Peking cabbage appeared on our shelves relatively recently, but immediately fell to the taste of many for a pleasant tender taste and useful qualities. Although salads from Peking eat in almost every home, but they know where they grow Peking cabbage, few. But in fact, despite the exotic origin, this vegetable can be grown on its own. Moreover, Peking cabbage with competent care yields excellent harvests, so you can grow it not only for your own consumption, but also for sale. About the subtleties of cultivation of Peking cabbage in a greenhouse and open ground, we will tell in our article.
How to grow Peking cabbage?
Peking seems to many a very tender and capricious culture. It is said that growing and caring for Peking cabbage is fraught with great difficulties, and getting a good harvest is something of an unscientific fiction. In fact, Peking is ideally suited for growing not only in greenhouses, but also in the open ground, and hassle does not bring more of its white-bellied affinity. Of course, as in any other case, there are some subtleties here, but the result obtained more than compensates all the effort.
- How and when to plant Peking cabbage depends, first of all, on the chosen method of cultivation. When growing Peking cabbage in a heated greenhouse, the seeds are sown in early March. In the film greenhouses cabbage is sown in the first days of August. An important condition for success is the correct use of spring and autumn varieties of Peking. Do not expect a good harvest, planting the fall varieties, intended for spring planting and vice versa. Cabbage leaves in color, not having formed heads. For planting at any time of the year, only the universal varieties of Peking cabbage (F1 Miss China and Chinese Choice) are suitable. Seeds are sown according to the scheme 70 * 40 cm.
- When growing Peking cabbage in the open ground, two options are possible: growing from seedlings and sowing seeds. By growing seedlings of Peking cabbage begin in early April, sowing seeds in small pots or cassettes. In the soil seedlings are transplanted in early May according to the scheme of 50 * 30 cm, carefully making sure not to slough the seedlings. With the seedling method, the heads of the Peking cabbage have time to fully form by harvest time. You can also sow the seeds of cabbage and directly into the open ground. This is usually done in early May, when the soil is warm enough, or in mid-July, in order to harvest in early September.
- Planting seeds of Peking cabbage also has its own subtleties. Sowing them is necessary on the ridges, deepening into the soil for 10-20 mm.
- Care for Peking cabbage includes watering, adding fertilizer, removing weeds and spraying from pests. And here, too, has its cunning, without which a good harvest of peking can not be achieved:
- pour Peking cabbage better than the rain method, not allowing both drying out and excessive moistening of the soil;
Peking should be fertilized immediately after planting and several times during the whole period of growth, introducing organic fertilizing: urea , mullein ; - when weeding the beds, it is necessary to make sure that the growing cabbage does not get land;
- The tender leaves of cabbage attract not only gourmets, but also a huge number of pests, especially cruciferous fleas, so they can not be treated without pest control;
- Peking cabbage does not tolerate heat, so it is not suitable for growing in regions with hot climates;
- As the leaves of neighboring plants close, every second head in the row must be removed, leaving gaps of at least 20 cm between the plants.