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Savoy cabbage remains a rare guest in vegetable gardens and summer cottages, where traditional varieties of white cabbage, which are familiar to everyone, are still grown. And completely in vain: scientists say that Savoy cabbage has a complex of vitamins twice as rich as white cabbage! Therefore, let’s talk in more detail about what Savoy cabbage is, the cultivation and care of which is only taking its first steps in our country.
Visually, the Savoy is similar to any type of cabbage, only its leaves have an unusual corrugated texture, so it does not feel too dense to the touch. The vegetable is recommended to be eaten during dietary nutrition due to its easy digestibility by the body, and it is also recommended to include diabetics, children and the elderly in the diet. Savoy cabbage can be used in all those dishes that you are used to preparing from other types, only it will not be possible to ferment it, and it is stored fresh for a very long time and well.
Sorts
All varieties of Savoy cabbage can be divided into 3 categories according to the ripening period – early, mid-ripening and late.
The ripening period of early varieties is up to 120 days, these include:
- “Golden early”, heads of cabbage are round and can reach a weight of up to 1 kg, gives a good harvest, resistant to cracking;
- “Anniversary 2170”, has a beautiful smoky shade of leaves, and the mass of the head is not too large – up to 0,8 kg, it may crack;
- “Mila 1”, in this variety you can grow decent heads of cabbage up to 3 kg, and it grows well and has a high yield even on heavy soils;
- ‘Julius F1’, hybrid, leaves are dark green in color and can grow from 1,5 to 3 kg.
Medium varieties of Savoy cabbage ripen 120-135 days, experts recommend varieties such as “Sphere” and “Melissa F1”. Their heads grow up to 2,5-3 kg and do not crack.
Among the late varieties that are grown for more than 140 days and are the most frost-resistant, hybrids predominate, it is worth noting Vertya 1340, Verosa F1, Ovasa F1, Morama F1.
All listed varieties are suitable for growing in our weather conditions.
How to prepare seedlings
If you decide to plant Savoy cabbage in your area, then most likely you will not be able to buy ready-made seedlings. Therefore, you will have to take care of this in advance. Seeds for seedlings are planted in early-mid March, if you have an early variety, and if you have purchased seeds of later varieties, then all work is shifted by a month, taking into account maturation.
You can sow cabbage along with white cabbage – the technology for growing seedlings is completely identical. Seeds are planted in seedling boxes. If you maintain a comfortable temperature for germination of 20-25 degrees, then shoots will appear in 3 days. Then we lower the temperature to 8-10 degrees for hardening.
When one real leaf appears, we dive the seedlings into pots, shorten the root by about 1/3. We wait about a month before planting seedlings in open ground. On each plant we should have 4-5 leaves. Late varieties can be sown directly into the ground, only the soil must be well prepared. Sowing is carried out in holes with a distance of 50×40 cm.
Landing in the ground
From the beginning of sowing seeds to planting in the ground takes about 1,5 months. Early varieties can be planted at the end of May, medium – in June and late – in July.
The area where your cabbage will grow is better to choose sunny and protected from the wind. The main thing is not to plant it in the place where turnips, radishes or cabbage were harvested last year, in such a place it will be uncomfortable. Savoy cabbage is “friends” with fertilizers, so we generously bring manure to the selected area – 1 bucket per 1 sq. m.
Seedlings are planted at a distance depending on the grade of seeds. Early varieties do not differ in high tillering and head size, so 40×45 cm in the aisle will be enough for them. But we plant mid-season and late varieties with a large indent from each other – 50×50 cm and 60×60 cm, respectively.
Agrotechnics and harvesting
Planted cabbage requires the same care as any other. During the growth period, she needs nitrogenous fertilizers, and during the heading period, it is worth “feeding” with potassium and phosphorus. The mass of grown heads of cabbage is much less than its white sisters, so these two dressings for the entire growth season will be quite enough. Here is such an unpretentious vegetable Savoy cabbage, the cultivation of which, it turns out, is not such a laborious process.
What else? Periodically rid the bed of weeds, water and loosen the soil – familiar to all gardeners activities for growing vegetables. Try not to damage young seedlings when loosening the soil. Hilling should be carried out no earlier than 3-4 weeks after landing in the ground.
Early varieties require abundant watering in May, and for the rest we additionally moisten the soil from mid-July to mid-August. But do not overdo it, because with too much watering, the roots can die off quite quickly – in just 12 hours, then all your efforts will go down the drain.
As for pests, they also love the beautiful “savoy”, so there is a chance that snails and slugs, aphids and whitefish can visit your beds. Therefore, you need to periodically inspect the leaves for pests and respond immediately.
Standard “cabbage” diseases – keel, black leg, powdery mildew and others can also spoil the crop, so you should not exclude Savoy cabbage from measures to combat these ailments.
Early varieties can please you with a harvest in June. When they ripen, there is a nuance – they can crack. To avoid this, cut off the lower leaves and try not to be late with the cleaning. Later varieties do not suffer from cracking and tolerate frost well. In general, Savoy cabbage is the leader in frost resistance among all varieties, so some gardeners leave it even under the snow without cutting it from the garden, which, they say, is the best way to store winter varieties.
Leave a few outer leaves for storage while cutting to prevent the inner leaves from breaking. Cabbage forks can be laid out only in one row, and stored at a temperature not exceeding 3 degrees. Savoy cabbage does not tolerate long-term storage and is best consumed freshly picked. Therefore, it is better to plant on the site several varieties of different degrees of ripening.
Video “Savoy cabbage”
Cauliflower, broccoli, Savvoy, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, ornamental varieties.
