When can I plant seedlings of Beijing cabbage. Growing Chinese cabbage and caring for it

Due to the climatic features of the zoned areas, the cultivation of Beijing cabbage in our country has its own difficulties. Ignorance of them can cause not only an unsatisfactory harvest, but also total absence due to damage by diseases or pests.

The plant forms a rosette of upright leaves, the usual hard head is completely absent, the height is within 30–50 cm. The leaves are soft, without an unpleasant specific taste, they are used in food both raw and cooked.

The plant is early. The earliest varieties give a harvest on the 40th day after germination. Late varieties ripen on day 60. Such precocity allows in some zones to grow three crops per year per open field. In greenhouses year-round cultivation is possible.
Lowering the temperature to + 13 ° C can be the start for the appearance of arrows and peduncles. The same effect is caused by a long daylight hours. Agronomists advise temperatures for maximum yield + 15–20 ° С. Breeders have created special hybrids that are resistant to low temperatures, which minimizes the likelihood of flower stalks. In areas with a risky climate for agriculture, it is recommended to use these varieties.

Among the advantages, Peking cabbage also has significant drawbacks - it cannot be stored under normal conditions, it requires refrigerating chambers, a strictly set temperature, the presence of inert gases in the air, etc. The second drawback is that Peking cabbage cannot be fermented, some traditional our compatriots dishes.

Beijing cabbage is planted for gradual use on greens or on heads of cabbage. In the first case, the leaves are cut as needed, in the second case, they wait until a head is formed. This will take no more than 60 days. A head of cabbage is not stored for a long time, you need to keep this in mind when planning the number of beds for this vegetable.

There are a lot of varieties and hybrids, if you wish, you can leave a few inflorescences for the seeds to ripen. Just keep in mind that hybrids do not retain their qualities; use only varietal Beijing cabbage for breeding.

Kale leaves contain 3.5% protein, 2.4% sugar, almost complete complex mineral salts and amino acids. During heat treatment a large number of useful substances are lost, it is better to cook dishes raw.

Growing technologies

The plant can be grown using two technologies: direct seeding into the ground or seedlings. Each method has its own characteristics and preconditions for use. A specific decision on the breeding method must be made taking into account the climatic zone of residence, the characteristics of the site and your practical farming skills.

direct seeding

It is recommended to apply in regions with a warm climate. Seeds in the ground can be sown from late April to mid-June. It is advisable to break the time into several periods, due to this it will be possible to have fresh cabbage for a longer period of time. The last date for sowing is August 10. Today the climate is warming a little, the dates can be shifted. But this is at your own peril and risk, no scientist can give a long-term forecast of temperature changes in each individual region. Practitioners advise not to risk and not go beyond the traditional time frame for sowing Beijing cabbage.

Seeds need to be sown in shallow grooves, the distance between them is at least 25 cm. The fact is that this vegetable needs a lot of space, too dense seedlings not only jam each other, but also cause the growth of inflorescences.

Sowing seeds in grooves - photo

After the emergence of seedlings, mandatory thinning of plants is required. How is it done?

Thinning should be done only after rain, if precipitation long time was not, then the beds should be watered abundantly, and field work should be done only the next day.
The distance between individual sprouts is at least twenty centimeters. Leave only the most developed and healthy, at the slightest suspicion of a disease, the plant must be removed, not thrown into the aisles.
Simultaneously with thinning, weeding is recommended. Weeds at this time are still small, pulled out without effort. As soon as the cultivated plant gets stronger and grows, weeding will no longer have to be done. Large leaves of Beijing cabbage inhibit the development of other plants.

There is another option for direct sowing of cabbage - not in the grooves, but in the holes. In each hole, you need to throw 2-4 seeds, while thinning, remove the weakest. The distance is 20–25 centimeters, as recommended by the cultivation technology. Experienced vegetable growers are advised to try both methods of sowing seeds in the first year, and then use the one that you like more and give better results.

The depth of planting seeds in open ground is 1–2 cm; to accelerate the emergence of seedlings, it is recommended to cover the bed with plastic wrap or modern agrofibre. The second option is much more preferable - agrofibre passes sunlight, air and moisture and protects the surface of the beds from morning frosts. In addition, the agrofibre has a very low specific gravity, which allows sprouts to develop under it, the stems are even, not deformed. The first shoots may appear 3-10 days after sowing, depending on the temperature conditions, specific calendar dates are set.

The main pest of Beijing cabbage is the inconspicuous cruciferous flea. After mustard, radish and other cruciferous crops, it is impossible to sow. Wood ash perfectly protects against fleas. Not black coals, but gray, almost weightless ash. It is both protection and fertilizer. With band-line sowing, thinning is best done in two stages. For the first time, the sprouts are left at a distance of up to 10 cm from each other. When the leaves grow and connect with each other, then weeding can be done again. The distance between plants should already be at least 25 centimeters. As always, the weakest shoots are removed.

Growing seedlings

A labor-intensive method, used in areas with an insufficient amount of positive temperatures. Seedlings can be sown much earlier and transferred to the ground after the onset of stable warm days. You need to know that this plant is very capricious for a seedling technologist, it is much more difficult to work with it than, for example, with tomatoes. The roots of Beijing cabbage are very thin and fragile, easily broken, and broken ones necessarily lead to inhibition of plant growth.

In this regard, it is recommended to grow seedlings in peat tablets or pots and transplant prepared plants into them without pulling them out of the ground. The survival rate after picking is no more than 70%, and this is subject to all the requirements of agricultural technology. For beginners, the survival rate will be even lower, sometimes the results will be an unpleasant surprise. The absence of a seedling picking operation has a beneficial effect on the final results.

How seedlings are prepared

If in the future Beijing cabbage grows in greenhouses, then the seeds can be sown from the end of January, if the plants are planned under open ground, then the dates are shifted to the end of March.

Priming. We need loose in structure, in quality - very fertile. It is good to take coconut extract, but you can replace it with more familiar garden mixtures.
Sowing seeds. The seeds are very small, for uniform sowing it is recommended to mix them with coarse washed river sand without clay.
Watering. Medium, too much soil moisture can slow down the growth of seedlings, delicate thin roots rot, the plant is sick. But you can't overdo it either. Watering can only be done with a small watering can by sprinkling or a sprinkler.
Temperature regime. Favorable temperature is +20–22°C. Containers with sown seeds are immediately covered with foil. As soon as the first shoots appear, the film is removed. If possible, it is recommended to use mini-greenhouses, but it is not always possible to find boxes with such dimensions, because the height of peat cups is quite large.
Light. Chinese cabbage during the growing season is considered a photophilous plant. If the seedlings are sown in the winter months, then artificial light is indispensable. It is better to use modern economical lamps. In addition to saving energy costs, such lamps have another advantage - they do not heat seedlings. Incandescent lamps emit powerful infrared waves, which makes it very difficult to regulate the temperature of seedlings. To increase the illumination, you need to bring the lamps closer to the sprouts. But this cannot be done, because overheating may occur. It turns out a vicious circle and you have to sacrifice one indicator: either reduce the illumination, or increase the temperature.
top dressing. You can feed once before the start of hardening. If the soil is poor, then feed twice. Do not independently prepare mixtures of mineral fertilizers. It is much more effective, safer and easier to purchase ready-made formulations and use them according to the attached instructions.

Transplanting

Cabbage loves light, acidic, organic-rich, neutral soils. Soils should pass water well, not allow it to stagnate. Excess water is the cause of plant disease. As predecessors, choose legumes, root crops. It is not recommended to plant Beijing cabbage after cruciferous plants (radishes, radishes, turnips, etc.).

Seedlings must be hardened off before planting. To do this, two to three weeks before the transfer, the plants are taken out to fresh air. The first time you need to keep them only a few hours and completely protect from direct sunlight. Gradually, the holding time increases, the plants begin to adapt to the sun's rays. The last few days before planting seedlings, you can already try to leave it outside all night.

In open ground, the distance between individual plants is 30 × 25 cm; in order to save space in greenhouses, the distance is reduced to 20 × 20 cm. Chinese cabbage is not afraid of frosts down to -4°C, the optimum growing temperature is +15-22°C. A large amount of sunlight and temperatures above + 25 ° C will cause sunburn, and this negatively affects the final yield.

If the summer is rainy, then the plants must be protected from waterlogging, otherwise the root system may rot. If you correctly adhere to the recommended agricultural technology, then even in middle lane In our country, you can easily harvest two crops per season.

Protecting plants from pests and diseases

We will not write about modern preparations, they are very effective, but have one drawback - harm is done not only to pests, but also to consumers. Let us dwell on the traditional agrotechnical methods of protecting Beijing cabbage.

Compliance with crop rotation. A very simple but very important way. The vast majority of diseases tend to accumulate in the soil. The greater the concentration of pests and diseases, the more various chemicals need to be used, the more they enter plants and further along the food chain. In addition to this factor, crop rotation plays another very important role. Each plant for vegetation requires a different amount of minerals by weight and chemical composition. For some, nitrogen is important, for others potassium, and so on. This means that different beds in the same area have different indicators for the presence of nutrients in the soil. Only due to the correct preparation of the crop rotation, it is possible to create the optimal combination of minerals for the plant without additional fertilizing.
Compliance with sowing dates. Seeds begin to grow only when the temperature at a given soil depth reaches optimal values.

Strong plants are much less likely to be damaged by pests and various diseases, and the right technology increases the resistance of cabbage to adverse conditions.

Video - How to grow Chinese cabbage

Video - Growing Chinese cabbage: the basics and secrets of the harvest

Beijing cabbage is a cold-resistant, annual vegetable crop. The vegetation period does not exceed 2 months, from sowing seeds to the formation of a full-fledged head of cabbage.

Upon reaching commercial qualities, depending on the variety, it may have a cylindrical, short-oval, long-oval, dense or loose head. The average leaf length is 25 cm, the structure and color of the leaf plates can also vary significantly - the color range is from rich green to light green, the structure is slightly swollen and wrinkled.

Beijing cabbage is grown on all types of protected and open ground as a compactor for tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, white cabbage or as an independent crop.

How to grow Beijing cabbage?

Gardeners with experience and beginners are often tormented by issues related to the cultivation of new, unusual crops, and Chinese cabbage, in this regard, is no exception. Here are just a few of them:

How to grow Beijing cabbage in the open field?
Is it possible to feed plants during the growing season?
Which is better seedlings or seeds?
How and when to water?

Despite the seeming unpretentiousness, the cultivation of Beijing cabbage has its own nuances and little tricks, failure to comply with which can significantly reduce yields and nullify all the efforts made by gardeners.

Seedlings or seeds?

Which way, seedlings or seeds, to plant Beijing cabbage depends on individual conditions, i.e., where and how the plant will develop: in a greenhouse, on ridges, in open ground, what average duration days, planting time (spring, late summer).

Important! When planting and cultivating Beijing cabbage in hot and / or dry times, the plant quickly turns into color and no heads are formed. In addition, the culture begins to actively produce arrows even in excessive light, including during long white nights, which are typical for some northern regions, as well as Siberia.

Growing Beijing cabbage in Siberia and the Urals is quite possible, but it is necessary to artificially adjust the illumination, i.e. choose areas with shading or forcibly cover plantings from light in the greenhouse.

Greenhouse:
- seeds - sowing is done in March, early April, late July, as well as in the first decade of August. Sowing scheme 20 × 40 cm. For planting in other time periods, only universal varieties are suitable, mainly hybrids, such as "Chinese Selective", "Lyubasha", "Naina F1";
- seedlings - planting is carried out at the same time as the seeds, but since the plant has already passed the initial stage of growth (the formation of roots, the appearance of the first leaves), the crop can be harvested much earlier. Landing pattern 30 × 50 cm.

Important! You can not sow seeds or plant seedlings of cabbage after harvesting any cruciferous crops: radish, turnip, mustard, radish, as they are affected by common pests and diseases.

Open ground:
- seeds - sowing is done after the soil warms up, as a rule, this happens in early May. To obtain an autumn harvest, sowing can begin in the second decade of July. Seed pre-soaking is not required. The sowing scheme when grown as a lettuce crop is 20 × 20 cm, if it is necessary to form a head of cabbage - 35 × 35 cm, 50 × 50 cm. Seeding rate 4 g per 10 m². The best results are obtained when sowing seeds on ridges with their deepening into the soil by 10–15 mm.
- seedlings - transplanting seedlings into the ground is carried out in early May. The planting scheme is 30 × 50 cm. When planting, it is necessary to carefully monitor that the root system is not damaged in any way, to facilitate this process, agricultural technicians recommend growing Beijing cabbage seedlings in separate peat pots or containers, from which you can easily get the plant without deforming the root earth clod.

Important! To obtain high yields, it is necessary to monitor the compliance of the selected variety with the time period for planting, i.e., the early ones must be planted in the spring, and the later ones closer to autumn and not vice versa.

Chinese cabbage care

Caring for Beijing cabbage, as well as for any vegetable crop, consists of watering, weeding and plant nutrition.

To obtain good yields, an optimal balance between air temperature and humidity conditions is extremely important, this statement is especially true during the formation of a head and rosette.

Air temperature:

during the day from 15 to 19 ° C;
at night not below 8 °C.

Air humidity:

on a cloudy day 70%;
sunny day 80%;
at night about 80%.

Soil moisture 65%.

If these requirements are not met, the leaves are often affected by various diseases, such as gray, white and black rot, as a result of which the plant does not develop normally and head formation does not occur.

Important! Despite the fact that the culture needs well-moistened soil, it does not tolerate stagnant water.

Nutrition - Beijing cabbage prefers fertile soil, which contains a large amount of nitrogen and calcium. But even if the garden land is poor in organic matter and trace elements, it does not matter. The plant responds well to various top dressings of both natural origin (mullein) and to feeding with complex fertilizers.
- Autumn - for each m² it is necessary to add 4.5 kg of manure, 1.5 dessert spoons of double superphosphate and 2.5 dessert. spoons of potassium sulfate. In the absence of the last component, it can be replaced with ordinary wood ash at the rate of a 1-liter jar per 1 m² of soil;
- before planting - a solution prepared from bird droppings (water 10 l and ½ kg of droppings) or from eggshells (30 g of crushed shells insist 2 days in 5 l of water) is introduced. If, for some reason, fertilizers were not added to the soil in autumn, then before planting, during spring digging, potassium sulfate, superphosphate and ammonium nitrate must be added, each component is taken in the amount of 1 tbsp. l. for every m².

Important! Beijing cabbage has a high ability to accumulate nitrates, so fertilizing during the growing season is not recommended. All fertilizers must be applied before the plant is planted on the site.

Watering - in dry weather, it is necessary to water daily, it is better to do this by sprinkling, in this case the plants receive the necessary amount of moisture and at the same time, waterlogging of the soil does not occur.

Beijing cabbage pests and methods of dealing with them

In fact, there are not so many pests that infect Chinese cabbage:

cruciferous flea;
slugs
cabbage butterfly;
cruciferous bug.

Considering that the culture has the ability to accumulate harmful substances in itself, not chemicals, but folk ways which give excellent results with regular use.

Planting a crop between rows of tomato, onion or garlic significantly reduces the activity of the cruciferous flea. as more strong remedy, it is recommended to spray plants and soil between rows with a special solution. To prepare it, you need to take green potato and tomato tops (200 g of each component), and 2 large heads of garlic. Grind all the ingredients and let it brew for about a day. Beijing cabbage photo, which is below, is planted exactly according to this principle - between two beds of onions.
Careful and systematic removal of weeds also prevents damage to plants by cruciferous flea.
After the appearance of cabbage butterflies in the garden, it is necessary to examine the lower surface of the leaves as often as possible, if clutches are found, the pest eggs are destroyed, although this method is laborious, it gives good results, because it significantly reduces the likelihood of caterpillars.

Cabbage is a vegetable from which you can make a lot of excellent salads. However, it is not only famous for its amazing taste, but also gives the body useful substances and vitamins. Today there are a huge number different varieties vegetables, they are all simply saturated with vitamins and differ from each other appearance. One of the most beneficial for the body is Beijing cabbage, which last years is becoming more and more popular among culinary specialists all over the world.

What is Chinese cabbage

Beijing cabbage refers to biennial plants that are grown as annuals. Depending on the variety, it has leaves of light yellow or bright green color. This plant is a loose head of cabbage with juicy tender leaves that have a white vein. The edges of the leaves are distinguished by a beautiful wavy or jagged shape.

The peculiarity of the variety is that it does not have a stalk. The cabbage head of the plant is tossed into soup or pickled, and the leaves are used mainly for making salads. Asia is famous for pickled Beijing cabbage. They call this dish kimchi and many believe that it prolongs life.

How Chinese cabbage grows

Feature and history of the origin of the vegetable

Beijing cabbage appeared in China several thousand years ago, then it came to Korea and Japan, and eventually spread to Asian countries. After some time, this vegetable became popular in Europe, as well as in our country.

Beneficial features

Why is Beijing becoming more and more popular? This plant is a source of nutrients and vitamins. The main advantage of the variety is that even in winter it does not lose its vitamins and benefits the body.

To the most important beneficial substances that are included in its composition include:

protein;
mineral salts;
vitamins C, A, K, PP, as well as a group of vitamins B;
amino acids;
organic acids.

In addition, "Beijing" has medicinal properties. She helps:

with cardiovascular diseases;
stomach ulcer;
strengthens the immune system;
prolongs a person's life.

Very interesting is the fact that this vegetable contains lysine, which helps cleanse the blood and destroy foreign proteins.

Chinese cabbage kimchi

The right way to plant Chinese cabbage at home

What gardener does not dream of pleasing himself and others with new achievements and growing Chinese cabbage at home. To grow this plant from seeds, you can plant them immediately in open ground, or you can grow seedlings first. Planting Chinese cabbage at home, both in Belarus and the Moscow region, as well as in the Urals and Siberia, follows the same pattern.

The only difference is when to start sowing seeds and the time when the vegetable begins to bloom. If you decide to use the first method, then you should punch holes in the garden at a distance of 30 cm from each other and pour humus into them. Seeds are sown to a depth of no more than 2 cm. From above they are sprinkled with ash and covered with a film. In a week you will be able to see the first sprouts.

Seed planting scheme

What to do and how to plant seeds in the country or in the garden to get a good harvest? It is necessary to choose the right time for sowing. The term for planting cabbage in the garden:

in the spring from and to April 20;
summer from July 19 to August 9.

Chinese cabbage seeds

Growing and caring for seedlings

If you want to get an early harvest, then "Beijing" for seedlings should be sown at the end of March. And if you want to enjoy the harvest in winter, then seedlings should be planted in the second half of June.

Loose soil is suitable for this plant, therefore it is best to use a mixture of humus (1 kg) with coconut substrate (2 kg) for sowing.

Seeds are immersed in the ground no more than 1 cm and placed in a dark and warm room. When the first sprouts appear after 3 days, they should be transferred to a lighted place.

You need to take care of Chinese cabbage no more than ordinary white or cauliflower.

Watering the seedlings is necessary when the top earthen clod dries out. However, 4 days before transplanting seedlings, watering is stopped.

In general, the sprouts will be ready for planting in a month, when they have 4 leaves.

cabbage seedling

Why not do a pick?

This plant does not like picking and takes root in a new place for a long time. Transplanting or planting seedlings with the preservation of the roots will not work. Settling into a new place will take a long time. Therefore, it is not recommended to dive - it is better to initially sow in separate containers or peat tablets.

When to plant outdoors

Before planting seedlings in open ground, it must be hardened off. To do this, young sprouts are taken out into the fresh air, first for a couple of hours, then the time spent on the street is gradually increased. When they are able to spend a day outside, then the seedlings will be ready for planting in a permanent place.

As for the soil for this vegetable, it should be well-drained and loose. Loamy soil would be an excellent option. In addition, a plant of this variety should not be planted in the place where tomatoes and beets used to grow.

The soil for planting such a wonderful variety begins to be prepared in the fall. To do this, they dig up the soil and add lime to it. When the soil is dug up in the spring, then humus is added to it.

Growing Chinese cabbage

How to grow and care for Beijing in a greenhouse

"Beijing" feels great in a greenhouse. However, for this it is necessary to strictly adhere to 2 rules:

Observe the temperature regime from 15 to 20 degrees - therefore, an unheated greenhouse will not work;
Humidity should be in the range of 70-80%.

If these norms are not observed, then a peduncle may form, and the plant will also be subject to various diseases.

The advantage of growing Beijing cabbage in a greenhouse is that you can independently regulate the length of daylight hours and maintain the optimum temperature. A greenhouse will also help protect your crops from frost. And if you have it heated, then you can grow this plant even in winter.

Chinese cabbage in a greenhouse

Care rules

This plant is very fond of moisture, coolness and light. Young shoots are especially sensitive to temperature changes and frosts. Therefore, in order to protect them and give them the opportunity to bloom, it is necessary to cover them with a non-woven fabric.

In addition, the canvas will also protect the vegetable from direct sunlight on especially hot days. It also helps to remove excess moisture and hide the sprouts from the cruciferous flea that loves to profit from it. It will also be useful to mulch the soil, which will retain moisture and prevent the appearance of weeds.

To get an excellent harvest, the vegetable must be watered once a week with warm water.

Feeding also has a fruitful effect on it. The first top dressing is carried out 14 days after planting in open ground.

Particularly useful are infusions of chicken manure, grass or mullein. A liter of such fertilizer is poured under each plant. If cabbage was planted in the spring, then top dressing must be carried out 3 times, and if in the summer, then 2 times.

If you want to get a good ovary, then it’s worth dropping 2 g of boric acid into a liter of hot water and 9 liters of cold water and treating the “Beijing” with this solution.

Covering planted seedlings

Harvest and storage

In order for the vegetable to lie in the cellar for as long as possible, it is better to give preference to varieties that are harvested in September. And also, the more leaves left with the head, the longer the plant will be stored. In addition, it will lie longer if it is placed in a room with high humidity. In addition, each head is well wrapped in plastic wrap. You should also inspect each head every 14 days, remove dried or rotten leaves.

In no case do not store "Peking" next to apples. They secrete a substance that causes the leaves of the plant to wilt.

Cabbage can also be stored in the refrigerator or on the balcony. The main thing is that condensation does not form on it, and the temperature does not fall less than 0 degrees.

In general, when storing cabbage on a balcony or refrigerator, you must follow the same rules as when storing in a cellar.

You should also know that the vegetable will lie in such conditions from 1 to 4 months. If you want it to lie longer, then you can use the following storage methods:

sourdough;
drying;
freezing.

Sauerkraut Chinese cabbage

The first way is sourdough. Is one of the most simple ways storage. The sourdough recipe is very simple: you need to pour 10 kg of slaw cabbage into 600 ml of water and add 100 mg of vinegar, 2 tsp each. salt and sugar, as well as 2 cloves of garlic squeezed through a press. Further, under pressure, all this should stand in a room with room temperature for about a day, and then 14 days in the cold.

To dry the “Peking”, it is cut into strips and placed in an oven heated to 100 degrees and the door is slightly opened. It will be ready in 4 hours, after which the dried vegetable is placed in cotton bags.

To freeze, shredded cabbage is thrown into salted boiling water for 3 minutes. After that, the vegetable is dried and frozen.

As you can see, Beijing cabbage is a wonderful plant that will look like a decoration on any table. Do not be afraid to take on the cultivation of Beijing, because it is not picky in care and is very useful. Therefore, each gardener should allocate a place in his summer cottage for Chinese cabbage.

Beijing cabbage is an extremely tasty and healthy product, which is why it is increasingly included in the diet. And thanks to its unpretentiousness, this vegetable is successfully grown in an ordinary garden, both by experienced gardeners and beginners. Let's see what kind of Beijing cabbage culture is, and how laborious it is to grow and care for it.

Beijing cabbage: cultivation and care, photos of seedlings and adult plants in the open field

The crop is stored for a long time without losing its properties, which means that stocking up Beijing cabbage for the winter is not a problem. In addition, they get as many as two crops per season, and for those who did not have time to plant cabbage in the spring, you can have time to do it in the summer.

Of course, like any culture, Beijing cabbage has its own “troubles” and whims, which, with due attention, are quite easy to deal with. It is only necessary to know and adhere to certain agricultural techniques.

Beijing cabbage can be grown both in seedlings and in seedlings. Naturally, the first method is preferable, but it is also possible to grow full-fledged cabbage with the second.

We grow healthy and strong seedlings of Chinese cabbage

Growing Pekinka cabbage using seedlings allows you to get a ready-to-eat vegetable earlier, since the seedlings ripen time is reduced, and it grows much faster. There are two times for sowing seeds for seedlings - either the end of March or the end of June. Since Pekinka is disgusting about picking, after which it does not always take root successfully, it is best to place the seeds immediately in separate containers, such as peat pots.

When planting, they pay special attention to the soil for seedlings - this vegetable loves a loose texture. You can use one of the options:

Humus + coconut substrate, in a ratio of 1: 2, respectively.
Peat + turf land, ratio 1:1.

The pots are filled with the chosen mixture option. Seeds are sunk into the soil by about 1 cm, no more. After a few days, if the containers with seedlings are kept in a dark place next to the battery, you can see the sprouts. After that, they are taken out into the light - put on the windowsill.

You should not “drink” the seedlings of Beijing cabbage; watering is done only after the soil from above begins to weather. After a month of such a regime, at least 4 leaves should appear at the sprout, and then it is ready for planting in open soils. It should be noted that before planting in the beds, seedlings are not watered for several days.

Planting Beijing cabbage with seeds directly in open ground

The place for planting this vegetable with a seedless method should be chosen correctly - it should have good lighting, in no case be in the shade - sheds, fences and other crops. In addition, planting in that part of the site where cucumbers, onions, garlic, and carrots were grown last year would be ideal.

The scheme of planting a vegetable is a 30 × 30 square. It is necessary to add ½ liter of humus to each dug hole, sprinkle with wood ash, and then shed well.

Beijing cabbage seeds are sunk into the soil a few centimeters, sprinkled with the same ash on top. After that, Beijing cabbage needs to arrange mini-greenhouses. It can be agrofibre, film, plastic bottles, any other suitable covering material. The first shoots can be expected in a week.

We observe the time of planting Beijing cabbage: get rid of the "flowering"

It often happens that Beijing cabbage, instead of forming a full-fledged head of cabbage, begins to grow up, throws out a peduncle. To avoid this, it is necessary to strictly observe the timing of its landing in open ground.

The fact is that the flowering of cabbage begins if the seedlings grow with a long daylight hours, so it is necessary to plant the sprouts when the daylight hours are still short or are already waning.

Therefore, the timing of planting cabbage is as follows:

Second half of April;
End of July - beginning of August.

With such observance, there should be no shooting. In addition, in order to avoid it, specially bred varieties are chosen that are more resistant to empty flowering, Dutch hybrids are especially distinguished among them.

As for ripening, even though Beijing cabbage is considered an early ripe vegetable, the varieties are divided into early, middle and late according to the timing. The first ones ripen after 1.5 months, the second ones need up to 2 months, and the maturation time of late varieties reaches 80 days.

After rooting cabbage in the open field, it is necessary to observe a comfortable mode for it, which consists in ensuring optimal humidity, temperature and light flow.

As for the temperature regime, in order to obtain a good harvest, it should vary from 15 to 20 degrees. Both lowering it and increasing it will reduce the likelihood of getting a healthy vegetable. Beijing cabbage is moisture-loving, but an excess of moisture can cause it to rot.

To provide the "Beijing" with the proper atmosphere, a non-woven fabric is often used to cover the plantings. It provides several conditions at once:

temperature constancy. Protects from drops, and from possible frosts that bring death to plantings. It also protects from the scorching sun, keeping the space inside cooler.
Humidity consistency. Protects both from excess (during the rainy season) and lack of moisture (accumulates and stores)
Pest protection. The most fierce enemy of Beijing cabbage is the cruciferous flea. It is much more difficult for a pest to find cabbage under a canvas.

To retain moisture and partially get rid of weeds, Beijing cabbage sprouts are treated with mulch, it is advisable to do this 2 weeks after planting.

During the entire period of maturation, "Peking" make top dressing:

10-14 days after planting seedlings in open ground, or after seedlings have appeared in open ground, pour a liter of mullein (diluted 1/10), or infusion of chicken manure (diluted 1/20) under each sprout, or herbal solution (diluted 1/9). The introduction of such dressings should be carried out two or three times during the growing process.
Top dressing with Borogum-M solution: 2 tablespoons of the drug are thoroughly mixed in 1 liter of water, and sprayed (foliar top dressing) 2-3 times during the growing season.

Chinese cabbage enemies and how to defeat them

Peking cabbage has two especially zealous pests - a cruciferous flea and slugs. Everyone knows that the best treatment- this is prevention, so be sure to:

observe the timing of planting vegetables (this is the time when the cruciferous flea has not yet appeared, or has already disappeared);
cover seedlings with a non-woven fabric, protecting them from pests;
observe crop rotation, i.e. do not plant where mustard or cabbage (and other types of cruciferous) have previously grown. After all, most often the pest larvae are in the soil in winter, always getting out in the spring.

The "war" with the cruciferous flea includes:

Processing plantings with ash and tobacco dust / Tabazole. The flea does not like such aromas.
Mixed landings. If you plant Chinese cabbage between tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, then the flea may be deceived and not find it.
Spraying with preparations such as "Fitoverm".
Chemistry (for the brave ones) - Aktara, Spark, Aktellik. They are used in hopeless situations, and no later than a week before the expected harvest of the vegetable.

Slugs are another scourge of Beijing. If the rainy season has come, then you may not have time to blink an eye, as the slugs will devour the plantings of Chinese cabbage clean.

To kill slugs, you can try:

Between the rows of cabbage, lay out boards and burdock leaves, under which pests like to gather. After some time, the boards and leaves are removed, and the slugs are destroyed manually.
Sprinkle cabbage with pre-prepared mixture. ½ liter of wood ash is taken, in which 2 tablespoons of salt are mixed, the same amount of crushed red pepper, and 1 tablespoon of mustard is added (in dry form).
Watering cabbage with water in which brilliant green is diluted (1 vial per 10 l).

What is the harvest time for Chinese cabbage for storage?

Beijing cabbage of early, spring planting is grown only for current consumption. But Beijing cabbage of the second crop (they are also called repeated crops) is perfectly stored, it can withstand colds of -4 degrees without damage to itself. That is why you should not rush to collect summer plantings, cabbage can be safely left until the second half of October. It is better to watch its readiness by touch - by the density of the head. It should be very dense, not loose.

In order for the cabbage to be successfully stored until the new year (and even after), each head of cabbage is wrapped with cling film before being sent for storage, or you can use a newspaper and a plastic bag, only in the latter version you will have to periodically check the newspaper so that the vegetable does not rot. Storage temperature +5 degrees.

Subject to all the rules for planting, growing, caring for and storing Chinese cabbage, a magnificent harvest is obtained that delights its owners almost all winter.

Source

For the first time, Beijing cabbage was introduced into culture in China, it was a very, very long time ago: according to some data, more than 4,000 years ago, according to others, more accurate, more than 5,500 years ago. This vegetable is very widely used in cooking, lends itself well to frying, stewing, cabbage is added to a variety of soups, consumed raw. From China, Beijing cabbage came to Korea, Japan, and the countries of Southeast Asia. It is interesting that in Europe they really “well” learned about Beijing cabbage only 60 years ago and are now grown in almost every garden, and of course, on an industrial scale, especially in America. Our article is about the features of growing Beijing cabbage.

Planting Chinese cabbage. © Menno C.

Description of Chinese cabbage
Features of growing Chinese cabbage
How to care for Chinese cabbage?
Beijing cabbage pests and their control
Chinese cabbage varieties

Description of Chinese cabbage

Peking cabbage is a completely unpretentious vegetable crop; during the warm period, it may well bestow a vegetable grower with not one, but a couple of crops. The advantage of Beijing cabbage is that it is not so difficult to grow it, and even novice gardeners usually cope with this.

Peking cabbage care is simple, it is not a capricious culture, it grows very actively, it is well preserved, it is different useful properties and good taste.

Beijing cabbage looks like a cross between white cabbage and lettuce, but it still belongs to the cabbage family. The head of this cabbage is not elastic, like white cabbage, it is elongated and has quite a lot of oblong and wrinkled light green leaf blades.

The use of Beijing cabbage in cooking

Due to its very pleasant taste, Beijing cabbage is often used as a salad plant. The leaves are not only eaten fresh, but often serve simply as a decoration for dishes, as if emphasizing the taste of cooked food. Beijing cabbage contains a large amount of fiber useful for the stomach and intestines, a whole complex of minerals and vitamins.

There are a lot of dishes from Beijing cabbage or with its use, entire cookbooks are published, where in each recipe the main ingredient is Beijing cabbage.

Features of growing Chinese cabbage

Beijing cabbage, in addition to the advantages described above, has many others: it is very early ripening, it takes from 45 (early varieties), 60 (mid-ripening varieties), to 80 (late varieties) days to harvest Beijing cabbage.

Beijing cabbage also has its own problems: in addition to the enemies, which we will definitely talk about below, it is a tendency to form arrows with flowers, which then produce seeds. Even when sowing seeds (not seedlings), cabbage can throw out an arrow and bloom; Naturally, there can no longer be any talk of any refined taste or presentation in this case.

How to avoid shooting Chinese cabbage?

In order for Beijing cabbage to forget about flowering, seedlings should be planted or seeds of this plant should be sown at a certain, most suitable time. Usually Beijing cabbage “goes” into the arrow when the daylight hours are very long; therefore, it is necessary to sow seeds and plant seedlings when the daylight hours are short - this is the very middle of spring, that is, April or the middle of summer, closer to the beginning of August.

It seems that the daylight hours during this period are quite long, but believe me that these are optimal periods for cabbage, and it will not throw arrows.

What is the best way to grow Chinese cabbage - seeds or seedlings?

By the way, we mentioned that Beijing cabbage can be grown in two ways: by direct sowing of seeds into the ground and through seedlings, that is, by first growing it indoors and then planting it in the ground. We can immediately say that the cultivation of Beijing cabbage by sowing seeds in the ground is also good way, but it is desirable to use it for residents of the southern regions, while residents of the central and cooler regions must first take care of growing seedlings. But we will definitely tell in this material about both methods of growing Beijing cabbage.

Seedlings of Chinese cabbage. © Sao Mai Center

Growing Chinese cabbage through seedlings

Let's start with growing through seedlings. What is important and what should be remembered? Firstly, seeds for seedlings can be sown twice a year, that is, the first time around mid-March or a couple of days later and the second time around mid-June, but with a shift towards July also by a couple of days.

The second harvest of Beijing cabbage (summer) is usually stored better than the first. Remember: the culture is capricious in terms of picking and it is sick for a long time on the planted area, it takes root slowly, so we would advise you to sow the seeds immediately in peat-humus pots, from which a transplant is not required. The pots decompose in the soil when planted in the ground, thereby the root system is not injured, and the seedlings take root faster.

It is better to fill the pots with a mixture of completely rotted organic matter, soddy soil, river sand and garden soil in equal proportions with the addition of 500 g of wood ash per 10 kg of substrate. When sowing Beijing cabbage, lightly water the soil and bury the seed by a centimeter, no more. Next - place the pots with seeds in a room with room temperature (+20 ... + 22 ° C).

If you want the seeds of Beijing cabbage to sprout quickly, then before sowing for a day, soak them in gauze moistened with any safe growth regulator - Epin, Heteroauxin and the like, and then place the pots of seeds on the bottom of the box and cover the food box film.

Try not to change the temperature in the room, spray the surface of the soil in pots from the spray gun, preventing it from drying out. If you do everything right, then in four days, and sometimes even earlier, shoots of Beijing cabbage will appear. Immediately after their appearance, the film must be removed, and the containers placed on the southern windowsill.

Caring for seedlings of Beijing cabbage consists in watering (taking into account soil moisture) and providing plants with daylight hours equal to 12-13 hours, no more. For additional lighting, LED lamps are well suited.

After the appearance of four or five well-developed leaves, which is usually observed in Beijing cabbage after 25-30 days, seedlings (after one week of hardening) can be planted on the site.

Hardening is an important stage, it consists in the gradual adaptation of plants to more severe conditions. Great if you have an enclosed balcony or veranda. When the plants form the appropriate number of leaves, the seedlings can be taken out there for a couple of hours, the next day the time the seedlings stay on the balcony or terrace can be doubled, and so bring this time up to a day.

After hardening, Beijing cabbage can be planted on the beds, for this you need to pick up a loose bed, always well lit, without stagnation of irrigation water. When planting, be sure to take into account those crops that previously grew in this garden bed, for example, Chinese cabbage grows remarkably after onions, garlic, carrots and potatoes, but after cruciferous plants it is bad.

Growing Chinese cabbage without seedlings

To do this, you first need to prepare the soil, however, as when planting seedlings in open ground, dig a shovel for a full bayonet, break up lumps, loosen, after making sure that before that the bed was occupied by worthy predecessors, or the soil was fallowed.

After the beds are placed in a well-lit place, devoid of any, even a small shadow, it is necessary to sow the seeds of Beijing cabbage in holes or grooves, deepening each centimeter by two, no more. After sowing, it is advisable to water the soil either with a spray gun or from a watering can, but with a nozzle that has very small holes.

Important! Be sure to place the seeds and plant the seedlings of Beijing cabbage at the optimal distance, usually 35 cm between plants and 40 cm between rows.

If you sow Beijing cabbage in dry weather, then after watering the soil surface, in order to retain moisture as much as possible, you need to lightly sprinkle it with wood ash, stove ash or soot. If cool weather is observed and there may even be frosts, then the crops must be covered with a transparent film. When sowing seeds in the soil of open ground, seedlings will have to wait twice as long as when sowing in peat-humus cups.

Seedlings of Beijing cabbage planted in the garden. © Charles Dowding How to care for Chinese cabbage?

So, we found out - Beijing cabbage prefers a relatively short day, but loves to grow in a well-lit place, loves plenty of water in the soil and tolerates well, one might even say - loves coolness. If it is cold outside for summer - from +16 to +19 ° С, then for Beijing cabbage this is just right. Yields can be drastically reduced heat, when "burdocks" grow, and low, when cabbage corny does not grow.

Given all this, we advise you to immediately stock up on non-woven covering material and stiff wire arcs and, if it is cold, cover the plants. Such an impromptu greenhouse can protect cabbage from sudden temperature changes, slightly increase the air temperature or lower it a little - accordingly, the shelter must be installed for the night or for the day. AT summer periods, characterized by excessive rainfall, such a shelter can save Beijing cabbage from rot, because, as we have already said, it loves plenty of moisture, but not its excess.

When caring for Beijing cabbage, loosening the soil, without waiting for the formation of a soil crust, make sure that weeds are removed in a timely manner. It is better to remove them with your hands after rain or watering the soil, then they are pulled out with the maximum number of roots.

After removing the weeds, the soil can be mulched with a centimeter layer of wood ash, stove ash or stove soot, but ordinary dry soil can also be used. You can start loosening the soil and mulching approximately 25-30 days after germination or 15-20 days after planting seedlings.

Important! When irrigating Beijing cabbage, try to use rainwater.

Peking cabbage simply loves it: put a barrel of 300 liters under the drain and paint it black, then the water will warm up in a day, that is, the benefits of watering will be double. You can water it either every other day, but little by little, about 2-3 liters per square meter, or once a week, but pouring a bucket of water per square meter.

Chinese cabbage dressing

How many times it is necessary to feed Beijing cabbage depends directly on the time of planting seedlings or sowing seeds in open ground. If seedlings of Beijing cabbage (or sowing seeds) were planted (carried out) in the spring, then it is better to carry out three top dressings; and if in the summer, then two will be enough.

Fertilizers are best applied in the form dissolved in water. As fertilizers, you can use nitroammofoska (a tablespoon per bucket of water, the norm is 2-3 liters per square meter), or a variety of natural infusions.

For example, you can fertilize plants with mullein, diluting it ten times, after which, after insisting for a couple of days, start watering with this solution - two liters are enough per square meter. An infusion of bird droppings is suitable, only it needs to be diluted 20 times and let it brew for three days, the consumption rate is the same. Beijing cabbage responds well to an infusion of weeds, especially nettles - you need to mow about a kilogram of fresh, young nettles and pour a bucket of water, let it brew for a week, dilute it twice and you can water it, spending five liters of this infusion per square meter.

If you want Beijing cabbage to form a dense ovary, then use an infusion of boric acid. For its preparation, it is necessary to literally dissolve a gram and a half of boric acid in a bucket of water and let it brew for a day, then fill the spray bottle and process the plants directly on the foliage in the evening.

Beijing cabbage in the garden. © Raised Garden Bed Chinese cabbage pests and their control

Now let's talk about the most notorious pests of Beijing cabbage; in our opinion, these are cruciferous flea and slugs. Since Beijing cabbage is often eaten in fresh, and it ripens quite quickly, we would not recommend the use of pesticides, but we advise you to use folk remedies fight.

First of all, these are:

compliance with crop rotation (no cruciferous to Beijing cabbage should not grow in the garden);
adherence to the landing time, which we wrote about;
the use of shelters that will reliably protect from pests;
the use of ash (wood or stove) or soot (any of these compounds, as soon as shoots are formed or immediately after planting seedlings, it is permissible to lightly powder the soil).

Before winter, always dig up the soil to a full bayonet of a shovel without breaking clods, and although pest larvae are very tenacious, most of them will die from frost.

Sometimes even joint plantings help against pests, for example, often they do not touch tender cabbage leaves if cucumbers, tomatoes or onions with garlic grow nearby.

In the most extreme case, at least 25 days before cutting the crop, it is permissible to use insecticides, only permitted and strictly following the instructions on the package, but we advise you to try first treating the cabbage with biological preparations such as Bitoxibacillin, sometimes it helps well.

Now about slugs, they also do a lot of harm to Beijing cabbage, literally devouring it. Slugs "act" in the dark, and sometimes gardeners do not even understand who could do this with cabbage.

Slugs can be exterminated in a variety of ways. One of the simplest is the placement of planks, pieces of slate, plastic, roofing felt on the surface of the soil where Chinese cabbage grows. As a rule, after a night feast, slugs seek refuge for themselves, and such elements on the site seem to be a very reliable home for them. In the morning, you can clean up everything that you spread out yesterday and collect the slugs that have accumulated under shelters.

Another option is a wild mixture of wood ash - 250-300 g and hot pepper - about a tablespoon. This composition can be sprinkled on the soil around the Beijing cabbage, before rain or watering, it helps, but then this procedure has to be repeated.

Gardeners also note the effectiveness of the usual “greenery”, just one bubble is enough for a bucket of water and this amount is about five square meters of soil.

Cleaning and storage of Chinese cabbage

Beijing cabbage is a rather cold-resistant crop, frosts down to -2 ... -3 ° C are not at all afraid of it, it continues to grow and develop as if nothing had happened. Often, gardeners carry out the second cleaning in mid-October in the center of Russia and in mid-November in its southern regions.

When sowing or planting Beijing cabbage in the spring, you need to harvest the cabbage, focusing on the state of the head: as soon as it becomes dense, and naturally, a period of time typical for this variety passes, then the cabbage can be harvested by cutting.

Important! We would like to remind you once again that it is Beijing cabbage of the summer sowing or planting period that will be stored, spring cabbage should be eaten fresh or put into processing as soon as possible.

Beijing cabbage of the summer sowing or planting period is well stored at a humidity of 80-85% and a temperature of + 4 ... + 6 ° С. Sometimes it is simply wrapped in cling film and placed in the refrigerator, so it also keeps for a long time.

Chinese cabbage varieties

By the way, since we have already mentioned the varieties, let's very briefly name the novelties of Beijing cabbage, the most famous seed manufacturers and at the same time guide you, dear readers, in terms of its ripening.

So, Chinese cabbage varieties early, this is:

"Medalist" (Poisk agricultural firm, head weight up to 1.6 kg);
"Shanghai" (Aelita agricultural firm, head weight up to 1.3 kg);
"Sentyabrina" (agricultural company "SeDeK", head weight up to 1.1 kg);
"Miss China" (agricultural company "SeDeK", head weight up to 1.0 kg);
“Spring Beauty” (SeDeK agricultural firm, head weight up to 2.0 kg);
“Autumn Jade” (SeDeK agricultural firm, head weight up to 2.9 kg);
"Naina" (agricultural company "SeDeK", head weight up to 3.0 kg);
"Lyubasha" (Poisk agricultural firm, head weight up to 2.1 kg).

Average ripening varieties of Beijing cabbage:

"Harbin" (agricultural firm "Gavrish", head weight up to 1.8 kg);
"Aikido" (agricultural firm "Gavrish", head weight up to 2.0 kg);
"Orange Heart" (agricultural company "SeDeK", head weight up to 1.5 kg);
"Grenade" (agricultural company "SeDeK", head weight up to 2.3 kg);
"Autumn Beauty" (SeDeK agricultural firm, head weight up to 2.4 kg).

And late variety of Chinese cabbage:

“Spring Jade” (SeDeK agricultural firm, head weight up to 3.0 kg).

Do you grow Chinese cabbage? What sort of? And what interesting dishes do you like to cook from it? Share your experience in the comments to the article!

Now many gardeners cultivate Chinese cabbage. The leaf plates of this type of plant have great nutritional and healing properties for the entire human body. China is considered the birthplace of this wonderful vegetable.

Beijing cabbage in our regions can be grown both in an open garden and in a greenhouse.

Chinese cabbage - description

Beijing cabbage belongs to the cabbage family. It was first cultivated in northern China. Now it has spread literally all over the world, as it has great useful properties. This type of culture has three of its varieties:

Semi-headed.
Headed.
Sheet.

It is a biennial plant, but all grow it as an annual. Cabbage forms a rosette of tender tasty leaves with a clearly visible central vein. The edges of the leaf plates are wavy, and their color is white-yellow-green.

Beneficial features

It is very good that all useful trace elements and vitamins are stored in cabbage for a long time. And therefore, the regular use of Beijing cabbage leaves will help get rid of such diseases:

avitaminosis;
stomach ulcer;
cleanses the blood;
removes toxins;
improves metabolism in the human body.

But it should be remembered that it is necessary to eat it, albeit regularly, but in small quantities, as an addition to the main type of food.

Growing Chinese cabbage from seeds

This delicious vegetable It is sold very often in the vegetable departments of supermarkets and simple stores. But it is always more interesting to get your own crop of this cabbage, which is more reminiscent of lettuce leaves, which will be superior in taste and the presence of vitamins.

When to sow Beijing cabbage for seedlings

The date of planting Chinese cabbage seeds in the soil is different for each region. Take for example the middle part of Russia. Here it is necessary to plant crop seeds for the production of seedlings in the first 10-12 days of April. Then gardeners living in the south should move the dates 2 weeks earlier than this period, and gardeners living at the latitude of the Moscow Region will plant seeds no earlier than April 20th.

The dates vary due to the fact that spring comes earlier in the south and it is warm enough for the May holidays to plant cabbage seedlings in open ground without fear of return frosts. At the same time, night cooling in the Moscow region can be even at the beginning of summer, therefore, when planting young cabbage sprouts on an open bed there, one must have a shelter at hand that can save the planted seedlings from a drop in temperature. It is recommended that all manipulations for planting seedlings be performed on the growing moon, this will accelerate their germination.

Cabbage gardeners can sow in two terms. The second time, gardeners are planted in early July to get a second crop from the garden in the summer. The second autumn harvest of cabbage can be eaten for a long time.

IMPORTANT! Right choice seeds is their purchase in specialized stores from trusted manufacturers, otherwise the output when harvesting will result in a crop that does not match the variety.

Growing seedlings of Chinese cabbage

In order to start growing seedlings of Beijing cabbage, in addition to proven seeds, you must have with you:

peat tablets or containers 200 gr.;
soil specially created for growing seedlings, purchased at a specialized store.

You can also compose the earth mixture yourself, taking in equal proportions:

Turf land.
humus.

The self-made earth needs to be disinfected, for this it is placed for a day in the freezer of the refrigerator. Then fill cups with drainage holes with soil and moisten with warm water. Seeds, when planted in the ground, are lowered at least 1 cm, and in increments of 3 cm. Such pots are placed in one container for ease of transfer and turning with different sides to the light and placed in a warm, dark place.

Live seeds begin to hatch already on the 3rd day. After that, the seedlings are taken out to diffused sunlight. Watering is done as 1/3 of the earth in a cup dries out. Watering is done with carefully settled water from a syringe or a tablespoon so as not to wash small sprouts out of the ground. At the moment when there are 5 true leaf plates on the sprouts, it will be ready for planting on the prepared bed.

IMPORTANT! Before planting seedlings in open ground, it must be hardened for 10 days. This will help her to easily acclimatize to a new place.

Peking cabbage pick

Cabbage does not tolerate picking, but this does not mean that it should not be done. Therefore, as soon as the seedlings form two true leaves, it is necessary to start diving.

Only well-developed seedlings are suitable for diving, and the sick are rejected and thrown out. They are selected and transplanted. The container should not exceed a volume of 250 gr. and be filled with nutritious and loose earth. After transplanting, the seedlings are carefully watered and exposed to a warm place where the air temperature will be at least 20 degrees Celsius. After transplantation, after 5 days, it is necessary to gradually reduce the air temperature to +16. This is done in order to prevent the growing seedlings from stretching.

IMPORTANT! In order for the seedlings to stand on a sunny windowsill after diving, otherwise it will have to be illuminated with special incandescent lamps.

How to properly plant seedlings of Chinese cabbage at home

Lovers of this cabbage, who do not have land, have a great opportunity to grow it on their windowsill. Beijing cabbage is a vegetable that prefers a short daylight hours, and therefore, even in winter, it will not need to be illuminated with lamps. Harvest can be obtained a month after seed germination.

Cabbage varieties that can be grown on the southern windowsill or closed loggia:

Spring.
Vesnyanka.
Khibiny.
Lenok.

The technique for planting seeds is the same as for open ground. The only difference is that the finished seedlings are planted not in open ground, but in a container with a volume of at least 3 liters. For this you can apply:

plastic bottles;
flower pots;
juice tetra packs.

IMPORTANT! So that containers intended for growing cabbage have drainage holes for draining excess water after watering.

Cabbage planting technique:

Seeds are planted in peat tablets.
When they grow up enough, they are planted in a container of the appropriate size, filled with nutritious and loose earth.
Well shed with settled water.

Further care will consist of timely watering and fertilizers.

How to transplant seedlings of Chinese cabbage in open ground

Before planting seedlings, she needs to harden off. She is gradually accustomed to the open air, taking her out into the air first for 1.5 hours and exposing her in the shade. On the 10th day, gradually increasing the walking time of the cabbage, it will be possible to leave it overnight. Before planting, cabbage sprouts are well watered. They plant her in the evening so that it is easier for her to adapt to a new place.

Seedlings are planted in late April or early July, digging holes according to the 30x45 cm pattern, where 45 cm is the distance between the rows. It is necessary to ensure that there are no more than 13 sprouts per 1 m 2. In each hole, before planting the crop, put 1 teaspoon of fertilizer:

nitrophoska;
urea.

The entire bed is watered with hoses, and the planting of cabbage sprouts begins, at the same time making sure not to cut off the roots of the seedlings. This will be the first summer cabbage harvest.

In June, you can plant a crop using seeds. To do this, prepare the mother's bed and plant the seeds, deepening the seeds by 3 cm when planting, the row spacing should be 15 cm.

How to get a big harvest of Beijing cabbage in the open field

When planting early, you need to have a non-woven material ready, which, if necessary, can cover the beds - this will help the seedlings survive both frosts and dry winds. Shelter is made for the first 15 days after planting cabbage.
Under cover, Chinese cabbage forms larger and tighter heads.
After a while, the shelter is removed, and the beds are mulched with dry straw.
Cabbage is a plant that responds well to watering and is done rarely once a week, but it should be plentiful. Since moisture will help form the leafy plates of Chinese cabbage.
Watering is done so as not to fall on the leaf plates, best time watering it's evening.
After each watering or rain, weeding should be done while removing weeds.
Nobody canceled top dressing, and they are carried out in stages:

the first, 10 days after planting the sprouts, with rotted manure or other nitrogen fertilizer.

IMPORTANT! Fertilize only one of the three dressings, and not all at once. And all fertilizers are applied only after watering on moist soil, so that the root system of the plant does not burn out.

The second top dressing is carried out with boric acid, which serves as an excellent additive for the formation of cabbage heads. It is made foliar and in the evening.

If you follow these rules and do not leave the garden with cabbage unattended, then this will significantly increase the yield of vegetables.

Beijing cabbage is a cold-resistant, annual vegetable crop. The vegetation period does not exceed 2 months, from sowing seeds to the formation of a full-fledged head of cabbage. Growing Beijing cabbage in your own beds will provide the whole family with vitamins.

Upon reaching commercial qualities, depending on the variety, it may have:

cylindrical;
short oval;
long oval;
dense or loose head of cabbage.

The average leaf length is 25 cm. The structure and color of the leaf blades can also vary significantly. The color range is from rich green to light green, the structure is slightly swollen and wrinkled.

Beijing cabbage is grown on all types of protected and open ground as a compactor for tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, white cabbage or as an independent crop.

How to grow Chinese cabbage

Gardeners with experience and beginners are often tormented by issues related to growing new, unusual crops. Beijing cabbage, in this regard, is no exception. Here are just a few of them:

How to grow Beijing cabbage in the open field?
Is it possible to feed plants during the growing season?
Which is better seedlings or seeds?
How and when to water?

Seedlings or seeds

Which way, seedlings or seeds, to plant Chinese cabbage depends on individual conditions:

where and how the plant will develop:, in the open field;
what is the average length of the day, planting time (spring, end of summer).

When planting and cultivating Beijing cabbage in hot and / or dry times, the plant quickly turns into color and no heads are formed. In addition, the culture begins to actively produce arrows even in excessive light, including during long white nights, which are typical for some northern regions, as well as Siberia.

Greenhouse

Sowing of seeds is carried out in March, early April, late July, as well as in the first decade of August. Sowing scheme 20 × 40 cm. For planting in other time periods, only universal varieties are suitable, mainly hybrids, such as "Chinese Selective", "Lyubasha", "Naina F1";

Planting seedlings is carried out at the same time as the seeds, but since the plant has already passed the initial stage of growth (the formation of roots, the appearance of the first leaves), the crop can be harvested much earlier. Landing pattern 30 × 50 cm.

You can not sow seeds or plant seedlings of cabbage after harvesting any cruciferous crops: radish, turnip, mustard, radish, as they are affected by common pests and diseases.

open ground

Sowing seeds is done after the soil warms up, as a rule, this happens in early May. To obtain an autumn harvest, sowing can begin in the second decade of July. Seed pre-soaking is not required. The sowing scheme when grown as a lettuce crop is 20 × 20 cm, if it is necessary to form a head of cabbage - 35 × 35 cm, 50 × 50 cm. The seeding rate is 4 g per 10 m². The best results are obtained when sowing seeds on ridges with their deepening into the soil by 10–15 mm.

Transplanting seedlings into the ground is carried out in early May. The planting scheme is 30 × 50 cm. When planting, it is necessary to carefully monitor that the root system is not damaged in any way, to facilitate this process, agricultural technicians recommend growing Beijing cabbage seedlings in separate peat pots or containers, from which you can easily get the plant without deforming the root earth clod.

To obtain high yields, it is necessary to monitor the compliance of the selected variety with the time period for planting, i.e., the early ones must be planted in the spring, and the later ones closer to autumn and not vice versa.

Chinese cabbage care

Caring for Beijing cabbage, as well as for any vegetable crop, consists of watering, weeding and plant nutrition.

To obtain good yields, an optimal balance between air temperature and humidity regime is extremely important. This statement is especially true during the formation of a head of cabbage and a rosette.

Air temperature:

during the day from 15 to 19 ° C;
at night not below 8 °C.

Air humidity:

on a cloudy day 70%;
sunny day 80%;
at night about 80%.

Soil moisture 65%.

If these requirements are not met, the leaves are often affected by various diseases, such as gray, white and black rot. As a result, the plant does not develop normally and head formation does not occur.

Despite the fact that the culture needs well-moistened soil, it does not tolerate stagnant water.

Food

Beijing cabbage prefers fertile soil, which contains a large amount of nitrogen and calcium. But even if the garden land is poor in organic matter and trace elements, it does not matter.

The plant responds well to various top dressings of both natural origin (mullein) and to feeding with complex fertilizers:

Autumn - for each m² it is necessary to add 4.5 kg of manure, 1.5 dessert spoons of double superphosphate and 2.5 dessert. spoons of potassium sulfate. In the absence of the last component, it can be replaced with ordinary wood ash at the rate of a 1-liter jar per 1 m² of soil;
Before planting, a solution prepared from bird droppings (water 10 l and ½ kg of droppings) or from eggshells (30 g of crushed shells insist 2 days in 5 l of water) is introduced. If, for some reason, fertilizers were not added to the soil in autumn, then before planting, during spring digging, potassium sulfate, superphosphate and ammonium nitrate must be added, each component is taken in the amount of 1 tbsp. l. for every m².

Beijing cabbage has a high ability to accumulate nitrates, so fertilizing during the growing season is not recommended. All fertilizers must be applied before the plant is planted on the site.

- in dry weather, it is necessary to water daily, it is better to do this by sprinkling, in this case the plants receive the necessary amount of moisture and at the same time, waterlogging of the soil does not occur.

Beijing cabbage pests and methods of dealing with them

In fact, there are not so many pests that infect Chinese cabbage:

cruciferous flea;
slugs
cabbage butterfly;
cruciferous bug.

Considering that the culture has the ability to accumulate harmful substances in itself, non-chemical preparations are most acceptable for pest control. Folk methods are preferred, which, with regular use, give excellent results:

Planting a crop between rows of tomato, onion or garlic significantly reduces the activity of the cruciferous flea. As a stronger agent, it is recommended to spray plants and soil between rows with a special solution. To prepare it, you need to take green potato and tomato tops. Each component is 200 g and 2 large heads of garlic. Grind all the ingredients and let it brew for about a day. Beijing cabbage photo, which is below, is planted exactly according to this principle - between two beds of onions.
Careful and systematic removal of weeds also prevents damage to plants by cruciferous flea.
After the appearance of cabbage butterflies in the garden, it is necessary to examine the lower surface of the leaves as often as possible. When clutches are found, pest eggs are destroyed. This method, although time-consuming, but gives good results, significantly reduces the likelihood of caterpillars.