Kohlrabi (photo): 6 lessons on growing and caring for cabbage
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KOLRABI - PLANTING AND GROWING + CARE
This wonderful cabbage forms a stalk - a kind of large stalk. It is in it that all the most useful and tasty are concentrated - sweetness, juiciness, vitamins. It can be eaten fresh, it is easy to prepare various dishes from it. Here are a few lessons that will help you grow a large and unusual crop.
INTRODUCING KOLRABI
Kohlrabi has become a discovery for us. I saw in the store and decided to buy 2 bags of seeds: one early variety with light stems, the other medium-late with purple.
Early stem crops grew small, but already in June. Very tasty and juicy, reminiscent of white cabbage stalks. At first we ate them fresh, almost like apples, then I tried to grate the stalks like carrots and cook cabbage soup and borscht. It turned out no worse than from white cabbage.
Purple stalks ripened in autumn and were large - up to 2 kg. However, inside they turned out to be fibrous and did not lend themselves well to a grater. Overgrown light stems also became fibrous.
Lesson one: you need to remove kohlrabi in time, preventing it from outgrowing.
Reference by topic: Kohlrabi (photo) planting and care - growing tips
LOOK FOR YOUR KOLRABI VARIETIES
Once I was lucky with the purchase of Giant kohlrabi seeds. The label promised light stalks weighing up to 3 kg. The cabbage turned out to be of medium late ripening, and we received a full-fledged harvest only in October. The stalks grew with the declared weight, were juicy and were easy to grate and cut.
In addition to soups, I cook excellent hodgepodge from them. Rubbing the stalks of the Giant is so easy that the hands do not get tired, even if there is a lot of work. One problem: the soup and hodgepodge turned out like puree, so I tried to just cut the kohlrabi into cubes. It turned out that this is even better - the boiled pieces are soft and chew perfectly.
But the dream of getting large kohlrabi stems did not leave me early. And I achieved my goal with the Giant, because the variety has a tricky property.
Lesson two: despite the fact that the Giant's stem crop grows completely within 110-120 days after planting the seedlings, the peculiarity of the fruits is that they perfectly retain their delicate taste and softness throughout the entire ripening time. So you can harvest whenever you want.
KOLRABI IN TWO DATES
Now I am sowing seeds. The first time for seedlings at home in late March - early April, keeping a distance of 2-3 cm between plants and rows. I put the containers in a plastic bag and put them in a warm place. After the emergence of seedlings, after 3-5 days, I open the seedlings and transfer them to the windowsill. Periodically I turn the boxes on different sides to the light so that the plants do not bend. Seedlings grow slowly. She refused to pick - there is not enough space at home.
On warm sunny days, I harden the seedlings on the balcony, at night - again into the room. When the round-the-clock positive temperature is established, I leave the cabbage on the glazed balcony, and open the doors in the afternoon. Once a week I feed the seedlings with a diluted infusion of bird droppings.
In mid-May, and sometimes even at the end of April, I plant seedlings in open ground under a film, which I remove after 2 weeks, when the plants take root and get stronger. I collect the first small (1-1 kg) stem crops already in the first decade of July - 5-1 months after planting in open ground.
I leave some to grow until autumn, they all turn out to be larger, and juicy, and sweet, without fibers. Even our dog chews them with pleasure and asks for supplements, although he does not eat white cabbage.
Simultaneously with planting seedlings in open ground, I sow seeds in the garden. They rise longer than in the room. When real leaves appear, young plants dive - I plant them in a permanent place after 30-40 cm, because kohlrabi does not have too thick hair. I feed all the vegetables in the open field, usually at the same time once a week. I use only organic fertilizers: bird droppings, bone meal, nettle infusion, and ash.
Lesson three: it is profitable to sow the late-ripening Giant variety in 2 terms - early for seedlings and in late spring in open ground, thanks to which we remove fresh kohlrabi from the garden gradually from the beginning to the end of the season.
Reference by topic: How to grow a huge kohlrabi cabbage - sharing secrets
WATERING KOLRABI - HOW MUCH AND WHEN?
If the summer is dry, an early harvest cannot be obtained. We don’t have water on the site, we use rainwater reserves or carry buckets from neighbors. Therefore, I water little by little and rarely. Despite the unfavorable conditions of last summer, kohlrabi still gave stem crops. Although it began to grow only at the end of summer, when it started to rain, it quickly gained the declared weight.
Somehow one stem crop cracked. I did not pull him out, the wounds healed, and he lasted until October. When cut, it was a little fibrous. I think he sat out in the ground, but perhaps the drought and lack of moisture affected.
Lesson four: kohlrabi should be watered evenly and plentifully.
MINIMUM PESTICIDES
I noticed that kohlrabi is much less susceptible to pest attacks compared to white and cauliflower. It happens that they are already eaten by caterpillars, and on the leaves of kohlrabi they can be found 2-3 pieces.
No one damages our stem crops either, since they do not sit in the ground, like carrots or beets, but are above the soil surface on the stem.
Lesson five: you can fight pests on kohlrabi without the help of chemicals.
Reference by topic: Cultivation of kohlrabi in the Moscow region - planting and care
KOLRABI CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY STORED
At our dacha in a barn, a pit was dug and concreted, where we lay vegetables until spring. Potatoes, carrots, beets are excellent. It is not possible to save white cabbage until March - perhaps they have not yet found a suitable variety. Therefore, for the sake of experiment, we decided to leave a couple of kohlrabi in the cellar. And again good luck. The cabbage has overwintered beautifully. The stem crops not only did not rot during the winter, but also grew a little! I think it's because I left them in the cellar with roots, cleared of the earth and dried. In the spring, we had something to cook cabbage soup and borscht from, we also shared it with our neighbors. They ate and cheered.
Now I always keep kohlrabi in the pit. The remains of the petioles rot, but the stems themselves do not deteriorate, even if grown in a drought with poor watering.
I tried to store kohlrabi in the apartment. But she doesn't stay for long. Stem crops without roots and with roots left lie on the balcony until frost, but then they have to be brought into the room. In the refrigerator, they begin to deteriorate, and outside the refrigerator they dry out.
Lesson six: kohlrabi keeps well in a cellar or other cool place for 6 months without loss of quality. In a warm apartment, alas, the keeping quality is short-lived and the taste deteriorates.
Reference by topic: Cabbage kohlrabi (photo) - cultivation and varieties
GROWING KOLRABI - VIDEO
© Author: T. SEMENOVA Moscow
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So that "burdocks" do not grow instead of a head of cabbage
For several years in a row, my cabbage did not want to form a head of cabbage, instead of which broad leaves similar to burdock grew. Once complained about the misfortune of a friend. And she asks how I fill the holes when planting seedlings and how I then feed the cabbage. It turned out that all my problems were because when planting seedlings in the holes, I threw a handful of fresh manure. Yes, and then often fed the mullein with infusion. Cabbage doesn't need it. Thanks to the advice of a friend, the next year we managed to grow strong large heads of cabbage. And all that was needed was to replace manure with humus and reduce fertilizing with mullein infusion to two per season (the first - two weeks after planting the seedlings, the second - 2-3 weeks after the first).
And in mid-July, she made it a rule to spray cabbage with a solution of trace elements. I noticed that after that the crop is stored much better.