Proper cultivation and care of broccoli outdoors

Broccoli, very similar in appearance to cauliflower, has no less valuable qualities and benefits for the human body. Therefore, the agricultural technology of vegetables is being mastered by an increasing number of gardeners, replenishing winter supplies with a "vitamin bomb". With proper care, growing your vegetable outdoors is easy and simple.

Description and characteristics of broccoli

Broccoli is also called asparagus cabbage... The historical trace of the vegetable can be traced in the manuscripts of the 16th century, but it is reliably known that the hybrid was bred back in the 6th-5th centuries BC.

For many centuries, the fruits were grown exclusively in the northeast of the Mediterranean (modern territory of Italy). And only at the beginning of the 18th century, cabbage enters England and other European countries.

Later, exotic dishes with green inflorescences began to appear overseas. The Slavs immediately liked the product due to its delicate taste and rich vitamin composition.

An annual plant, the fruiting period depends on the growing conditions and care. The edible part is considered unopened inflorescences, not leaves.

The plant's appearance is similar to cauliflower, but has a rich green color. The vegetable grows and bears fruit for several months to the row.

From a rather high stem (60-90 cm), ripe inflorescences of the apex are cut off, after which lateral buds begin to actively develop. Among the advantages of the culture is simple agricultural technology; it will take a minimum of effort to grow fruits.

The correct growing conditions in the country or in the garden

Broccoli is grown seedling method... This allows you to cultivate a vegetable in central Russia and southern regions. Even the capricious Ural weather does not interfere with getting a good harvest.

The plant tolerates a sharp temperature drop, drought, and high humidity with dignity. Experts advise against using late-ripening varieties for regions with cool and short summers. If planted in such conditions, then the inflorescences will simply not have time to ripen in such conditions.

Sowing time of cabbage seeds

Seeding is planned for the first half of March... For a step-by-step harvesting, it is recommended to sow by conveyor method with an interval of 2 weeks.

From the 20th of April the seeds can be planted in open ground, thereby carrying out seedless broccoli cultivation, so as not to grow seedlings at home.

Before the start of planting work, the seeds are sorted, rejecting small ones or with signs of disease. Seed handling includes the procedure soaking in hot water (temperature 50 degrees) for 15-20 minutes. After warming up, the seeds should be immediately immersed in cold water for 3-4 minutes.

To stimulate growth and strengthen protective functions, it is recommended to immerse the grains in Epin's solution for 15 minutes, then rinse under running water and dry until they flow.

They are filled with drainage and loose fertile soil of a neutral or slightly acidic environment.

In the box with the substrate, you need to make grooves with a depth of 1-1.5 cm.Place the seeds at a distance 3 cm apart... You can close it up with peat or used soil. It is not worth pressing the surface unnecessarily.

Seed germination conditions:

• the air temperature in the room should be about 20 degrees, the humidity should not be below average;
• moisten moderately with a spray bottle if necessary;
• there are no requirements for lighting.

After 6-8 days, seedlings will appear on the surface of the soil.

Seedling care

After the sprouts appear, the temperature regime should be lowered up to 8-10 degrees... A week later, indicators increase up to 15-20 degrees... You do not need special care for the seedlings, as well as there are no special secrets, it is important to adhere to generally accepted rules:

• regular watering so that the soil does not dry out;
• good lighting (in March, the day is not long enough, so you can illuminate with a fluorescent lamp);
• lack of drafts.

Seedling picking

The picking process creates a stressful situation for the plants, therefore it is recommended to increase the room temperature to 21 degrees for several days, and build a shade of paper from the sun's rays. This makes it easier for the shoots to take root in the new environment.

A week later, the temperature regime is set:

• during the day - 17 degrees;
• at night - 9 degrees.

5-7 days after the pick, you need introduce top dressing, including trace elements important for the development of broccoli: boron, molybdenum, potassium, etc.

Before planting seedlings in a garden in the country, you need to start 2 weeks in advance hardening... To do this, the seedlings are taken outside for several hours every day to adapt to the new habitat. Plants do not need to be exposed in a deep shade and under open sunlight.

Scheme and distance when landing in open ground

This period falls more often on mid-May... The place for the garden is chosen on the sunny side of the garden. Good predecessors are:

• cereals;
• cucumbers;
• legumes;
• potato;
• carrot;
• onion.

For planting, a site after growing green manure is also suitable. But after turnips, radishes, tomatoes, beets, broccoli is not worth planting.

Loose soil is suitable for cabbage fertile neutral or slightly acidic environment... If acidification is observed, dolomite flour or crushed quicklime must be added.

The annual use of the land depletes it, so every autumn it is fed with manure or compost (4-5 kg ​​per 1 m2). In the spring, it is enough to enrich the garden with complex mineral fertilizers, which include nitrogen.

Before planting, the soil is leveled with a rake. It is ideal to carry out the work in the evening or during the day in cloudy weather, so that the seedlings quickly start in a new place. It is recommended to arrange the holes for seedlings according to the scheme: 35x60 cm.

The pits are first watered, then filled with fertilizer (5-7 grams of minerals, half a glass of wood ash, a glass of peat). Formed beds are watered with warm water. If there is a threat of night frost, you need to build supports and stretch plastic wrap.

Care rules

Caring for broccoli is almost the same as for cauliflower. The only feature is considered danger of direct sunlight on young shoots. You will need to pay attention to the plants, building a simple shading using cardboard or fabric.

Irrigation is carried out Once a week... In hot weather, do not allow the soil to dry out, so the frequency of watering is increased up to 3 times a week. However, it is important to remember that waterlogging of the soil and stagnant water in it can provoke root rot.

Moisturizing is done through the roots and by spraying the plant. Treatments should be performed early in the morning or in the evening, when the sun has already set.

After watering or precipitation, you need plow the ground in the garden. Enriching the soil with oxygen will benefit not only the root system, but also the setting of inflorescences.

Simultaneously with loosening on the site weeds are removed... They create many problems for vegetable crops, attracting insect pests and increasing humidity, as a result of which fungal diseases develop.

An intensively developing culture needs regular correct feeding... During the growing season, they are brought in at least 3 times:

• the first time 2 weeks after transplanting the seedlings (1 glass of mullein solution per 10 liters of water, a teaspoon of urea);
• the second feeding is introduced 2-3 weeks after the first (a matchbox of nitrate per 10 liters of water);
• the third time the plants are fed at the end of summer (40 grams of superphosphate, 10 grams of potassium sulfate, 20 grams of ammonium nitrate, 10 liters of water).

When the inflorescences on the main stem mature, the culture weakens. To stimulate the development of lateral shoots, it is recommended to fertilize each cut bush with a nutritious liquid (40 grams of superphosphate, 20 grams of ammonium nitrate, 10 grams of potassium sulfate, 10 liters of water).

As a top dressing and prevention of diseases, you can dust the bed with wood ash (1 glass per m2).

Harvesting and storage

It is worth removing cabbage before the opening of her flowers... This moment is easy to miss, so you need to be careful.

When determining the readiness of a vegetable for pruning, you can focus on the following signs:

• the mature head has a diameter of 12-14 cm;
• color - dark green;
• buds should be closed (yellowing of buds is a signal for quick cleaning).

Usually the inflorescences reach the desired degree of maturity after 60-65 days after germination... And you can harvest until the very cold, and in the Urals, and in Siberia, and in the Moscow region.

You need to cut the cabbage early morning... Tearing off, twisting the stem is not allowed, lateral shoots are damaged, which excludes further fruiting of broccoli.

Heads are stored approximately 3 months... For this, the most favorable conditions are created: coolness and lack of sunlight. At home, it is ideal to use a cellar or vegetable compartment in the refrigerator for this purpose.

All trace elements and vitamins useful for the human body are found in broccoli in the most assimilable form. In addition, agricultural technology is affordable. Therefore, it is simply necessary to grow a unique vegetable on your site, all the more so it is easy to take care of it.