The quality of cabbage seedlings directly depends on the quality of the seeds, so it is worthwhile to responsibly approach the choice of seed. There are many reasons why gardeners seek to obtain cabbage seeds on their own - the desire to select their species or a large number of low-quality seeds for sale. The article will provide basic knowledge on how to get your cabbage seeds from a mother plant.

Biological characteristics of the plant

White cabbage is a biennial resistant to cold, not wintering. She distinguishes 3 types of varieties:

• precocious, with a ripening period of about 70-110 days. Seeds are sown for seedlings in early March and until May;
• mid-season, with a ripening period of about 100-150 days. Seeds need to be sown around March - April;
• late ripening, with a maturity of 150 days or more. Seeds for seedlings should be sown from mid-February to mid-March. If you miss these deadlines, cabbage may not ripen.

In the first year, a cabbage is formed at the cabbage, and in the second year, a flower-bearing stalk and seeds are formed. This culture is extremely prolific, which makes it so attractive for growing. It is unpretentious to different growth conditions, tolerates transportation without problems, most varieties can be stored until spring.

Active development of cabbage occurs at warm temperatures +13 ... + 18 ° С. Its seedlings are sensitive to subzero temperatures, young shoots are able to tolerate short-term frosts up to –3 ° С, adult plants - up to –8 ° С. High temperatures can cause significant harm to the development of plants, and at +30 ... + 35 ° C, cabbage may not form any head.

Did you know? Archaeological excavations indicate that people began to use cabbage since the Stone and Bronze Ages.

Thanks to the large, unrefined leaves, cabbage spends a lot of moisture on evaporation. Because of this, the crop requires increased soil moisture. The average coefficient of water consumption for cabbage is 80–100 m³ / t of products. Active plant growth and mass accumulation occurs when soil moisture reaches 85–90%. The ripening of early ripening varieties usually takes 105–110 days, and the most ripe varieties - 200 days or more.

In order to get seeds, it is necessary to grow heads of the desired variety, save them during the winter and grow testes for the next year. Cabbage, which is specially grown for seed purposes, is called mother liquor.

The structure of white cabbage in the first (a) and second (b) years of life: 1 - the outer poker; 2 - head of cabbage; 3 - an internal poker; 4 - leaves; 5 - apical kidney; 6 - lateral kidneys; 7 - flowers; 8 - fruits; 9 - seed.

How to get cabbage seeds at home

Seeds of a variety you like can be obtained independently. For this, it is necessary to grow queen cells, which will become a source of valuable seed material. The whole process can be divided into the following steps:

1. The right choice of heads of queen cells.
2. Collection of mother liquors and the creation of conditions for vernalization.
3. Preparing the heads for landing.
4. Preparing the soil and planting stitches in the ground.
5. Plant care all season, watering, fertilizer.
6. Timely collection of mature pods.

The principle of selection of mother liquors

A mother liquor is a cabbage in which from the first years of life a vegetative kidney (head or stem stalk) has been developed. It is better to choose a medium-late or late variety: they are usually better preserved until the next planting. Low plants are selected for mother plants.

Video: How to grow cabbage seeds yourself

You need to select heads of cabbage with the following parameters:

• unripe;
• most appropriate to the ideal of the selected variety;
• not overfed with nitrogen;
• as strong as possible;
• on a thin outer stump;
• the most full-bodied.

Selected heads of cabbage are carefully dug out together with the root before the onset of cold weather. The outer leaves are cut off, leaving only a couple near the head of cabbage, and sprinkled with wood ash or chalk. The mother liquors are suspended in a dark room with a temperature of +1 ... + 2 ℃ for the whole winter.

Cabbage: 1 - clippings of seed stump, 2 - cut stakes, 3 - heads after clippings, 4 - planting

Features of planting seedlings in open ground

Before you start planting seedlings, it should be properly prepared. The process can be divided into three parts:

1. It is necessary to stop watering the plant a week before planting, and immediately before the procedure (approximately 2 hours) water it well.
2. 2 weeks before planting, it is worth feeding seedlings with mineral fertilizers - dissolve in 10 liters of water in a tablespoon of potassium sulfate and urea, pour in a proportion of 150 g per plant.
3. 15-20 days before planting, begin the hardening procedure - take out the seedlings to fresh air when the temperature is not more than +5 ... + 6 ° C, preferably in a sunny place. The duration of hardening is 20 minutes (increase the time by 5 minutes every day). If this is not done, the sprouts can stretch out very much, and then fall down under their own weight.

Important! For planting cabbage, you can not use the soil from the site where cruciferous crops used to grow. These plants have common diseases.

The plant in question needs fertile soil. Loams with a high humus content have proven themselves well: moisture is well kept in such soil, which is necessary for young seedlings. The acidity of the soil should be neutral or slightly acidic, not exceed 6 pH. If necessary, to reduce acidity, the soil can be neutralized with dolomite flour or ground lime. You can disinfect the earth by pouring it with boiling water or adding a little 1% solution of potassium permanganate to the soil.

Cabbage keel disease develops on acidic soils

It is better to make a garden in the place where cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes or onions were grown last season. It is not recommended to plant a crop after beets, radishes and turnips. Legumes such as peas, beans, and garlic are well suited as neighbors. Scientists have proven that plants exchange various substances through their root system.

Constantly growing cabbage in the same place is undesirable. At least once every 3-4 years, you need to change the garden

Placing beds is from east to west, a small shadow is allowed. It is good to plant cabbage in lowlands where groundwater is close to the surface. The best place for the garden will be the territory where the sun's rays fall throughout the day. To find such a place, you need to analyze the location of trees and shrubs both on its territory and on its neighboring ones. This will help determine how large the shadow is and where it usually falls.

It often happens that in the area where there is a lot of sunlight in the winter, there may be more shade in the summer, since in the warm season, thick foliage appears on the plants. Cabbage needs a long daylight hours, which is at least 17-18 hours. If it is not possible to comply with this condition, then it is necessary to use special auxiliary means - phytolamps.

Before planting, dig holes with a depth and width sufficient to accommodate the root system. At a time when it is better to plant seedlings, many factors influence: weather conditions, terrain, cabbage variety. It is best that the temperature in the dark is no lower than + 5 ° C. Suitable months are May, June. It is recommended to plant cabbage on cloudy, but not rainy days. If the days are sunny, then you should try to land later in the evening.

Did you know? Due to its resistance to cold, cabbage is the main crop of open ground in Russia, especially in the northern and middle parts, where it occupies up to 50% of the area of ​​all vegetables.

After landing care

At first, it is important to monitor young seedlings. Often new seedlings fall out, and it is important to return them to their place. If you notice that the sprout has started to fall, and the stalk near the ground has thinned or even turned black, there is a chance that the cabbage got a black leg. It is necessary to examine neighboring seedlings: if they have not changed color, then the damaged plant needs to be dug up, and it is advisable to transplant healthy sprouts into other soil.

You can try to save the diseased plant by spraying the ground near the sprout and the stalk itself with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate and stopping watering the sprout until recovery

Every day for a week, seedlings need to be watered (mainly in the evening), after which, if no cold is expected, you can remove the protection in the form of newspapers. Further care includes watering, loosening the soil, weeding the territory, constant feeding, various fertilizers and insect protection.

Good mineral and organic fertilizers are:

• potassium chloride;
• ammonium nitrate;
• superphosphate;
• manure;
• bird droppings;
• ash.

It is undesirable to feed seedlings with manure, so as not to provoke the development of basal rot

After about 20 days, the cabbage is spudded, and then after another 10 days this procedure is repeated. It is better to water the seedlings in the morning or in the late hours with water at a temperature of +18 ... + 20 ° С. After watering and rain, the soil is loosened to a depth of 5-8 cm (near the plant, the depth should be less).

Important! After the leaf surface is well developed and the head is formed, vigilant surveillance from pests and a smooth decrease in the amount of watering are necessary.

How and when to harvest seeds yourself

Only in the second year of growth of cabbage can you get its seeds, since during this period it reaches its maturity. She begins to form flowers and fruits. Seeds are in pod fruits and ripen 6 weeks after the end of flowering. It is worth harvesting the fruits without waiting for the end of flowering, otherwise many may fall apart after falling out of their pods.

Typically, the ripening period of the pods is 35-50 days. About 50 g of seeds can be collected from one such plant. After extraction from the pod, the seeds are dried and sent for storage. Under the right conditions, they can be stored for up to 4 years.

Tips from experienced gardeners

1. Heads set aside for seed can be stored in a dark room. Before winter, they are planted in pots with nutritious earth - during storage they give offspring. After winter, they can be planted without injury to the roots.
2. It must be remembered that the cabbage pampered in storage must first be protected from too much sunlight.
3. To protect your seedlings from pests without the use of chemicals, you can plant dill, coriander or parsley between the rows. Wormwood gives the same effect - its branches can simply be put in the aisles.
4. If the cabbage seedlings consist of different varieties, then the distance between them should be at least 500 meters.

Cabbage, like any other culture, has its own characteristics, for example, it does not tolerate drying out of the soil, but, following the rules of agricultural technology and the recommendations of experienced gardeners, anyone who wants to grow it can grow. Doing the seeds of this plant with your own hands guarantees their excellent quality, as well as a large amount, which is enough for the subsequent planting of cabbage in large volumes.