Why Beijing cabbage blooms with yellow flowers and what to do

Beijing cabbage has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years and is “winning” home gardens of gardeners. However, few are familiar with all the important nuances of its cultivation and the optimal conditions for growing. One of the frequent consequences of mistakes in agricultural technology and when choosing a place for a garden bed is Beijing cabbage in color. It is no longer possible to “save” the crop of the current season, so you need to know in advance how to prevent this unpleasant phenomenon.

Why Chinese cabbage is not tied into a head

When the plant goes into color, the nutrients are sent to the buds, and then to the ripening of the seeds. Therefore, heads of cabbage are not tied, they simply do not have enough strength.

“Flowerbed” instead of a bed with Beijing cabbage is not normal

Most often, Beijing cabbage blooms with yellow flowers for the following reasons:

1. Not a good place for a garden bed. This is a plant of short daylight hours, it prefers light penumbra, reacts negatively to direct sunlight.
2. Heatwave. Beijing cabbage, like other Cruciferous, reacts to it by shooting. Most quickly, it goes into color if high temperatures are combined with drought.
3. Excessively early landing. If the substrate has not yet warmed up enough or there are frequent changes in day and night temperatures, the cauliflower feels “uncomfortable”, reproduction becomes its “priority goal”, for which it goes into color and forms seeds.
4. Mistake in variety selection. Many varieties are simply not zoned for the climate in general or individual regions. Under less-than-optimal conditions, plants will quickly bloom.
5. Too late harvest. Beijing cabbage ripens quickly, if harvesting is late, it goes into the next phase of development. She doesn’t have a rest period.
6. Root damage. The plant perceives them as a “threat to life”, instead of forming a head, it goes into color so that the seeds have time to ripen.
7. Nutrient deficiency, excessively rare watering. The plant also considers such situations “extreme”, reproduction becomes its “priority”. It is especially sensitive to the lack of potassium and phosphorus.

Heads of cabbage are cut immediately, as soon as they ripen, so as not to lose the harvest.

Why did the seedlings bloom

The gardener may lose the Beijing cabbage crop already at the stage of growing seedlings. Here it goes into color for almost the same reasons as adult plants:

1. Deficiency of macro- and microelements in the soil or their excess. Beijing cabbage perceives a lack of nutrients as a “threat to life”, excesses cannot “understand” where else to direct. In both cases, she goes into color.
2. Excessive and/or frequent watering. The roots of the seedlings begin to rot, the seedlings go into color.
3. Too long daylight hours. Plants go through all phases of development in an “accelerated mode”, so it goes into color very early.

How to understand that cabbage will bloom soon

The fact that Beijing cabbage is about to go into color is evidenced by the appearance of the plants:

• leaves wither, lose their tone, turn pale;
• new leaf plates cease to form, the plant “freezes” in development;
• the head of cabbage does not “grow” in width, the existing leaves noticeably stretch upwards.

If it is obvious that the plant is going to bloom, you can safely dig it up – the process is irreversible

What to do if Beijing cabbage has gone in color

If Beijing cabbage has gone into color or even just getting ready for it, the process is irreversible, it is no longer possible to “save” this head of cabbage. The only thing a gardener can do is to get rid of the flowering plant and replace it with a new one. Beijing cabbage ripens quite quickly: if you choose the right variety or hybrid, there is a chance that it will have time to form heads before the end of summer.

preventive measures

Beijing cabbage, which goes into color, is already “lost” for the gardener. However, your own mistakes will not be useless if you take them into account, identify the reasons that made the plants form buds and prevent the recurrence of such situations in the future.

Variety choice

The suitability of a variety or hybrid of Beijing cabbage for cultivation in a particular region is one of the main criteria that influences the choice of a gardener. If this variety is zoned, the risk that the plants will go into color is greatly reduced.

In the conditions of the climate, varieties and hybrids of Chinese cabbage, bred in the Netherlands, feel “comfortable”. They do not fade in color with temperature changes, in general they are distinguished by “resistance” to negative external influences.

The following varieties are popular with gardeners:

• Monaco;
• Starko;
• Herb;
• Optical;
• Taranco;
• Miraco.

Not prone to flowering and some domestic varieties and hybrids:

• Khibiny-5;
• spring jade;
• Autumn beauty;
• Squirrel;
• Aikido;
• Wineglass;
• Garnet;
• Fortune teller;
• Lyubasha.

Only Beijing cabbage from “original” high-quality seeds has the declared properties. Therefore, they need to be purchased only where the seller can provide certificates and other documents for their own goods.

The choice of varieties and hybrids of domestic and foreign selection, not prone to coloring, is quite large

Site Selection

Significantly minimizes the risk that Beijing cabbage will go into color, choosing a place for planting it, taking into account the “requirements” of the culture:

1. A substrate that combines fairly high fertility with friability. In too “heavy” soil, the root system cannot develop normally, the plant blooms.
2. Neutral or slightly acidic soil pH. Any cabbage does not categorically tolerate strongly acidified soil.
3. The absence of prerequisites for stagnation of water at the roots. To prevent Peking cabbage from blooming, it cannot be planted in the lowlands and at the foot of the hill, from where rainwater does not leave for a long time, where damp cold air accumulates. Also, areas where groundwater comes closer to the surface than a meter will not suit her.

Beijing cabbage loves partial shade, but not dampness and cold

Lighting

So that Beijing cabbage does not go into color, it must be planted in an area where it will be in the light for a maximum of 10-12 hours. It is placed near a natural or artificial “barrier”, which will provide it with the required partial shade and coolness. But it is impossible to “press” the bed against it closely: for normal air circulation, an interval of about 50 cm is required.

Also, the shadow can be created “artificially”. After the specified time has elapsed, arcs are installed over the bed with Chinese cabbage, tightened with any breathable black covering material. A plastic film will not work – in the heat, the plants under it will simply “burn out”.

Flowering is almost inevitable in intense heat in direct sunlight.

Temperature conditions

The optimum temperature for the growth and development of Beijing cabbage, at which it does not bloom, is about 20 ° C. The critical minimum for culture is 12-13 °C. If the temperature rises above 27-30 ° C, the plants fall into a kind of “hibernation”, stop forming heads and begin to produce buds.

Planting time

Considering that Beijing cabbage forms heads quickly, the right time for planting will help to provide it with daylight hours of the required duration and not go into color. Seedlings are transferred to the garden either early enough, as soon as the substrate warms up, or already in the last days of July or in the first decade of August, towards the end of the growing season.

In the conditions of central Our Country, the soil temperature reaches the required 10 ° C around mid-April. If the spring is issued very late and cold, you can “stretch” with the landing until the end of the first decade of May.

Two crops can be harvested not only in temperate regions, but also in more severe conditions

Watering

Like any other cabbage, Peking cabbage is moisture-loving. In the absence of rain, it is watered every 3-4 days, spending about 5 liters of water per plant.

For Beijing cabbage, regular watering is extremely important. It also responds to rare but abundant irrigation of the soil in the intervals between long droughts with flowering.

The moisture-loving culture does not mean that it will put up with the transformation of the beds into a “swamp”. Under such conditions, the roots quickly begin to rot, Beijing cabbage blooms.

Unlike many horticultural crops, sprinkling as a method of watering Beijing cabbage is very suitable.

Additional fertilizing

Due to the “accelerated pace” of ripening, Beijing cabbage needs sufficiently large doses of nutrients, and when they are deficient, it goes into color. The culture responds positively both to natural organic matter and folk remedies, as well as to purchased complex fertilizers.

But the latter option is still preferable. In order for Beijing cabbage not to bloom, but to form heads, it needs quite rare microelements. Organics do not contain them in the required concentration.

The necessary “reserve” is partially provided already in the process of preparing beds for Beijing cabbage. The dug up substrate is enriched with humus, a complex fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is applied.

It is also necessary to find out in advance the acid-base balance of the soil. If it is excessively acidified, additional “deoxidizers” are needed. Dolomite flour, sifted wood ash, crushed chalk not only restore the required pH, but also saturate the soil with potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium.

Specialized fertilizers for cabbage contain all the substances it needs in the right proportion

Is it possible to eat Chinese cabbage if it has gone into color

Flowering or preparing for this Beijing cabbage is unsuitable for food. The palatability of the leaves deteriorates sharply, an almost unbearable bitterness appears due to the “milky” juice accumulating in the veins.

Heat treatment, salting, pickling, other cooking methods will not help to get rid of a specific taste. Also, soaking in salt water will not give the desired effect. Bitterness persists, and healthy substances are also lost.

It is impossible to “restore” the taste and health benefits of specimens that have begun or are preparing to bloom.

Conclusion

Beijing cabbage comes in color for various reasons or a combination of them. To avoid this, special attention must be paid to the choice of a suitable variety and place for the garden. It is equally important to know the nuances of agricultural technology and the use of other preventive measures: after all, the process of “leaving in color” for Beijing cabbage is irreversible.