Peking cabbage: growing and care in the open field from seeds, when to sow for seedlings

Recently, Chinese cabbage has become familiar in our menu - a healthy, tasty, tender early vegetable with a rich set of vitamins, minerals, vegetable fibers and fats.

Peking cabbage has a healing effect in diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerosis, nervous disorders, stomach ulcers, gastritis, headaches. Regular consumption of this valuable vegetable increases immunity due to the lysine it contains. The Chinese and Japanese consider Peking cabbage to be a product of longevity.

Many novice gardeners dream of growing healthy and strong Peking cabbage on their land. Experienced vegetable growers share the secrets of when and how to plant Chinese cabbage for seedlings, how to prepare the soil and seeds, how to care for plants planted in open ground in order to reap a rich harvest and replenish your diet with a valuable product with a wonderful taste.

Description

Peking cabbage is a vegetable crop, unpretentious in care. Even a novice gardener can cope with the cultivation of this crop.

Interesting! During the season, under favorable conditions, you can get 2 crops.

Caring for Peking cabbage is easy. It grows actively, is well stored and contains many useful substances, while it has a good taste.

Peking cabbage belongs to the cabbage family, in appearance it resembles something between white cabbage and lettuce. The head of Chinese cabbage is not too elastic, elongated and has many oblong and wrinkled leaves of light green color.

disadvantages

From such bright prospects, novice gardeners can instantly lose their heads, and skeptics will immediately recall the pitfalls of winter planting:

• in the fall, you will need to additionally fuss over the beds, while other gardeners will already close the summer season;
• thrifty summer residents may be upset by spending on the purchase of seeds, which will be required 2 times more;

When planting in winter, the rate of sown seeds should be doubled.

• in late autumn and early winter, your first companions will be an outdoor thermometer and weather forecasters, who will not allow you to relax and may unexpectedly force you to leave for the country house with stored seeds;
• in the spring, you will need to additionally fuss over cabbage seedlings: set up a shelter for them and protect them from return frosts;

Plants will require protection from recurrent frosts in spring.

• unpredictable winter weather with sharp thaws and subsequent severe frosts can nullify all your efforts.

Varieties of Chinese (Peking) cabbage

There are many varieties of Chinese cabbage that are suitable for cultivation in any climatic conditions, while observing certain rules.

Early varieties, for example, do better in a greenhouse. In the southern regions of Russia, vegetables need to be shaded to shorten the daylight hours.

The most popular varieties are described below:

• Vesnyanka. An ultra-early variety that ripens 35 days after sowing seeds in the greenhouse. The heads of cabbage are small, juicy, suitable for salads.
• Martha. An early ripening shade-tolerant variety that ripens in 40-42 days. Forms large and wide tasty leaves. The maximum weight of a head of cabbage is 1.5 kg. Seeds for seedlings are sown after April 15, in open ground - from May 15.
• Orange tangerine. An early ripening variety that can be planted several times per season. In good weather, the vegetable ripens in 40 days. Small heads of cabbage up to 1 kg. Resistant to stressful situations. Suitable for cultivation in the regions of Siberia.

• Victoria. An early variety with excellent taste and pleasant aroma. The fruits are suitable for preparing salads and various dishes, retain their taste during heat treatment. Cylindrical swing with dense loose light green leaves. The growing season lasts 60 days.
• Garnet. Mid-season variety with large heads of cabbage up to 2.5 kg. The heads are elongated, the leaves are dark green, tightly to each other. Pomegranate is resistant to most diseases, especially necrosis. The first crop ripens in 70-75 days.
• Express. A variety for cultivation in open ground and greenhouses, unpretentious in maintenance, resistant to temperature changes. Heads of cabbage with green leaves grow up to 2 kg. Suitable for cultivation in Siberia.
• Wineglass. A medium late variety that matures in 70 days. He is capricious in his care, so it is best to grow a Glass in the south of Russia. Heads of cabbage are dense, gaining weight up to 2 kg.
• Russian size F1. Cabbage heads grow very large. The leaves are juicy with a pleasant taste. The hybrid grows well in the conditions of Central Russia. The harvest is stored for several months.
• Harbin. Popular among gardeners. Large heads of cabbage grow up to 2 kg with juicy leaves. Suitable for preparing salads. Cabbage has a high yield.

General information about the plant

There are 2 types of this cabbage. The first type is elongated heads of cabbage. Their length ranges from 0.3 to 0.6 m. Fruit colors vary from light yellow to bright green. The second species has a leafy structure without a head of cabbage. Hybrids of Cha-Cha, Asten, Monaco, Vorozheya are popular among gardeners. Nika, Glass, Kudesnitsa, which belong to the head cabbage species. Of the leafy plants, the Khibinskaya variety is in great demand among gardeners.

It is interesting! The yield of Peking cabbage reaches 300 kg from one hundred square meters, and the mass of cabbages reaches 1.1-1.2 kg. The fruits tolerate transportation well over any distance. They are consumed fresh.

Growing Chinese cabbage

Peking cabbage can be grown both using seedlings and direct sowing into the ground. It is considered a cold-resistant plant, so the seeds germinate at + 4-5 degrees of heat, at a temperature of + 15… + 22 degrees, intensive development takes place, but like all cabbage, it requires a short daylight hours.

Site selection and soil preparation

For Chinese cabbage, choose a well-lit area. The soil must be prepared in advance:

• In the fall, the site is deeply dug up.
• The soil is lime.
• In the spring, they bring in 1 sq. meter bucket of humus and dug up and 2. tbsp. tablespoons of superphosphate.

Transplanting seedlings is carried out in loose, moisture-, air-permeable and nutritious soil. Loamy is best. It is well moisturized.

The best predecessors of Chinese cabbage are:

• carrot;
• onion;
• garlic;
• cucumber;
• potato;
• siderates.

Advice! Do not plant after tomatoes and beets, mustard or radishes.

Tips from experienced gardeners

When preparing for planting cabbage before the onset of winter, it is better to properly study all the subtleties of this matter.

Experienced gardeners tell about them, who have been harvesting by this method for several years:

1. In order not to dig furrows in frozen soil, carry out work in September immediately after tillage.
2. Prepare loose soil in advance, with which you will sprinkle the seeds.
3. Protect the planting from spring snow with sawdust, spruce branches, shields or spanbond. When it gets warm, remove the protection.
4. When shoots sprout, fertilize the plant with organic and mineral fertilizers.
5. Thin the plantings in the spring.
6. Watering of spring seedlings should be uniform, with a frequency of 4 to 10 days.

So, the method of planting cabbage in the winter has both advantages and disadvantages, and when it is carried out, many nuances must be taken into account. However, it will not be troublesome and will please you with a good harvest, if you carefully study the technology of such planting in advance.
For a long time, gardeners have been engaged in podzimny crops, freeing up precious time in the spring harvest. Many of us still practice such a profitable approach, but among the range of vegetables suitable for this purpose, for some reason we always overlook cabbage. But our grandmothers managed to serve this vitamin vegetable much earlier than usual due to the winter planting.

Maybe it's really worth it right now to break a bed for cabbage in the garden?

It is worth noting that in those days, gardening was somewhat different from modern country life. Firstly, there were no summer residents as such: the villagers were engaged in the garden, who did not need to get to the cherished beds through traffic jams - they left the house and plant at the right time. Secondly, the seeds of the same cabbage were always in abundance, because they were all grown independently. And finally, the weather was strikingly different: neither in winter nor in summer there were such anomalies with sharp thaws and cold snaps.

However, to this day, from one corner of our country, then from another, enthusiastic reviews of summer residents are heard, who boast of their cabbage harvests obtained from winter planting. Some cut off strong white heads a month earlier than the traditional date. Others serve cauliflower culinary delights. And still others crunch appetizingly with juicy Peking at a time when we are just thinning out unsightly seedlings in our beds.

Any type of cabbage can be planted before winter

I wanted to find out the secrets of these craftsmen, because every spring I, like you, grieve that my window sills are not rubber and cannot accommodate all the seedlings. And just like many others, I have to transport all this grown-up green brethren to the dacha. Maybe it really is worth unloading the spring window sills and breaking the cabbage patch in the garden right now?

Landing dates

Planting dates depend on the climate and the growing region. You can get two harvests per season.

Interesting! Later harvests are stored better than the first.

It makes sense to plant it 2 times:

• the first harvest is for salads;
• the second is for storage.

On South:

• mid-March - early April,
• from early August to early September (for the second harvest for storage).

In Central Russia and the Moscow region:

• mid-April - end of April,
• end of July - mid-August.

In the Urals and Siberia:

• end of April - beginning of May,
• for storage - in the second half of July.

Seed preparation

Purchased seeds do not need to be prepared, they are immediately planted in the ground. Seed material collected by yourself must first germinate in order to determine their germination.

The gauze is folded in several layers and moistened. Seeds are laid on it. The container with the seeds is left in a warm place until they germinate. This will take about 3-5 days.

Important! If the seeds do not germinate and seedlings are rare, you need to take other seeds for sowing.

Seedling soil

For sowing, several options for soil mixtures are used:

• Option 1 . Sod land and peat in equal parts. For 10 kg of substrate, add 500 g of wood ash and complex mineral fertilizer.
• Option 2. Humus is mixed with turf soil, river sand and garden soil, taken in equal amounts. For 10 kg of substrate, add 500 g of wood ash.
• Option 3. Take 2 parts of humus and 1 part of coconut substrate.

Sowing seeds

Important! The culture does not tolerate picking and gets sick for a long time after planting on the site, slowly takes root.Therefore, it is better to immediately sow the seeds in peat-humus pots, which are then planted together with the seedlings in a permanent place.

The pots decompose in the soil, so that the root system is not injured, and the seedlings take root faster.

• The pots are filled with the prepared soil mixture.
• In order for the seeds to sprout faster, the seeds are pre-soaked for a day in the growth stimulator Epin, Heteroauxin or Zircon.
• The soil is watered and seeds are buried into it by 1 cm, 2 in each. Next, the pots are left in a room with a room temperature of 20-22 degrees.
• Pots with crops are laid out the bottom of the box and covered with foil.

How to prepare the beds for winter sowing of vegetables

Considering that when sown before winter, the seeds are in harsh conditions, they must have good germination, be large, full-bodied. Therefore, it is better to buy high-quality varietal seeds than to use your own - this is not the case when the savings are justified. You can purchase pelleted seeds: additional protection will reduce the risk of their death.

We suggest you familiarize yourself: Is it possible to boil beets per year

For winter crops, choose vegetable seeds especially carefully.

Choose varieties that, when exposed to low temperatures, do not form flower stalks or form, but a very low percentage of the total.

Seedling care

After seed germination, the pots are placed on a well-lit windowsill in a room where the air temperature is kept within 7-8 degrees.

Seedlings are watered with warm, settled water when the top layer of the soil dries up. After watering, the soil is loosened to prevent moisture stagnation.

After the appearance of 2-3 leaves in a pot, a healthy plant is left. Pinch another seedling.

Watering is stopped 4 days before transplanting. The sprouts will be ready for planting in open ground after 30 days, when 4 leaves are formed on them.

Planting seedlings in open ground

10 days before transplanting, the plants must be hardened, gradually taking them outside.

The transplant is carried out when 5-6 true leaves are formed (3 weeks after germination).

Seedlings are transplanted into open ground along with peat pots. They will soon dissolve in the ground and become an additional plant food.

Peking cabbage seedlings are planted in open ground according to several schemes:

1. For salad use, leave 25 cm between seedlings.
2. To form a head of cabbage, they are planted according to the scheme 35 * 35 cm or 50 * 50 cm or 30 * 50 cm.

Timing

Sowing time depends on air temperature and weather conditions.

Usually, Chinese cabbage is planted in open ground in 2 stages:

• From April 30th to May 15th.
• From June 25th to July 15th.

In the second half of summer, it is better to plant early varieties so that the heads of cabbage have time to ripen before frost. In extreme cases, the crop is harvested ahead of schedule.

Important! If you plant a crop in mid-summer, the plants can stretch out and shoot. Such a crop is not suitable for consumption.

Sowing seeds

• A place is chosen, the soil is dug up in advance and prepared according to the instructions described above.
• Wells are made in it according to the scheme 35 * 35 or 50 * 50 cm.
• 10-15 g of wood ash and 0.5 kg of organic matter (compost or humus) are added to each hole. Everything is mixed well with the soil.
• 2-3 seeds are placed in 1 hole, covered with earth.
• Plantings are watered with warm water and covered with foil.
• Sprouts should appear in a week.
• Leave the most developed sprout, pinch the rest.

For the development of culture, the ideal conditions are considered to be a temperature of 16-22 degrees. If it is higher or lower, flower stalks will begin to form, which will ruin the harvest.

Watch the video! How to sow Peking cabbage

Caring for cabbage in the garden

Seedlings planted in a garden bed, or seedlings planted immediately in the ground, are covered with agrofibre or other non-woven material. This is necessary for:

1. protecting the crop from frost or sudden temperature changes;
2. shading from sunlight;
3. protecting the root system from rotting during a rainy period;
4. protection of seedlings from pests, cruciferous flea beetles.

2 weeks after planting the seedlings on the site, the plantings are mulched with straw and peat.

Further, cabbage must be periodically watered and fertilized, to protect the plant from diseases and pests.

Watering

Peking cabbage should be watered abundantly with warm water under the root once a week.

Important! If water gets on the leaves, sunburn may occur.

Watering is best in the morning or evening after sunset. In the evening, use only warm water that has been settled for 2 days.

How to feed Chinese cabbage

The first time is fertilized 2 weeks after planting the seedlings. To do this, use:

• infusion of bird droppings (500 g per 10 liters of water);
• mullein infusion (1 kg per 10 liters of water);
• herbal or nettle infusion;
• for the first spring feeding, you can 2 tbsp. tablespoons of urea (carbamide) per 10 liters of water;
• for the last feeding for better shaking formation, take 2 tbsp. tablespoons of superphosphate per 10 liters of water.

1 liter of solution is poured under each seedling. Spring plantings are fertilized 3 times. Summer - 2 times per growing season.

You can improve yields by using foliar dressing. To do this, add 2 g of boric acid to 1 liter of boiled hot water, and then add another 9 liters of water. Spraying is carried out in the evening.

Choosing seeds

The first step is choosing a cabbage variety. For podzimny cultivation, almost any pass, so give preference to your favorite white cabbage, colored, super healthy broccoli, Savoy, colored. If you cannot decide, plant several at once, at the same time check how they react to the experiment.

An important point is that early ripening varieties are not used for subwinter plantings. Delicate seeds are not able to withstand cold weather as well as mid-season and late ones. You can try, but you will have to take a much larger amount of planting material in order to increase the chances of getting viable seedlings. It is necessary to sow thickly, then there will be no bald spots in the garden, and excess seedlings can always be removed when thinning.

Buy seeds in advance, because in the fall it is not always possible to find the right varieties, the choice is small, and in small towns the seed is not sold at all after the end of the season.

Diseases

During its growth, Chinese cabbage can be affected by various diseases and pests.

Blackleg

Young sprouts of seedlings are affected. The disease is manifested by blackening and narrowing of the stem, due to which nutrients are not supplied to the leaves, and the culture dies. For prophylaxis, the soil and seeds are disinfected and the seedlings are properly looked after. This disease develops due to low temperature and high humidity, as well as thickening of the plantings.

Keela

Causes a thickening of the root system due to which cells are deformed and do not allow nutrients to pass through. At the same time, the affected culture turns yellow and dries out. This disease develops due to high soil moisture and poor seed quality, as well as acidic soil. To prevent disease, the soil for seedlings must be calcined in the oven or poured with a manganese solution. Acidic soil is deoxidized with wood ash or lime.

Gray mold

The aboveground part of the culture is damaged during the ripening of fruits or during storage. It manifests itself as brown spots on the leaves, on which a grayish coating appears over time. It is necessary to fight the disease with fungicides, for example, Amistar.

When to start

The most common mistake is not meeting deadlines. It is for this reason that the seeds die in winter, and the harvest leaves much to be desired. Gardeners recognize the method as not working and stop using it.

The most common mistake is not meeting deadlines.

Cabbage planted in the fall should start growing only in the spring.If sowed too early, the seeds will begin to hatch and die on the first frost. Wait for persistent frost. The soil should freeze and not thaw anymore. There may be snow on the beds, but not much. Study weather forecasts carefully. This will help you choose the right time.

Pests

Cruciferous fleas

The cruciferous flea often infects Chinese cabbage. Especially dangerous for young plantings.

You can fight this pest in simple ways: regular abundant watering and spraying with mixtures in a 1: 1 ratio. Ash and:

• tobacco dust;
• slaked lime;
• road dust.

You can also treat the planting with Karate or Decis preparations.

Cabbage scoop

Appears in the form of a caterpillar on cabbage. The larvae are yellow at first, and then turn green. Caterpillars live on leaves and gnaw holes in them. Excrement appears on the cabbage, due to which the vegetable begins to rot.

The culture must be treated from May to June with chemicals such as Festal, Karate, Decis.

Pest pupae overwinter in the upper layers of the soil. To destroy them, it is necessary to dig deeply in the area in the fall.

Slugs

Slugs are very fond of cabbage. They are especially dangerous for young plantings.

The simplest preventive measure is mulching. They also use baits in the form of beer, citrus fruits, fermented milk products and special preparations.