Detailed Explanation of Winter Cabbage Cultivation Techniques and Management Points

Overwintering cabbage, as a hot vegetable for planting, has been taken up by many people, but not everyone can grow it well; certain techniques must be mastered, so what are the winter cabbage cultivation techniques?

1. Sowing time

The Yangtze River basin and areas south of the Yangtze are generally sown in July-August, while areas north of the Yangtze and the Yellow River basin are sown in July.

Among these, in the Yangtze River basin and areas to its south, the frost-free period is long and winter temperatures are slightly higher, so the sowing period is from late July to August 20, and at the latest must not exceed August 20; in areas north of the Yangtze, the frost-free period is slightly shorter, and the farther north, the lower the temperature, so the sowing period should be appropriately advanced. In areas north of the Yangtze, in southern North China such as Henan and Shandong, the sowing period should be from early July to around late July.

2. Site selection

A dry, cool, and well-ventilated planting site must be selected; the seedling bed should use high ridges, and seedlings should be separated when they have two true leaves and one heart leaf, with a seedling spacing of 10 cm square.

3. Other field management

Prepare shade and rain protection equipment, and carry out reasonable watering and fertilizing.

Winter cabbage is generally transplanted when the seedlings are 30—35 days old; because autumn temperatures gradually decrease, the earlier the transplanting, the easier the management.

Fertilizing: choose a plot whose previous crop was a cruciferous crop for transplanting, apply 5000 kg/mu of high-quality organic fertilizer and 50 kg of general compound fertilizer thoroughly, plow deeply and harrow finely, and fully sun the soil clods.

Overwintering cabbage should be fertilized according to the soil fertility conditions before winter. If fertilizer is insufficient, after temperatures rise, a small amount of urea can be topdressed at 10 kg/mu and watered with a small amount of water; if fertility is good, only water without fertilizing, and the management principle is mainly control.

Watering: after transplanting, watering and fertilizing are generally carried out in the afternoon or evening.

After winter cabbage has grown, it can generally be marketed in February-March of the following year.