When to plant cabbage on seedlings at home
 Planting cabbage seedlings

Today, cabbage is among the most important and necessary garden crops. It is grown from seedlings at home. The planting dates and proper home care for the latter largely ensure the quality of the future harvest. Unfortunately, purchased seedlings often leave much to be desired, and they were grown despite all the technologies. Unknown from what planting material. That is why it is best to plant and grow cabbage on your own, personally controlling the entire process. And this article will show a step by step process.

Early and late dates for planting cabbage seedlings

Terms of sowing seeds can vary significantly depending on the specific region and its climatic conditions. As a rule, they begin to engage in this business in the second half of March. In May, it is usually too late. However, it is necessary to take into account the features of the selected varieties, as well as the time of ripening. Often gardeners resort to tricks and do not sow all the material at once, but do it gradually (over a few days). This allows you to extend the period of harvest.

Cabbage grows fast enough. When sowing early cabbage, it must be borne in mind that it must be planted at a constant place of growth at the age of 30 to 40 days. For mid-season varieties, this period is somewhat longer - 40-50 days, and for late ripening it may even be 2 months. In addition, up to 1 week seedlings need to germinate. For another 1 week, rooting of transplanted seedlings will take place. Thus, it is possible to accurately calculate the time when to plant cabbages specifically for your region.

 Planting Cabbage Seeds
Planting cabbage seeds in boxes

Favorable days for planting cabbage on the lunar calendar

There are certain days in the lunar calendar, in which it is best to sow cabbage. It is believed that if you carry out all the procedures at this time, then the plant will grow better, get sick less and will give an excellent harvest.

For each type of cabbage, as well as with respect to the time of its ripening, the lunar calendar has certain favorable days in each month. It is associated with a specific phase of the moon. This calendar changes annually. In 2017 there are such good days:

White and red, savoy cabbage, kohlrabi:

January 13 to 19, 21, 22
February 9, from 11 to 15, 18, 19
March From 10 to 13, 16, 17, 20, 21
April 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18

Red:

April 22, from 26 to 28
May 8, 9, 15, 19, 24, 25
June 2, 11, 16.

Picking Broccoli:

January 13-19, 21, 22
February 9, 11-15, 18, 19
March 10-13, 16, 17
April 8, 9, 12, 13

Broccoli without picks

January 4-8, 31
February 1-6, 27-29
March 1-5, 25-29, 31
April 1, 4, 5, 23-29

Planting of Beijing cabbage:

June 1-3, 21-30
July 22, 23-28, 31
August 1, 19-24, 27-29

Successful for early cabbage are March 15, 25 and 26, for the medium one - 1, 2, and also April 7-10. As for the late varieties, they are sown in the same period as the average.During the full moon or new moon period, it is not possible to sow at all.

 The emergence of the first shoots
The emergence of the first shoots

How can I plant cabbage on seedlings in the ground in May

Cabbage is considered an unpretentious culture. But the future harvest depends on the care and availability of practical skills of growing seedlings. So that he was not scanty, it is necessary to choose the right soil, as well as create the most comfortable conditions for plant growth.

Preparation of soil mixture to sow and grow seedlings

Absolutely all types of cabbage love loose soil. That is why it is necessary to introduce peat into its composition. It can be mixed with sand, as well as humus or rotting compost. Wood ash can also be added to the mix.

Soil for planting seedlings can be purchased as ready in the store, and prepare their own. Only after the mixture is obtained, it must be disinfected. Ways for this mass. The most common, affordable and simple - it is to ignite in the oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

Sometimes a microwave is used for the above procedure, turning it on at full capacity and keeping up the time for 5 minutes.
 Soil mixture for cabbage
Soil mixture for cabbage should be loose mixed with peat

Presowing seed preparation at home and the required temperature

Now let's talk about the instructions on how to care for the seeds before planting. No matter what kind of cabbage you are going to plant, preliminary preparation of seeds will be the same. The first thing they need to sort and select those whose diameter is at least 1.5 mm. After that, the gauze is taken, folded in three layers and the selected seeds are wrapped in it.

The resulting bundle is immersed in a thermos with water warmed to 45-50 degrees, kept there for 15 minutes. Then the seeds in gauze are dipped for a couple of minutes in cold water, removed and left in a damp cloth for another two days.

If the seeds were purchased in a specialized store, then most likely, they have already gone through all the stages of preliminary preparation and do not need it anymore. The only thing recommended to do is to hold them for a couple of days in a wet gauze. This procedure will accelerate the emergence of seedlings in the future, since the seeds will be already well swollen and ready to give the first shoots.

 Cabbage seeds
Cabbage seeds must be the right size with no visible defects.

Step-by-step seeding technique at home

Seeds are sown regardless of whether you plan to dive seedlings or not. If planned, then sow can be in a common box or another suitable container.

If a picking is not planned, then seeding is done immediately in separate containers (pots or cups, peat tablets).

When choosing a method with a pick, you must prepare the boxes with a depth of at least 4 centimeters. They poured a layer of prepared soil mixture, the thickness of which is 3-4 centimeters. At a distance of 3 centimeters from each other make small grooves with a depth of about 1 centimeter. They sow cabbage seeds, the distance between which should also be about 1 centimeter. At the end of sowing sprinkled with earth.

 Planting cabbage
Planting cabbage

Proper care of planted seeds

After the cabbage has been sown, the container is placed on a well-lit window sill. The minimum air temperature in the room should be within 18-20 degrees. After 5 days, the first shoots should appear. After that the box is moved to the most well-lit place. The temperature should be reduced to 10-12 degrees.Otherwise, the seedlings will be strongly drawn out.

Initially, the seedlings do not add much to the growth, but then the pace increases significantly. Three weeks later, the third leaf begins to appear. It should be noted that the temperature regime for cauliflower should be increased by 6 degrees in comparison with other varieties.

Cabbage seedlings are very demanding for lighting. In the spring, when it is still dark and late in the morning, you need to take care of additional lighting. This can be done with the help of LED or fitolampy. Light day in this way should be at least 12 hours.

Incandescent lamps can not be used, because of the light of their use almost no, but the air is additionally heated.

It is necessary to water landing as the top layer of soil dries. Lack or excess of moisture can destroy the seedlings. To avoid this, the soil should be periodically loosened. Watering is done only with separated water heated to room temperature.

 After the seedlings have risen and grown, they are transplanted into the ground at a permanent place.
After the seedlings have risen and grown, they are transplanted into the ground at a permanent place.

As the seedlings grow, they need additional feeding.A week after the picking, you can make a solution of ammonium nitrate, potash fertilizer and superphosphate in a ratio of 2: 1: 4 grams per 1 liter of water. After another couple of weeks, you can re-feed, but the amount of fertilizer per liter of water is doubled. If necessary, a few additional feeding is carried out a few days before disembarking on the bed. The proportions are the same as for the first.

Before you sit cabbage, it must be well tempered. To do this, every day it is carried out for several hours in the open air and under the open sunlight. The first takeaway is done for an hour, and then the time increases. Before disembarking, you can leave the boxes for the whole day. Watering is stopped one week before transplanting to a garden bed, but in no case should plants be allowed to wilt.

Growing your own seedlings is troublesome, but it is fully justified. Only in this way you can get a strong and healthy seedlings of a particular variety, as well as harden it well and properly prepare to plant in open ground. Often, buying a ready-made crop on the market, we notice that it has been ill for a long time, is not taking root well and does not subsequently produce the proper harvest. Yes, and with a grade you can miss.Own seedlings can be grown according to the rules, harden and get the best result in terms of yield. Yes, and it looks initially at times better than the purchase.