Content
Cabbage is one of the most difficult vegetable crops to grow, especially if you try to grow its seedlings in an ordinary apartment with central heating. Nevertheless, many novice enthusiastic gardeners go for it, tempted by the attractive picture of an appetizing head of cabbage on the seed package. But before you can enjoy such a sight in your garden, you will have to go through a fair amount of trials. After all, cabbage has many enemies in the form of insect pests and various diseases. She is also very demanding on various growth conditions, and usually her requirements do not coincide at all with those that people seek to create for her. Therefore, almost all cabbage seedlings turn yellow - this is almost its normal state under some conditions. But this same picture is a symptom of dangerous diseases and problems when urgent action is needed. Why you need to sort things out in order.
Diseases and pests
When yellow leaves appear on cabbage seedlings, first of all, it is necessary to exclude all the factors most dangerous for the plant.
Insects are pests
There are quite a few enemies who want to feast on juicy cabbage leaves. But most of them appear already when cabbage is planted in the ground or when growing seedlings directly in the garden.
They are able to migrate to cabbage seedlings from nearby indoor plants.
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Aphid clearly visible on the leaves with the naked eye. These are small light green or translucent oval-shaped insects, up to 5 mm in size, living in large numbers on different parts of plants and sucking sap from them.
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Spider mite is found on the back of the leaf in the form of small almost imperceptible cobwebs, sticky secretions and black dots, and the entire surface of the leaf is, as it were, mottled with small light specks. The cabbage leaf soon turns yellow and falls off.
If any insects are found, all plants must first be thoroughly washed under running water in the shower, and then sprinkled over wet leaves with a small layer of wood ash. Usually this is enough, especially if all other conditions of detention are brought back to normal.
In the open field, dusting with ash can be done immediately after planting cabbage seedlings in the ground. This will help save her from cruciferous fleas and other insects.
It is better to water all the seedlings overhead. This technique also helps prevent certain fungal diseases.
Diseases of cabbage
There are quite a few diseases in cabbage, but at the seedling stage, the most common are black leg and fusarium. In order to maximally protect cabbage from any diseases, it was necessary to subject its seeds to special treatment before sowing, since many infections are transmitted by seed. After emergence, it is watered with a phytosporin solution. It is a natural biofungicide that works well with all cabbage sores. But it is especially good for prevention. If the disease has already manifested itself, then more powerful means are often needed. But the easiest way is to destroy diseased plants so that they do not have time to infect the rest.
- With a black leg the stem becomes thinner, darkens and the plant quickly dies.
- With fusarium the leaves turn yellow and wither. Unfortunately, these same symptoms can be indicative of other conditions, so it makes sense to try to fix the situation first. And only if all else fails, individual affected plants should be discarded.
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There is another most dangerous cabbage disease - keel... It is completely unresponsive to treatment, but, fortunately, it is quite easy to recognize. Small rounded bulges or nodules appear on the roots of the seedlings. When picking seedlings or planting them in open ground, carefully check the root system of all plants. At the slightest suspicion of a keel, throw the plant away without a doubt. This disease is transmitted, as a rule, through the soil, so when you find it, remember where you got this soil from. If it is taken from your site, then before planting any plants, this bed must be shed with a fungicide solution.
Violation of the rules of care
Answering the question: "Why do the leaves of cabbage seedlings turn yellow?", You need to remember that there are many factors that affect the growth and development of cabbage seedlings.
Improper watering
Mistakes made when watering cabbage seedlings are the most common cause of yellowing of cabbage leaves. After all, cabbage, under normal circumstances, consumes a lot of water and, accordingly, requires abundant watering. Many beginners, having learned about this, out of extra zeal, begin to water it so much and often that the earth sour, the roots begin to experience an acute lack of oxygen, and the leaves turn yellow. In the worst case, the roots start to rot and the plants can become completely sick.
On the other hand, if cabbage seedlings are constantly on a hot windowsill with bright sunlight and the room is rarely ventilated, then it is possible that it will dry out. Therefore, she may need to water two or even three times a day. But in any case, the heat and stuffiness are stressful conditions for cabbage, and the leaves can begin to turn yellow and dry.
Light and temperature
Unfortunately, yellowing of the leaves of cabbage seedlings can occur from non-observance of the rules for keeping plants after germination. The fact is that after germination, cabbage seedlings must be provided with a place with a temperature not higher than + 8 ° С- + 10 ° С for 8-12 days. If you leave it in a warm room, then it will stretch out strongly, the roots will not develop, and new leaves will quickly turn yellow due to underdevelopment of the roots. From such seedlings, even if they live to be transplanted into open ground, it is unlikely that good heads of cabbage will turn out.
Another reason for the yellowing of cabbage leaves can be a lack of light. Cabbage is a very light-loving plant and needs bright lighting during the seedling season. With its lack, it will simply stretch out strongly, and then at the stage of formation of the second and third true leaves, they can gradually begin to turn yellow and dry, starting from the bottom of the plant.
To correct the situation, you can try to apply regular treatment with anti-stress drugs, such as Epin-Extra, Zircon, HB-101, but it is better to change the conditions for the development of seedlings.
Cabbage feed
Typically, cabbage needs abundant feeding after planting in open ground. But if poor land was used for planting plants, then theoretically the seedlings can turn yellow from a lack of certain nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, potassium.
Such foliar feeding works very quickly and the yellowing of the leaves should stop literally within a few days if the reason is a lack of nutrients.
But more often it is the other way around - nutrient-rich soil was used to plant the cabbage. And when trying to feed the seedlings, the leaves begin to turn yellow. Poisoning of the roots with excess fertilizers occurs. In this case, either washing the soil with water or transplanting seedlings into new soil can help.
Also, yellowing of the leaves of cabbage seedlings can occur from transplanting into soil with an acid reaction.
In this case, it is necessary to replace the soil, and if this is not possible, then at least add wood ash or lime as a deoxidizer.
Transfer to the ground
There is a situation when the lower leaves of cabbage seedlings will definitely turn yellow - this happens after the plants are planted in open ground. When transplanting, part of the roots is damaged, so yellowing of the leaves is inevitable. There is nothing to worry about, the leaves must be carefully trimmed or torn off and the seedlings must be spilled abundantly. After 5-6 days, it will take root in a new place and will actively form new green leaves.
As you already understood, almost any stressful situation caused by a violation of the rules of care causes yellowing of the leaves of cabbage seedlings, especially in the lower part of it. Therefore, in such cases, it is necessary, first of all, to figure out what could cause stress in plants, and then take the necessary measures.
Give advice on how to preserve cabbage.