Krautman cabbage has attractive characteristics for growing on private plots, as well as for farms. About the features of this vegetable and its agricultural technology - later in the article.

Variety Origin History

Krautman is the Dutch hybrid of the Bejo Zaden company, which has been successfully grown since the end of the 20th century. It is entered in the register of crops in 1993.

Did you know? Fresh cabbage juice is used in folk medicine as a healing agent for ulcers and purulent wounds.

Description and characteristics of the variety

This hybrid is mid-season, and the average period from emergence to harvest in technical ripeness is 120–140 days (according to the State Register) or 100 days (according to the manufacturer).

The plant has the following characteristics:

• head of cabbage rounded, half-covered;
• head of cabbage - 7-8 kg according to Bejo or up to 4 kg according to the State Register;
• the compact leaf outlet is raised;
• small wrinkled sheet with a wax coating;
• the head structure of the head is dense and thin;
• medium-sized pokers (inside and out);
• the taste is good, the variety is suitable for processing, pickling and fresh sales.

Productivity, according to the State Register, is 307–926 c / ha.

Advantages and disadvantages

The Krautman variety has been cultivated for a long time, and its advantages are well known to gardeners.

• The advantages of this cabbage include:
• high productivity;
• resistance to cracking and damage to fusarium;
• marketability of products.

According to some sources, the sensitivity to the cruciferous carina and the weak anchor of the root system can be considered a relative disadvantage of the hybrid, as a result of which the heads of cabbage sometimes tumble to the side.

Outdoor landing

In most regions, cabbage is grown in seedlings in order to have time to harvest before the onset of cold weather. Krautman matures in the medium term, so seeds are usually sown in indoor containers in March or in greenhouses in early April.

Important! Hybrid crops labeled F1 do not reproduce their characteristics in the seeds collected by the gardener manually. Therefore, for sowing in the new season, you need to buy new seed material.

Seed preparation

Many seeds produced by well-known companies are specially treated to enhance germination and disease. A characteristic feature of this treatment is the color of each seed.

Simple unprocessed seeds can be pre-soaked in potassium permanganate or cooled to a temperature of +1 ... + 2 ° C during the day, which will increase germination and resistance.

Sowing Options

If possible, it is better to grow cabbage seedlings in a separate greenhouse. This culture is resistant to cool temperatures at night, and access to a large amount of light will allow you to get strong and healthy seedlings.

In the greenhouse

For sowing seedlings in open ground, you should spill the earth in the selected area with hot water, add some wood ash and cover it with a film for several days. This will help warm the soil to a depth of 10 cm, after which you can sow the seeds quite densely.

Sowing should be covered with a film or a transparent cap, and watering should be carried out only after the obvious drying of the soil.

In bright sunny weather, the sun can burn the shoots under cover, so it can be removed during the day (if the temperature is above 0 ° C). After the mass emergence of seedlings, they are thinned out, and at the age of 14 days they are fed with a solution of wood ash. Cabbage is transplanted to a permanent place, provided that the earth is warmed up by 15 cm.

At home

The seedlings sown at home are dived after the appearance of 2 real leaves. When transplanting into separate pots, seedlings should be deepened to cotyledonous leaves, and roots too long should be shortened by a third. The main problem of "home" seedlings is waterlogging, in which the disease is possible plant diseases "black leg".

To prevent the cabbage from stretching out, it needs 12-15 hours of light day and a temperature of no higher than + 15 ° C. Before planting in the open ground, seedlings should be hardened, taking them out gradually and shading in the early days from the bright rays of the sun.

Did you know? In the 1920s, the Soviet geneticist G. D. Karpechenko created a hybrid of cabbage and radish, called rafan-rassika, and was able to achieve its reproduction while preserving the signs of parents. Unfortunately, the plant did not combine the beneficial qualities of the original species and was suitable only for animal feed.

Transplant to the garden

Cabbage can be grown on soil with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Legumes, cucumbers, and carrots will be good culture precursors, while radishes, daikon, and radishes will be undesirable. You can re-plant cabbage in the same place only after 3 years.

The scheme of planting seedlings provides a distance between rows of 70 cm, and between individual plants - 60 cm.

The soil must first be dug up to a depth of about 30 cm and leveled. The optimal time for a transplant is a cloudy or even rainy day, and in sunny weather you should transfer the work to evening or morning.

Planting cabbage should be carried out as follows:

1. Dig a hole in a designated place with a depth of about 20–25 cm, where to pour 1 liter of water and add 1 teaspoon of nitrophoska and 2 tbsp. tablespoons of wood ash.
2. Remove the moistened plant the day before from the pot or dig out of the greenhouse and plant it, deepening to the first real leaves.
3. Compact the soil around young cabbage and pour it with settled water into a recess made in a circle with a diameter of about 30 cm.
4. Sprinkle ash around the seedling to protect the plantings from the earthen flea.

Immediately after planting, seedlings should be shaded with agrofibre so that the young leaves are not scorched by the sun.

Read more about how to plant and grow cabbage correctly.

Plant care

Further care for cabbage should include mandatory irrigation and control over the occurrence of diseases and the attack of pests.

Watering

Without sufficient moisture, large and tasty heads of cabbage cannot be grown. The optimal method of irrigation is drip irrigation, however, its initial cost is required to connect it. This method can be combined with sprinkling, which is necessary in the hot summer to cool and control some pests.

In the first 2 weeks, plants should be provided with 6–8 L of water per 1 m² every 3-4 days. Then, with an arid summer, weekly watering at a rate of 10-12 liters per 1 m² will be enough. The water used for irrigation should be non-cold (about + 20 ° C).

Find out how often to water the cabbage.

Top dressing

Cabbage needs additional top dressing during the period of leaf growth and in the phase of head formation.

Suggested feeding schedule:

1. If no fertilizers were added during planting, a week later spill cabbage with a solution of manure (1:10), at the rate of 0.5 l per 1 plant.
2. After 1 month, top-dressing is repeated.
3. After another 2 weeks, add 30 g of superphosphate to the solution (per 10 liters of liquid), and increase the rate per 1 seedling to 1–1.5 liters.
4. After skipping another 20 days, perform the last top dressing with the same mixture.

Loosening, hilling and weeding

As soon as the seedlings take root in a new place, you should loosen the soil to a depth of 5 cm and weed the bed from weeds. After 7 days, perform the second loosening of 6-8 cm, and deepen the next to 8-10 cm.

When the leaves of neighboring plants meet, this soil treatment must be stopped.

Hilling is designed to help cabbage build up the root system, and is also the prevention of certain diseases. Perform it 3 weeks after transplanting seedlings in open ground. Before hilling, the bed is moistened, after which the soil is raked up to the level of the first leaves.

Plant protection

Hybrid white cabbage Krautman is sensitive to keel - a fungal disease that leaves a mark in the soil. At the beginning of the disease, the leaves fade, but the main damage is done to the roots of the plant. The stump is covered with growths, and the roots look swollen.

The keel is incurable, so the infected plant should be removed and destroyed, and the land on the bed should be treated with Bordeaux fluid.

The disease is prevented by controlling soil moisture (because excessive amounts of water contribute to the active development of fungi), as well as enriching the soil with wood ash and colloidal sulfur.

The main preventive measures that prevent the development of diseases and help fight pests are:

• crop rotation compliance;
• autumn digging of the soil;
• destruction of plant debris in which pest larvae hibernate.

If pests are found, apply spraying with insecticides ("Aktara", "Confido", etc.). Butterflies (moths, whiteflies) can be caught in the light or with special glue traps. Spraying Bordeaux liquid against downy mildew, infusion of burdock and potassium permanganate, as well as special preparations (for example, Ridomil) help to fight diseases.

Learn more about the treatment of cabbage from pests.

Harvesting and storage

For harvesting vegetables, you should choose a dry day and cut off the stump with only a sharpened blade. If cabbage is planned to be stored on weight, the stalk is not cut short. For storage, leave 2-3 top sheets.

Heads of cabbage to be stored must be intact, without cracks and damage by pests. Cabbage can be placed in sand or a box (in 1 layer), as well as wrapped in paper and put on shelves or suspended by a long stump to the ceiling beam.

Important! As seen by experienced gardeners, after the first frost, heads of cabbage become juicier and softer.

Long-term storage conditions include a humidity of 85–95% and a temperature of about 0 ° C. Once a month, the room should be aired. Krautman cabbage has established itself as a reliable hybrid with attractive and tasty heads of cabbage. Providing the vegetable proper care and protection from disease, you can get a rich harvest.