Summer residents love grow juicy cabbage in the garden because of its beneficial properties and practicality in use. But they often notice during the growth process that the seedlings go up, that is, they stretch out. There can be many reasons for this; they must be clarified immediately and measures taken, otherwise there will not be a good harvest.
Many lovers of this vegetable are interested in what to do if the seedlings stretch upward. Cabbage grows intensively; it always lacks sunlight, nutrients and fertilizers, and space, so it begins to stretch out.But this should not be allowed under any circumstances, as this slows down the process of head formation.
It is necessary to determine what kind of culture it is, what its characteristics are, and what conditions it likes. This will help in determining the causes of trailing foliage. Only then eliminate this reason, which prevents the normal development of culture.
Description of this type of vegetable
Cabbage is a deciduous plant on a stem, with its lower leaves forming a head. It is loved for its abundance of vitamins and its use in the preparation of cabbage soup, solyanka, salads and pickles. It is eaten raw and boiled. Cabbage tolerates Russian weather conditions normally, so it can grow in open ground, but it is mostly planted as seedlings. The warmer the conditions on the windowsill, the faster the seeds will germinate.
Although after germination and beyond, this plant prefers mostly cool temperatures.
When seeds sprout, they need to be provided with everything they need for germination: the right temperature, fresh air, humidity, light, nutrients. If any of the requirements are violated, then there will be no further good harvest. The sprout begins to stretch out greatly precisely because of improper care immediately after planting the seed.
Usually, no more than 50 days pass before planting at the dacha takes place. Therefore, you need to start sowing at the end of March - beginning of April. Before planting, it is better to soak the seed in a special solution to accelerate growth and nutrition.
How to plant
After planting the seeds, cover the container with a transparent film and keep it that way until germination. Then we open the shoots. The best temperature for germinated seeds is no more than 15 degrees. Therefore, if it is hot at home, it is necessary to ventilate the room. It is advised to plant when the heating is turned off.
Planting into the soil occurs when four leaves appear and the sprout becomes more than ten centimeters. It is dense, strong and without flaws.
This crop loves abundant watering, only in the fall before cutting the heads of cabbage you need to stop it for a few days.
The heads of cabbage will be large, even, juicy if you use fertilizer in time, loosen the soil, and spray it against harmful insects. Among fertilizers, the vegetable prefers ammonium nitrate, nitrogen minerals, and humus.
Insects often attack this vegetable, so it needs special protection from them. The most dangerous pests for cabbage are beetles, whitefly butterflies, flies, and moths.
Reasons why cabbage strives upward
Often, inexperienced gardeners encounter the problem for the first time that cabbage seedlings stretch out before or after planting in the ground. There are several reasons for this phenomenon.
- Incorrect temperature in the room where the seedlings are standing. She needs coolness and ventilation; the normal temperature will be at least 18 degrees during seed germination, up to 12 degrees when they begin to sprout, and 15-17 before they are planted in the garden.
- Very little light. If the plant is in a dark room for a long time, in the shade, it will stretch out, strive to look for the necessary light source, and the leaves will climb up.
- Insufficient nutrients and fertilizers. If the land is infertile, then the cabbage grows high. The soil should be prepared in the fall, fertilized and loosened.
- The purchased seeds turned out to be fake; it happens that cabbage is crossed with something else. And that’s why the leaves grow tall and the heads grow small.
- Strongly overgrown root system. When planting, the root should be cut off so that it does not grow and energy is spent on the growth of the head of cabbage.
- Too much watering or, conversely, lack of moisture.
- An excess of fertilizers can lead to the growth of foliage, but not to the development of fruits.
- Not enough space in the garden. Seedlings must be planted 30-35 cm apart.
- Nearby in the neighborhood grow those crops that are prohibited from being planted, as they take away useful substances. You need to plant something that does not have large roots: carrots, onions, greens, legumes.
- A lot of weeds around and not loosened soil will lead to insufficient supply of nutrients.
The summer resident must determine the reason why the seedlings are stretching upward. He must study why cabbage stretches out in the garden and know what to do to avoid it. To avoid negative consequences, you should be more attentive to caring for the crop from the very beginning.
How to stop pulling
Those who have had a bad experience growing cabbage need to learn how to eliminate the resulting result. If the cabbage is stretched out, what should you do? If it is nevertheless discovered that the foliage is growing more and more, then you need to start taking measures. If cabbage has not yet been planted in the garden, then before planting you can prune root shoots that are too large.
We remove everything that blocks sunlight. Cabbage does not like shade. It is better to plant it in open space. If seedlings that have not yet been planted begin to actively seek light, then it needs to be provided with it: create artificial light on the north side, hang a switched-on lamp. It’s worth trying to feed the vegetable; there should always be enough nitrogen and potassium fertilizer. If cabbage lacks nutrients, the leaves begin to stretch. But it is important to remember that there should not be satiety.
You can stop watering for a while if this is the reason.Cabbage should not be over-watered, otherwise the head of cabbage will not be juicy and firm, and the foliage will not grow thickly. It is also necessary to periodically loosen the soil, weed the beds, remove weeds, and spray against harmful insects. In the spring, seedlings are ventilated and hardened, and placed on a balcony or terrace.
If overgrowths appear in a container with seedlings, then you can cut off the upper shoots with leaves, put them in water, and wait until they sprout. This is the process of dividing and slowing down the growth of cabbage. And there will be more seedlings.
There are artificial drugs that slow down the stretching. They can be purchased at special garden stores. They are diluted according to the instructions, then watered at the root or sprayed on the foliage during a certain period of growth.
In order to slow down the elongated seedling, you need to determine the reason for this, and then prevent it, and make sure that this does not happen again.
Prevention and favorable conditions for growth
In order to prevent the foliage from stretching, it is necessary to initially fulfill all planting requirements. We need to start in the fall, when everyone is digging up the soil at their dachas. Planting is planned in advance and the soil is prepared in advance. Before severe frosts, manure, peat, sand, superphosphate and potash fertilizers are added to the ground, and in the spring they are dug up again and watered with diluted urea. Feeding is first done every two weeks, and then once a month to accelerate the ripening of heads of cabbage.
The soil should be light, loose, soft. It should not contain clay, waste, or mixtures of heavy metals. The ground must be loosened and weeded, removing unnecessary grass. She only takes vitamins from cabbage. Do loosening and hilling carefully around the vegetable so as not to touch the stems and roots.
You can purchase a soil acidity meter, as this plant does not like soil that is too acidic. Acidity should not exceed 7 units.
Before cabbage is planted in the garden, you need to complete several important nuances so that all the seeds germinate successfully. Capacity, variety, climatic conditions affect ripening. You need to look at the quality of the seeds in the store, they may slip a fake, and then the shoots and harvest will be of poor quality. Check the expiration date indicated on the package. Ask a consultant for details about the variety.
The place for seedlings is chosen such that no types of cruciferous vegetables or cabbage have previously grown on it; tall plants and bushes are also not needed. Such a place is completely unfavorable for the ripening of heads of cabbage, and the foliage will begin to stretch. It’s good if cucumbers, carrots, onions, beans, peas, wheat, and oats were previously grown.
Caring for seedlings in containers
For germination of shoots, temperature and light are very important. The normal daylight hours are 12 hours; if the window where the seedlings are located is on the north side, then you can hang a lamp or lamp above it so that it does not remain in the dark for a long time. And in order to adjust the desired temperature, you need to ventilate the room or take the container with the sprouts outside. In April the weather already allows this.
It is necessary to ensure that the room is constantly humid, and also to ensure good watering of the seedlings on the windowsill. You need to water twice a week, but you need to touch the soil with your hands so as not to overdo it. It is enough to water the garden once a week, but generously. Before harvesting, stop watering, otherwise the heads of cabbage will rot and be poorly stored.
Two weeks after germination, be sure to tear off the top leaves, this will slow down the pulling process.If the seedlings are too long, then the head of cabbage may not form, and the cabbage in the garden bed will soon die. After planting in the dacha, the cabbage is shaded, branches of pine needles or other shrubs are placed next to it to cover the young shoots, but as soon as it adapts to a new place, the branches are exposed to sunlight and the branches are thrown away.
All these efforts will help to achieve efficient yields and crunchy, healthy fruits. Do not neglect the rules of care; they are different for each vegetable crop.
When growing cabbage in the garden, you should carefully care for it, providing all the necessary conditions for its growth from the very beginning, as soon as you open the bag of seeds. If cabbage seedlings have become very elongated, it is difficult to return them to the desired position, and the head of cabbage will no longer become so juicy and large. Therefore, you need to monitor this in advance so as not to rack your brains about what to do later.
