Cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open field: useful advice

Peking cabbage in Russia by popularity has already become equal with its distant relative - white cabbage, and by some indicators it became the leader. So, it is not necessary to plant seedlings, you can do with seeds, which greatly simplifies the cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground. The second important advantage is that it forms heads much faster, that is, you do not need to wait for autumn to harvest. The third wonderful quality of this vegetable is that it can be used for salads, for hot dishes, and for pickles, which has already been appreciated by thousands of culinary specialists. Usually Peking cabbage is not capricious, but for some gardeners instead of forming heads, it throws out only the inflorescence that is not necessary to anyone. What's the matter? What secrets do you need to know in order to get a good harvest?

Beijing or Chinese?

Cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground, with a few simple conditions, even for beginners in the garden business. Some difficulties can arise only at the very first stage - the purchase of seeds, because sometimes on bags sold in all specialized stores, you can see different names and the same picture of the vegetable. Everyone knows that Beijing is the capital of China. Therefore, it is logical that the Chinese cabbage and Chinese cabbage are one and the same, however there are two varieties of this vegetable. One - lettuce, or bok-choi, the other - a generative head, or pet-sai. Bok-choi does not form heads, only leaves formed by a rosette around the main kidney. For the sake of these leaves, unusually useful from the position of medicine, it is cultivated. In Russia it is bok-choi most often called Chinese cabbage, and pet-say - Peking. It is also useful for health. So, it has a lot of vitamins A, C, B, PP, there are carotene, lemon and ascorbic acid, important proteins for the human body.

Biological Description

To cultivate Peking cabbage in the open ground did not bring unexpected surprises, we will get acquainted with the appearance of this vegetable. If all the norms of sowing and care are met, the crop is a loose oblong head with a length of up to 35 cm. At the base, each leaf has a large fleshy central vein, whitish in color. Its shape is often triangular, and the dimensions are such that they make up about 20% of the leaf or more. The rest of it is rather tender, pale-lime, less often green or rich green, slightly convex, with uneven edges. In the cut, the head is yellowish-green. Seeds of Peking cabbage are small, similar to tiny balls. This vegetable loves moisture, light and heat, but is able to withstand and freeze on soil to -4 degrees Celsius. This does not apply to young shoots of Peking cabbage, which need to provide positive temperature.

Peculiarities of growing

Peking cabbage has many features. One of them is a very rapid germination. Therefore, cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground from seeds is considered the most convenient way of cultivation. The main condition that must be met is the temperature regime. The fact that Beijing cabbage gives a full head only in the range of air temperatures from +13 to +22 degrees Celsius. In cooler weather, this overseas vegetable actively forms arrows, at higher ones it does not tie good heads and also throws out flower stalks. The planting dates in each region should be climate-oriented, given that the seeds germinate for no longer than a week at ambient temperatures of up to +5 degrees and about 4 days at a temperature of +13 degrees. On average, cabbage is sown in the open ground from mid-April to mid-June, but experienced farmers are advised to sow at intervals of about 2 weeks in order to have a crop for a long time.

How to sow seeds correctly

Growing Peking cabbage in the open in spring is the most convenient way to get a high yield. For beds there is a well-lit place with a light neutral soil. Seeds are placed in the ground to a depth of not more than 2 cm, and better - from 1 to 1.5 cm. Before the beginning of the formation of cabbage, very large lower leaves grow, which later die off, but in the process of growth they interfere with each other. Proceeding from this, the future cabbage should make a distance of at least 30 cm. It is almost impossible to survive, sowing small seeds, so in the future shoots must be thinned out. To seedlings appeared faster, and also to protect them from possible frosts, it is desirable to cover the crops with a film.

Further Care

The cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open field rarely causes difficulties. After the emergence of sprouts and their thinning, the correct watering comes first. Peking cabbage loves moisture and, with its lack of good heads, does not form. However, with an overabundance of water, it begins to rot. It should be watered abundantly, but in such a way that the water does not stagnate, and on especially hot days it is necessary to arrange rain irrigation for its plants. Important for cabbage and weeding weeds, as well as shallow loosening of the soil. Feed this vegetable for a season 2 times with a solution of slurry or mullein.

Growing sprouts

Not only seeds, but also sprouts, cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground at home is practiced. This is done for the earlier ripening of the crop or for obtaining several crops per season. They begin to cultivate seedlings of Peking cabbage in the second half of April. This plant does not like transplants and pickings, so each seed is immediately placed in a separate cassette or in a peat pot (a tablet). You can sow and 2-3 seeds, so that after germination leave the strongest sprout, and remove the rest. As soon as seedlings are sprouted, the containers with seedlings are transferred to a well-lit but not hot place (the temperature of the environment is up to +18 degrees), so that the sprouts do not stretch very much. Otherwise, they will be problematic to land. The seedlings are planted on the bed with a clod of earth, without traumatizing the root system. The wells are made from one another for 25-30 cm. In each one add half a glass of ash and a pinch (up to a teaspoon) of complex fertilizers. Sprouts are ready to move into the open ground, when each appears on 5-6 leaves. In the first days after planting, young plants should be covered at night with film from sudden changes in temperature. Harvest can be collected in 3 weeks.

Growing in summer

Since Peking cabbage ripens very quickly, its harvest can be harvested twice a season, seeding seeds again from the end of July to the middle of August. In June, it is not sown, which is due to the length of daylight, which should be no more than 12-13 hours to form heads. Cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground in July is not much different from the process in the spring. The only thing that ogorodniki should do is to artificially shorten the length of daylight for their cabbage, covering plants with lutrasil. Also it is necessary to provide sufficient watering and not to allow the drying of the soil. To obtain seeds, cabbage is planted in months, when the sun shines more than 13 hours. It does not matter how high the air temperature is.

Peking cabbage shooting

Almost all truck farmers plant Peking cabbage to get heads. But sometimes, instead of forming heads, the plants start to throw out the flower arrows, and the crop does not work. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to cultivate Peking cabbage in the open field with observance of all norms. The photo below shows how the rows should look before the last thinning. With this method of planting, excess plants are not thrown away, but used for cooking.

Arrows may appear:

- at too long a light day;

- thickening of plantings;

- lack of nutrients in soil;

- insufficient watering in hot weather.

Sometimes cabbage is capricious at her transplant. This happens when gardeners, thinning out plantings, try to save excess plants, transplanting them to another place.

Pests and diseases

Cultivation of Peking cabbage in the open ground at a dacha or homestead land usually passes without complications. Important: this culture is undesirable to plant after other cruciferous (radish, radish, mustard), which reduces the risk of the appearance of diseases characteristic of these crops. Among the pests most often on cabbage attack fleas, capable of completely destroying sprouts. To deal with insects, the bed should be sprinkled with ashes. They like to eat cabbage leaves and slugs. If they are seen on the site, special traps are arranged for them. Another pest - cabbage, laying eggs on the back of the leaves. If such clutches are found, they are destroyed manually.