Sowing cabbage seeds for seedlings

Take care of the varieties first

You need to decide for yourself what kind of cabbage you want to grow: early - for summer salads, mid-season and late - for pickling and winter storage, or both. The timing of sowing cabbage seedlings depends on this.

Mid-season varieties are often used for pickling; late varieties are prepared for the winter in order to have vitamin-rich dishes on the table until spring.

Try to buy seeds from trusted companies. The viability of seedlings and, ultimately, the harvest largely depends on the quality of planting material.

Many summer residents have fallen in love with early cabbage hybrids:

• Champ
• Parel
• Pandion

From mid-season and late:

• Rinda
• Megaton
• Atria
• Galaxy
• Kolobok
• Krautman.

    Sow cabbage for seedlings

    Soil mixture.  Not all purchased peat soils are suitable for cabbage, because she does not like acidic soils. It is better to prepare the soil mixture for seedlings yourself by mixing turf (or garden) soil with good humus (1:1), add half a glass of wood ash to a bucket and mix well.

The ash will enrich the mixture with nutrition and protect the seedlings from blackleg. To prevent the development of blackleg, 1-3 days before sowing the seeds, the soil is spilled with a solution of gamaira (1 tablet per 5 liters of water).

    Timing of sowing seeds

It is very important to choose the right time for sowing cabbage seeds. They depend on the timing of planting seedlings in the ground. Many summer residents plant 45-60-day-old seedlings of early white cabbage in the garden at the end of April, which means that the seeds need to be sown in mid-February-early March.

But here we must make one very important reservation. Under normal indoor conditions, you will not be able to grow early cabbage seedlings. At the initial stage, this crop must be provided with t +15 - 17º during the day and + 10 - 12º at night. It is difficult to do this in a city apartment, and if this is not possible, then it is better to abandon early sowing of cabbage.

The early timing of planting early varieties of cabbage is dictated by the climate: the heat that sets in already in May inhibits development, and it is very important that the plants develop for as long as possible in conditions favorable to them (moderate temperatures, high air humidity).

If it is possible to plant cabbage under temporary shelter, the seeds for seedlings are sown earlier.

    Later varieties White cabbage is grown, as a rule, without picking, and therefore the seedling period for mid-season varieties is reduced to 45, and for late varieties - to 35-40 days.

Knowing the approximate timing of planting seedlings of middle and late varieties in a permanent place (mid-season varieties are planted in open ground in the second ten days of May, and late varieties - in the third ten days of May-early June), it can be calculated that mid-season varieties are sown for seedlings at the beginning, and late - at the end of April.

    Pre-sowing seed treatment

Before sowing, seeds are treated if the bag does not indicate that they have been treated by the manufacturer. The seeds are immersed in water heated to 50 degrees for 20 minutes, then kept in cold water for five minutes. This procedure frees the seeds from pathogens of fungal diseases.

To prevent the development of blackleg, seeds are soaked in a solution for 1-2 hours before sowing phytosporina-M, then dried.

    Sowing cabbage seeds

A few days before sowing, water the soil in the seedling box. On the day of sowing, make seed furrows 1.5 cm deep every 3-4 cm, moisten them and sow the seeds 1-1.5 cm apart. Then the rows are covered with soil mixture, the surface of the soil is slightly compacted, covered with film or glass and put in a warm place.

Microclimate. The emerging seedlings immediately find a cool, well-lit place. This could be a glazed loggia, a veranda, where the temperature during the day stays at +8 +10 degrees. Spring is quickly gaining momentum, and every day it will be warmer outside (and, therefore, on the loggia).

Such a gradual increase in temperature against the background of increasing daylight hours is favorable for the development of seedlings. In an excessively warm room, cabbage seedlings will stretch out and may even die.

    Picking seedlings

In the phase of 1-2 true leaves, cabbage seedlings are picked. It is better to transplant into cups so as not to injure the roots during transplantation into the garden bed. Plants are buried down to the cotyledons. The soil in the cups is spilled with a solution of phytosporin-M.

    How to care for seedlings

    Feeding. Ten days after picking, the seedlings are fed for the first time.

1. 2 g of potassium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, 4 g of superphosphate are diluted in a liter of water. The seedlings are watered before feeding, and then 1 cr is poured under each plant. spoon of nutrient solution.
2. Two weeks after the first feeding, a second feeding is carried out with the same composition, but 2 tbsp is poured under each plant. spoons of solution.
3. A few days before planting, the seedlings are fed one last time: 3 g of ammonium nitrate, 5 g of superphosphate and 8 g of potassium sulfate per liter of water. Simple fertilizers can be replaced with complex fertilizers.

    Hardening off cabbage seedlings

About two weeks before planting in open ground, seedlings begin to harden. In the first days, it is enough to open the windows on the loggia or veranda for a few hours. Then the cabbage is left in front of an open window so that it gradually gets used to direct sunlight.

In the last days before planting, watering is reduced, and windows are not closed at night. You can also harden off seedlings at the dacha.

Any violation of agricultural technology for growing seedlings is fraught with disease.

If trouble happens, the plants that have fallen from the black leg are removed, the soil in the seedling box is dried, sprinkled with wood ash and carefully loosened.

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