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Broccoli began to be grown in the 4th-5th centuries BC in the Mediterranean. Italian vegetable growers managed to obtain a variety grown as an annual crop. Today there are more than 200 varieties of broccoli.
In Russia, this type of cabbage began to be cultivated not so long ago, so many gardeners are interested in how to plant broccoli cabbage at home for seedlings. The rules and features of growing this vegetable from seeds will be discussed in the article. We hope that the material will be useful not only for beginning vegetable growers.
About the benefits of vegetables
Broccoli is the most valuable vegetable because it contains a large amount of minerals and vitamins. For this reason, it is recommended by doctors for various diseases. For example:
- thanks to vitamin U, ulcers heal faster;
- potassium removes salts;
- magnesium is necessary for the heart muscle;
- calcium – essential for healthy hair and nails;
- selenium removes radionuclides;
- sodium is necessary for the stable functioning of nerve cells;
- zinc, copper, magnesium – are involved in the process of hematopoiesis;
- beta-carotene – improves vision, heals the nervous system, improves skin condition.
Doctors often prescribe cabbage as a maintenance diet after complex operations. Pediatricians recommend broccoli for feeding babies.
Species and varietal diversity
Kinds
If you think about the types of broccoli, there are three of them:
- The Calambrian inflorescences are round or conical in color, green, purple or white.
- Red is similar to cauliflower.
- The stem is small in size. Distinguished by crispy stems.
Popular varieties
Broccoli varies terms of ripening, so you need to plant cabbage at different times.
Early varieties, from sowing for seedlings to technical ripeness 60-100 days:
- Batavia;
- Linda;
- Lord F1;
- Monaco F1;
- Tone.
Mid-season 105-130 days:
- Ironman F1;
- Dwarf.
Late 130-145:
- Agassi F1"
- Marathon F1;
- Parthenon F1.
How are ripening dates related to seed sowing?
To grow healthy cabbage seedlings at home, it is necessary to take into account the timing of the growing season. If you want to receive valuable products continuously, sowing broccoli seeds should be done at intervals of at least two weeks, taking into account the ripening time.
When to plant broccoli seeds for seedlings in 2019 according to the lunar calendar:
- February - 5-8, 19-22.
- March – 7, 8, 18, 20, 21.
- April – 4-6, 8-10, 20-23.
- May - 8-12, 19-24.
When deciding when to plant broccoli seedlings, you should remember that the seedlings need to be planted in the ground until they outgrow. If spring is long, then the timing of planting broccoli cabbage seeds for seedlings is postponed for two weeks.
Preliminary work
You can grow broccoli at home using seedlings or directly sowing the seeds in the ground. Vegetable gardeners advise using seedlings and point out the advantages:
- Possibility of obtaining early vegetables.
- The cost of purchasing seed is reduced, since the plants do not have to be thinned.
- Caring for seedlings is easier than in open ground.
- After landing at a permanent place, she gets sick less.
Preparation of seed material
Before planting broccoli for seedlings, you need to take care of the seeds:
- Sorting. First of all, cabbage seeds are sorted out, small and puny ones are removed.
- To speed up germination, seed warm up. Prepare a solution of wood ash (a liter of water up to 50 degrees + a large spoon of ash). It is convenient to perform the procedure in a canvas bag, immersing it in a hot solution for a third of an hour. Then pour into cold water for 2 minutes. Immature seeds will float and are thrown away.
- To prevent broccoli from suffering from various diseases, seeds pickled in a solution of potassium permanganate or boric acid.
- Soak seeding in an ash solution is a necessary procedure and lasts 5 hours.
- Then the seeds are left for a day before planting in the soil. harden in a refrigerator. For wrapping, use cloth or gauze. After a day, the seed is removed and dried to a free-flowing state.
It is important not only to know how to plant broccoli seeds for seedlings, but also to take measures to prevent fungal diseases.
Setting the stage
While the seed is being processed, the soil needs to be prepared. To plant broccoli seeds for seedlings, you will need nutritious, breathable soil. The turf soil is mixed with compost and wood ash is added. It not only prevents fungal diseases, but also neutralizes the soil.
A small amount of sand won’t hurt: it helps the roots develop better. If you are preparing the soil for broccoli seedlings at home, then at the dacha you choose an area where cabbage itself and its fellow cruciferous plants do not grow, so as not to introduce diseases.
The soil can be prepared in different ways:
- steam in the oven;
- pour boiling water with dissolved potassium permanganate, Gamair, Alirin-B, Fundazol. The drugs are diluted taking into account the recommendations on the packaging.
You can use ready-made soils for vegetable plants. They contain a full range of nutrients. You can also sprinkle it with a hot pink solution of potassium permanganate before sowing broccoli seeds.
Video about growing broccoli:
Preparing containers
Broccoli seedlings are grown in different containers: boxes, cassettes, pots, peat tablets, the main thing is that their depth is at least 5 cm.
If the container is new, then just pour boiling water over it.If it has been used before, it must be disinfected by adding potassium permanganate to the water (the solution must be saturated).
Features of planting seedlings
And now about how to plant broccoli at home.
Putting in boxes
If you use boxes for growing broccoli seedlings (the height should be at least 5-7 cm), then soil is poured into them, grooves are made - a step of 3-4 cm. The seeds are laid out at a distance of at least 3 cm in order to plant the plants in the ground with less losses of seedlings. The embedment depth is at least 1 cm.
How to grow broccoli without picking
This type of vegetable responds negatively to picking. Therefore, it is best to use containers in which cabbage seedlings of different varieties of broccoli are grown before planting in the ground.
- Peat tablets are an excellent option, since the diameter (4 cm) is sufficient for the growth of strong seedlings. The tablets are soaked in water to remove excess water. You need to sow 2 seeds into the hole, sprinkle with peat to a depth of 1 cm.
- If vegetable growers choose cassettes or pots for growing seedlings, then their height should be at least 7 cm, diameter 4-5 cm. Place 2 seeds in each container.
Excess seedlings are cut off near the ground. You can't pull it out.
The containers are placed in a well-lit, warm place (from +18 to +20 degrees), covered with glass or cellophane on top until shoots appear.
We create conditions
Although broccoli is not a picky vegetable, conditions must be created to grow seedlings.
Temperature and light conditions
Broccoli seedlings at too high a temperature and low light become stretched and become unviable. Therefore, when the first sprouts appear, the containers are placed on a lighted windowsill, where the temperature does not rise above 17 degrees during the day and 12 at night. To grow strong seedlings, broccoli seedlings will have to be illuminated, since daylight hours in spring are less than the required 15 hours.
Features of watering and fertilizing
All types of cabbage love moisture, but not its excess. Therefore, you need to water broccoli sparingly so as not to provoke the development of clubroot or blackleg.
Feed cabbage seedlings with potassium fertilizers. You can use a pink solution of potassium permanganate or stove ash.
Hardening
Before planting seedlings in open ground, they need to be prepared. Within two weeks they open the window slightly. First for half an hour, then the time of air procedures is increased to 4-5 hours.
If there is a balcony or loggia, the containers can be taken out, but only when the plants have been hardened.
If you follow all the rules, then by the time it is planted in the ground, the broccoli seedlings that you grew yourself will look like in the photo: 6-8 true leaves and a strong root system.
Let's sum it up
If you like broccoli, growing it yourself is not particularly difficult.
It is important to remember that you need to sow the seeds a month and a half before planting in the ground.
Early ripening varieties of broccoli can be sown directly into the ground in the summer as soon as the soil is thawed and ready.If there is a greenhouse, seedlings are planted earlier, and then the first harvest will ripen quickly.
