Another miracle that came to us from China - cabbage pak-choi (bok-choi). This unpretentious, useful, nutritious and at the same time low-calorie culture is distinguished by its excellent germination and simple care, thanks to which it is willingly cultivated in many parts of the world. A stable crop can be obtained without special investment of means, time and effort. How to grow this cabbage on your site and what does it look like?
Cabbage pack-choy - description
Although she is a close relative of the white cabbage that we habitually used, Peking cabbage pack-choy does not form heads and looks more like a salad greens. It refers to early-maturing crops - 30 days after planting, it is fully ripe. In the warm Asian climate, it can grow several times a season. In the middle band, if desired, you can get up to two crops. In heated greenhouses, cabbage pak-choi can grow year-round.
The main attraction of Pak-Choi is its huge benefit to human health. Cabbage leaves contain a high concentration of amino acids, vitamins, especially vitamin C, and other beneficial mineral compounds that have a beneficial effect on health, well-being and contribute to the prolongation of the youthfulness of the body. Use it as food can be in the form of additives to various salads and as a side dish to fish and meat.
Pak-choi - varieties
Chinese cabbage pak-choi is gaining increasing popularity in our region, and if you also want to try to grow it on your site, it is extremely important to know what sorts are suitable for cultivating it in our climate. There are some of the most successful varieties of this plant. Early varieties:
- "Alyonushka";
- "Vesnyanka";
- "Golub";
- "Coral".
Medium-ripening varieties of cabbage pak-choi:
- "Swallow";
- "Peahen";
- Lebeduška;
- "Yula";
- "In memory of Popova";
- "Chill";
- "The Beijing Surprise";
- "Four seasons."
Planting Pak-Choi
Cabbage pack-choy has its own peculiarities of cultivation, different from those used in the cultivation of ordinary cabbage. The most pleasant difference is the possibility of growing it on low-fertilized soil. In general, Pak-choi is unpretentious to the composition of the land in which it is grown. Another peculiarity is that the Peking cabbage pack-choy badly tolerates the transplant, therefore it is better to sow it directly into the ground. In a month you will be able to harvest your first harvest.
How to plant cabbage pack-choy?
The most common method is seed. How to grow a pack of chicken seeds? It is necessary to wait for the stable heat and warming of the soil, after which, in the bed, preliminary make grooves with a depth of up to 3 cm with a distance between the rows of about 30 cm. After sowing, the bed should be covered with a film until the first shoots appear. If you grew seedlings from seed, time for its transplantation to a permanent growth site comes with the appearance of the fifth leaf on it.
When to plant cabbage pack-choy?
Depending on whether you plant seeds directly in the ground or first grow the seedlings of a house in a greenhouse, the timing of seeding varies considerably. In the open ground, seeds can be sown in early June. If you still want to grow cabbage seedling method, the seeds must be sown in late March. Planting Pak-choi in this case is accompanied by extremely careful transshipment of seedlings to a permanent growth site, together with an earthen lump due to the poor survival of seedlings.
Pap-choy cultivation
Cultivation of Peking cabbage pak-choi is an easy and somewhat fascinating activity. Short maturity and simple maintenance, which consists in observing irrigation, loosening and weeding regimes, makes the plant a welcome guest in our beds. The only negative feature that cabbage from China has is Pak-choi - its predisposition to shoot and bloom with increasing daylight. Because it is preferable to grow it in early summer. If the arrows have already happened, the arrows with flowers need to be cut with a pruner.
Chinese cabbage pak-choi - soil
Complex cultivation of soil is not required for the cultivation of Pak-Choi on the Chinese cabbage plot. The best way: to dig up the soil from autumn, combining this process with the introduction of fertilizers - organic and phosphate. The amount of fertilizer should not exceed 10 liters per square meter of land. It is not superfluous to have easy liming of the soil. In order to accelerate the process of warming the beds in the spring, you can cover them with a dark film in the early days of March. The thawed earth must be digged again and urea introduced into it.
Cabbage pak-choi - watering
Watering this culture should be abundant and regular. Strongly pour it with water is not necessary, but to allow the drying of the soil is also undesirable. It is very important active irrigation at the stage of tying out the outlets. How to grow Pak-Choi in open-ground conditions: it should be watered only during periods of prolonged absence of precipitation. The watering rate is 15-20 liters per square meter. For irrigation it is better to use warm water.
Peking cabbage pack-choy - top dressing
The best fertilizing of this culture is the use of mineral fertilizers in the right proportions, the violation of which leads to a deterioration in taste. Replace mineral fertilizers can be ashes in an amount of 1 cup per square meter. When growing cabbage pak-choi from seeds, use the following proportions of dressing:
- potash fertilizers - 20 g per square meter;
- Ammonium nitrate - 15 g per each square of the earth;
- double superphosphate - 20 g per square meter.
Cabbage pack-choy - diseases and pests
Asked how to grow cabbage pack-choy in the country, you need to be ready to resist the diseases and pests that claim to their part of the crop. The most common pak-cho pests:
- Cruciferous fleas. They are able to completely destroy cabbage. Prevention of their appearance is the frequent loosening and abundant watering of plants - insects do not tolerate high humidity. A good result is the sprinkling of cabbage leaves with wood ash and tobacco infusion. You can use the "Kinmix" remedy from cruciferous fleas, which should be diluted with water in accordance with the attached instructions. Spray their beds better in the morning or evening.
- Garden slugs and rain snails. They can be collected manually or caught with baits based on alcoholic infusions and bran. A good result shows the drug "Rodaks".
- Cabbage whiting. At the stage of cabbage leaf formation, they should be inspected regularly for cabbage whites and eggs. They are located on the back of the leaves. When they are detected, an urgent removal of all eggs and their destruction is required.
To most of the diseases inherent in the plants of the cabbage family, the cabbage pack-choy is not predisposed. In addition, there are varieties, especially resistant to diseases and pests. For example, the grade "Gipro F1" is unpretentious, resistant to diseases, pests and frosts. In general, given the conditions of growing this crop, most problems associated with diseases and pests can be avoided.