Ornamental Cabbage. Care

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Many novice growers are sure that ornamental cabbage does not need care. For the attention and care shown to her, culture pleases its owners with beauty, abundant "blooming" of openwork leaves

Growing conditions

Ornamental cabbage loves open, sunny areas, loamy, sandy loam soils. It responds well to abundant watering, rapidly increasing the "green" mass. Reacts positively to improving soil fertility through organic fertilizers.

In shady places, the color of the leaves turns pale, development is delayed from a lack of light.

Planting and leaving

Seedlings of ornamental varieties are not afraid of light return frosts. In the cool conditions of early May, it takes root better in a new place. Depending on the variety and size of adult plants, a planting scheme is set. They practice the square-nesting method 60 * 60 or 80 * 80 cm. Bouquet forms stretch upwards, so they are placed closer to each other.

They fill poor soils with organic fertilizers since autumn. A glass of wood ash is scattered over the surface of the garden bed over a bucket of peat, rotted manure. Carefully dig up shovels on the bayonet, removing the rhizomes of malicious weeds.

Make holes 5-10 cm deep. Spill water. Seedlings are planted, deepening them to the first pair of true leaves. Cabbage builds up heavy, large "heads". With shallow embedding, adult plants fall on their side, disrupting the beauty of the composition. Compress the soil from all sides.

After 4 days, the rooted bushes are watered. Maintain the moisture content of the earthen coma at an optimal level. Excessive moisture leads to bacterial diseases, drying out - reduces the growth rate and development of the culture.

Top dressing with Kemira Lux fertilizer 1 tablespoon per bucket of liquid 2 times a month. Regular loosening of the soil, removing weeds until the row spacings close.

Getting seeds

High prices for seeds of especially beautiful specimens of ornamental cabbage, a small amount of seeds in a pack (usually 5-10 pieces), push gardeners to get their planting material.

Keep in mind that most plants are F1 hybrids. Therefore, the offspring will be heterogeneous. Only half of the seeds will repeat the characteristics of the parents. If you wish, you yourself can participate in the process of breeding a new variety.

We prepare the testes in the fall. We dig the strongest and most beautiful specimens with a clod of earth. We wrap the lower part with soil with a piece of covering material or film. We put it in the cellar for storage. We hang the plants on the wire with their roots up.

The second option is transplanted into an old 10 liter bucket, placed in a cold basement. We slightly moisten the soil once a month. In the southern regions, we cover the plants directly in the beds.

After the snow melts, we return the culture to the breeding site. We clean the growing point from spoiled leaves. We bury the roots, pour with water. Care is the same as for plants of the first year of life.

In the second half of summer, flower stalks appear. We put on them caps of non-woven material or foil. We pollinate the blossoming flowers with a brush. We transfer pollen from the stamens to the pistils. After work, we return the protective caps to their place. You can experiment with interspersed crosses. The result is your own hybrid. The fabric helps keep the seeds from bird raids.

Seeds ripen closer to autumn. Harvested in several stages to avoid loss from shedding. Cut off individual branches with brown pods. Hang in the shade under a canopy. At the bottom they spread a newspaper or put a wide box. The pods burst when dried, the seeds fall to the bottom. Dry in a warm room. They are laid out in paper bags, signing each variety, indicating the date of collection. Shelf life without loss of quality is 4 years.

The use of ornamental cabbage in landscape design, protection from pests and diseases will be considered in the next article.