Introduction
Cabbage is a hardy cool-season annual vegetable. It behaves like a biennial when grown for seed production. ‘Head’ consisting of thick leaves overlapping tightly on growing bud is the economic part. Glucoside ‘sinigrin’ is the flavor principle in Cabbage. It belongs to the family assicaceae.
Climate and soil required for growing Cabbage
It grows best in cool and moist climate and is very hardy to frost even at head formation stage. In the dry climate, its quality became poor and lost its delicate flavor. It is grown mainly as a winter crop and tolerate high or low temperatures as compared to cauliflower.
It can be grown almost on all types of soils, Sandy loam soil is considered best for the early crop but where high yield is the primary criterion, clay loam or silt loam soils are preferred. Before transplanting prepare the soil well to make it loose friable and retentive of moisture.
Agronomic Practices of Cabbage
September to October is the ideal planting time in the plains. Optimum seed rate is 200-250 gm/per acre. A spacing of 45 x 45 cm and 60 x 45 cm are optimum for the early and the late maturing varieties, respectively.
For an early yield of cabbage, direct sowing on ridges of at 60 cm apart and maintain a distance of 15-20 cm between plants. It yields about two weeks earlier than the transplanted one. A seed of 325 g/acre is sufficient for direct sowing.
Manurial requirements of this crop are the same as those of cauliflower.
Weed Control in Cabbage
For weed control in cabbage, apply Stomp 30 EC (pendimethalin) 1 liter/acre or 750 ml/acre followed by one hoeing. Alternatively, use Basalin 45 EC (fluchloralin) 1 liter/acre or 750 ml/ acre followed by one hoeing. Apply herbicides four days before transplanting. Basalin 45 EC should be well mixed with soil by light harrowing and planking.
Irrigation of Cabbage
give First irrigation immediately after transplanting. Give subsequent irrigations at 10-15 day intervals. The total number of irrigations required are 8-12.
Harvesting of Cabbage
Harvest the fruit as soon as heads reach marketable size and become hard. Pack the heads properly and send to the market after cutting stumps.
Source-Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.
