Hilling carried out correctly within the required time frame is, first of all, accelerating the development of the vegetable and protecting it from rotting. When to earth up cabbage and is it true that an incorrectly carried out procedure can lead to the death of the ovary?
Duration of the procedure
Experienced gardeners pay special attention to hilling. After planting in the ground, regardless of what period the planting occurred, the plant is given the opportunity to gain a foothold in the soil and begin to grow, and only when the seedlings show their viability can each seedling be earthed up.
Spring hilling
Spring hilling of cabbage in open ground is carried out depending on the growth activity of young seedlings. Sometimes the wait for this moment drags on for 10-14 days, but more often, a sprout on fertilized soil is accepted more readily and is ready to strengthen the stem within 6-7 days after planting.
After 20-30 days, observing the formation of full-fledged ovaries, the cabbage is hilled again. Why is this necessary? The fact is that in this case it is advisable to talk not only about strengthening the leg of the vegetable, but also about removing excess moisture, which at this stage of development of the head of cabbage is needed in smaller quantities than before. The repeated procedure, despite the fact that it is final according to agrotechnical standards, often becomes intermediate.
After heavy rains, when the soil sags and then becomes crusted over, exposing the root system of the vegetable, additional loosening and raking of the soil under the heads of cabbage must be done.
Autumn hilling
It takes a week for seedlings planted in autumn to reach readiness for the first procedure. Most agronomists with experience argue that autumn, late varieties need to be earthed up only once, and a repeat operation is carried out only due to soil subsidence of at least 10 cm.
If there are doubts about this advice, and the heads of cabbage do not seem to be too securely fixed in the soil, the hilling procedure should be carried out in the evening, and in the morning of the same day, first remove the lower leaves from the plant, which will rot if they come into contact with the ground and stop the growth of the entire plant.
What is the procedure
How to hill cabbage correctly? You can use two types of tools for a standard simple action - one of the varieties of hiller or a regular glander. First, the soil is loosened to a fine grain state, secretly removing all weeds. You can take advantage of the time spent to simultaneously inspect the cabbage greens to identify pests.
After loosening, a mound is formed around the stem of each plant, reaching the lower leaves of the seedlings, but not higher than 30 cm.
The soil is collected carefully so as not to damage the seedlings. Ash, mustard powder or other dry insect repellent spills between the cabbage rows, but you can do without it if subsequent spraying with chemicals is planned.
However, even in this case, when the plans include special processing of ripening cabbage, every other day it is necessary to strengthen the space between the rows, from where the soil was taken to strengthen the stems. Shedding of the soil is prevented by placing old sawdust, straw chaff, or simply armfuls of dry grass in the formed grooves.
It is necessary to hill up in calm, windless weather so that the fluffy and collected soil is not spread throughout the entire bed. 2-3 days before hilling, the cabbage is fed, preferably with 10% chicken manure diluted with water.
Features of processing broccoli and cauliflower
Do I need to hill broccoli?? It is necessary, but since this vegetable is quite specific in terms of how it is cared for, you will have to hill up broccoli for the first time the very next day after the seedlings are planted in open ground. This procedure is more reminiscent of surface loosening, when you only need to lightly add soil under the root.The timing of subsequent loosening is cutting every 5-7 days, and the soil depth should be about 6-7 cm. How many total procedures will have to be carried out depends on the speed of broccoli ripening.
There is no need to form mounds around the head of cabbage, and the second time, in order to avoid rotting of the head, all the first leaves of the plant are removed. Broccoli is hilled after good watering or precipitation, and thus the hilled bush retains moisture longer.
How to properly process cauliflower? When growing this type of cruciferous plant, strengthening the stem through the formation of an earthen roll occurs three times during the entire period of ripening of the inflorescences:
- For the first time, the procedure is carried out exactly a week after planting the seedlings in the ground;
- Repeated hilling is carried out 25-30 days after the first, when noticeable ovaries appear;
- The third time occurs approximately on the 45th day from planting, when the ovaries form tightly collected inflorescences.
In the subsequent period, the procedure for loosening and strengthening the root system of the emerging bouquet should be accompanied by abundant watering. The frequency of hilling is no more than once every seven days.
To the question whether it is possible to combine these manipulations with others that benefit the future harvest, the answer is yes.
When hilling, it is useful to mix humus or any other dry fertilizer, including crushed straw and mixed with compost, into loose, oxygen-saturated soils.
Along with proper loosening and timely strengthening of the emerging root system, regular watering cabbage beds, since the lack of water instantly affects the density of the head of cabbage and its further development. If we conditionally divide the entire growing season of cruciferous vegetables, then the first part should contain at least 20 liters of water per 1 m2, and for the second part - up to 40 liters per 1 m2.
