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Who manages to grow cauliflower without the hassle? Confess your unearthly essence! Otherwise, how to explain that such a whim is growing in you and even gives a decent harvest? Or is it a great secret of the ancients, zealously guarded by many generations?
Of course this is a joke. In fact, the question - how to grow cauliflower in the open ground, has an answer. True, few people know him. And let's see together why instead of dense and white heads, scary green brooms often turn out.
General recommendations
Discover the first article on growing cauliflower. What do we see? Endless directions with numbers. Increase the temperature by 3 degrees, lower by half a degree ... add as many grams of fertilizer on a particular day ... And many more letters that drive you crazy. Well, who in their right mind and sober memory will run with a thermometer in the beds or measure fertilizers with a pharmacy scale? Close these scientific facts, do not break your brain.
Only two digits should be deposited in your head. Not lower than +10 and not higher than + 25 ° С. Everything! In other temperature ranges, cauliflower will not work. Dropped below - covered with a film or non-woven material. Climbed higher - had a cool shower, shade with a cloth.
Cross out a long list of fertilizers in FIG! What do you need cauliflower in which there are more nitrates than vitamins? Stomp at the farm store. Ask sellers for fertilizers that are high in molybdenum, boron and phosphorus. If you can read, then even easier. Choose yourself. And use as recommended by the manufacturer. All the same, do not overdo it with the frequency of feeding. Do not have time.
Why do not you have time? Because, after sowing seeds for seedlings in the first ten days of March, already in the early to mid-June you will collect the first crop. This refers to ultra-ripe varieties. About 100 days pass from seedlings to technical ripeness. And no more. Because the July heat will ruin all your labors.
But, you can get the second wave of the crop in October, if you sow new seeds at the end of July. At this time, the heat begins to subside and cauliflower feels great. If in your region there is no hot summer, then calmly plant any varieties of cauliflower at a convenient time for you. Coolness will only benefit.
Seed preparation
Now we take a piece of aloe leaf, knead it well in a small amount of warm water. We filter. Do not use a metal sieve! Only hair or sparse tissue. For example, a piece of bandage or gauze. Next, in the resulting liquid, soak the seeds. 12 hours is more than enough.
All seeds are ready for planting. Germinating them is not necessary.
Sowing
In warm regions, you can sow immediately into the ground. Around the beginning-mid-April. But we are not looking for easy ways! Give us full seedlings!
Therefore, we take a cardboard cell from under the eggs. Very handy thing, by the way. In each well we put 2 tsp. soil. Top prepared seed and then another teaspoon of soil.
Now the whole thing is slightly pressed by the palm.Do not push, tea is not a press! And a little spray with warm water from the spray gun. You can splash a few drops of any growth biostimulator into it.
We clean our landings in darkness and warmth. The top of the kitchen cabinet is perfect. If everything is done correctly, then shoots will appear within 5 days. Did not appear? Deal with the seed seller. Quality always sprout quickly.
Seedlings
As soon as the first cotyledonous leaves appear, immediately transfer the cell to a cool place. On the cabinet is clearly above + 25 ° C. But we remember that this is a terrible figure. Therefore, on a cool windowsill, where + 16-18 ° C.
The power of lighting plays a role, but not very important. But the length of the day is significant. The shorter the day, the denser the heads will be. But it will take a lot of time. A long day allows you to throw away the flowers more quickly, but they quickly decay into so loose green brooms that everyone hates so much. Keep this in mind.
Cauliflower seedlings are watered very carefully. Do not overmoisten! The black leg does not sleep and only awaits your careless actions. And the cool conditions of cauliflower are generally a paradise for her! How to avoid a sore lesion? It is necessary to take appropriate preventive measures:
- Be sure to disinfect the cells. Spray with a strong solution of potassium permanganate, then dry near heating appliances.
- The soil for seedlings must also be clean. Freezing and subsequent heating in the oven is ideal.
- For reliability, the prepared soil is generously spilled with a solution of phytosporin.
- Periodically thoroughly ventilate seedlings, but without a draft.
- We strictly control watering.
All these measures reduce the infection of the black leg to almost zero. But for greater reliability, cauliflower sprouts must be shed with phytosporin one more time before planting in the ground. At the same time, this will help to avoid rot. After all, the root system of this plant is too small and weak, compared with ordinary cabbage.
When to plant cauliflower in the ground
In the middle lane this is approximately the second decade of April. Air temperature should rise above + 12 ° С. And it is very important not to let the cauliflower outgrow. Such seedlings do not take root well, are sick for a long time and give a meager harvest. If at all gives.
It is most optimal to plant cauliflower when 5 real leaves only begin to appear on the shoots. When it unfolds completely, everything, the cabbage has grown.
If planted earlier than this moment, then the sprouts will adapt for a long time. After all, they are still so weak.
How to plant cauliflower
It is advisable to prepare the garden in the fall. To do this, along with digging for the winter, make a good leaf humus or already ripened manure. Fresh add is prohibited! He will burn the roots completely.
Naturally, all weeds and their roots are harvested. Young seedlings are too weak to withstand their pressure.
With spring digging make mineral fertilizers. Preferably integrated. But organics will not have time to ripen to give all the nutrients to cauliflower. Therefore, it is better to abstain from it in the spring.
Wells for planting are arranged according to the scheme 40 by 40 cm. It is no longer worth it. After all, how much space will you give the cabbage, so much it will spread its burdocks. Do you need it?
Immediately on the day of planting, a teaspoon of ash is poured into each hole, not more! Mix well with the ground, pour a decent amount of water. And already in the obtained slurry, an earthen lump with roots is carefully lowered. It is recommended not to destroy it. So the plant is less injured.
By the way, seedlings are taken out of the cell very easily. You just need to take it with two fingers near the soil and gently pull it up. You will have a sprout in your hand that has tightly braided the roots of the earth.
Cauliflower is deepened along the most cotyledonous leaves. But look carefully so as not to fall asleep growth point.
Tip.After planting for three days, shade the seedlings with any fabric. Then it can be removed.
Cauliflower Care
This plant loves water, but does not tolerate fluid stagnation at the roots. It is better to water it once every 6 days, but abundantly soaking the ground. And so that the soil does not dry out in between waterings - use mulch. A thick layer will protect your landings.
Fertilizers As we said above, anyone with a high content of certain trace elements will do. Do not increase the dosage. It will not do any good. Top dressing is done the next day after watering. It will be enough 6 pieces for the entire growing season. They bring them strictly under the root, because the root system of cauliflower is small, it can not reach far for food.
How to get white heads
As soon as you notice that visible inflorescences have begun to form, cover them from the sun. Some sources recommend breaking the cabbage of the cabbage itself and putting it on top. What useless barbarism! The slightest blow of the breeze will take this burdock to an unknown destination. And in the sun, the inflorescences will quickly turn into a broom.
Keep your suggestion:
- We go to the children's art store
- We buy a package of rubber bands for weaving a bracelet.
- We return to the garden.
- We collect 3-4 top sheets in a bunch.
- We put on an elastic band.
Everything. Fast, without a headache and completely inexpensive. The issue price is about 50 rubles for a package of 300 pieces. By the way, they can still be useful on other beds. And they are sold not only in specialized stores, but in almost every corner.
By the way, with this method, you can safely water the cauliflower from above, without fear of water entering the heads. And under the burdock, the liquid flows freely, which causes rotting of the petioles and spoils the entire crop.
Pests
Cauliflower is remarkably occupied by pests. Everyone loves her: aphids, slugs, bears, cabbage flies, butterflies, fleas, scoops. So, you have to fight for the harvest. Any systemic insecticide can be used. But it must be used with caution so as not to fall on the inflorescences.
Bioinsecticides have proven themselves well. They do not cause harm to humans, do not accumulate in the heads and leaves. But they cope well with pests by infecting them with fungal spores. Penetrating through the chitinous membrane, these spores grow and kill insects.
Folk wisdom suggests periodically dusting planting with fine ash of hardwood. Also a good option. And it can be carried out after closing the heads with leaves. Nothing gets inside.
In principle, you can use any deterrent infusions from improvised plants. It can be wormwood, garlic, tansy, onions.
When to harvest cauliflower
Never categorically be late with harvesting. Peduncles quickly grow into separate branches when overgrown. Then they begin to grow in different directions and stick out like a whisk. Heads are cut off when they reach a characteristic size for the variety. Or a little earlier. Anyone who has ever seen cauliflower will certainly not be late. At the first sign of overgrowth, an urgent need to take the crop.
By the way, if the stem is powerful, the blades are juicy and bright without signs of disease or damage, then do not pull out the plant. Water it well, feed it thoroughly and spud it higher. If you continue to look after him as before, then after some time new young inflorescences will appear from the lateral sinuses. Of course, the second crop will not give large heads. But you get 4-5 pieces of medium size, which is equivalent to one big one.
For their own needs - a good help.
Useful Tips
- Autumn harvest can not be cut. Cauliflower is dug along with the roots and lowered into the cellar. There it is suspended upside down or roots are dug up. In this form, the heads are perfectly stored up to 3 months.
- Seal the plantings of cauliflower with marigolds. It is aesthetically magnificent and frightens away many fans to enjoy snow-white heads.
- Spray freshly planted seedlings immediately with a solution of table vinegar: for 10 liters of pure water 1 tbsp. l This will interrupt the smell of leaves and confuse pests.
- Observe crop rotation. Do not plant after cruciferous plants. They have the same pests and diseases. It is better to attach cauliflower after gourds or cereals.
How to grow cauliflower in open ground? As you can see, this is not at all a secret behind seven seals. Knowing that the plant loves coolness, you can grow two crops per season without the hassle and hassle. Plus a huge storehouse of vitamins, minerals and nutrients on your table, from June to December.
Video: the secrets of a good harvest of cauliflower
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