4 sure signs of Cabbage ripeness. Knowing them, I remove both tasty and well-stored heads of cabbage

Do you want to harvest an excellent cabbage crop? Then a fiery salute, comrade punctual vegetable grower! Today on the agenda are 4 signs that unequivocally hint at the readiness of precious heads of cabbage for harvesting.

Someone might say: "Something you, Fedya, are late." But I’m not in a hurry to harvest cabbage, calmly waiting for signs of ripeness and... the arrival of the first frost. Moreover, my heart belongs to late varieties: they are perfectly stored, and my wife always has something to cook cabbage soup from.

Technical ripeness, which is calculated from the sowing date by the ripening period, is, of course, good and simple. But the seed producer does not take into account that the readiness of the head of cabbage for harvesting may differ in each region in each season. Therefore, I trust more external signs of true ripeness.

1. Dense head of cabbage

First, let's rely on tactile sensations. A ripe head of cabbage is dense and elastic to the touch, puffed up like a drum.

If you, comrade, click on an unripe forks, you will immediately understand what is the matter. He is a half-deflated air ball, in which, moreover, under pressure, voids are felt and something treacherously crunches.

2. The upper, integumentary leaves will say about ripeness

We have already estimated the density - we pass to the form. In a ripe head of cabbage, the upper leaves (which are also called integumentary leaves for obvious reasons) tightly hug the forks. Only the edge sometimes twists when the cabbage decided to be a little rose.

Several "lower" ones can remain more in a horizontal position. But the ball itself must be "tightly packed".

Note to a friend: I noticed that this sign is not always accurate. In some varieties, under some circumstances, the integumentary leaves still flounce, despite the maturity of the vegetable itself.

Therefore, I recommend to interpret this point as follows. Leaves fit tightly - as if ripe. Loosely - 50 to 50 - we look at other signs.

3. "Revived" stump

Look, comrade, at the leg of the cabbage: if "sprouts" began to appear on the trunk, then the heads of cabbage should be removed immediately. Otherwise, they will become overripe, tasteless and poorly stored.

The fact is that, having crossed the line of full maturity, the plant produces "young" cabbage on the trunk, so to speak. Especially if the weather conditions are favorable. Is it funny? Yes. But it is also dangerous for the quality of the crop.

4. Leaf color change

We continue our inspection. When the leaves begin to turn yellowish, it says: it's time to start cleaning. Depending on the variety and circumstances, the color may change to a whitish or even pinkish tone. If you hesitate and do not cut the cabbage on time, it can lose its juiciness. Plak-plak!

I try to leave the cabbage in the garden until the first frost. This makes it tastier. It is better not to wait for the second blow of subzero temperatures: the poor thing can rot.

Are you going to harvest cabbage and was this article helpful? Press, comrade, "Thumbs up"! Sincerely yours, researcher of heads of cabbage, Fyodor Tyapkin-Sklyankin.