A Detailed Guide to Cabbage Seed Selection, Seed Saving and Seedling Raising Methods
Cabbage, also called head cabbage, is a common vegetable of ours, with diverse cooking methods and rich nutrition; eating it regularly brings great benefits to the human body, and it is deeply loved by people. At present, there are many farmers growing cabbage, and cabbage can be planted for several crops a year. When growing cabbage, the most important thing is raising seedlings. So how do you select and save cabbage seeds? What seedling raising methods are there? Now let's take a look together with the editor.
1. How do you select and save cabbage seeds?
For cabbage planting, you must select plump seeds free of mold. For cabbage to be kept for seed, select plants with strong growth; diseased plants and weak, thin plants can be avoided directly. At the same time, if the seed-saving season is missed, it is also recommended not to save seed; try to choose a corner of the field for seed saving, so that it is both ventilated and does not take up space.
In addition, during the seed-saving process, if there are multiple varieties of the same type, certain targeted measures can be taken, such as separate pollination, and marking and protection, to avoid mixing. Of course, some special varieties may also require special treatment before seed can be saved. In short, saving cabbage seed needs to follow certain conditions, and you must know how to carry out targeted treatment.
2. How are cabbage seeds harvested?
The most critical part of harvesting cabbage seeds is mastering the harvest timing. If the cabbage seeds can be threshed with a gentle rub of the hand, then this is the best time to harvest cabbage seeds. After the cabbage seeds are harvested, they should be dried in the sun promptly for a period, the seed coats rubbed off, impurities removed, and finally dried and stored.
3. What seedling raising methods are there for cabbage?
1. Fertilizing and making beds
The seedling bed can use a sun-facing bed. For each standard sun-facing bed (0.05 mu), apply 200 kg of fully rotted high-quality barnyard manure, then apply 70-80 kg of rotted dry human manure or chicken manure, 2-3 kg of superphosphate, and 10 kg of plant ash. After fertilizing, plow deeply and rake level, set aside sieved fine soil for covering soil, cover the sun-facing bed with plastic film, and after baking the bed for 15-20 days, sow when the soil temperature rises.
2. Sowing at the right time
Spring cabbage has relatively strict requirements for sowing time. The suitable sowing time should be determined according to the strength of cabbage's winter habit, local climate conditions, and seedling raising method (sun-facing bed seedling raising, improved sun-facing bed seedling raising, hotbed seedling raising, greenhouse seedling raising). For example, late-maturing varieties have a long seedling age and are mostly sown in late autumn and early winter; early-maturing varieties have a short seedling age and are mostly sown in early January; greenhouse and hotbed seedling raising can be sown from mid-to-late December to January. Cabbage seeds germinate easily, so generally no seed treatment such as soaking or pre-sprouting is needed. If the purchased seeds have a low germination rate, warm water soaking followed by pre-sprouting can also be done. Before sowing, first water the seedling bed thoroughly; after the water seeps in, sow the seeds evenly, and after sowing cover with fine soil 1-1.5 cm thick. After sowing, cover tightly with plastic film, and pay attention to keeping the seedling bed warm to help emergence, maintaining 20°C-25°C during the day.
3. Seedling management
For seedlings sown before winter, management should "first control, then promote." First control: after the seedlings emerge fully before overwintering, control temperature and water, with temperatures of 10°C-15°C during the day and 5°C-8°C at night, to avoid large seedlings overwintering and causing premature bolting. During overwintering, pay attention to cold protection and heat preservation. Then promote: after seedling separation in the spring of the second year, increase fertilizer and water and raise the temperature to promote seedling growth. Separate seedlings at the 3-leaf stage, choose warm weather, and preferably have several consecutive sunny days after seedling separation. When separating seedlings, use a shovel to dig up the seedlings, open shallow furrows in the seedling separation bed at a row spacing of 10 cm, water the furrows, and when the water has seeped halfway, place the seedlings along the furrow edge at a plant spacing of 8-10 cm, so that the seedling root systems spread out, then immediately cover with soil, at the same depth as the seedlings' original planting depth. After seedling separation, first keep the seedling bed at 20°C during the day and 10°C at night to promote root growth. After the small seedlings have recovered, slightly lower the temperature to 15°C-20°C during the day and 8°C-10°C at night, to prevent seedlings from passing through vernalization due to excessively low temperatures. During the seedling stage, ensure sufficient light to promote healthy and strong seedling growth. Combined with temperature management, ventilate appropriately to remove moisture; on cloudy and snowy days, pay even more attention to reducing humidity to avoid disease.
4. Hardening off seedlings
7-10 days before transplanting, water the seedlings and cut them into blocks for low-temperature hardening, lowering the temperature as much as possible without freezing damage, so as to adapt to the low-temperature environment of open fields in spring.
5. Standards for strong seedlings
The morphological characteristics of age-appropriate strong cabbage seedlings are: 6-8 true leaves, short hypocotyl and internodes, thick and dark-colored leaves, sturdy stems, and well-developed root systems.
The above is an introduction to cabbage. When farmers harvest cabbage, they should harvest when the cabbage head is firm and the outer leaves are shiny, which can ensure the quality and yield of cabbage.
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