How often should cabbage be watered in the open field and with what water
Among gardeners, there is a different opinion on how often to water cabbage in the open field. After all, the heads of cabbage crack from excessive moisture, they can burst, and the lower leaves turn yellow and rot. The temperature of the water for irrigation is also important for active growth and health of the vegetable crop.
It is known that without knowledge of the rules for watering cabbage in the open field, a good vegetable harvest cannot be obtained. And here everything is important: the method of irrigation, its time and water temperature. If you water it according to the rules, then the heads of cabbage in the fall will delight you with their juiciness and strength. They will not rot or crack.
Ways of watering cabbage
After planting young cabbage bushes in open ground, they organize regular watering of the vegetable. There are several ways to carry out the procedure efficiently:
- The grooves made along the plantings of the vegetable will allow the roots of the plant to be evenly saturated with moisture. The advantage of this method is that each bush gets enough water. Usually watering is used for plants with a developed root system. The grooves will firmly conduct water in flat areas with dense, heavy soil.
- It is easy to adjust the irrigation rate using the sprinkler method. To do this, through a hose, water enters a special installation that sprays water over cabbage beds. The convenience of the method is in the minimum expenditure of energy, but in the maximum - electricity. In addition, heads of cabbage will only be refreshed with cold water, which is not always good for them.
- An effective type of irrigation is drip. You can arrange it by picking up and laying pipes with a diameter of one and a half to two centimeters. The holes in them for water outlet are at a distance of thirty centimeters from each other. Regulate watering with medical droppers. Many people use simple plastic bottles that are dug in between the rows of a garden crop. Through the holes made, the roots are supplied with moisture. The drip irrigation method is used as one of the least expensive. He will not give waterlogging of the soil, deliver water to each spud root.
When organizing watering, it is important to know that the average watering rate for early varieties, when the forks have not yet set, is five liters per square meter, during ripening - eight. For late varieties, the norm is one and a half times higher.
The depth of soaking after cabbage planting depends on the period of head formation. Before it, you need to water to a depth of thirty centimeters, and with the active formation of forks - up to forty.
Watering schedule and frequency
If it is not clear why the cabbage is cracking, then it is necessary to revise the frequency of watering, adjust the procedure schedule.The moisture requirement of the vegetable is determined by such parameters as the age of the plant and the variety of cabbage.
You can adjust your hydration routine knowing that every day is watered before the heads are set and during their formation. Usually, they moisten up to twice a day when planting seedlings. This takes into account weather and climatic conditions.
In temperate climates, five to six waterings per week are enough, in regions with hot climates - up to eleven. For all varieties of vegetables, the duration of sprinkling irrigation should reach three hours after planting the plant, during the formation of heads of cabbage - two hours.
Irrigation should be stopped two to three weeks before harvest, and for late varieties - a month.
The stability of moisture intake plays an important role in plant development. If they don't know how to water the cabbage, with what frequency, then the vegetable will not receive sufficient moisture. Lack of watering, even for some time, leads to stagnation in the development of the middle of the heads. And the establishment of abundant moisture - to the active growth of inner leaves, rupture of the outer ones. Hence the cracks in the cabbage heads.
How many times to water cabbage beds is adjusted depending on the presence of precipitation, soil composition.
The intensity of water absorption is different for each type of soil. You can determine the type of soil by rolling a ball out of it. If, when pressed, the earthen ball disintegrates, then it is loam. Then you need to water often. If not crumbled, then cabbage grows on heavy soils. Moisture is absorbed for a long time, so you should not be zealous in watering. It will not work to roll a ball out of sandy soil. Such soils easily absorb any liquid.
Water requirements for watering cabbage
An important point in caring for a vegetable is what kind of water to water the cabbage with. And there are no special secrets here. It is best warm and well-kept. For this, containers are filled with water in advance. To make them warm better, they are dyed dark. The optimum water temperature for irrigation should be at least eighteen degrees and not higher than twenty-five. Excessive overheating of the liquid can lead to the heads of cabbage poured into it bursting. This happens if the difference between the temperature of water and air is ten degrees.
Sprinkling, that is, watering with cool water on hot days is unacceptable. Then the forks crack strongly, which will subsequently lead to their rotting. You can correct the situation if you turn on the installation earlier in the morning.
Useful additives for watering
Cabbage is fed during watering. Useful procedures begin immediately after planting vegetable seedlings in the ground. Having dissolved five hundred grams of mullein in a bucket of water, the seedlings are watered at the root two weeks after planting. Chicken droppings are also used, diluting in a ratio of 1:15. During watering, make sure that organic matter does not get on the leaves. Even a few drops of the solution on the leaves of the plant will cause burns.
Of the mineral fertilizers, superphosphate, potassium salt, ammonium nitrate are considered useful for the plant. The substances are also diluted in ten liters of water, taking first fifteen to twenty grams, in subsequent dressings - twice as much.
For planting a vegetable, such watering with fertilizers is enough two to three times per season.
The richest source of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus is nettle. Insist cut plant stems in water until the solution ferments. After watering with nettle infusion, the cabbage grows more intensively, the head of cabbage forms quickly, does not burst.
For late-ripening varieties of vegetable plants, it is useful to spray the leaves on top with such a solution: a kilogram of potassium chloride, eighty grams of superphosphate, ten of molybdenum are diluted in four liters of water. After insisting, heads of cabbage are sprayed for 24 hours. With weakness, yellowing of the shoots, add two grams of urea to the solution.After foliar feeding, there will be no problem why cabbage slowly ripens, and heads of cabbage crack.
Basic rules for watering a vegetable
If the cabbage in the garden is cracking for some reason, you need to remember the basic rules for watering:
- After planting seedlings, the period of formation of heads of cabbage is watered daily in the morning and evening. In rainy weather, you can reduce the frequency to once every two to three days.
- One to two liters of water is poured under the root of each bush.
- To prevent the moisture from evaporating, on hot days, cover the heads of cabbage with a newspaper.
- For better preservation of moisture in the soil, we will spud the bushes.
- Stagnant water is dangerous for the plant. Being in the water for ten hours is fraught with decay of the roots, the death of the garden culture.
- So that the cabbage does not crack, it must be watered regularly, avoiding excessive waterlogging.
- It is impossible to water abundantly after a prolonged drought, as the heads of cabbage will crack.
- A few hours after moistening, the ground around the bushes is loosened, removing the dry crust.
- After hilling the vegetable, the amount of watering is reduced.
- If the season of hot weather has been replaced by a period of heavy rains, then it is necessary to slightly trim the roots of the vegetable, which will reduce their absorption of moisture. Then the problem of why the cabbage cracks will disappear.
There are many types of cabbage, and each of them has different watering requirements.
How to water different types of cabbage
When they talk about cabbage, they often mean white cabbage. It is a popular, healthy vegetable. The formation of light green heads of cabbage is effective if watering is organized correctly, to a depth of forty centimeters. Reduce it only twenty days before harvesting the fruit.
Red cabbage is classified as an unpretentious, drought-resistant plant. The reason for the persistence is in the well-developed root system of the vegetable crop. But still water the plant intensively during the formation of dark red forks.
In broccoli, the roots are close to the surface and the heads form quickly. They need quality hydration. The soil is poured forty centimeters deep. After watering, be sure to loosen the aisles in order to remove the crust formed on the ground.
It is important for cauliflower that the soil is always moist. The heads won't tie if the soil is dry. A plant needs ten liters of water per week.
Kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts are regularly watered. Dry soil in the garden will lead to cracking of the stems.
Moderation of watering, a reasonable frequency will allow the Peking type of vegetable to form the forks qualitatively. It is useful for the plant to arrange a shower of warm water. The sprinkling method will also relieve the defeat of the cruciferous flea.
Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology when growing vegetables plays an important role in obtaining high yields. For moisture-loving crops, watering is important, regular, high-quality, competent. If you know how to water cabbage correctly, then high yields of strong, juicy heads of cabbage are provided. The plant will be healthy as the density of the forks that will not crack will keep the infection out.
