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China is the birthplace of Chinese cabbage. There, “petsai” (as the Chinese call it) has been cultivated since ancient times. The s recognized cabbage not so long ago. So far, not all gardeners grow a healthy vegetable on their plots. But in vain, because heads of cabbage and leaves contain a huge amount of vitamins and minerals. In addition, the cabbage crop can be obtained not once, but twice per season, even in a sharply continental climate.
Beijing cabbage is designed for long-term storage, while the beneficial properties are practically not lost. To get a rich harvest, you need to know exactly when and how to plant Beijing cabbage in open ground and follow agrotechnical standards.
Popular varieties
Breeders have created many varieties and hybrids of Beijing. There are head, semi-head and leaf varieties.
The most popular among Chinese cabbages are:
- Asten;
- Wineglass;
- Fortune teller;
- Kudesnica;
- Few;
- Nika;
- Cha Cha.
The heads are juicy, the leaves are tender. Thick white streaks are considered the most nutritious. But, most importantly, what vegetable growers value this variety for is resistance to cabbage flowering. It is she, in fact, the scourge of a vegetable, some gardeners are afraid to engage in culture.
Among leafy varieties, the seeds of “Khibinskaya” are more often requested. This salad cabbage gives a good harvest both in the garden and in the greenhouse.
Which variety of cabbage to choose is up to you, it all depends on taste preferences and climatic conditions of the area.
How to set deadlines
The exact date when to start sowing Beijing cabbage in open ground will not be given even by a vegetable grower with extensive experience in growing this cultivated plant.
There are many reasons for this:
- First of all, this concerns the climatic features of the region. Mother Our Country stretches for a huge distance, spring begins at different times in the south, north, west and east. So, in order to know when to plant Chinese cabbage in open ground, you need to focus on the climate of your region.
- Why is it still impossible to give a single “recipe” for the time of sowing this valuable vegetable. The fact is that there is a huge variety of varieties that differ in terms of ripening: early-ripening, mid-ripening, late-ripening. This means that a different number of days will pass from the moment of sowing the seeds to technical ripeness.
- The third reason is the choice of landing method. If you need to get early greens for the table, you will have to grow seedlings. If a healthy vegetable is intended for autumn-winter consumption, then the seeds are sown immediately in open ground.
We hope that you have figured out the nuances of choosing the time for yourself and understand when you start doing Beijing and when to sow in open ground.
Seedbed method
When growing Beijing cabbage in seedlings, it should be borne in mind that seedlings must grow for at least 30 days before planting in open ground. If you live in the southern regions of Our Country, then the snow melts in April, the earth begins to warm up, and by the end of April you can prepare the beds. This means that seeds can be sown for seedlings at the end of March.
In regions with a more severe climate, spring comes later, and it is not uncommon for frosts to return even in early June. When to sow Beijing cabbage in the ground? Let’s count. We subtract 30 days from the beginning of June, it turns out the end of April – the beginning of May.
If there is a reliable greenhouse, then containers with cabbage seedlings can be put there, then sowing for seedlings can be carried out in April.
It is better to grow seedlings without picking, because the roots are damaged during transplantation, cabbage slows down growth, therefore, crop loss cannot be avoided.
Beijing cabbage is a short day vegetable. When growing seedlings, this fact must be taken into account. In addition, the room where the seedlings are standing should be cool. Otherwise, Beijing cabbage is stretched, it will be difficult to plant it. If the daylight hours when growing seedlings were more than 12 hours, then some of the plants after planting may go into bloom.
Planting seedlings in the ground
When and how to plant seedlings in open ground? As soon as the earth warms up, begins to crumble in your hand, you can begin work. Cabbage by the time of planting in the ground should have at least 4-5 true leaves and a well-developed root system.
We choose a place so that it is well lit in the first half of the day, and shaded in the second landing. Compost and ash are added to the soil before digging. After digging, holes are prepared. The distance between plants should be at least 40 cm, between rows – half a meter. Such a landing will provide ease of care.
How to plant seedlings in open ground? If peat pots or tablets were used for cultivation, plants are planted directly in them. If in cups, then they are cut so as not to damage the root system, and put in the hole. After planting, the plants are watered.
When to sow seeds in the ground
Now let’s figure out when to sow cabbage seeds directly into the ground? This is a serious moment in the cultivation of Chinese cabbage. Most often, sowing seeds in the ground is used to obtain a vegetable for storage to be eaten in autumn and winter.
To decide when to sow seeds, you should take into account climatic features. If frosts begin in early September, then the sowing time is mid-July. Late varieties cannot be grown. In mild climates, late-ripening Beijing cabbage is also suitable.
Seed sowing
By the time the time for sowing seeds comes up, some of the beds are free. Plantings should not be placed in the place where cabbage relatives grew. This will help to avoid many diseases. Pekinka succeeds well after onions, lupine, phacelia, carrots.
The ridge is dug up, fertilized, markup is made. Gardeners approach the question of how to sow cabbage in different ways:
- sow the seeds in the holes;
- into the furrow
If cabbage is planted with seeds, then first they rake a small comb on which holes are made. 2-3 seeds are placed in each, covered with earth and clapped with a palm to ensure that the grain is connected to the substrate. So, the seed sprouts better.
To prevent pests from attacking the tender sprouts that have appeared: cruciferous flea, cabbage butterfly, slugs and snails, plastic bottles with an open lid are placed on top. After two weeks, the plants are thinned out, leaving the strongest sprout in the hole.
When sowing seeds in a furrow, the seeds are sown thickly, after about 10 cm. In this case, you will have to thin out more often. For the first time when the second leaf appears. Then as the plants grow. Seedlings can be used for salads. As a result, the distance between heads of cabbage should remain at least 40 cm.
How to grow Beijing cabbage in Siberia, video:
Outdoor care
Regardless of how Chinese cabbage was grown, after planting in open ground, they take care of it in the same way. The plant is unpretentious. The main thing is to water, loosen, weed in time.
Experienced gardeners save themselves from routine work. They mulch the soil under the cabbage, the number of irrigations is reduced, weeds are practically absent. Mulch saturates the plant with nutrients during overheating.
Causes of color
How to plant cabbage in open ground to get a rich harvest of leaf or head varieties without much loss? When to sow seedlings and seeds so that the cabbage does not bloom? After all, it is not planted to obtain seeds! From such a flowering plant, as in the photo, you can no longer get a head of cabbage.
Let’s try to talk about the most common mistakes:
- Most often, the cause of flowering lies in the wrong timing of planting seeds for seedlings and planting them in open ground. This means that the plant did not have time to develop while the daylight hours were of the appropriate length. If you are not confident in your abilities, try to pick up hybrids, they are resistant to shooting.
- Choose early-ripening varieties, they simply do not have time to form an arrow.
- Thickened Beijing cabbage does not receive the necessary space, nutrition. Most likely, some of the crops will bloom. This means that thinning is a necessary part of plant care.
- When cabbage is planted in cold soil, the plant freezes for a while, lags behind in growth. It does not have time to ripen in the time allotted to it and, as a rule, throws out an arrow.
- Beijing cabbage shoots in extreme heat. Temperatures above 22 degrees are detrimental to proper growth. This problem is not difficult to solve: create an artificial shadow by throwing a dense fabric over the landings.
- Flowering may appear if the cabbage is ripe, but it was not cut on time.
Conclusion
We hope that our advice on when to plant Beijing cabbage in the ground will be useful to our readers.
Growing Beijing cabbage in the open field is a fascinating activity. A vegetable planted in a timely manner will delight you with a rich harvest. In addition, it provides s with a delicious vegetable in summer and winter. Heads of cabbage are stored for no more than three months.