August: Return Of Bok Choy

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

Peking cabbage belongs to that wonderful category of vegetables that do not require long daylight hours to harvest. In addition, under conditions of short daylight hours and moderate air temperatures, it forms better, therefore, in August, ideal conditions come for its cultivation in the open field

Features of growing Chinese cabbage

Chinese cabbage has a short growing season. But it would be a mistake to try to harvest several crops at once during the summer. In hot summer, when the sun rises early and sets late, Peking cabbage quickly shoots. Therefore, it is better to use it as a stubble crop in the summer-autumn period after harvesting the main crops from the beds.

It is no coincidence that Peking cabbage has such a name. It came to our tables from China, where it has been cultivated for more than 15 centuries. In our area, the vegetable gained wide popularity only in the twentieth century, and then thanks to the efforts of breeders from Japan. Through the efforts of scientists, early ripening hybrids that are resistant to shooting were created. If not for this, the plant in our area would bloom before it had time to form a head of cabbage, or, on the contrary, would not have had time to ripen to the state of its presentation.

It is advisable to prepare seedlings in July, but you can still have time to do this in August. Peking cabbage belongs to frost-resistant plants, so the autumn cold is not terrible for it. But what can damage the crop is a strong wind. Cabbage has a poorly developed root system, and therefore does not sit firmly in the ground. And due to its height, as well as its lightness, a vegetable may not resist sharp gusts and fall on its side in the garden bed.

Fertilizing the site before planting

You will get an enviable crop on fairly fertile soils. It will be successful to place seedlings where manure was introduced under the predecessors. When this has not been done, organic matter is introduced before planting seedlings. However, manure should not be applied directly under the Chinese cabbage. Better to replace it with matured compost. Its amount is calculated from the following norms: 40 kg per 10 square meters. the area of the beds.

In addition to organic matter, it is recommended to add the following mineral fertilizers to the soil:

• lime-ammonium nitrate - 0.2 kg;

• superphosphate - 0.3 kg;

• potassium salt - 0.4 kg.

Soil requirements

Under the beds, you need to allocate a site with medium loamy soil. During cultivation, it is necessary to maintain the beds in a sufficiently loose and moderately moist state - this is a moisture-loving culture. Cabbage grows poorly on poor and acidified soils. But the situation can be corrected by liming and fertilizing. A bad solution would be to place a Peking in the beds after other cabbage. And it is completely unacceptable to grow on soils infected with keel. These areas must be kept in quarantine for several years from all cruciferous plants - cabbage, radish, daikon.

Caring for Chinese cabbage

Seedlings are moved to the beds in open ground when 2-3 true leaves develop on the plants. Before planting, the seedlings must be hardened. If the nursery is a container, it is simply taken out for 4-5 days to the open air before future disembarkation. When the seedlings are grown in greenhouses, the shelters are removed so that the plantings are aired.

Seedlings are planted in a checkerboard pattern. The planting pattern can be 35x35 cm or so. The first feeding in a new place is carried out after the seedlings have taken root well. This will take her about two weeks. To do this, use 20 g of ammonium nitrate per 10 liters of water. You will also need 10 g of potassium salt. Peking cabbage is re-fertilized after another week. This time, the dose of ammonium nitrate is increased by 10 g. Such measures will contribute to the growth of the rosette, from which a tight head of leaves will form. Each time after fertilization, the beds must be watered generously with water, while cleansing the leaves of vegetables from droplets with fertilizers that have fallen on them.

Peking cabbage can be harvested until hard frost. The vegetable tolerates temperatures down to –8 ° С. But in case of persistent frosts, it is still better to move the cabbage for storage to cellars. So that it does not lose its freshness and even put on weight, you can dig it out by the roots and dig it in the room, periodically moistening the soil.

You can use Chinese cabbage for food not only fresh. Despite the fact that Pekingka is also called salad cabbage, it is also used for preparing first and second courses. Its greens are added to cabbage soup, the sheets are suitable for making stuffed cabbage rolls. You just need to be prepared for the fact that after heat treatment the leaves become tougher than, for example, that of her white-headed sister.