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The native land of Chinese cabbage is China. There "petsai" (as the Chinese call it) has been cultivated since ancient times. The Russians 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, cabbage can be harvested not once, but twice a season, even in a sharply continental climate.
Chinese cabbage intended 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 Peking cabbage in open ground and observe agrotechnical standards.
Popular varieties
Breeders have created many varieties and hybrids of Peking. There are cabbage, semi-cabbage and leafy varieties.
The most popular types of cabbage are:
- Asten;
- Wineglass;
- Vorozheya;
- Sorceress;
- Manoko;
- Nika;
- Cha cha.
The heads of cabbage are juicy, the leaves are tender. Thick white veins are considered the most nutritious. But, the main thing for which vegetable growers appreciate these varieties is the resistance to the flowering of cabbage. It is she, in fact, the scourge of the vegetable, some gardeners are afraid to engage in culture.
Among the leaf varieties, seeds of "Khibinskaya" are more often requested. This lettuce 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 decide on a deadline
Even a vegetable grower with extensive experience in growing this cultivated plant will not give the exact date when to start sowing Peking cabbage in open ground.
There are many reasons for this:
- First of all, this concerns the climatic features of the region. Mother Russia stretches over a huge distance, spring begins at different times in the south, north, west and east. This means that in order to know when to plant Peking 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 sowing time of 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 deal with growing seedlings. If a healthy vegetable is intended for autumn-winter consumption, then the seeds are sown directly into the open ground.
We hope that you figured out the nuances of timing for yourself and understood when to start doing Peking and when to sow in open ground.
Seedling method
When growing Chinese cabbage seedlings, it should be borne in mind that seedlings must grow at least 30 days before planting in open ground. If you live in the southern regions of Russia, 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 the seeds can be sown for seedlings at the end of March.
In regions with a more severe climate, spring comes later; there is often a chance of frost return even at the beginning of June.When to sow Peking 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.
Peking 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, Chinese cabbage is stretched, it will be difficult to plant it. If the daylight hours when growing seedlings were more than 12 hours, then part of the plants after planting may go into color.
We plant 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 start work. By the time of planting in the ground, cabbage 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, the holes are prepared. The distance between plants should be at least 40 cm, between rows - half a meter. This fit will provide ease of maintenance.
How to plant seedlings in open ground? If peat pots or tablets were used for cultivation, the plants are planted directly in them. If in cups, then they are cut so as not to damage the root system, and put in a hole. After planting, the plants are watered.
When to sow seeds in the ground
Now let's figure it out when to sow cabbage seeds directly into the ground? This is a serious moment in the cultivation of Peking cabbage. Most often, sowing seeds in the ground is used to obtain a vegetable for storage, to be eaten in autumn and winter.
When deciding when to sow your seeds, you need to consider the climatic conditions. If frosts begin in early September, then sowing time is mid-July. Late varieties cannot be grown. In a mild climate, late-ripening Peking cabbage is also suitable.
Sowing seeds
By the time it is time to sow the seeds, some of the beds are vacated. You should not place plantings in the place where the relatives of the cabbage grew. This will help avoid many diseases. Peking works well after onions, lupines, phacelia, carrots.
The ridge is dug up, fertilized, and marked. Gardeners approach the question of how to sow cabbage in different ways:
- sowing seeds into holes;
- into the furrow.
If the cabbage is planted with seeds, then first a small comb is raked, on which holes are made. 2-3 seeds are placed in each, covered with earth and clapped with a palm to ensure the connection of the seed with the substrate. So, the seed grows better.
So that pests do not attack the tender sprouts that appear: a cruciferous flea, a cabbage butterfly, slugs and snails, plastic bottles with an open lid are placed on top. Two weeks later, 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 the heads of cabbage should remain at least 40 cm.
How to grow Chinese cabbage in Siberia, video:
Outdoor care
Regardless of the way in which Peking cabbage was grown, after planting in open ground, it is looked after in the same way. The plant is unpretentious. The main thing is to water, loosen, weed on time weeds.
Experienced gardeners save themselves from routine work. They mulch the soil under the cabbage, the amount of watering is reduced, and weeds are practically absent. Mulch, when overheated, saturates the plant with nutrients.
Causes of bloom
How to plant cabbage in the open field to get a rich harvest of leafy or cabbage varieties without too much loss? When to sow seedlings and seeds so that the cabbage does not bloom? After all, they do not plant it to get seeds! You can't get a head of cabbage from such a flowering plant as in the photo.
Let's try to talk about the most common mistakes:
- Most often, the cause of flowering lies in the incorrectly chosen 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 maturing varieties, they simply do not have time to form an arrow.
- The thickened Chinese 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 mature in the allotted time and, as a rule, throws out the arrow.
- Peking 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 dense fabric over the plantings.
- Blossom can appear if the cabbage is ripe, but it was not cut off in time.
Conclusion
We hope that our advice on when to plant Chinese cabbage in the ground will be useful to our readers.
Growing Peking cabbage outdoors is an exciting experience. A vegetable planted in a timely manner will delight you with a rich harvest. In addition, it provides Russians with delicious vegetables in summer and winter. Heads of cabbage are stored for no more than three months.
