White cabbage (lat. Brassica oleracea capitata) is a variety of cabbage belonging to the genus Cabbage of the Cabbage family (Brassicaceae). This is one of the most important and most common agricultural crops grown both in small household plots and in large-scale agricultural land.
The head grows in the first in the first year of the plant’s life; if it is not cut off, a stem with leaves and small yellow flowers is formed at the apex, which eventually turn into seeds. Consider what a cabbage fruit is, learn whether it is dry or juicy, let's talk about other nuances.
What is heading out?
Cabbage is a two year old crop. In the first year it grows forks, or heading out. At its core, it is a strongly overgrown apical kidney. Depending on the early ripeness of the fruit, the head of the head is formed 1.5-2 months. At the same time, the main stem, commonly called the stump, is thickened.
The name "forks" is colloquial, and is not used in the botanical description of the plant.
A heading is formed in order to provide nutrients for the future construction of the stem and plant reproductive organs in the second year of its life.
What is the name of a plant organ with seeds?
Cabbage fruit is a narrow long pod, reaching lengths of up to 10 cm.. Formed after flowering in the second year of the plant. Carries the seeds necessary for plant reproduction.
What does he look like?
Consider what type of fruit it is. A pod is a narrow, more dry than a juicy fruit, containing a large amount of seeds. In cabbage, the number of seeds usually reaches 18 per pod. The fruit has a cylindrical shape, smooth or slightly convex, brownish yellow in its mature state. Seeds are small, 2-4 mm in diameter, brown in color.
Cabbage - is it root vegetables or not?
The name "root vegetables" is not correct, because what is usually called this word is not fruits, but enlarged underground organs. These are mainly modified shoots and organs of escape origin.
Root crops form cruciferous or Cabbage, Umbrella plants, Compositae and some others. These are usually biennial plants, but annuals are also found. Some cabbage, such as turnip, radish, rutabaga, form roots. In ordinary white cabbage, the heading is not a root vegetable specifically and in principle a fruit.
How is the pod formed?
In the second year of life, after differentiation of the buds, the head of the stem produces flowering shoots. The nutrients accumulated in the head of cabbage go to the formation of these shoots and flowers. The cabbage blossoms with small yellow flowers. Flowers in structure do not differ much from grass cabbage, their wild relative. Depending on the type of cabbage (white, cauliflower, Brussels sprout) flowers can vary in size, color of petals - from yellow to cream.
After pollination and fertilization, the ovary is formed, and then fruits are formed. - two-seam pods containing seeds.
What does a gardener need to do to get seeds?
In order to get cabbage seeds, you need to decide on the mother liquor - a head of the first year of life, with a vegetative bud.
Only healthy, robust plants are selected, with no visible signs of illness or damage. Middle and late cabbage varieties are best suited for this purpose, as they are best preserved. The plant should be short, with a thin stump and a small number of outer leaves.
F1 seeds are not used for seed production. They will give a breakdown of traits in the progeny.
Mothercards clean before the first frost, so as not to freeze the plant. The plant is dug out with a lump of earth along with the root system, trying to at least traumatize the latter. The roots are dipped in a clay mash. Leaves break off, leaving two-three covering leaves.
Mother liquors are stored away from food at a temperature of not more than +2 degrees and not below zero. We can not allow freezing, because the plants can get sick. At a higher temperature after planting, the queen will not give flower stalks, but a large number of leaves. A month before planting, the temperature is slightly raised - up to +5 degrees.
Harvested queen cells are prepared for planting in early April. Plants inspect, remove rotted leaves and roots. The heading is cut conically so that the diameter at the bottom is 12-18 cm. A couple of weeks before planting, the stalk is grown by stacking it in humus or peat.
You can cut a whole stalk from a head of cabbage and plant it in a pot of soil in the fall.. In the spring of such blanks are planted with a lump of earth. They take root somewhat better than the stumps stored in the basement.
Planted testes - plants of the second year of life - planted in early May in fertile areas. Transplanted plants pritenyat first time. Two or three weeks after disembarking, the stalks of old leaves are removed from the plant. After the shoots appear, the plant is tied to a support. The number of shoots and their quality need to be controlled - diseased and weak shoots, shoots with a small number of flowers or not flowering at all are pruned.
The seed plants are blooming for a month, fruits and seeds ripen about 50 days after flowering.
The pods are harvested as they mature, since the first ripe pods can already crack and spill out.
We offer you to watch a video on how cabbage is planted for seed production:
Conclusion
It is not easy to get the fruits of cabbage due to the fact that mostly cabbage is eaten in the very first year of life. Getting fruits and seeds is difficult and not always beneficial for gardeners.
