How to grow Peking cabbage at home, including on the balcony and windowsill, and how to plant seeds and stalk?

Peking cabbage is quite a vegetable gardener. It is very useful and tasty, does not require long processing. From succulent leaves often prepare various salads, side dishes and even soups.

This species is quite easy to grow at home. How to grow this vegetable at home, including from the stalk and seeds?

What conditions are needed for this and what difficulties may arise? Find the answer below. You will also find out which varieties are suitable, how to plant a peking on a balcony, how to harvest and preserve a crop.

Is it possible to grow at home?

Growing Peking cabbage is a snap. Anyone can handle it, be it a novice or a professional gardener. If you follow the recommendations and rules for growing cabbage at home, then you will definitely be able to do it without much difficulty.

Feature of the form

Beijing cabbage is unpretentious in the care, so it will not be a lot of trouble. Since the vegetable is small, it will easily fit in a pot in your home. It is compact and distinguishes it from other varieties.

On a note. One of the features of this cabbage is that even a used head of cabbage can give a start for a new crop.Even a month later, early varieties of Beijing cabbage are bearing the first fruits, not all species are able to boast of such an early harvest.

Location selection

An excellent place to grow Chinese cabbage is a window sill or a closed balcony.

When placing it on a windowsill, select windows facing south. If this is not possible, do not worry, the western and eastern sides will also work. But the window sill, whose windows face north is not good at all, since there will not be enough sunlight for the cabbage.

In late spring and early autumn, Peking cabbage must be cleaned onto a balcony or a glazed veranda.

What varieties are suitable?

Before growing Peking cabbage at home, you should think about which varieties are best suited. Early varieties, in which small sockets are great.

Spring - This is a variety of early ripening, the fruits appear in a month. Leaves - light green with a wrinkled surface, sourish in taste. Changing the environment does not affect the plant. The spring easily experiences a limited amount of light and a decrease in temperature.
Vesnyak - after sprouting appeared, it reaches ripeness within 25-30 days. The vegetable weighs a little, about 250 grams. Appreciate this variety for its taste and high content of vitamin C. Juicy and tender greens.
Khibinsky - early variety, which is most often grown in apartments. The plant is cold resistant. In the winter, 25-35 days after the seeds have been sown, the head is formed with a spreading rosette. The leaves of this type are soft and juicy, used in salads.

Features of landing on the balcony

Important! Great importance is the location of the balcony, because the light is very important. The south, south-west and southeast sides are the most suitable places for growing Chinese cabbage. On cloudy days it is necessary to give extra light with the help of lamps.

The balcony should not be open, it is allowed to grow only in a glazed version. When the cold comes, the cabbage is brought inside. Growing cabbage on the balcony, you can get vitamin greens all year round.

Step by Step Growing Instructions

From the stalk

Beijing cabbage loves life so much that its growing at home is possible even from a stalk. It's pretty simple.If you get down to business seriously, then you will definitely succeed.

Selection of capacity. A good option would be a plastic glass with a volume of 200 ml. The size should be such that in the upper part of the glass the bottom of the head is easily placed.
Soil preparation. Light but nutritious soil mix with sand or vermiculite.
Landing. It all depends on what size you want your head to grow, the more it will be around the circumference, and the more powerful the stump will perform, the larger the head will grow. When planting carefully inspect the heading, it should not be gray spots. It is necessary to land the bottom of the head.
Care and conditions of detention. At the stage of germination, the stalk does not need a lot of sunlight, much less heat from the sun. Therefore, put a plastic cup on the balcony, but not in the scorching sun. In the first week, the stalk does not require personal care, it is only necessary to periodically add water.
When a sufficient amount of roots has formed, it is planted in the soil mixture. This should be done carefully, as the roots are very brittle. Sprinkle the roots with earth and make sure that the upper part of the stalk remains above the ground.
Watering. In the early days, the stalk that you planted is best not to water. It is worth starting to do when new leaves unfold.
Remember! Watering should be moderate. Wait until the surface of the soil dries out, and only then do the watering.
Top dressing. Basically, fertilizing is needed during the period of active growth.
Thinning. When the top layer dries, the soil is loosened, thereby providing air access to the roots

From seed

The most commonly used method of growing Peking cabbage with seeds. How to do it correctly:

Selection of tanks. A deep cone shaped container is required. Piala is well suited.
Soil preparation. The soil should be loose and fertile, and the acidity is neutral. It is best to use a mixture of earth, humus and sand. It grows well in the soil, which is sold in special stores.
Sowing. Before sowing, cabbage seeds are not soaked.
1. Sow the seeds in a moist soil to a depth of 7-10 mm with a gap of 4 cm, leaving a distance of 10 cm between rows.
2. Then a little sprinkled with earth, watered and covered with foil.
3. After you need to put in a warmed place, monitor moisture and open a greenhouse every day to air.
Care for seedlings. On the third day, shoots will appear.The film should be removed and put the cells for five days in a cool place where the temperature in the daytime will not exceed +10 degrees, and at night do not fall below +8.
Conditions of detention. After an initial period of growth, maintain a temperature of + 17-21 degrees during the day and + 13-19 at night. After seedlings have developed several true leaves, only one plant should be left in the pot. Weak seedlings are removed, but not pulling, so as not to damage the roots, and pinching.
Watering. In order for the plant to grow faster and more intensively, the soil moisture should be about 85%, and air at least 75%. Do watering plentiful, but not frequent and do not forget to air the room.
Important! Although Peking cabbage loves moisture, it does not tolerate stagnation of water, so you only need to water it after the topsoil has dried.
Top dressing. During the growing season the cabbage is fed. They apply fertilizer by watering or spraying. It is recommended to fertilize every two weeks with liquid biohumus. Also, Beijing cabbage will not damage the spraying of boric acid solution.
Thinning. As in the case of the stalk, when the upper layer dries up, the soil is loosened, thereby providing air access to the roots.

On the windowsill

Beijing cabbage can be easily grown in your apartment on the windowsill.

Seeds are sown in fairly deep boxes of soil. The distance between the rows should be about 8 cm.
Before the emergence of shoots box covered with a film and put in a warm place.
When the first shoots appear, the film is removed and the box is transferred back to the window. The window sill is the best place, since there the cabbage will get enough sunlight.

When to harvest?

Harvest time depends directly on the cabbage variety.. Early varieties can ripen in as little as 25 days, but later ones ripen more than a month and a half. Usually the crop is harvested at the end of spring, if the landing was spring. If you decide to plant cabbage at the end of summer, you will collect the fruits in the fall.

How to store it?

Peking cabbage should be stored in a cool and dry room with a temperature range of 0 ... +2 degrees.

Problems and difficulties

Carefully follow the watering, the soil should not be too wet. If you have chosen the method of growing with the help of the stalk, then do not forget that at the initial stage of growth, excessive direct sunlight is contraindicated.

You may also encounter a pest problem.The main ones are aphid and cruciferous flea. When combating pests, use herbal remedies: decoctions of wormwood or chamomile.

Conclusion

Beijing cabbage is a delicious vegetable that can be easily grown at home. If you follow all instructions, you will get tender, juicy cabbage leaves, which are perfect for various dishes.