Mastering the cultivation of cauliflower in the open field is easy, but your family will be provided with tasty and useful product. The main problem faced by many gardeners, is not obtained dense large inflorescence. Each culture needs to be approached individually, proper planting and good care will help the Mediterranean guest to get used to the unusual conditions.
Remove the soil to a depth of 6 to 10 inches, break large pieces with a rake. Use a rake to prepare the soil. Apply 1 ½ pounds of vegetable fertilizer per 100 square feet of surface. In 1 pound of coffee, you can enter 1 ½ pounds of fertilizer. With a rake to include fertilizer in the first layers of the soil.
If you plan to use organic fertilizer, add a layer of 2 to 4 inches of organic matter and turn it into the soil. Organic matter will improve soil structure and provide nutrients. Before installing seeds, make sure that the seminal layer is well prepared. To avoid soil compaction, avoid contact with the soil that needs to be sealed. To learn how to plant deep seeds, follow the packaging instructions. As a rule, seeds are planted to a depth of 2 to 4 times the diameter or greater width.
Features of cultivation of cauliflower
Although cauliflower came to our cottages from the warm Mediterranean, it perfectly adapted to the cold climate of the Urals, Siberia, and the Leningrad Region. Some gardeners complain that the crop is very capricious, gives poor yields. This happens if you do not know what conditions are necessary for plants, how to properly care for plantings, how to grow seedlings from seeds. Take into account some secrets of cultivation, and you will not have problems.
Cover the seeds with soil and squeeze it with the back of the hoe. A little water and keep the soil moist before germination. Vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli, eggplants, and cabbage are transplanted. When purchasing grafts, select those that have the following characteristics.
Features of the development of cauliflower
Avoid buying plants in pots whose roots extend from drainage holes. Remove the plant from the pot and check the roots. Healthy roots are white. Roots that turn brown are dead. Do not buy these plants. Check out the insects on the plants you intend to buy. If you see very small white flying insects, it is possible that this is a white fly. Look for aphids on the back of the leaves. Aphids are very small, oval-shaped insects that accumulate on the back of the leaf. Both insects are sucking insects that cause leaf weathering and curling.
- Choose plants with healthy leaves and greens.
- Avoid buying plants with yellow or brown leaves.
- It is possible that these plants are sick.
- This usually indicates a growth problem.
Cauliflower not fit to live in white nights, for development it requires a sufficient duration of both light and dark time of day. In conditions of constant illumination, a dense head is not obtained, the flower stalks are stretched out and lose their taste. In the northern regions it is necessary to calculate the time of sowing, so that the maturation of the forks does not fall in June and the first half of July. It is impossible to wait for a tasty harvest and with poor watering, when the plants suffer from thirst.
Adaptation is the process by which a graft is slowly introduced into outdoor atmospheric conditions, such as lower temperatures and brighter light. Gradually increase the time the plants are kept outdoors for a week or ten days before planting them outside.
If possible, it is best to plant on cloudy days or in the late afternoon to avoid high temperatures. Plants suffer greatly when transplanting when the temperature is very high. Dig well large enough to fit the entire root ball. Remove the plant from the pot very carefully so as not to damage the root system. Observe the distances between the recommended plants.
Cauliflower does not require much heat, but she does not like too cold summer. If the temperature does not rise above + 15⁰, the forks will be shallow, poorly developed. The most suitable thermal regime is from + 15⁰ to + 20⁰. In strong heat shade the plants, spray them with water. When growing in a greenhouse, do not forget to air the planting.
Water transplant with a cup of starter fertilizer. Mix one or two tablespoons of soluble neutral fertilizer with one gallon of water. Starting fertilizers are high in phosphorus. Phosphorus contributes to the development of the root. Root development is necessary in order for plant growth to be suitable from the very beginning.
Mark all the plants in your garden. After the plants germinate, they are very difficult to identify. Store cans of orange juice or tuna to use as a barrier around new grafts to protect them from the gray worm. This type of worm cuts through the stock at ground level. Remove the two ends of the can, then place them around each plant, inserting about one inch from it into the ground. After two or three weeks, the bath will be removed as the stem of the plant grows to withstand the damage of the gray worm.
In warm regions, proper care will help to get 2 or even 3 crops per season from seeds. To achieve this result, you need to choose early-ripening varieties, such as Goat Dereza. The last plantings, most likely, will not have time to mature in the open field. Many forks will have to grow in a greenhouse or greenhouse with a safe cover.
Good yields give the following varieties:
Landing under the film
Water transplant with starter fertilizer. This fertilizer must be soluble in water and must have a high phosphorus content. Do this by closing the rows of the penumbra after planting. Be sure to remove the tread row when the plants begin to bloom so that they can be pollinated.
Features of the cultivation of cauliflower in their own garden
Tomatoes usually get several diseases. The best preventive measure is to obtain resistant varieties. Carrots can be planted in late March or early April. To get a long straight carrot, the soil must be loose, well-treated, well drained and free from lumps and rocks.
- "Early Gribovskaya";
- Movir;
- "Alpha";
- "Rapid".
Sowing seeds for seedlings
To get strong plants, you need to ensure that the seedlings are properly cared for from the first days. Calculate sowing time accurately. Seedlings should be transplanted after about a month and a half. Find out the weather forecast when a suitable temperature is established in the greenhouse or in the open air, and start planting seeds. Pour the grain into a bag of cloth and hold them for 12 hours in a container with water at room temperature.
Onions must be planted in April. Buy bulbs before they begin to sprout in the garden centers. Divide the bulbs into two groups: those that have a diameter greater than ten cents, and those that are smaller. Larger bulbs are better for green onions. Smaller onions produce the best large onions for storage. Torpedo bulbs produce a round bow, and round bulbs produce a flat bow. To get green onions, plant the largest bulbs an inch deep and touching each other.
To get a large dry onion, fill small bulbs an inch deep and leave a gap of two to four inches between the rows. Remove transplants from the tray very carefully and check the root system. Roots must be white with visible ground. Transplants with dead brown roots should not be acquired. Look for insects such as white or aphids in plants. Be sure to transplant out gradually over several days, especially in the case of plants grown and bought in the nursery. When it's time to plant, water the plants with high phosphorus fertilizers to help root development.
At the bottom of the container, pour claydite for drainage, then fill it with an earthy mixture. Soil for sowing seeds can be purchased in the store or cook yourself. One of the good compositions:
- garden land - 35%;
- peat - 30%;
- black soil - 30%;
- sand - 5%.
Young shoots often suffer from blackleg. To protect the seedlings, close the seed to a depth of 1 cm, and then pour the entire surface of the soil with a thin layer of sand. This material will draw excess moisture from the soil, and the causative agents of fungal diseases will not hit the planting. Cover the container with a special lid or film and place in a warm place.
Grow flowers in your garden. Many flowers attract insects, parasites and predators that help control pests. Planting alder, dill, fennel, tansy, cosmos, yarrow, echinacea and sunflower is a good choice. Ensure good air circulation to help control disease.
Place the stakes or cages around the plants and leave the necessary space between the rows. To avoid problems with insects, you must properly plant them at the right time. For example, to avoid the worst time training pumpkin and corncob, plant zucchini and corn, collecting them by the end of July.
First of all, a powerful root system should develop. Immediately after emergence of seedlings from the seeds, keep planting at a temperature not higher than + 10⁰. The growth of the aerial parts will slow, and the roots will develop well. After about a week, transfer the containers to a room with a temperature of about + 15⁰. Now you need to sprout become strong, do not stretch. In early spring landings may not be enough light, especially if the windows face north. Turn on the fluorescent lamp above the container and surround it with reflective screens.
In late August, radishes, lettuce, spinach, beets and turnips are sown. These vegetables ripen in the fall when it gets colder. It grows best in the fresh seasons of the year. When broccoli is planted, and when varieties grow and harvest properly, they can yield for a long period of time. The side heads of broccoli grow after cutting the central head. Two crops per year can be obtained in most parts of the United States. New heat-resistant broccoli makes it possible to produce broccoli at almost all times of the year, but not at extreme temperatures.
How to grow strong seedlings
So, planting cauliflower was successful. 10 days after the emergence of seedlings seedlings need to dive into separate cups. Take deep containers so that both the root and the stem are placed in the ground up to the leaves. After the appearance of the third leaf, seedlings need to be fed with a special fertilizer or 15 g of potash and 5 g of ammonium nitrate are dissolved in a bucket of water and watered.
How best to store cauliflower crops?
Grafts are recommended in early spring, because grafts allow plants to tune faster. Thus, the plantation interferes less with the extreme warmth of early summer. Autumn harvests can be direct seeds in the garden, if space allows, or they can be run on boards and then replaced by other crops when their productive period ends.
The timing of sowing seedlings
Green comet. Green Goliath. Transplantation of young plants with intensive growth in early spring. Plants that remain on the board for a long time can cause head “buttons” immediately after planting. For autumn crops, buy or make your own transplants or plant seeds directly into your garden. For autumn plantings, start summer midsummer saplings to transplant to the garden at the end of summer. To determine the optimal time for planting autumn grafts, count back from the date of the first autumn frost in your area and add about 10 days to harvest.
The second feeding will be needed after the next leaf appears. From time to time planting need to spray a spray with a weak solution of boric acid. When the fifth leaf is formed on the seedlings, it is ready for relocation to the garden bed. Do not overstay the seedlings in the room, overgrown plants do not tolerate the transplant, can not take root for a long time, get sick. A good harvest will only dream, no care will not help the seedling to recover.
Remember that time from planting the seed is not included in this calculation Time. Lay the plants on one square foot in all directions on the boards. Use starter fertilizers for transplanting and put nitrogen fertilizers on the edge of the plants when they are at the half growth stage. Ensure sufficient soil moisture, especially as heads develop.
The edible part of broccoli is compact bunches of buds that have not blossomed, and the part attached to the stem. Green shoots first develop a large central head, and then grow several small lateral shoots. After the head is fully developed, cut off the central head 5-6 inches above the stem, but before it starts to weaken or separate, and individual flowers begin to open. Cutting the central head stimulates the growth of lateral shoots for later crops.
The big stress for plants will be if they are immediately transferred from the warm room to the open ground. A week and a half before the transplant, start carrying containers to fresh air. The first time you hold them on the street for several hours during the warmest time, gradually increase the time for “walking”. Before planting, do not water the plants for several days; moisten the soil abundantly only on the day of relocation to the garden bed.
Cauliflower food
These side shoots grow on the armpits of the lower leaves. Aphids - control the accumulation of aphids or aphids colonies on the lower surfaces of the leaves. Cabbage worms - Three types of cabbage worms usually attack cabbage leaves and heads, and other crops associated with cabbage. The small cabbage butterflies are velvety green caterpillars. The moth is white and is usually visible during the day, flying over the plants in the garden. False cabbage counters are smooth, light green caterpillars. Gauge stallion pulling, completing and moving your body forward.
When to sow cauliflower on seedlings?
The moth is brown and more active at night. Cabbage butterflies are small, pale green caterpillars with tips at both ends. The moth is gray, with diamond markings, when the wings are closed. Damage caused by cabbage larvae is similar to bullet holes in the leaves.
Planting in open ground
Without a good coverage of the rich harvest is not obtained. Highlight a sunny plot for cabbage plantation. Cauliflower's weak spot is a superficial and poorly developed root system. The most fertile composition should be in the upper layer, not deeper than 40 cm. In the autumn, when digging, add organic and mineral fertilizers to the soil, and add acid to lime when acidic.
The larval or worm stage of these insects causes damage by opening holes in the leaves and heads of broccoli. Adult moths or butterflies lay eggs on the leaves, but do not harm the plants. Worms are not easy to see because they are rather small and confused with the color of broccoli leaves or cabbage. Cabbage worms are completely destructive and can destroy crops if they are not controlled. In autumn plantings, they are even worse than in spring gardens, because the population has increased by several months.
When the first frosts fall in the fall, the number of moths and caterpillars finally begins to decline sharply. How big is a broccoli head before cutting it? Remove the central head when individual clusters begin to grow and develop, and before it begins to blossom. Size varies between species, growing conditions and season of the year, but central heads should grow from 4 to 6 inches in diameter or more. The last side shoots can reach only 1 - 2 inches in diameter.
The distance in the garden and between the rows and between medium-sized plants, for example, Goat Dereza, should be 0.5 m. It takes a lot of cabbage, but you can grow lettuce, dill or radish next to it. The depth of the hole should be such that the seedling is buried in the ground before the first leaflets. Pour nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers into each hole, add trace elements, especially boron and magnesium, lightly sprink the chemicals with earth and spill well with water. The first days of shade landing from the scorching sun.
Planting cauliflower in open ground will immediately attract the attention of insects. Juicy bushes - a tasty dish for cabbage fly and cruciferous flea. Planting can be pollinated with ash or tobacco dust in order to curb appetite from pests. To prevent insects from eating your crop, plant basil, rosemary or garlic next to cabbage.
For the prevention of cabbage diseases during spring digging, add 5 g of colloidal sulfur to each m 2 of land.
Growing cabbage in the garden
To form dense heads, the plants need proper care. Moisture is very important, but it is impossible to overfill the soil: the roots do not tolerate stagnant water. It is better to water the bed through the sprayer, the aerial part loves small sprays very much. Be sure to loosen the ground under the plants so that it is saturated with air, and excess moisture can evaporate.
A fortnight after planting, the plants must be fed with organic matter. Do not pour fresh manure on the ground, soak it in water for 3 days, and then dissolve each liter of infusion into 5 liters of water. After feeding, spud the bushes so that the stem does not stick out of the ground. When the forks begin to be tied, feed them again with complex fertilizer with trace elements.
If the heads are not tied in any way, chop off the lower leaves, then the plant will put all the forces into the formation of the inflorescence.
If cabbages are attacked by pests, insecticides can be used. Chemicals can be used until the heads are tied. For prophylaxis, spray a bed of tincture of wormwood, tobacco or burdock every week; such treatment will not do any harm. To make the heads white and tasty, you can hide them from the light. Cut off the lower leaves and close their inflorescence. In the shade of the forks bitterness goes away, and they acquire a beautiful white color.
For early harvest can be planted in the beginning of spring seedlings in the greenhouse. Conditions should be the same as when grown in open ground: temperature about + 15⁰, correct watering, top dressing. If the day is still short, you need to highlight the landing lamps. In a greenhouse and a greenhouse, air humidity is usually too high. Ventilate the plants daily to prevent rot or fungal infection.
In the greenhouse can be grown and seedlings for the second harvest. Germination of seeds is carried out in a container, and when diving, seedlings are placed in the ground. Before landing on the garden seedlings need to harden. In the afternoon, open the doors and windows for a few hours. If thermophilic crops are grown in the same room, they can be protected with a covering material or film for the time of ventilation.
In the fall in the greenhouse, too, will need a place for cabbage. Dig up plants that did not have time to ripen and plant for rearing. Make sure that the temperature does not fall below + 5⁰. In case of severe frosts, plants can be covered with non-woven material, film or mats.
Harvesting and storage of the crop
When harvesting, cut a head of cabbage with a small fragment of the stem and 4 sheets. Crop can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 50 days. In the cellar cauliflower will not wither until 4 months. To provide yourself with fresh heads until the next season, divide the forks into small florets. Rinse and dry the shoots, remove the rotted areas and store them in a bag in the freezer.
Not having time to mature heads can be grown. Dig up a bush with a root and plant it in a greenhouse or in a greenhouse. If this is not possible, you can put the plants in the cellar and sprinkle the roots with soil. From time to time the earth needs to be watered. The second option: hang heads up roots. With this method, they can increase the mass of the head by 0.5 kg.
The harvest is ripe, and the bushes are still full of energy, the leaves are juicy and healthy. Leave one good shoot on the stalk, a new fork can be tied up on it. Do not forget that in this case, the plant needs fertilizing, care and watering. If the head does not have time to ripen to frost, dig up a bush and plant it in a greenhouse, where it will reach the desired size.
Conclusion
Cauliflower undeservedly received the glory of a capricious and fastidious plant. Growing problems arise for those gardeners who do not know and do not take into account biological features kind, does not provide the right care. The secrets of good harvests are easy to remember and apply. The culture is especially demanding for lighting: in spring, seedlings need to be additionally illuminated with lamps, and when heads appear, they need darkness at night.
Plants develop about 60 days. Productivity depends on a grade. For example, “Goat dereza”, if it is provided with good care, can give up to 10 kg with 1 m 2.. You can not plant plants too closely, and to save space, you can plant greens, spices, salads between bushes. This scheme is convenient for protecting cabbage from pests: many insects do not tolerate garlic or rosemary. If the heads are not ripe before frost, the bushes can be grown in the greenhouse.
Cauliflower is used to prepare the usual vegetable dishes - soups, stews. You can boil the shoots and bake with cheese or fry with the egg. This low-calorie, but nutritious product is part of many diets, used to prepare children's meals. Grow and properly preserve the harvest, and then apply your imagination and surprise the guests with an unusually tasty dish.
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If you feel frequent ailments, you just need to clean the body. How to do it
It was with cauliflower that I started the first feeding of my baby. This hypoallergenic vegetable is beloved in Russia, therefore it is grown everywhere. Culture was brought to us from Western Europe about 200 years ago. Cauliflower is an annual plant, second only to cabbage in popularity. Inflorescence in the form of a head can be white, yellow, purple flowers.
Cauliflower can be frozen, pickled,; or . Or simply store in the basement, so that on New Year's holidays to please yourself and guests with fresh cauliflower.
Cauliflower predecessors can be:
- culture.
Sowing in open ground (seedless method)
In early May, you need to sow the seeds in a wet ridge, sealing them to a depth of about 2 cm. In July, the first heads appear.Growing cauliflower seedlings
The stages of care for cauliflower seedlings are almost the same as those, so I’ll dwell only on the important features:
- cauliflower has a poorly developed root system; therefore, when growing seedlings in a common box (about 6 days before planting), the ground is cut into squares so that the seedling forms a branched root system;
- optimally - sow the seeds of cauliflower at once into separate pots;
- remember: the earlier you plant seedlings in open ground, the older it should be.
The timing of sowing seedlings
The best option is to calculate the sowing period individually for each variety (hybrid). How to do this, you can learn from the article. Therefore, I will indicate only an approximate time frame:- early - from the beginning to the end of March;
- averages - from the tenth of April to May 12;
- late - from mid-May to 10 June.
Age of cauliflower seedlings before planting:
- for early varieties - about 60 days;
- for medium - about 40 days;
- for late - about 35 days;
- early - from late April to mid-May;
- middle - from mid-May to mid-June;
- late - from early to mid-July.
Planting cauliflower seedlings in the ground
- After planting hardened seedlings in open ground, it can be covered for the first time.
- For better survival, shade your seedlings for 2-3 days.
- After two weeks, seedlings are needed.
- After three weeks you can begin feeding with mullein (liquid).
- As a top dressing and protection from cabbage seedlings sprinkle with wood (1 cup is enough 1 cup).
Cauliflower care
For normal development of cauliflower, the best temperature is from +16 ° С ... + 25 ° С. At very high temperatures and dry soil, a deterioration in crop quality is observed. So that the cauliflower does not bloom prematurely, pritenite it.As soon as the heads appear, they will also need to be shaded; to do this, slightly crush the side leaves so that they fit together. In the article you can see how cleverly this problem was solved by our reader.
Watering
Due to the specifics of the root system, cauliflower needs to be regular (with a lack of moisture, the yield is reduced). To retain moisture in the soil for a longer period, after watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil to a depth of about 6 cm, and even better - it.Fertilization
A very important moment for a good development of cauliflower. When I was just starting to grow seedlings, I read the advice that for this crop you need to increase the concentration of fertilizers by 1.5 times. But for some reason I did not manage to grow such a cabbage, which I would like to see on my plot. So I just added more to one additional feed, leaving the dose unchanged. That is, the older the seedlings, the more feedings it has: for a 60-day seedling, it took 4-5, for a 30-day - only 2.First feeding
It is also introduced when planting seedlings (after 2 weeks), usually in the form of mineral fertilizers and liquid mullein.
Second feeding
After a couple of weeks, add wood ash (I bring about a glass) and (mineral fertilizer).
Third dressing
When the formation of the head of cauliflower begins, add ammonium nitrate (about 10 liters per 30 g), about 80 g and about 20 g (for the same amount of water).
Important: Cauliflower loves boron and molybdenum, with their lack of a head prone to scattering and the acquisition of brown plaque, premature flowering. With an excess of nitrogen, the heads become loose, accumulation takes place in the tissues.
Cauliflower varieties and hybrids
To date, a considerable number of cauliflower varieties and hybrids have been bred with a different (from early to late) ripening period, with a very exotic color of the heads — yellow, orange, green, violet. Hybrids surpass ordinary varieties in crop quality.
In early cauliflower (with a short growing season), the heads are dense, closely surrounded by leaves (which are somewhat shorter than those with medium and late ripening).
Middle and late varieties are characterized by the fact that the leaves in the socket are longer, the formation of the head occurs at a temperature of +20 ° C.
Early varieties and hybrids
(vegetation period 80-110 days)‘Summer Girl’
From the moment of emergence of shoots to harvest, it will take about 100 days.
Cauliflower variety ‘Summer Resident’
The head is white and cream in color, round flat shape, weighing about 1 kg. The variety is suitable for freezing and fresh consumption, rich in sugars and ascorbic acid.
‘Amphora F1’
Strictly speaking, this is an early ripe hybrid of cauliflower and broccoli called “romanesco”. Unusual heads of light-green color and good density.
Cauliflower ‘Amphora F1’
The mass of such a head about 2 kg. Suitable for freezing, fresh consumption. And here's a review about from our expert.
'Snowdrift'
From germination to technical maturity of this variety should take about 96 days.
Cauliflower variety ‘Snowdrift’
Very fruitful. The heads are round, dense, weighing about 1 kg, the white color of the heads does not turn yellow during storage. Recommended for freezing. Excellent taste, high content of sugar and ascorbic acid.
Middle-early (mid-ripening, mid-late) varieties and hybrids
(vegetation period 120-135 days)‘Purple’
Differs in high dietary properties and tastes.
Cauliflower cultivar ‘Purple’
The variety is cold resistant, resistant to a variety of diseases. Dense round heads slightly flattened, saturated purple, weighing 1.5 kg. Long stored, recommended for freezing.
‘Gregor P3 F1’
Very productive hybrid. Included in the State Register of the Russian Federation for personal plots.
Cauliflower ‘Gregor P3 F1’
The weight of the head can reach up to 3 kg. Heads of unusual shape, excellent taste. Suitable for fresh consumption, good for cooking, suitable for freezing.
I never grew cauliflower with orange heads, but I really want to try. I like this hybrid.
‘Cheddar F1’
Early ripe, it has a high content of carotene and excellent taste.care