Few people know what the swede looks like that places special demands on care, and also what family it belongs to. The plant is two years old, in the first year it forms a root crop and foliage. The following year, the vegetable grows a stalk, which after flowering produces seeds that can be planted the very next year. The plant is not at all simple, and even capricious, it needs constant attention during cultivation.
Table of contents
What is this swede?
Depending on the variety, the shape of the fruits of swede are different:
- cylindrical;
- round;
- rounded;
- flat-rounded.
The flesh of the vegetable is firm, may be light or yellow. The sizes of root crops are large; during growth, their upper part is visible on the surface of the bed. Apical part of a dark green shade, at the bottom - yellowish or purple with slight redness.
The plant tolerates cold conditions, the seeds are able to start growing at a couple of degrees of heat. Sprouts withstand slight frosts, adult swede is not dangerous, and five-degree frost.
On the territory of our country, the cultivation of rutabaga has not received mass distribution, but in the western countries its cultivation is developed. For example, the British even consider it their national dish.
Useful properties and contraindications
Swede contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. It is noted that even after heat treatment the vegetable is able to maintain its positive qualities.
The presence of vitamin C enrolls sweat in a number of products recommended from scurvy. Freshly squeezed juices are successfully used in wound healing, they effectively work as expectorant and diuretics.
Dishes made from this vegetable can improve digestion, recommended for people suffering from obesity and constipation. Use vegetable and in the preparation of diets.
It is believed that the root crop is quite valuable for livestock as feed. If you include it in the diet of dairy cattle, you can significantly increase milk production.
Most popular varieties
Vegetable is cultivated for table and fodder needs, therefore it is divided into certain varieties:
— Krasnoselskaya - grown for use in food. In terms of ripening, the plant is considered to be medium-term; the growing season lasts from three to four months. Pulp of a yellow shade, sugary. The root crop has a flat-rounded shape, a grayish-green shade with hints of purple. The weight of one vegetable ranges from three hundred to six hundred grams. The culture is suitable for long-term storage;
— zeltene abolu - a table variety of Latvian selection specialists; it does not differ in good keeping quality. From the moment of germination to harvest, seventy to one hundred and thirty days pass. The average weight of a vegetable is four hundred grams, the flesh is yellow, firm;
— Swedish is a universal variety, grown for table and fodder purposes. Tastes somewhat inferior to Krasnoselskaya. The growing season takes about four and a half months.
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- Krasnoselskaya
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- Swedish
Terms for landing
Seed in open ground swede must be planted in early May. If it is planned to grow vegetables using the seedling method, sowing should be carried out in March - early April, so that the seedlings have at least forty days before transplanting to a permanent place.
How to plant seeds in open ground?
Vegetable can grow on both neutral and acidic soils. The land should be quite fertile and loose. Best of all, if it is loamy, sandy or peaty cultivated beds. The soil should be easy to absorb and keep moisture.
The best precursors for this plant are legumes, solanaceous or pumpkin.
Rutabou likes dung, so it is recommended to bring it into the soil in the fall, while digging. But at the stage of vegetable ripening, such a fertilizer is contraindicated - the root crop becomes dry and porous. Phosphate-potassium are best suited as mineral fertilizer compounds. A good solution is to use dolomite flour or lime.
When growing seeds need to prepare a bed in the fall. Sowing is carried out at a depth of two - two and a half centimeters, the interval between rows is forty-five centimeters. Emerging seedlings must be thinned out so that a fifteen centimeter interval remains between the plants.
Proper care and cultivation
Growing a vegetable is not difficult. The care of standard sweep is irrigation, removal of weeds, disease prevention, the introduction of dressing formulations.
The first decade of growth of seedlings is slow, it is very important at this time to water sprouts in time, to remove weeds. After a half - two months, the vegetable begins to form roots, as evidenced by the foliage of the plant, part of which dries.
Fed rutabagus twice - a couple of weeks after planting (manure) and during the formation of the fetus (complex formulations).
Susceptibility to diseases and pests
Like other cruciferous plants, swede can be affected by powdery mildew, ashes, and linen. Such a cabbage fly, aphid and keel will not pass by such a culture.
To avoid trouble, you must constantly inspect the plants. Having found the first signs, it is necessary to carry out the necessary actions, having processed landings with special structures.
Harvesting
The crop yield is five hundred kilograms from a hundred square meters of planting. The tops are allowed for livestock silage; root crops are stored in the winter period in piles, cellars or trenches.
As it turned out, it is difficult to find a good variety for cultivation, but there is always an opportunity from foreign breeders to find a suitable option. With the organization of proper care, every gardener is able to grow this crop on his own plot.