedlings to spring frosts. Yes, they can easily tolerate a drop in temperature to -5 ° C (1), but after a week in the refrigerator they will also withstand more serious cold snaps.

Planting cabbage

A place for cabbage must be chosen taking into account the predecessors. It is best to sow it after potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions, garlic or legumes – peas and beans (2). And in no case should it be planted after radishes, radishes, turnips and swedes – they are all from the same Cruciferous family, they have common diseases and pests.

If the spring is early and warm, cabbage seeds can be sown as early as mid-April. If the spring is long and cold, then at the end of the month.

– It is better to sow them in holes with a diameter of 50 cm. In each – 3 seeds at a distance of 10 cm from each other and to a depth of 1 cm, – advises agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova. – Previously, it is useful to add 1 bucket of humus to each well. After sowing, it is useful to powder the holes with ash – it will protect the seedlings from diseases.

When the seedlings have the first true leaf, they need to be pulled through, leaving one of the strongest sprouts in each hole. In no case should you leave all three – heads of cabbage in such tightness will not tie.

The scheme for planting cabbage depends on the ripening period of the varieties:

• early – 30 cm in a row, 40 – 50 cm between rows;
• mid-season – 50 in a row, 50 – 60 cm between rows;
• late – 60 – 70 cm in a row, 60 – 70 cm between rows (3).

Outdoor cabbage care

To get a good harvest of heads of cabbage, it is necessary to provide the plants with 3 important conditions.

Watering. White cabbage is one of the most moisture-loving vegetables. It needs to be watered once every 2 weeks, 3-5 liters per 1 sq. m. If the weather is hot and dry, the watering rate is increased to 10 liters per 1 square. m.

Once a week, it is useful for cabbage to make a refreshing shower from a watering can directly over the leaves – 0,5 liters per 1 sq. m.

“Early and mid-season varieties need to be watered immediately before harvesting,” says agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova. – Watering late from the beginning of September should be reduced in volume by 2 times, and 20 days before harvesting should be stopped altogether.

Feeding. Over the summer, white cabbage should be fed 3-4 times (depending on the variety):

• 3 weeks after germination: mullein infusion (1:10) – 0,5 l per plant;
• 2 weeks after the first: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of nitrophoska per 10 liters of water – 1 liter per plant;
• 2 weeks after the second: in 10 liters of mullein infusion (1:10), add 2 tbsp. spoons of double superphosphate and potassium sulfate – 1 liter per plant;
• 20 days before harvest (for late varieties): 2 tbsp. spoons of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water – 1 liter per plant.

The last top dressing makes heads of cabbage tastier and increases their shelf life.

Protection against pests. The main enemies of white cabbage are white butterfly caterpillars and cruciferous flea. To destroy them, there are a lot of drugs, but they do not always give the desired effect. The most reliable way is to wrap the heads of cabbage with non-woven fabric and tie it tightly on the stalk so that pests do not have the opportunity to get inside.

Harvesting cabbage

Heads of early varieties can be harvested as needed.

Harvest mid-season varieties are usually harvested at the end of September. They can be immediately chopped and fermented, and if there is no time, put in the refrigerator or cellar. But remember, they do not last long, only 1 – 3 months.

There is no need to hurry with the harvesting of late varieties. It is important that they stay in the beds for some time at low temperatures, about 0 ° C. Only in this case they will lie for a long time. This weather usually happens in the first half of October.

– Harvesting should be done in dry, clear weather. The air temperature should not be higher than 7 °C (if it is warmer outside, the heads of cabbage will not lie for a long time), – explains agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova. – You need to cut them so that a stalk about 3 cm long remains. Cut cabbage should be put away in the cellar or refrigerator as soon as possible – in the open air without roots, it quickly withers and then is stored worse.

Carrying and storing heads of cabbage should be done carefully so as not to damage the protective leaves, because each wound is a gateway for infection. It makes no sense to clean cracked heads of cabbage in the cellar – they will rot very quickly. They must be eaten as soon as possible.

Cabbage storage rules

The optimal storage conditions for cabbage are as follows:

• temperature – 0 – 1 °С;
• air humidity – 95%.

Higher temperatures reduce the shelf life of cabbage. And at 4 ° C, heads of cabbage begin to germinate.

The varieties stored the longest are: Amager 611, Belorusskaya 445, Zimovka 1474, Gift (4).

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing cabbage with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. A group of authors, ed. Polyanskoy A.M. and Chulkova E.I. Tips for gardeners // Minsk, Harvest, 1970 – 208 p.
2. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.
3. Yakubovskaya L.D., Yakubovsky V.N., Rozhkova L.N. ABC of a summer resident // Minsk, OOO “Orakul”, OOO Lazurak, IPKA “Publicity”, 1994 – 415 p.
4. Ilyin O.V. and a group of authors. Vegetable grower’s guide // M.: Rosselkhokhizdat, 1979 – 224 p.