Cabbage

Planting

Planting

Propagation in nursery

Site selection

  • The ideal site for the nursery should be under the sun and not previously under crucifers, and preferably away from old crucifer fields. The nursery soil should be well aerated, drained and with good pH..
  • The nursery soil should also be free from diseases and pests. It should be applied with well decomposed organic manure (5kg/m2) and the inorganic fertilizer such as NPK 17-17-17 (20 g/m2).
  • The raised beds of 1-1.2m width and 20cm depth are made.

Sowing and nursery care

  • The quantity of seeds required is 500g for 1ha (5g for 1 are). Care should be taken to buy non expired seed and this from credited sources/seed companies.
  • During the day of sowing, the bed surface is leveled and sowing lines of 0.5cm depth are made using a stick. Seeds are sown in lines at the spacing of 10-15cm x 2cm and are covered with soil. Then, the much is applied on the bed, followed by regular watering. Alternatively, seed trays can be used to raised cabbage seedlings.
  • Upon germination, the mulching material is removed. The seedlings should be protected from the direct sunlight.
  • When seedlings are overcrowded in nursery bed, it is recommended to do thinning to allow light penetration.
  • Fungicides like Mancozeb (2.5g/L of water) and insecticides like Lambda-Cyhalothrin (1m/1L of water) can be applied when necessary.
  • To harden the seedlings, watering frequency is reduced and seedlings are gradually exposed to direct sunlight 1-2 weeks before transplanting.

 

Transplanting

Well hardened, 4-6 weeks old seedlings are ideal for transplanting.  Transplanting has to be done in early morning or late afternoon to avoid negative effect of direct sunlight on young seedlings.

Before transplanting, the seedlings are watered with enough water to avoid damaging the root system while uprooting. The seedlings are uprooted with a soil ball around the root system.

During transplanting, it is recommended to make 15cm deep holes at each planting point. Then, one handful of well decomposed organic manure is applied in each hole and mixed well with the soil. The organic manure required is 200-250 kg/are (20-25t/ha). The recommended spacing is 50 cm x 40 cm.