CABBAGE

Characteristics: It is a herbaceous, biennial, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, which while immature form a characteristic compact, globular cluster. Cabbage leaves often have a delicate, powdery, waxy coating called bloom. The occasionally sharp or bitter taste of cabbage is due to glucosinolate(s). Cabbages are also a good source of riboflavin.
Specific cares: When cabbages are 4 to 5 inches tall, thin or transplant to stand 18 to 24 inches apart. Apply a thick layer of mulch to retain moisture. Water plants during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. Contact your local county extension office for controls of common cabbage pests such as aphids, root maggots, cabbageworms, and cabbage loopers.
Plagues: Among the many destructive diseases affecting the cabbage and often other members of the cabbage family are:
• blackleg or black stem, caused by certain fungi (such as Phoma lingam); lesions in the stem near the soil surface become sunken and dark, and may girdle the stem
• black ring or black ring spot, caused by a virus; necrotic, dark and often sunken rings on the leaf surface
• black rot, caused by a bacterium
• cabbagehead, abnormal growth in rutabagas caused by larvae of a gall midge (Contarinia nasturtii) feeding in basal part of the stalks
• cabbage yellows or cabbage wilt, caused by a fungus yellowing and dwarfing
Many insects and other pests infest cabbage plants, among them. Such as: cabbage worm, cabbage fly, cabbage curculio, striped flea beetle …etc.
Measures: Sometimes young cabbages are picked early when it is tender and small, and it is eaten as "baby veggies". Those vegetables are more tender and sweet than older picked cabbages, and can be stored for a longer time.
Price:4 TL (2 €)
Date of plantation and harvesting:May and September