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Despite all the difficulties associated with growing cabbage seedlings, many gardeners still heroically want to overcome them. And this is no coincidence, since seedlings grown with your own hands bring special joy and bring faith in your own strength. True, in the case of cabbage, those who live on their own land and have the opportunity to create the necessary conditions for seedlings are the luckiest. City dwellers in multi-storey buildings, especially if they do not have balconies and loggias, are less fortunate, since for them growing normal cabbage seedlings is an almost impossible task. Therefore, most often complaints are about the fact that it is withering cabbage seedlings, come precisely from residents of apartments with central heating, who, with all their desire, are usually not able to provide cabbage seedlings with the conditions under which they are able to develop normally.
Even if you are not the happy owner of such structures, you can always come up with something on your site: install arches with double shelter, make improvised greenhouses from scrap materials, and finally, install boxes with seedlings on the veranda, terrace or in any other cool room.
What do cabbage seedlings need?
What conditions do cabbage need for good health and active growth and development?
- Probably everyone, even novice gardeners, knows that cabbage is a cold-resistant plant. After all, not every vegetable crop that came to us from the warm Mediterranean can withstand frosts down to -8°C. Young cabbage plants are also relatively resistant to cold; in the seedling phase, they can tolerate a short-term drop in temperature to -5°C.
- At the same time, ideal conditions for growth and development are temperatures from +16°C to +20°C.
- But cabbage tolerates high temperatures very poorly. Already at an air temperature of +25°C and above, it feels depressed, and at +35° it loses the ability to form a head of cabbage, and young seedlings are likely to die.
- Cabbage is also a light-loving plant; it equally needs long daylight hours and bright, good lighting. If the light level is insufficient, the seedlings will develop poorly and slowly.
- Cabbage is quite demanding when it comes to watering and humidity of both air and soil. But it needs the greatest amount of moisture during the period of head formation.
During the growth of the leaf rosette, the moisture requirement of cabbage is quite moderate. The soil should dry out slightly between watering procedures. True, complete drying out of the soil can lead to the death of young plants. - Finally, cabbage is the most demanding of all vegetable crops in terms of nutrition. She needs constant regular feeding, without which you cannot get a good harvest. But the need for them appears mainly after the development of 5-6 true leaves, that is, after planting cabbage seedlings in open ground.In the very first phase of seedling development, it needs feeding in minimal quantities and can get everything it needs from the nutritious soil in which it was sown.
Causes of wilting
“Why is she withering?” - cabbage lovers ask. Now try to imagine or even check in practice what temperature is formed in a room in an apartment with central heating on a sunny window sill facing south. It is under these conditions that cabbage seedlings most often live, since it is also a light-loving plant. For some time she still holds on with all her strength, but then sooner or later she dies, unable to cope with unfavorable conditions.
But novice gardeners cannot understand what happened, because they did everything the same as with other vegetables. They placed the seedlings in a warm place, provided the maximum amount of light, and even illuminated them with special lamps. Water generously, as cabbage requires. But she still disappears. Tomatoes and peppers grow side by side in the same conditions and feel great, but cabbage feels bad.
Perhaps they even sow seeds for seedlings again and again, but the situation repeats itself and no one can completely understand what to do.
It is often remembered that cabbage is very susceptible to various fungal diseases, and its seeds must be treated before sowing with special fungicides or, in extreme cases, a solution of potassium permanganate. If this has not been done, then they usually calm down, thinking that they have finally found the reason for the failures with cabbage and that everything will definitely work out next year.But the next year, after all the seed treatments and additional application of biofungicides to the seedlings, nothing changes, the seedlings again wither and die.
But the fact is that all varieties of cabbage, especially white cabbage varieties, have one more feature in care at the seedling stage. Cabbage seeds germinate well, quickly and quite amicably at a temperature of about +20°C and even higher.
For white cabbage, it is better if the temperature does not exceed +8°C+10°C; for more heat-loving cauliflower, the maximum can rise to +12°C+15°C, but for any cabbage this period of temperature decrease is strictly necessary, at least at night time. Otherwise, you can assume that your seedlings have disappeared again. And sooner or later this, unfortunately, will happen. Therefore, if you are growing cabbage seedlings in an apartment and you have a balcony, even an unglazed one, then you need to do the following. Immediately after the emergence of seedlings, build frost protection for the seedlings from several layers of film and, without hesitation, place them on the balcony for 5-10 days.
Difficulties after transplant
But even if you go through this first stage of cabbage development correctly, several more tests await you. One of the most common problems when growing cabbage is its unhealthy appearance after transplanting into other containers or open ground. As a rule, after this procedure, the lower leaves of cabbage seedlings turn yellow, and she herself withers to one degree or another. This is a completely natural reaction of plants to some damage to the roots, which is inevitable when transplanting seedlings.
It is also better to replant in very well-watered soil, almost liquid mud. For several days after transplanting, the seedlings must be shaded from the bright sun and kept in warm conditions at a temperature of about +20°C.
This can be done when picking seedlings into separate pots in rooms. On the street, it is enough to simply protect it from the bright sun until it completely takes root in the new conditions.
Of course, the sight of withering cabbage seedlings cannot but torment the gardener’s heart, but in the case of transplanting them, you can be sure that in a few days they will definitely recover and begin to develop further with renewed vigor. True, this will only happen if a few days after transplanting the cabbage seedlings are returned to cool conditions, preferably not higher than +16°C-+18°C.
For these purposes, you can simply open the window for ventilation and place the seedlings under a stream of cool air. You should not be too afraid of drafts; stuffy and hot air is much more dangerous for cabbage. However, if the seedlings have been overly pampered from the first days of life, then drafts can pose a danger to them. But it is best to find a place for it with a constantly cool temperature, ideally if there is a difference of five to ten degrees between day and night temperatures.
Solution
So, what happens in 90% of cases with cabbage seedlings? From the very first hours, she finds herself in unfavorable conditions that are too warm.As a result, the root system is not able to fully develop, the stems are greatly elongated, and the plant immunity drops to zero. As a result, even the slightest errors in care, which the plants would not normally notice, lead to an even greater deterioration in the condition of the seedlings. It begins to wither, turn yellow, and sometimes immediately fall off.
What about the remaining 10%? They just represent those cases when the seedlings were affected by any infections or pests. Perhaps it was planted in soil with a more acidic reaction than it needs.
If all agronomic measures for processing seeds and caring for cabbage seedlings are carried out on time and correctly, then such situations can be almost eliminated. After all, cabbage, like all vegetables, strives to grow, develop and delight with its harvest. You just need to take into account its unique requirements and everything will be fine.
