Introduction

Cabbage originated from the South and Western part of Europe. Annual world production is about 21million tones of fresh heads from 1.1 million hectares. In Sri Lanka cabbage is one of the important vegetable is cultivated in large extent mainly in the up-country as a year round crop. In the low country it is only during Maha season. Among the other vegetables cabbage is one of the easiest crop to established and manage thus most of the people grow this crop in their home gardens. It is also an important economical and rotational crop in the major vegetable growing areas.



Nursery management
3 m x 1 m size raised bed (about 12 - 15 cm raised) is recommended.
The area should be;
- Opened for sun shine,
- That should not be cultivated Brassicacie family crops early.
- Soil should not be an acidic.
First clean the field and break the large clods into small particles and make fine texture soil.
Then prepare the bed.
Apply paddy husk and straw layers on the surface of the bed and fire from the opposite of the wind direction to sterilize the bed.
Apply 3 - 4 Kg of organic manure and mix well with soil.
Put seeds about 1 cm deep on the lines that maintain 10 cm space with the lines.
Apply fungicide to control Damping off and Anthracnose.
Water to the bed and mulch it by using paddy straw.
Then cover the beds by using polyethylene that should not be transparent to avoid sun rays and rain.
Remove the mulch after 5 - 6 days.
germination period will be 5 - 6 days.
Remove the polyethylene cover 10 days before planting to hardening.
Field Establishment

Climatic requirements

Optimum climatic conditions are

15 oC - 20 oC temperature
Elevation is above 800 m.

Optimum soil conditions

Well drained soils are suitable.
pH range is 6.0- 7.0