Seedlings of cabbage on the windowsill. How to grow cabbage seedlings

A vegetable with character, popularly called the "garden lady", tasty, healthy, and fruitful - cabbage. She is one of the first in a healthy diet, in folk medicine, in cosmetology. Growing good cabbage for a gardener is a matter of honor. The best cabbage in our climate is grown from seedlings.

When choosing cabbage seeds, the luxurious forks of which will show off in your garden, first decide what you want to get. Cabbage cabbage strife. The sowing time of this vegetable for seedlings depends on the variety and ripening time. Early first kale for salads is one thing. Long-term storage winter varieties are quite different.

Important! The article is about white cabbage, but all the information applies to growing red cabbage.

Maturity type	Species characteristic
Early maturing	This type of cabbage mainly includes low-yielding varieties that ripen the very first, starting in June. They have small heads of cabbage (no more than one and a half kilograms in weight). The density is loose. Such cabbage cannot be stored for a long time and is not suitable for sourdough.
Mid-season	Suitable for fresh consumption, but can also be used for fermentation. The maturation period is also average - it can lie in suitable conditions until the middle of winter. Heads of cabbage in mid-season cabbage are larger, 2-3 kilograms each, and more dense
Late ripening	This type is best suited for salting and all types of canning, as well as for storage. Heads of late-ripening cabbage are stored until spring. By weight, they can reach 6-7 kilograms (among record-breaking gardeners, and with proper care). Heads of cabbage are very dense, leaves are tough, poorly suitable for salads and raw consumption

If the area of the garden allows, you can grow all three types of cabbage, or at least early and late.

Purchase and preparation of seeds

Having decided on the variety, go for the seeds. You should not purchase many beautiful sachets (each should indicate the area for which the contents are intended). If you decide to grow early and late varieties, you can buy 2-3 sachets for a sample. In the next season, after harvesting and comparing the characteristics, it will be easier to decide on your preferences.

Seeds must be prepared for sowing if they have not been processed by the manufacturer. Please read all information on the packaging carefully. Processed seeds, coated with glaze, pelleted, should not be soaked before sowing. The rest before starting sowing, warm up in water with a temperature of about 50 ° C for 1/3 hour. Then soak in clean, cold water for five minutes. You can use a weak solution of potassium permanganate instead of water for cold soaking.

Pre-soaking will "awaken" the energy of the seed. And disinfection will prevent future problems with seedlings such as black leg, root rot and powdery mildew.

Sowing dates for cabbage seedlings

Early sowing of seeds is fraught with the fact that the seedlings will stretch out, outgrow, and when planted in open ground will have a small supply of vitality - all of them are spent on survival in difficult room conditions. Such seedlings adapt to open soil longer, get sick more, and have a low yield.

Late sowing has the same negative consequences - the seedlings are not strong enough and are more susceptible to diseases during the period of adaptation to the garden soil and open air conditions.

Early varieties cabbage is sown for seedlings in March. After International Women's Day, you can start (referring to the gardener's lunar calendar). It is desirable to complete the sowing of early varieties by the last decade of March.

Late ripening cabbage sown in April - from the beginning of the month to the 20th and 25th.

If you wish, you can calculate the exact sowing time yourself. It takes 10-12 days from the immersion of the seeds in the soil to the emergence of seedlings. After the seedlings have appeared, they will need 50-60 days of full development before planting the seedlings in the ground. This means that, depending on the variety and conditions of the seedlings, sowing should be started 60-70 days before the date of transplanting. Regardless of the variety (early or late), cabbage seedlings are not recommended to be moved to the garden soil until stable warm temperatures occur and there is no threat of recurrent frosts.

Soil preparation and sowing

To grow healthy cabbage seedlings, you need to prepare soil that meets certain requirements. Ideally, the seedling potting mix is prepared in the fall. Or at least they collect the necessary components for it and send it to storage in a barn, cellar, on a balcony. If you have not had time to prepare before the onset of frost, you will have to do the mixing of fertile soil before planting.

The key to good seedlings is the right soil

The secret of fertile soil

For cabbage, you need a non-acidic, loose substrate. It is optimal to mix humus with turf soil (or peat) in a 1: 1 ratio. For each kilogram of the mixture obtained, add 1 tbsp. sifted ash.

Important! Wood ash is not only an excellent antiseptic, but also a concentrated source of important elements that seeds need for germination.

You do not need to add anything else to the soil for sowing seeds - you will increase fertility when transplanting sprouts into other containers during a pick.

Correct seeding

In order for cabbage seedlings to grow strong, healthy, stocky, they must be dived. This is the only way to achieve an increase in root volume sufficient for the normal nutrition of the seedling. Therefore, for sowing, large in area, but shallow containers are used. A tray or container works best. Do not forget to make drain holes in the bottom.

Before sowing, the soil in the tray is abundantly moistened - more, before the seeds germinate, it will not be watered, because otherwise there is a high probability of damage to the seedlings with a black leg. In order for cabbage seeds to germinate, they need a lot of moisture. Therefore, the soil under the seeds must be wet.
You can sow in rows, close to each other, when the seedlings hatch, they must be thinned out. As a result, the weekly seedlings are thinned to a distance of 2 cm² of feeding area for each sprout.
After three weeks, the seedlings are subject to picking. You can dive into peat or plastic pots, cardboard cups. Any container with a diameter of at least 6-8 cm is suitable.

Caring for cabbage seedlings

Cabbage seedlings need proper care. This plant is not the most capricious, but errors in care can lead to growth retardation, disease and death of seedlings.

Supplementary lighting

One of the obligatory measures is its supplementary lighting. Saplings, immediately after germination, need a light period of at least 14-15 hours a day. Considering that sowing is carried out in February - March, when there is still insufficient sunlight, it is possible to organize an 8-hour supplementary illumination plus the daylight period. You can use an ordinary fluorescent lamp for illumination.

Watering

The vegetable belongs to the great lovers of moisture. The only danger is the defeat of immature seedlings with a black leg. Therefore, all containers for growing cabbage seedlings at any stage must have large drainage holes.

After watering, you need to loosen the soil in the pot to prevent it from getting stuck.

Temperature

The optimal temperature for cabbage is:

+ 18 ... + 20 ° С - after sowing before germination;
+ 15 ... + 18 ° С - after seed germination before planting in the garden;
+ 8 ... + 10 ° С at night during the hardening period (up to two weeks before planting in the ground).

Temperature is an important factor in growing cabbage seedlings.

Top dressing of seedlings

Feeding cabbage seedlings is a must. She needs a balanced diet for active and good growth.

For the first time, you need to fertilize the soil two weeks after germination. Ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potash fertilizers are used. A solution is prepared from the mixture - 2/4/2 g and a liter of water, with which the seedlings are watered at the root after the main watering procedure.
The next time feeding is carried out in two weeks. In this case, with the same amount and proportion of fertilizers, it is necessary to take ½ liter of water (that is, the concentration of the solution doubles). If the leaves of the seedlings are not intense green, but are pale or yellowish in color, the soil lacks nitrogen - additionally feed the seedlings with a 10% solution of slurry.
The third time feeding is done two weeks before planting in the ground. Here, saltpeter, superphosphate and potash fertilizers are taken in the amount of 3/5/8 g per liter of water.

Hardening and planting in the ground

Start hardening seedlings 14 days before the expected disembarkation. First, you just need to open the window at night (no drafts). After three days, you can start leaving the seedlings on the balcony for a couple of hours every night. In the last week, in the absence of frost, the seedlings can generally be moved to a balcony or loggia.

Seedlings ready for planting should have at least 5-6 leaves and a strong, well-developed stem. Before planting, the plants are watered. Moving seedlings from the pot should be carried out carefully, while maintaining an earthen ball.

Growing cabbage is an interesting and rewarding business. This vegetable, subject to proper and careful care, will thank the gardener with a bountiful harvest. In order to provide the whole family with healthy crispy cabbage, two beds are enough - with an early and late variety.

Video - All about growing cabbage

Cabbage is one of the most important garden crops, which is grown in seedlings in many regions. The crop yield, which, without exaggeration, will feed you all year, depends on how correctly the timing of planting cabbage for seedlings was chosen and what was the care of the seedlings before planting them on the garden bed. We will tell you when to sow cabbage for seedlings, how to grow cabbage seedlings at home and when to plant them in the garden.

When to plant cabbage for seedlings in 2019

If you do not know when to plant cabbage for seedlings, it is best to refer to the lunar planting calendar.

Consider the sowing days.

January: 1, 5-7, 19-21, 24, 25, 28, 29;
February: 8-10, 20-22, 25, 26;
March: 10, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24, 25;
April: 20, 21, 27, 28, 29;
May: 18, 19, 24-28;
June: 3-5, 10, 11, 15, 23, 24;
July: 8, 9, 20-22, 25, 26, 30, 31.

Growing cabbage seedlings at home

Soil for cabbage seedlings

For seedlings of all varieties of cabbage, a loose and light substrate is needed, so peat should be its main component. Here are sample recipes for cabbage seedlings:

75% peat, 20% turf and 5% sand;
equal parts of peat, humus or compost and sod land should be mixed with a small amount of sand;
Mix equal parts of sod land and humus with wood ash and add one tablespoon of complex mineral fertilizer per 1 kg of soil mixture.

Store soil can also be used to grow cabbage seedlings.

Whichever substrate you prefer, it must be disinfected before sowing - warmed up for 5 minutes in the microwave on full power, or calcined for 15 minutes in the oven at 200 ºC. After that, the soil should be cooled, placed in a container treated with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate and allowed to stand in a warm place for a couple of weeks while bacteria useful for seedlings multiply in the substrate.

In the photo: Cabbage seedlings

Preparing cabbage seeds for sowing

Seeds of cabbage for seedlings of all varieties are prepared for sowing in the same way. First, the sowing material is sorted, selecting seeds not smaller than 1.5 mm, then they are wrapped in a triple layer of gauze and placed in a thermos with water at a temperature of 45-50 ºC for 15 minutes, and then immediately immersed in cold water for 2 minutes. After water procedures, the seeds are kept in wet gauze for a day at room temperature, placing them on a saucer, then stratified for a day in a refrigerator at a temperature of 1-2 ºC and, finally, dried to a loose state and sown.

If you purchased seed from a store, carefully study the instructions on the package - it is likely that the seeds are already ready for sowing and do not need dressing and stratification. Seeds painted in different colors are sown dry without any preparation.

Cabbage seedlings can be grown with or without a pick. When growing with a pick, sowing can be done in one common container - a box or container, and later grown seedlings are seated in separate pots. But if you want to avoid a pick that injures the roots of seedlings, you need to sow the seeds immediately in separate containers - cups, pots, in cassettes with large cells or in peat tablets.

Planting cabbage seeds for seedlings with a pick

A layer of soil mixture 3-4 cm thick is placed in boxes 4-5 cm deep and poured with a solution of two Gamair tablets and two Alirin-B tablets in 10 liters of water. It is better to do this a couple of days before sowing. On the day of sowing, grooves with a depth of 1 cm are made in the soil at a distance of 3 cm from each other, into which the seeds are laid out at a distance of 1-1.5 cm, after which the grooves are sprinkled with soil. Then the surface is slightly compacted, the crops are placed on a windowsill and kept at a temperature of 18-20 ºC. Seedlings usually appear in 4-5 days.

How to grow cabbage seedlings in tablets

If you do not want to injure the roots of cabbage seedlings with a dive, grow them in peat tablets. The tablets consist of pressed peat with the addition of trace elements and nutrients necessary for plants, so you can not feed the seedlings until they are planted in the garden. The tablets are in a net soaked in a fungicide that will protect your seedlings from fungal diseases.

In the photo: Cabbage seedlings planted in the ground

Planting cabbage for seedlings is carried out in tablets with a diameter of at least 4 cm, which are pre-made into a deep container and poured with warm water until they are completely swollen. When the tablets grow 7-8 times, the excess water must be drained, the seeds, 2 pieces at a time, are laid out in the grooves on the surface of the tablets and covered with peat. After that, the container with tablets is placed in a bright place and kept at a temperature of 18-20 ºC until emergence. When the seeds germinate and the seedlings get stronger, cut a weak seedling in each tablet under the root, but in no case pull it out, so as not to damage the roots of a more developed seedling.

Sowing cabbage seeds for seedlings in cassettes

You can avoid picking by sowing seeds in cassettes for cabbage seedlings.

Choose a cassette with a depth of at least 7-8 cm with cells of the following sizes:

for early varieties of cabbage - from 6x6 to 7x8 cm;
for mid-season varieties - 5x6 cm;
for the late ones - 5x5 cm.

You can fill the cells with one of our suggested substrates and sow two seeds in each, or you can sow cabbage seeds into tablets, and then arrange the tablets into the cells. By the way, if roots begin to sprout through the grid of tablets, you need to transplant the seedlings into the pot along with the tablet. If the tablet is in the cassette compartment, simply add substrate to the compartment to fill the space.

Seedlings of cabbage in the greenhouse

Good seedlings of cabbage are obtained when grown in a greenhouse, since the sun's rays penetrate well through its transparent coating without harming the seedlings. And the moisture from the soil in the greenhouse does not evaporate as quickly as in an apartment, where heating devices work at full capacity at this time of the year. Growing cabbage seedlings in a greenhouse also has the advantage of that there is an optimal microclimate for seedlings.

In the photo: Planted cabbage seedlings

Seeds for sowing in the greenhouse must be dry. Early varieties are sown from late March to mid-April, mid-season and late varieties - from early to late April.

Make several rows on the garden bed at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other and water them abundantly, then sprinkle seeds into the grooves so that there are no more than 3 seeds per 1 cm². Cover the seeds to a depth of at least 1 cm and no more than 2 cm.

When the emerging seedlings acquire the first true leaves, it is advisable to treat them with an insecticide against cruciferous flea beetles, and at the stage of development of 4 leaves, in order for the seedlings to form an even stem, add a layer of soil 3-4 cm thick to the garden bed. or by cutting off less developed seedlings at the root, after which it is imperative to water the garden.

Buy cabbage seedlings - is it worth it?

Growing cabbage seedlings is not a Newton binomial, as they say, but if for some reason you could not or did not want to do this, you will have to buy seedlings.

How not to be mistaken in the choice of seedlings? Heed our advice and don't be fooled.

Seedlings are chosen according to the following external characteristics:

the stems of the seedlings should not be light green, as when overfeeding with nitrogen, but green with a lilac tint;
the root system of the seedlings must be well developed;
do not buy seedlings collected and tied in bunches.

Keep in mind that if the seedlings have round leaves, the heads of cabbage will subsequently also be round or slightly flattened. Seedling with oval oblong leaves forms oblong heads of cabbage. You also need to know that if the leg (the distance from the root collar to the lower leaves) is short in seedlings, this is a seedling of early cabbage, and a thick and long stem and large leaves are found in seedlings of late varieties.

In the photo: Cabbage seedlings

After purchasing the seedlings, wrap them in a damp cloth or strong paper, being careful not to squeeze the roots. And keep in mind that if the quality of the seedlings can be determined by eye, then you can only find out what kind of variety you purchased from the seller's words, so buy seedlings not on the market, but at fairs, and only from well-established producers.

Caring for cabbage seedlings at home

Conditions for growing cabbage seedlings

As soon as seedlings appear in the common box, the crops are moved to the most illuminated place, and the temperature of the content is lowered to 10-12 ºC, otherwise the seedlings will begin to stretch. After a week, the temperature is raised to 15-17 ºC, and after another 3-4 days, the seedlings are dived into separate cups or pots. As soon as the seedlings take root after the pick, the following temperature regime is set for them: during the day - 13-14 ºC, and at night - 10-12 ºC. At first, cabbage seedlings grow very slowly, but gradually their growth is gaining momentum, and three weeks after the pick, they will already have three leaves.

Keep in mind that cauliflower seedlings require 6-8 ºC higher temperatures than white cabbage and other varieties.

Seedlings grown in tablets or in cassettes are not dived, otherwise the conditions for growing cabbage seedlings are the same as for seedlings grown in a common box. Do not forget to thin out the seedlings, leaving one more developed seedling in each container.

Highlighting cabbage seedlings

For normal development, cabbage seedlings need good lighting, and at the end of winter and early spring it dawns late and darkens early. How to grow cabbage seedlings in a short daylight hours and not allow it to stretch? It is necessary to install an LED or fluorescent lamp or phytolamp over the seedlings at a height of 20-25 cm, which should work for at least 12, and preferably 15 hours a day.

Do not use incandescent bulbs for artificial lighting - they do not emit the light that plants need, and besides, they heat the air.

Photo: Growing cabbage in a box

Watering cabbage seedlings

Seedlings of cabbage at home need watering as the top layer of the soil dries up. Both insufficient soil moisture and excessive soil moisture are dangerous for seedlings, and in order not to have to water the seedlings too often, do not neglect the soil loosening. To moisten the soil, use settled water at room temperature. Be sure to ventilate the area after each watering.

Fertilizing cabbage seedlings

The first time the cabbage is fed a week after picking with a solution of 2 g of ammonium nitrate, 1 g of potassium fertilizer and 4 g of superphosphate in 1 liter of water. Two weeks after the first feeding, you can add a second one, doubling the amount of fertilizer for the same amount of water. The third top dressing is applied a day or two before planting on the garden, therefore it is called hardening: 4 g of superphosphate, 2 g of ammonium nitrate and 6-7 g of potassium fertilizer are dissolved in one liter of water. An increased dose of potassium contributes to the rapid survival of seedlings in the open field.

Pickling cabbage seedlings (transplant)

As we already wrote, only the cabbage that was sown in the common box is dived. One and a half weeks after the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings are seated in separate pots, watered with a solution of one tablet of Alirin-B and one tablet of Gamair in 10 liters of water and for 2-3 days, until the seedlings take root, the temperature in the room is maintained within 17-18 ºC ... The seedlings are deepened by cotyledon leaves, and the surface of the substrate after planting, in order to prevent the black leg, is covered with a layer of washed river sand 2 mm thick. As soon as the seedlings adapt in a new container, the daytime temperature is lowered to 13-14 ºC, and the nighttime temperature to 10-12 ºC.

Diseases of cabbage seedlings and their treatment

Cabbage seedlings turn yellow

There can be several reasons for this phenomenon. For example, leaves may turn yellow from a lack of certain elements in the soil: if the seedlings lack phosphorus, the leaves turn yellow on the underside of the plate and can acquire a red-purple hue, the tips of the leaves turn yellow from a lack of potassium, and if the plant lacks iron, then the leaves turn yellow all over the base.

Yellowness appears and from excess nutrition- seedlings suffer from poisoning with too large doses of fertilizers. To remedy the situation, you need to spill the soil with a lot of water, setting the container so that the water flows out of it freely. As a last resort, you can transplant the seedlings into new soil.

In the photo: Sprouted cabbage seedlings

Sometimes yellowness on the leaves appears due to the fact that you added sea sand to the soil mixture, containing salt, which poisons the root system of the seedlings. It is necessary to transplant the seedlings into a new soil, after rinsing their roots with water.

Another reason for the yellowing of the leaves can be an infection that got into the ground along with seeds that were not disinfected before sowing.

Cabbage seedlings are rotting

Most often, rotting of seedlings occurs due to the defeat of the black leg - a fungal disease that develops against the background of increased acidity and high soil moisture and too high a nitrogen content in it. The causative agent of the disease may be in soil that has not been disinfected before sowing. In a diseased seedling, the lower part of the stem first darkens and decays - it becomes watery and turns brown. Then a constriction forms at this place, the seedling dies and lies down. It is necessary to remove all diseased specimens, and spill the soil with a pink solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 3-4 g per 10 liters of water, after which do not water the seedlings for a week.

Cabbage seedlings are pulled

The main reasons for this phenomenon are a lack of light and an incorrect temperature regime. Moreover, the seedlings can stretch out even in good lighting, if the planting density is such that the plants have to literally make their way to the light. And this is another argument in favor of sowing seeds in separate containers.

And, of course, the most important factor in the normal development of seedlings is compliance with the recommended temperature regime.

Diseases of cabbage seedlings

In addition to the black leg, cabbage seedlings are affected by fomoz, a fungal disease that is carried by seeds. The development of the disease can be prevented by pre-sowing seed treatment in hot water or in a strong solution of potassium permanganate. Phomosis is manifested by the formation of black blotches on the stems and leaves of growing seedlings, and since it is impossible to save the affected plants, have to reseed cabbage.

In the photo: Fake leaves of cabbage seedlings

It affects the seedlings of keela cabbage - a disease of cruciferous and flower crops. The environment where the pathogen lives is heavy acidified soil, therefore it is so important to subject the soil to decontamination and liming before sowing. Keela affects the root system of plants, as a result of which the seedlings cannot feed on their own and die. Sick seedlings must be destroyed, and the holes that remain after them should be treated with ash or charcoal.

Cabbage seedling pests

Sometimes when growing seedlings in a greenhouse, it is struck by a cruciferous flea - the worst enemy of all cabbage crops. To avoid the unpleasant consequences of a pest raid, carry out preventive treatment of seedlings with a solution of Inta-vir prepared in accordance with the instructions.

Planting cabbage seedlings

When to plant cabbage seedlings in the ground

A couple of weeks before planting cabbage seedlings in the garden, you need to start hardening procedures: the seedlings are taken out into the open air under the sun's rays - on a balcony, veranda or garden. At first, they are kept there for no more than an hour, but daily the duration of the hardening procedure is increased, and by the time they are planted in the ground, the seedlings should be carried out in the air around the clock.

Watering the seedlings is reduced a week before transplanting to the garden bed, but the seedlings should not be allowed to wither. A day or two before planting, a hardening top dressing with a high potassium content is carried out. The seedlings planted in the garden should be stocky, strong, with 6-8 leaves and a well-developed root system. Early cabbage is planted from late April to early May, mid-season varieties are planted in late May or early June, and from mid to late May it is time for late varieties.

How to plant cabbage seedlings in the garden

The area set aside for cabbage should be well lit. The soil must be prepared in advance: cleaned of weeds and plant residues, dig up with the introduction of 6-8 kg of rotted manure or compost and 100-200 g of wood ash for each m².

Photo: Growing cabbage seedlings in an egg box

White and red cabbage is planted according to the following scheme:

early varieties and hybrids - 30-35x40-45 cm;
mid-season cabbage - 50-60x60 cm;
late varieties - 60-70x70 cm.

After this article, they usually read

Vegetables are essential for the human body. Cabbage crops are rich in vitamins and minerals, which makes them indispensable in the daily diet. And a self-grown plant will be especially tasty.

In order to bring an amazing harvest every year, you need to know how to properly grow cabbage seedlings.

General instructions for growing

It is better to divide the whole process into stages - from buying seeds to planting in the ground and further caring for the plant. But first of all, you need to decide on the variety of cabbage culture. All further success depends on this. What species can be grown in our climate:

white cabbage (early, middle and late);
redhead;
colored (variety - broccoli);
Beijing.

White cabbage is in the lead in demand; it can be found in almost any vegetable garden. It is characterized by good yield, high transportability and resistance to adverse conditions. It is used for the preparation of a wide variety of dishes, as well as for medicinal purposes. Colored appeared in Russia only from the end of the 18th century. By its composition, it is the most valuable species; it contains the maximum amount of vitamins and minerals.

Peking is an early ripening plant native to China... The special value lies in the high protein content. Kohlrabi deserves special attention - a vegetable that looks more like a turnip, but is still an early ripe type of cabbage. Its stem tastes like a stalk. The most popular are white cabbage and cauliflower crops.

Soil preparation

The first step in growing seedlings is to prepare a suitable soil mix. It is advisable to stock up on it in the fall, but if this moment is missed, then the following soil composition will do:

one piece of turf;
one part of humus;
ash at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 kg of earth.

Ash is not only an excellent fertilizer, but also an antiseptic at the same time prevents the development of such a disease as "black leg". Instead of turf, peat is suitable, or you can purchase a special ready-made soil.

Planting seeds

To choose the optimal time for planting cabbage, you need to decide on a crop variety... You can calculate the schedule using this formula: about 10 days before germination plus 50-55 days before planting in the ground. The calendar when to plant cabbage for seedlings is drawn up depending on what time the harvest will be, and the climatic zone is taken into account:

Before sowing seeds, it is necessary to pre-process them (soaking, dressing and other methods). This is necessary in order to neutralize microorganisms and exclude the development of plant diseases..

Seeds purchased in the store are usually pre-treated with special preparations that promote early germination, protect against diseases and pests.

It will be enough just to warm them up (put them in hot water at about 50 degrees for 20 minutes), and then cool them for a few minutes in room water. This method increases the plant's resistance to fungal diseases. But it is not used for every type of cabbage.

Seeds are planted without fail in moist soil. To do this, grooves are made in a box with soil 1 cm wide at a distance of 3 cm. Each seed is laid out at a distance of about 1 cm from each other. Then it is covered with soil and poured with warm water through a sieve. Then the container with the seedlings is placed on the windowsill, every few days the earth is sprayed with water.

It is very important not to dry out... Cabbage is known to be very fond of water. But excess moisture and the wrong temperature regime can lead to the fact that the cabbage will eventually have small heads and bloom early.

Care of a young seedling

At a room temperature of 18-20 degrees, the first shoots will appear about 5-7 days. In order for the seedlings not to stretch up and die, they should be moved to a cooler room, in which there will be no more than 7 degrees - a balcony or loggia is suitable for this purpose. And for cauliflower seedlings, cultivation at home occurs at a higher temperature: 18-20 degrees before germination and up to 10 after it rises.

About 10-14 days after germination, it is necessary to dive the plants.

This procedure is performed in order to increase the volume of the roots, to make the seedlings squat. Agricultural technicians found out that this way it takes root better and becomes stronger.

Before diving, it is advisable to treat the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate.

A dive is made by burying the seedling into the ground to the cotyledon. It usually takes root after 4-5 days. After that, each boring will need a large area for growth (at least 3 × 3 cm). The best option would be to transplant each plant into a separate 5 x 5 cm pot or glass.

If there is no desire or time to engage in picking, then there is one secret of how to properly grow cabbage seedlings from seeds.

This will require initially sowing each seed in a small pot. So, the root system will be small and will not be injured during further transplantation. For cauliflower, the procedure is not performed, as this slows down growth for several weeks.

Before transplanting into the ground, the seedlings must have at least 5 true leaves. 15-20 days before moving the cabbage to the garden, the hardening process begins. To do this, during the day, the nursery is taken out into the street or the room is well ventilated. And also hardened by light. And the first time the tray is taken out into direct sunlight, it is recommended to cover the sheets with gauze to prevent burns.

Fertilizing cabbage seedlings

During the seedling period, the plant especially needs feeding. The first time to feed the seedling should be a week after the dive (if this process was not performed, then after the appearance of two true leaves). To do this, dissolve half a microelement tablet or 2 grams of potassium fertilizers and ammonium nitrate in 1 liter of water, add 4 grams of superphosphate to them. And in order not to burn the fragile roots, it is advised to first water the plant with water. The next feeding is carried out before the start of hardening..

The third, final stage of fertilization is performed a few days before transplanting the plants into the open ground. The dose of fertilizer is increased in order for the seedlings to take root better. You can prepare the nutritional mixture yourself, or you can buy it ready-made in agricultural stores. By following these recommendations, even a novice gardener will be able to grow healthy and robust seedlings.

Planting and caring for cabbage in the garden

During the preparation of plants for life in the open air, it is advisable to prepare the site in advance. The soil is depleted over time, so it is impossible to plant cabbage in one place more than 2-3 times in a row. It is recommended to place this vegetable at intervals of 4-5 years. It is best to place cabbage beds after potatoes, onions, legumes, and grains. The soil should be slightly acidic or neutral. To lower the acidity, even in the fall, you need to dig up the earth with lime or dolomite flour, while adding mineral fertilizers. In order for the plant to take root without problems, a cloudy day or evening would be ideal.

Basic rules on how to grow white cabbage in a garden bed so that the seedlings do not interfere with each other's growth:

distance between rows for early varieties - 0.5 m, between plants - at least 0.25 m;
for mid-season cabbage and late cabbage, place the rows at a distance of 0.6 m and 0.35 m, respectively.

Cauliflower is planted in rows 50 cm apart, plants are planted 20-40 cm apart. Large-headed varieties should be planted less frequently. The manufacturer on the package gives recommendations for planting each species. Since frosts are detrimental to this cabbage crop, for the first time a small greenhouse may be needed (a small tunnel covered with plastic wrap, spunbond or other materials).

Then they make depressions in the soil, water abundantly, fertilize and place the seedling in such a way as not to deepen the core. The root system develops in the upper soil layer. The first days, the seedlings should preferably be kept in the shade or covered from the sun; new ones are placed in place of the missing plants.

Cabbage is a demanding vegetable to care for.... She needs regular weeding, abundant watering (8-10 liters per square meter the first days after planting and then once a week about 15 liters), hilling. The plant is fed until the time of harvesting 3 times, 1 liter for each plant:

organic fertilizer for leaf growth (from 0.5 liters of mullein per 1 bucket of water);
after 10 days, re-feeding from 0.5 liters of mullein, manure and 1 tablet of a microelement;
the third feeding is required for late varieties in order to increase the growth of the roach (superphosphate is added to the solution).

Growing seedlings in the open field

This method is suitable for southern regions. In part, the whole process is simplified, since the plants do not require transplanting and grow more hardened. If there is a greenhouse or greenhouse, then the seeds can be sown in September, the seedlings will sprout and grow stronger until November, and already in May you can harvest. The whole process of caring for seedlings and cabbage is otherwise no different from the usual.

Competent care and care of the plant will reward the gardener with a high yield of a capricious, but healthy and vitamin-rich vegetable.

Some dishes are simply impossible to imagine without cabbage. Thanks to this vitamin vegetable, food is nutritious and tasty. Therefore, almost every gardener actively plants its fruits in their beds.

At home, you can grow good and strong cabbage seedlings.

What is the seedling method

Growing cabbage seedlings at home helps to get a rich and high-quality harvest. Thus, ready-made young plants that have developed roots and are able to grow in the future are planted on the garden bed.

By purchasing them on the market, there is a risk of getting fruits of not quite the desired variety, therefore many gardeners are used to sowing cabbage for seedlings on their own.

Not every gardener has a greenhouse that provides full care for the sowing, therefore, the vegetable is often grown at home, on balconies and window sills. To get healthy and strong seedlings, it is necessary to observe some conditions for planting and caring for it:

you need to choose the right sowing time for each variety;
prepare land for seeds, pots and cassettes;
it is important to maintain temperature and light conditions;
disinfect seeds and soil.

It is convenient to grow seedlings in cassettes

Variety selection and sowing time

Depending on the growing season, cabbage varieties are:

Early ripe. Ripening period from 40 to 50 days.
Mid-season. Approximately 30 days prior to disembarkation.
Late ripening. Ripen in 45 days.

Early varieties are sown in late February or early March. They are suitable for fresh consumption, possibly for salads. The other two varieties of seeds are suitable for pickling and storage for the winter. They are usually planted at the end of March.

Planting of late cabbage seeds is carried out at the end of March.

The main varieties and their features

Features of different types of cabbage:

Cauliflower consists of a white head of cabbage and dense inflorescences, which have yellow flowers at the ends. Cauliflower seedlings are planted in mid-March to late April. It can be grown in the same ways as late and mid-season white cabbage. In terms of feeding, cauliflower prefers chicken droppings. This fertilizer will allow you to get juicy and large heads of cabbage. There are several subspecies of cauliflower: Amethyst, Purple ball, Snowball, Snowdrift and others.
Broccoli feels great in the middle lane. The term for planting seeds is mid-March. Unlike cauliflower, broccoli is fertilized immediately after transplanting in order to increase the rate of engraftment. The harvest is removed in several stages.
White, red. Sowing seeds begins at the end of March. It is necessary to choose a specific variety of such cabbage in accordance with climatic conditions. For the cold region, Dumas F1, Zarya F1 are suitable, for the middle zone Zarya and Kazachok.
Brussels. She is less popular among summer residents. But with the help of home seedlings, you can get quite decent high quality cabbage. This variety is grown in areas with warm climates. In the north, Brussels sprouts can be grown in a greenhouse. Planting cabbage for seedlings begins from mid-March to the end of April.

If it was not possible to start planting seeds on time, you need to speed up the process by soaking them in water (18-20 degrees) and drying them after 12 hours. Then it will turn out to properly resume cultivation.

Red and white cabbage are planted at the same time

Preparation and planting of seeds

Cabbage loves fertile and neutral soil that doesn't have to be heavy. Ready-made land is suitable for sowing. You can also make homemade soil by mixing equal amounts of peat, garden soil, and sand. Next, the soil is fertilized and calcined. A good fertilizer is wood ash, which prevents various diseases and nourishes the soil with useful microelements.

Pre-treatment of seeds is required. For this, it is correct to use special biostimulants. This will help reduce the risk of plant disease. The easiest solution can be obtained by dissolving 2 tablespoons of wood ash in a liter of water. The next day, he insists and is filtered after. Also, cabbage seeds are placed in a dark pink potassium permanganate and kept for 20 minutes. Then they are washed in clean water.

It is necessary to prepare special containers for sowing seeds. Large individual drawers, peat pots and cassettes work well for this. Many growers choose to grow in cassettes, considering them a lightweight and economical option. Cassettes are made of plastic and have different sizes and numbers of cells. The seedling itself is uniform, weed-free. In cassettes, the roots take the shape of a cell, completely entangling a clod of earth, which also contributes to the good survival of plants in the garden. The effectiveness of cassettes has been proven by many studies in this area.

The prepared containers are covered with earth and make small grooves 1 cm deep every 3 cm. When the seeds are dry, they are covered with earth and covered with sand or peat to avoid crusting on the surface. The soil must be watered abundantly, and the container must be covered with a transparent film.

At normal room temperature, the first shoots can be grown for 5-6 days. An important condition is compliance with the night regimen. It is necessary to withstand 6-9 degrees for 4-7 days. To achieve this effect, the seedlings are stored in the room during the day, and when night falls, they are taken out to the balcony.

Cabbage seedlings grow well in peat pots

Growing conditions

It is necessary to carry out high-quality care of the planted seeds:

It is necessary to constantly ventilate the room where the seedlings are located. The air should not be cold.
Water the future fruits with settled water once a week. It is necessary to ensure that the topsoil does not dry out. Do not overdo it with watering, as this can lead to root rot.
The place where the seedlings are located should be well lit. Sometimes you may need additional lighting when the day turned out to be cloudy. Lighting devices will help with this. The distance from them to the plants should be about 15 centimeters. You can use artificial light up to 12 hours a day.
Seedlings are susceptible to diseases that lead to decay of the root system. If signs of "black leg" appear, it is necessary to remove diseased plants, and water the good ones with a solution of potassium permanganate. Watering should be reduced, and the soil should be sprinkled with ash.
When the first shoots appear, they should be planted in larger boxes. For this, peat cassettes or pots are suitable. When planting, weak plants are selected, one third of the root system of healthy seedlings is removed. This procedure is called "picking" and it is done to stimulate the branching of the roots. Then the sprouts are transferred to a warm place with a temperature of 18-20 degrees. Later it reaches 18 degrees during the day and 12 at night.
Seedlings are fed several times to provide the plants with a full set of useful trace elements. To do this, use manure and warm water in a ratio of one to five or chicken droppings in a ratio of one to fifteen. You can add three grams of superphosphate per liter of water. Top dressing is carried out after planting, then after 15 days and immediately before when it is planned to land in the ground.
The first couple of weeks the cabbage grows slowly, but after three weeks and picking, the sprouts will have three leaves. It is good if by the beginning of transplanting into the ground the plants will have a height of about 20 centimeters and 5-6 leaves on the stem.
Before planting, it is necessary to harden the sprouts and stop watering for a week. Containers with seedlings are left on an open balcony, opening the film. Water it two hours before planting in open soil.

For planting in open ground, seedlings are taken with at least 5 leaves

Features of transplanting into open ground

This procedure is best done in the afternoon. Foggy and rainy weather is great for transplanting. It includes the following actions and rules:

It is necessary to prepare a place for planting in advance, remove the roots of weeds, dig up a bed, break up clods of earth.
Having carefully dug up the plants, they are placed in the holes to the very leaves. Then the seedlings need to be covered with earth and compacted, as well as disinfected from an earthen flea.
In the future, regular care is required, abundant watering and hilling of cabbage. As the seedlings grow, the amount of liquid required increases.

Sowing seeds and further transferring plants to open ground is not as difficult a procedure as it seems at first glance. But beginners will have some difficulties in growing.

Then you can use the video blogs of Yulia Minyaeva, where the secrets of good cabbage seedlings are described in detail and in an accessible manner. This visual aid will also be useful for some experienced gardeners.

Regardless of what kind of vegetable you plan to grow, be it cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, you must follow simple rules of care and follow exactly the planting technologies for each species. Then, having shown attentiveness and patience, it will be possible to get an excellent harvest.

Cabbage is a very healthy vegetable that should be on our dinner table all year round. But the cabbage group has one biological feature. All species are strongly affected by diseases and pests. In production conditions, in order to get beautiful, healthy-looking cabbage heads without traces of diseases or damage by sucking and gnawing pests, it is treated with chemicals 2 times a week, and they are far from harmless. Therefore, we encourage you to grow cabbage yourself! And you need to start with her seedlings. This article will tell you how to grow healthy cabbage seedlings.

Seed selection criteria

In all regions of Russia, early, middle and late cabbage is grown through seedlings. To obtain healthy seedlings, seed material is best purchased in specialized stores. When purchasing seeds or seedlings, be sure to choose zoned varieties. As a rule, they are highly resistant to pests and diseases. In addition, the seeds are already fully prepared for sowing, and will not require extra time and money for this. When purchasing seeds, pay attention - the packaging must indicate:

variety and group name (early, middle, late);
growing region;
the date of sowing and planting in the ground (data are approximate);
approximate harvest time.

It is best to grow cabbage of all ripening periods in your home garden, and in order to take up less area for culture, use thickened plantings.

The technology for growing seedlings of the cabbage group is practically the same for any region, since artificial greenhouse conditions can be recreated regardless of the growing area. Therefore, the proposed technology does not focus on the type of cabbage (white cabbage, kohlrabi, Savoy and others), but only on the process of growing seedlings. The main differences in grooming begin with permanent planting, especially in open ground.

What can be containers for cabbage seedlings

Cabbage has very delicate, easily damaged leaves, so you need to think in advance how you will grow seedlings:

without picking;
with a pick;
in separate containers;
in boxes, etc.

Given the fragility of young leaves, it is optimal for cabbage to be grown without picking one plant at a time in separate containers. It should be noted that picking cultivation has its advantages in some cases. If the seedlings are sown early and, due to weather conditions, cannot be transplanted permanently, then picking stops the growth of plants. The seedlings are stocky, with a thick, straight stem. Easier transfers the subsequent transplant to the beds.

Preparing soil mixture for cabbage seedlings

Seedlings require a well-aerated, lightweight substrate with a large supply of nutrients, permeable, but sufficiently moisture-absorbing. Such a soil mixture can be obtained from the following ingredients:

leafy or sod land, as the basis of the soil. Both types of soil can be used in equal proportions;
old ripe humus or vermicompost. High moor peat can be used instead of these components;
add river sand, sawdust, perlite to create friability.

The ingredients are mixed in the following proportions 1: 2: 1.

You can offer a simpler composition - 20 parts of sod or clean without the use of herbicides of garden soil, add 5 parts of ash (the main source of macro- and microelements), 1 part of lime and 1 part of sand.

The mixture is mixed and disinfected in one of the available ways:

freezing;
by calcining;
steaming;
etching.

The last stage in the preparation of the soil mixture is the application of fertilizers. For 10 kg of the disinfected substrate, add urea or ammonium nitrate 15-20 g, granular superphosphate 20-25 g, potassium sulfate 10 g and 25 g of lime. If these ingredients are not available, you can add 30-35 g of nitroammophoska to the soil mixture.

7-10 days before filling the containers for sowing, the soil mixture dried after disinfection is treated with antifungal (black leg, bacteriosis, etc.) biological products: phytosporin, alirin, gamair, according to the recommendations. Add a dry preparation "Emochka-Bokashi" or another preparation containing useful microflora to the moistened mixture. Beneficial microorganisms help to improve the composition of the soil and at the same time destroy the pathogenic microflora. Thorough preparation of the soil mixture ensures that seedlings with a healthy root system are obtained.

You can read more about preparing soil mixture for seedlings in the article:

Sowing seeds for seedlings

Sowing dates for cabbage seedlings

We sow early cabbage varieties for seedlings in late February-early March;
medium - from the third decade of March to the end of April;
late - during the first or second decade of April.

The proposed sowing dates for cabbage seeds are approximate and depend on the variety, ripening time, lighting, temperature regime of the region. When sowing, be guided by the length of the growing season of the crop. Early maturing varieties are ready for harvesting in 90-120 days, medium ones - 150-170 and late ones - 160-180 days. You can sow each species at a time at one time or carry out conveyor sowing of seeds of each species with a gap of 10-12 days. Then there will always be fresh cabbage salad to the table.

How to sow seeds for seedlings

We fill containers with the prepared substrate: boxes, cups, peat pots and other containers. We sow seeds in boxes in an ordinary way, leaving 3-4 cm between furrows, and 1-2 cm in a row. When using a single-nest container, lay out 2 seeds in the center. After germination, remove the weak seedling. The seeding depth is about 1 cm. After sowing, we cover the boxes and other containers with foil, create greenhouse conditions.

The correct temperature regime for seedlings

To obtain healthy seedlings, the temperature regime of the soil and air at different stages of seedling development is very important.

From sowing to germination (5-7 days), the soil temperature in the improvised greenhouse is maintained at +18 .. + 20 ºC, and air temperature: +7 .. + 9 at night, +8 .. + 10 ºC in the daytime.
After germination, when the seedlings are 12-15 days old, we reduce the soil temperature in the daytime to +15 .. + 17 ºC, and at night - to +12 ºC. During this period, the air temperature during the day fluctuates within the range of +8 .. + 10 ºC, and at night +7 .. + 9 ºC.

Pickling cabbage seedlings

We dive two-week-old seedlings (the phase of expanded cotyledons or the first leaf) into cassettes or pots 5x5, 7x7 cm, depending on the variety and development of the seedling. At the seedlings, we pinch the tip of the root, carefully burrow it into the soil up to the cotyledons. We carry out the picking of seedlings according to the 5x5 scheme. From picking to hardening of seedlings, the soil temperature is maintained at +10 ºC at night, and +14 .. + 16 ºC during the day. The air temperature is approximately +7 .. + 10 ºC.

Caring for cabbage seedlings

Lighting and watering

If the weather is cloudy, the seedlings need additional lighting. Lack of lighting delays the development of seedlings. For additional lighting, you can use a fluorescent lamp 12-15 hours a day.

The entire period of care, the substrate under the seedlings must be moist. Excessive moisture should not be allowed, especially at low temperatures. A weak root system of seedlings with an excess of moisture is affected by root rot. Therefore, before the emergence of shoots, the soil is moistened with a spray bottle. In the future, watered moderately once a week.

Protection of cabbage seedlings from diseases and pests

Most often, cabbage seedlings are affected by fungal diseases: black leg, mucous and vascular bacteriosis, fusarium wilting.

In order not to lose part of the seedlings as a result of diseases, we carry out the following measures:

water the seedlings with a solution of biological products with phytosporin, trichodermine or planriz according to the recommendations;
we dry the soil with dry sand or moisture-consuming mulch;
we reduce the frequency and intensity of watering;
increase the temperature in the room.

In addition to diseases, cabbage seedlings must be protected from pests. More than 6 of their species destroy the crop crop: cruciferous fleas, cabbage fly, cabbage moth, cabbage scoop and cabbage whiteworm, cabbage aphid, etc.

We process seedlings with Intavir and Fitoverm biological products in a tank mixture when the first pests appear. Bitoxibacillin, lepidocid, dendrobacillin are effective with leaf-gnawing, different types of moths, cruciferous flea beetle, white beetle. Chemicals should not be used on cabbage, as they remain inside the emerging head of cabbage or inflorescence.

Top dressing and hardening of seedlings

With a weak development, cabbage seedlings are fed in the phase of 2-3 leaves with a solution of chicken manure or mullein. In their absence, the first feeding is carried out with a solution of 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 20-25 g of granular water-soluble superphosphate, 5-10 g of potassium chloride per bucket of water. This complex solution can be replaced by dissolving 30-35 g of nitroammophoska in 10 liters of water. The second feeding in the same composition is carried out after 10-12 days and the third (if necessary) after 15-20 days. After foliar feeding, be sure to wash the plants with water and mulch the soil.

12-15 days before planting in the ground, the seedlings are hardened, that is, they are taught to develop at low temperatures, greater oxygen availability, and brighter lighting. During this period, the air temperature at night should be no more than +7 .. + 8 ºC, and during the day in sunny weather +14 .. + 15 ºC, in cloudy +12 .. + 14 ºC. 2-3 days before transferring to open ground, the seedlings are treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.

We transplant cabbage seedlings into open ground

We plant early seedlings in open ground at 45-55 days of age. Plants have an elastic squat stem, 5-7 leaves with a monochromatic leaf blade, without spots, a well-developed fibrous-branched root.

Seedlings of medium and late varieties - 35-45 days old, ready for planting have 18-20 (20-25) cm in height, 5-6 true developed leaves, elastic stem, well-developed root system.

Dear readers, this article contains a lot of digital material. But this is an average approximate data. In each particular case, they will be different, albeit close in meaning.