When cabbage is harvested in autumn 

Probably, many have heard the proverb: “There is no cabbage and the table is empty.” Indeed, this is an amazing vegetable, rich in vitamins and trace elements with a small amount of calories. Nutritionists have long come up with diets for weight loss with the use of cabbage. Pediatricians also advise giving this vegetable to young children.

s cook cabbage soup, borscht, stewed cabbage, pies and many other delicious dishes. It is not necessary to buy this product in the store, you can grow cabbage on your site. This is where the question arises, especially for beginners, when to remove cabbage from the garden. Let’s try to figure it out.

Is there a set cleaning time?

Cabbage-lady has grown in the garden, you need to clean it. Errors in choosing the timing of harvesting can lead to losses. Early harvested forks may be loose, not fully formed. Late cut is also undesirable due to cracking of heads during storage.

Is it possible to know exactly when cabbage is harvested from the garden. It turns out not. Not a single most experienced gardener will name the number of cleaning even in his garden, since many factors have to be taken into account:

• growing region and climatic features;
• compliance with agrotechnical standards of cultivation and care;
• weather of the current summer;
• a variety of planted cabbage by ripening time;
• variety selection.

Region and climate

Mother Our Country stretches from north to south and from east to west for thousands of kilometers. Gardeners live in several belts. Therefore, vegetables are harvested at different times. First of all, because seedlings are planted in the garden at different times. In the south, for example, early cabbage is already cut at the end of June, and in areas with a sharply continental climate, seedlings are just beginning to twist.

The timing of harvesting is very dependent on the climatic features of the summer. If the summer is cool, with heavy rainfall, cabbage grows by leaps and bounds, and therefore ripens earlier. And in dry and hot weather, despite watering, heads are formed later, and the yield will be lower.

Depending on maturity

Cabbage in terms of ripening can be:

• super early;
• early;
• mid-season:
• late-ripening.

What does it mean? Harvesting cabbage of early varieties begins 100 days after sowing seeds. The time of cutting late ripening occurs after about 150 days.

When to cut the heads of cabbage, given the technical ripeness. Of course, the harvesting time will be approximate if you apply the mathematical method: add the dates indicated for a particular variety to the day of sowing the seeds.

Early-ripening varieties

Let’s say you live in Siberia and sow the seeds of June cabbage on May 1, and it ripens in 98 days. It turns out that early cabbage is harvested in the last days of July and early August. But this is approximate, because the weather in summer is always different. In the southern regions of Our Country a month earlier.

It is impossible to be late with the harvesting of early varieties, otherwise the heads of cabbage will begin to crack. Microbes get into the cracks, which leads to decay.

Medium and late maturing

Varieties of medium and late ripening are intended for pickling and keeping fresh in winter. And cleaning takes place almost simultaneously. It is undesirable to harvest heads of cabbage ahead of time:

• the quality of sauerkraut and salted cabbage will be low, since heads of cabbage will not have time to form;
• such a vegetable will not lie for long;
• cellar has not yet reached the desired temperature.

If we take into account the ripening period, then late and medium ripening varieties are harvested at the end of September, beginning of October.

Weather

When cabbage is removed from the garden, the weather must be taken into account. As a rule, they start cutting heads when the average daily temperature is no more than +5 degrees. There may be frosts at night, but they are not a hindrance, on the contrary, sugar accumulates in heads of cabbage, and bitterness disappears. The taste gets better.

Why it is not recommended to harvest heads of cabbage intended for winter storage ahead of time. The fact is that in September and early October, at positive daytime temperatures, the vegetable continues to grow. Therefore, the beds need to be watered, loosen the ground, that is, perform all the same agrotechnical work.

The plant perfectly withstands night frosts up to 6 degrees. But do not wait until the sub-zero temperature persists during the day. If the upper leaves remain frozen during the day and do not thaw, urgently start harvesting cabbage.

It is also necessary to know at least approximately when to harvest a vegetable from the garden in the fall because watering stops in two weeks. In addition, if the heads of cabbage have grown to huge sizes, and the harvest time has not yet come, the forks may crack.

To prevent this from happening, experienced gardeners advise depriving the plant of nutrition. Grasp the fork with both hands, turn it from side to side. And then lift it up. Most of the roots will come off and nutrition will be reduced. The fork will remain intact.

How to properly remove cabbage

Novice gardeners are interested not only in when to cut heads, but also in how:

1. First of all, a sunny day without precipitation is chosen for work.
2. Heads of cabbage can be pulled out if the soil is loose. They dig the stumps out of the solid earth with a shovel, carefully shake off the roots.
3. You need to put the cabbage on the boards so that it dries immediately. It is not recommended to keep heads of cabbage under the sun for a long time: moisture evaporating from the surface will make them soft and reduce their keeping quality.

Harvesting cabbage under the snow:

All leaves must not be removed. Remove only outer leaves, which may be damaged or pests. When cleaning, you need to consider how you will store the forks:

1. If you intend to hang heads of cabbage in the basement or cellar, you need to unscrew it along with the poker from the ground.

   

2. Many gardeners store vegetables on racks. In this case, the stalk must be cut off. The knife must be well sharpened so that the cut is smooth. Only the top leaves are cleaned.
3. Today it has become fashionable to preserve cabbage by wrapping the forks in cling film. The head of cabbage is cleaned until white leaves appear. You need to wrap well-dried forks, the slightest moisture will lead to decay.

The field of how the last head of cabbage will be removed from the garden, the crop is carried away under a canopy, in a garage, a barn. In a word, in any place where precipitation and the sun do not fall. In addition, cabbage should not freeze during storage.

When the temperature in the cellar is optimal for cabbage, the vegetables are transferred there. Some will go to salting, some will remain fresh.

Conclusion

You can determine the time of cutting heads of cabbage by external signs. If the top of the head turns yellow and dry, the cabbage is ripe. She looks just like the photo.

When to remove cabbage from the garden, the gardeners themselves decide, given the factors that we talked about. Today, many people prefer to measure all their actions with the recommendations of the lunar calendar. Astrologers advise harvesting cabbage during the waning moon.