Kohlrabi: Planting Seedlings And Care

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Read the previous part. ← Kohlrabi: features of culture, preparation of seedlings

Of course, outside at this time it is still far from warm, and no matter how cold-resistant the kohlrabi is, experiments on survival should not be carried out. Therefore, immediately after planting it in the greenhouse, it is imperative to cover the plants with a layer of covering material, and if possible, put arcs inside the greenhouse and cover with an additional layer of film.

When the plants have 1-2 true leaves, it will be necessary to take preventive measures against the malignant cabbage disease "keel" and water the soil around the plants with a solution of foundationol (1 package of foundation is usually diluted in 10 liters of water). Since the seedlings are still small, one bucket of solution will be more than enough (if you are planting a little kohlrabi, then dilute half the package into half a bucket, and seal the rest of the package and leave it for later; the drug will still come in handy).

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It must be remembered that kohlrabi does not like high temperatures. If it happens that there will be many sunny days and the air temperature under the film in the greenhouse can rise above 15 … 18 ° C, then you will need to open the film for a day and close it again at night. It happens that on especially hot days on the day you have to remove the covering material for better ventilation.

It is imperative to monitor the condition of the soil and plants under the covering material, because with high humidity and double shelter, the ground can become covered with green algae, and this will lead to the death of part of the seedlings. If it is too humid, then you need to ventilate the plants on sunny days, throwing the film and covering material onto the arcs. At the same time, the greenhouse door is left closed, because despite the sun, the air temperature at this time is still not suitable even for kohlrabi. It is advisable to carry out such prevention at least twice a week.

Planting kohlrabi seedlings in the ground

After about a month, when the plants have 5-6 leaves, the seedlings can be sequentially planted in the ground. It turns out that the first batch should be planted around May 10-20.

It is most convenient to use kohlrabi as a sealant for late white cabbage and cauliflower. In this case, it turns out that you have to plant various cabbages, as it were, in a checkerboard pattern. Although you can, of course, allocate a separate ridge for it. For the first batch of kohlrabi, I set aside a separate bed (because it will grow much faster than other cabbage, and this unevenness creates some problems with my technology for growing cabbage plants). I plant the second and third parties already mixed with other cabbage.

Before planting, in the prepared holes, I add two large handfuls of ash, a handful of stale sawdust, half a handful of complex fertilizer such as nitrophoska, the same amount of superphosphate, and a handful of Giant Vegetable fertilizer. I mix the contents of the wells thoroughly.

Obviously, it is preferable to plant seedlings in cloudy weather, as a last resort, in the late afternoon, so that the transplanted plants are subjected to as little stress as possible. In the process of transplanting, you need to very carefully, without damaging a single root, take out each bush with your hand (with a gloved hand you will inflict much less damage than if you wield a scoop) and install it in the prepared hole.

In order not to run around with each bush of seedlings, I take a large basin and place 5-6 plants in it. Having brought the next batch, I set each plant in the hole, carefully distributing its root system. Unlike other types of cabbage, kohlrabi is deepened quite a bit when planting, because with deep planting, the stems are elongated.

After planting a batch of seedlings, I pour under each bush 1 liter of ordinary water and 1 glass of a solution of biological products diluted in the usual way (100 g of risoplan and 200 g of black yeast per 1 bucket). After watering, I slightly loosen the soil around the plants, sprinkle it with sawdust for better air exchange and retain moisture, and cover all plantings with a covering material that will save from numerous pests, from excessive sun at the time of plant survival and reduce the amount of watering. In this case, it will be enough to water the planted plants in cloudy weather once a week, and in sunny weather - twice directly through the covering material.

After a week, it is necessary to slightly open the covering material and water each plant again with a foundationol solution (1 package of foundationol per 10 liters of water) in order to kill the spores of the keel in the new soil. Pour at least two glasses of solution under the bush (preferably three glasses).

Caring for kohlrabi in the beds

As for caring for kohlrabi in the ground, it is practically no different from caring for other cabbage plants, although some nuances are still present.

After planting the seedlings in the ground, a week later I start hilling. Although kohlrabi is sprinkled slightly, much less than ordinary cabbage, in the initial period I carry out the same activities on kohlrabi as in the usual one, because I plant it more often not on separate ridges, but mixed with other cabbage. On a separate ridge, where the first batch of plants grows, I do everything the same, but just earlier in time.

Difficulties with hilling arise on those ridges where it is planted in the company of other cabbage. If I plant the seedlings of all other cabbage in deep holes, then the kohlrabi seedlings - in shallow holes (such that only the water does not spread out during watering). So that the hilling for kohlrabi is not too high, I do the following.

I temporarily remove the covering material, loosen the soil around the plants, weed out the weeds that have already grown, loosen and slightly poke the kohlrabi with ordinary earth. At the same time, I sprinkle ordinary cabbage much more with the same soil. As a result, now all the cabbage appears to be on small mounds, and on the same level. Then I cover the entire area around these impromptu mounds with last year's dung.

At the end of this procedure, I additionally sprinkle the entire surface under the plants with a layer of sawdust about 2-3 cm. If the sawdust is stale, then the hard labor almost ends. If they are fresh, then you will have to sprinkle the entire area with additional urea, because fresh sawdust absorbs soil nitrogen. With a dose of urea, you need to navigate in this way: for every three buckets of sawdust, there are 200 g of urea or 300 g of ammonium nitrate. After that, you can re-cover the entire cabbage plantation with covering material. True, do not forget, if necessary, to water all your cabbage before this.

In addition, taking into account that the kohlrabi will soon begin to fill the stem crop, to improve its taste I feed it with ash (1 handful for a plant) and Magbor fertilizer (1 tbsp. Spoon in a bucket of water). In parallel, I water it with mullein solution, because the growth of the amount of foliage required for the formation of a stem is not yet completed. Naturally, after this, the plants are again covered with a covering material.

After this procedure, you can live peacefully for two weeks, remembering only about regular watering, which, thanks to a thick layer of mulching material, will require much less.

After two weeks, I remove the covering material again and combine the loosening with weeding. In parallel with this, I feed with a solution of complex fertilizer "Giant Vegetable" and put a handful of ash under each kohlrabi plant, mixing it with the ground when loosening. If slugs get overwhelmed, then after that you still need to spray a thin layer of lime on the entire soil space. At the end of these works, it is necessary to re-sketch the covering material.

I don’t do any more fertilizing, but I have very fertile soil. With less fertility, probably, one more feeding "Giant" in a week will not hurt. But regular watering is naturally necessary, and after about two weeks you can start harvesting.

Cleaning just around the corner

As I noted earlier, kohlrabi is a precocious culture. In early varieties, it takes about two months from sowing to the formation of the crop, and in mid-season varieties - up to 2.5. And the process of cleaning kohlrabi must be treated with all attention. The fact is that only young stems are tasty, but if they are a little overripe, their taste deteriorates catastrophically - overgrown stems become tasteless, rough and fibrous. Therefore, it is necessary to harvest kohlrabi in a timely manner, not allowing the slightest overgrowth of stem fruits. And timely cleaning can be considered one of the main conditions for obtaining quality products.

The poured stems are harvested, as a rule, when they reach a diameter of 8-10 cm, and in early ripening varieties, even smaller ones - with a diameter of 6-8 cm. They are pulled out of the ground with a root, which, together with the leaves, is immediately cut off. In no case should the stalk wilting be allowed. Therefore, the harvested crop is immediately transported to the refrigerator or cellar.

Late varieties intended for storage are harvested before frost. Frozen kohlrabi is not stored.

Let's talk about storing kohlrabi

Suitable for storage are undamaged and healthy stems of only very late varieties of autumn harvest. When harvesting, the leaves and roots are removed in the usual way, leaving only part of the stem at the top of the stem. Usually stored in a basement at a temperature of 0-1 ° C for 1.5-2 months.

Officially, it is believed that one of the best ways to store kohlrabi is drying (I, however, never resorted to this method - it hurts too troublesome task). In winter, dried kohlrabi is used as an additive to vegetable soups and stews. For drying, kohlrabi stems are thoroughly washed, peeled and then cut into thin strips. After that, blanch in boiling water for 2-4 minutes, quickly cool in cold water and dry on a towel. Then they are laid out and dried in an oven or in an oven at a temperature of 60-75 ° C. Store dried kohlrabi in tightly closed jars in a dark place.

Read the next part. Kohlrabi Dishes →