Content
Feeding cabbage with iodine is necessary at the beginning of the season to accelerate the formation of heads of cabbage. Thanks to root and foliar treatment, they are formed more dense. If you spray a few weeks before harvesting, the shelf life will increase significantly.
Why treat cabbage with iodine?
Many experienced gardeners recommend watering cabbage with iodine to set heads. This is a truly effective remedy, as is boric acid treatment. Iodine serves as a growth stimulant. It activates division processes, due to which heads of cabbage form faster. However, this is not the only useful quality. Feeding with iodine provides other benefits:
- More complete absorption of nitrogen compounds.
- Fast growth, green mass gain.
- The product acts as an antiseptic; it is used not only as a top dressing, but also for the prevention and destruction of pests.
- Increased resistance to frost.
- Increased shelf life.
- After feeding with iodine, cabbage heads retain their presentation longer.
- Increased resistance to fungal and other diseases.
Other advantages include affordability.The product is present in many fertilizers, which can be purchased at any store for summer residents. Iodine has practically no deficiencies. But during processing it is important to follow the dosage and other rules. If applied in large quantities, it may cause more harm than good.
What does a lack of iodine in the soil lead to?
Feeding cabbage with iodine is carried out not only for setting heads, but also in cases where there is a deficiency of this microelement in the soil. Plants need it in small quantities. However, in the event of a shortage, the consequences will be very noticeable:
- intracellular metabolic processes are disrupted;
- cabbage heads lag behind in development, they are formed unevenly;
- the color is faded, not so rich;
- the ovaries take quite a long time to form;
- immunity decreases. Therefore, in the absence of fertilizing, cabbage more often suffers from fungal, bacterial and other diseases.
For spraying, use a regular pharmaceutical preparation.
In most regions of Russia there is a lack of iodine both in the soil and in drinking water. Therefore, it is useful to regularly feed cabbage and other crops with this microelement. This helps in the prevention of thyroid pathologies, including goiter and other hormonal disorders.
The need for iodine supplementation can be determined by the following criteria:
- leaves become thinner;
- the color becomes faded;
- heads of cabbage are formed incorrectly;
- they contain cavities;
- culture often suffers from infectious diseases.
Fertilizing also needs to be done in cases where cabbage needs to be stored for long-term storage. Therefore, this technique is especially often used when growing late varieties, including for sale.
When to water cabbage with iodine
Feeding is carried out several times during the season. If there is a deficiency of iodine in the soil, it is advisable to give it up to five times according to this schedule:
- At the stage of growing seedlings, the drug is used as an antiseptic. The seeds are treated in an iodine solution (1 drop per 1 liter) for 5-6 hours. This is quite enough to prevent infectious diseases.
- The soil itself for planting seedlings can also be disinfected with the same solution. After this, it is recommended to apply a bacterial fertilizer for cabbage, for example, “Rizotorfin” or “Azobacterin”.
- The first foliar feeding is carried out during the formation of the ovaries, when at least 3-4 leaves have appeared. The solution is poured into a spray bottle and all seedlings are sprayed. This feeding helps both in the formation of heads of cabbage and in the prevention of diseases and pests.
- After 3 or 4 weeks, the cabbage is watered at the root with an iodine solution. This is done to strengthen the immune system, accelerate growth, and activate metabolic processes.
- Two weeks before the cabbage harvest, another foliar feeding is carried out. This is done for rapid ripening, the formation of dense and healthy heads of cabbage with good shelf life and transportability.
Treatment is carried out several times per season
Therefore, it is recommended to combine foliar and root feeding of cabbage with this microelement with nitrogen compounds, for example, urea or azofoska (complex mineral fertilizer).
Rules for treating cabbage with iodine
To water cabbage with iodine for the ovary, you need to prepare a solution, observing the proportions. The step-by-step instructions are as follows:
- Pour in the required volume of water, for example 2 liters.
- Add a concentrated pharmaceutical solution of iodine - usually 1 drop is enough.
- Then mix thoroughly.
- Water at the root or pour into a sprayer and apply foliar feeding.
In open ground, processing is carried out in calm weather without rain. It is advisable to do this early in the morning or late in the evening. The drug in diluted form is safe for both plants and humans. But during the preparation of the solution, the dosage must be carefully observed.
Even if you pour in an extra 1-2 drops, you can ruin the heads of cabbage. They acquire a “medicinal” taste, although they are quite suitable for food. If you fertilize with a too concentrated solution, the cabbage leaves will get a chemical burn. Such processing will cause more harm than good.
Spraying cabbage with iodine
To set heads of cabbage, it is necessary to treat the cabbage with an iodine solution. The standard concentration is 1 drop per 2 liters of water. This volume is enough for a small garden bed. You should not save liquid - it is necessary to carry out a total treatment of the leaves both from the outside and from the inside.
How to water cabbage with iodine
For irrigation (root feeding), liquid of the same concentration is used, i.e. 1 drop per 2 liters. Moreover, plants need to be moistened strictly at the root, excluding contact with leaves and other above-ground parts.
Iodine for cabbage from pests
The drug is also used as a means of pest control. It is effective against insects and fungal infections, such as:
- rot;
- powdery mildew;
- late blight;
- aphid;
- spider mite
To do this, you need to prepare a not too concentrated liquid - 1 drop per 1 liter or 10 drops per 10 liters (standard bucket).To prevent plants from getting burned, it is recommended to add 0.5 to 1 liter of milk of any fat content per 10 liters of water. The prepared solution helps to cope well with aphids in the early stages of the invasion.
The last spraying is done two weeks before harvest
Common mistakes
Iodine has proven to be an effective remedy that is used as a fertilizer and for the prevention of fungal infections and individual pests. Spraying cabbage is quite simple to do, but in practice summer residents make certain mistakes:
- You cannot use the product too often. An interval of at least one week is maintained between treatments.
- No more than three sprayings are carried out per season.
- Along with iodine compounds, a solution of boric acid with a concentration of 2 g per 10 liters is also used to form heads.
- You need to prepare the liquid in volumes that can realistically be used at a time. It is not stored for a long time - the very next day the solution begins to “fizzle out”, which is why its effectiveness decreases.
Conclusion
Feeding cabbage with iodine is a fairly effective measure. In order for the heads of cabbage to form better, the plants are processed at the beginning of the season, as well as several weeks before harvesting. The drug is also used to prevent diseases and pests. But it is not recommended to use it more than 3-4 times per season. If there are too many insects, it is better to use a special insecticide.
