How to fertilize Chinese cabbage during its growing period? These key points must be mastered

Apply a seedling-promoting fertilizer as a top dressing during the seedling stage. From the cotyledons unfolding to the true leaves showing their centers and reaching 8-10 leaves, about 15-20 days constitute the seedling stage. During this time, growth is relatively fast, and it is also the period when root and leaf cells and tissues differentiate most rapidly. Although the fertilizer requirement is not high, a deficiency at this time has a great impact on later yield. Therefore, after thinning to a stand, 10 kg of ammonium nitrate should be applied per mu.

Focus on top dressing during the rosette stage. After Chinese cabbage enters the rosette stage, roots develop in large numbers, growth increases sharply, and fertilizer uptake is high. The leaves that produce nutrients during the heading stage have basically finished growing in this period, so vigorous growth during the rosette stage plays a decisive role in the growth of the leaf head. This period is the key period for how well the head forms later. The rosette stage generally lasts 20-25 days; apply 15 kg of ammonium nitrate per mu, along with a certain amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, to promote the growth of outer leaves and lay the foundation for good heading.

Top dressing during the heading stage. The heading stage accounts for 1/2 of the growth period, and growth accounts for 2/3. It is the key period for the formation of the Chinese cabbage head. If fertilizer runs short at this time, it directly affects the tightness of the head and affects yield and quality. In the early heading stage, the outer leaves near the heart leaves continue to grow, which is also the period when the 1st-5th heart leaves grow fastest; at this time, generally apply 15 kg of ammonium nitrate per mu. In the mid-heading stage, the outer leaves almost stop growing, so apply 10 kg of quick-acting fertilizer ammonium nitrate per mu as a top dressing. In the late heading stage, due to short sunlight and low temperatures, plant growth is slow, nutrient uptake is low, and the effect of top dressing is not obvious, so little or no top dressing may be applied.