Is Japanese cabbage edible when in flower? Growing Japanese cabbage: overview of varieties, care features, beneficial properties. Growing Japanese Mizuna Cabbage
Japanese cabbage Mizuna is still little known to our Russian summer residents, although of all oriental species Cruciferous plants are the fastest to ripen. In addition, it requires a minimal amount of care, so only the lazy cannot grow this vegetable. Mizuna is often grown directly on the windowsill, which is much easier than doing it in open ground.
What is Mizuna?
Japanese cabbage in the photo looks almost like arugula, but in fact it is a pepper salad of brown or bright green color. As its name suggests, the cruciferous vegetable is actively cultivated in Japan. But the word “cabbage” seems out of place here, because Mizuna (Mitsuna) does not form a head of cabbage, limiting itself to a lush rosette of patterned leaves.
Blooms with small flowers yellow color. The seeds are very small, like poppy seeds. In the ground, a root crop 10-20 cm long is formed, which tastes similar to rutabaga.
Japanese cabbage can be eaten within a month after sowing.
Today in Russia they sell mainly such varieties as red Mizuna, “Rusalochka” and Japanese cabbage “Emerald Pattern”, the cultivation of which is not only useful, but also a pleasant experience. Only two varieties are registered in the State Register:
- Dude. Ultra early ripening variety. No more than a month passes from the appearance of the first shoots to the cutting of ripe leaves. Suitable for growing both indoors or in a greenhouse, and in open ground. Intended mainly for salads. It has strongly dissected leaves and a horizontal rosette. On average, one adult plant weighs 400 grams, from one square meter you can get up to 6 kg of harvest. The leaves grow back very quickly after pruning.
- Mermaid. This variety of Japanese cabbage is considered mid-season - 2 months pass from germination to maturity. The rosette is slightly raised or simply horizontal, consisting of an average of 50 leaves 40 cm in height and 65 cm in diameter. The leaves have white petioles and a feathery lyre-shaped shape. The weight of each individual plant reaches a kilogram, and from a square meter of land you can also harvest 6 kg of crop. The variety is resistant to both cold and heat.
The vitamins and minerals that Mizuna is rich in effectively strengthen the immune system, prevent infections, and also reduce the risk of developing cancerous tumors.
The vegetable has an excellent taste without the slightest taste of bitterness. Good for salads, sandwiches or decorating any other dishes. Also, boiled leaves are sometimes used to make sushi and rolls, replacing seaweed.
Growing Japanese Mizuna Cabbage
Japanese Mizuna cabbage does not present any problems in cultivation even for a beginner. You just need to follow a few simple rules.
- The plant loves nutritious, not too clayey soil.
- It is advisable that most During the day, the landing site was illuminated by the sun.
- If grown in beds, the vegetable can be planted in the soil after tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
- It is not advisable to plant after cabbage, radishes or mustard.
In the Russian Federation, a plant can produce several harvests in one season - usually in May, July and August. The first planting of Japanese cabbage should be done in the spring, but replanting can be done throughout the summer.
WITH different varieties Mizunas, for example, Japanese cabbage “The Little Mermaid”, are grown from seeds. When planting seeds, they are immersed in the soil by 0.5 cm with an interval of 10 cm, and the distance between the rows should be at least 30 cm. Immediately after sowing, the ground must be covered with film. In just a week the first shoots will appear.
Immediately after this, you can remove the film and simply watch the growth of the vegetable, carrying out simple care.
Japanese cabbage grows most comfortably at temperatures from +15 to +21°C.
The soil must be kept sufficiently moist, so regular watering is important. But with organic fertilizers It is important not to overdo it - the plant tends to accumulate all foreign substances in its leaves. Mineral fertilizers are not needed at all.
When the plant has grown, it can be carefully transplanted into a container and taken to the apartment. On the balcony or windowsill, cabbage will feel great until the onset of frost. And due to its pleasant appearance, it will also serve to decorate the room.
Getting rid of pests
Like many other types of cabbage, Mizuna is susceptible to attacks by the cruciferous flea beetle. But it is undesirable to use any chemical poisons, because the leaves will be eaten. It is better to use more natural means - tobacco dust and wood ash.
From a tincture of tobacco dust, you can prepare a solution in proportions of 1/10 and spray the plant with it.
However, in stores you can also find products that effectively eliminate pests, but are not harmful to health. In order not to delay the fight against insects, you need to inspect the cabbage daily for their presence.
Taste and Application
The leaves of Japanese cabbage are very delicate to the touch. The taste is a bit like radish or mustard, but much milder. Unlike leaf mustard, there is no pronounced bitter taste because Mizuna has much less mustard oils.
Greens can be cut, but it is still recommended to uproot the plant when collecting, especially if you plan for a long time store it in the refrigerator. Cabbage in the refrigerator can remain practically fresh for a week. This advantage will be appreciated by summer residents who come to their plot only on weekends.
You can eat Mizuna in any form you like - fresh, dried, pickled. It goes well with cheese in salads or sandwiches, as well as with meat, fish, and fruits. However, it quickly becomes sluggish in a salad, so such dishes are not prepared “with reserve”. Mizuna can be an ideal substitute for spinach in many dishes and even surpasses it - its taste is much more interesting.
Once, at a relative’s birthday party, I tried a salad of tender herbs- mitsuns. When I asked where such a curiosity was sold, the owner replied that... in Japan. It is difficult to find it on sale here. But you can grow it!
SALAD, CABBAGE OR MUSTARD?
Mitsuna (mizuna) is a green pepper salad from the cabbage family - originally from the Land of the Rising Sun, for which in Europe the herb was nicknamed Japanese cabbage. In America, mitsuna is also called mustard green. It's not bitter at all though.
The leaves of the plant are beautiful and feathery. The flowers are small, yellow. But you need to eat the grass without waiting for it to bloom, while it is soft and juicy. 1-1.5 months after sowing, you can already cut off the rosettes of greenery.
Mitsuna seeds are small, like poppy seeds, and remain viable for up to 3 years. The culture forms an even elongated (up to 15 cm) root crop white, reminiscent of rutabaga in taste.
FROST AND SUN
Mitsuna is a cold-resistant plant. It sprouts at 2-4C and can withstand frosts down to -5°. In our climate, it thrives in open ground from May to September. In the cold season, you can grow mitsuna in a greenhouse or in a container on the windowsill, transplanting it there from a garden bed.
The soil for the crop requires fertile, loamy soil. The culture loves the sun, but also tolerates partial shade. For sowing mitsuna, beds after tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, onions, and legumes are suitable. But after cruciferous vegetables - radishes, cabbage, turnips, mustard and others - it should not be planted.
SEEDLING IS NOT NEEDED FOR MITSUNA!
In order to start harvesting early, I tried to grow mitsuna in seedlings, sowing in boxes in April, and transplanting them into the garden in May. But it was a fiasco. All the greenery went into flower arrows.
Now I sow the crop only in open ground in 3 doses: at the beginning of May, at the end of June and in August.
I make grooves in the beds up to 2 cm deep at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other, I water them cold water and spread out the seeds. I sprinkle the crops with loose soil and mulch with hay. When the seedlings appear, I thin them out, leaving gaps of 5-7 cm. After 2 weeks, I thin them again so that there is 10-15 cm between plants.
WEEDS: WHO WILL WILL?
At first, until the mitsuna grows, it needs to be weeded. Then she kills all the weeds herself. You need to water the crop abundantly, but try not to let the drops fall on the leaves. Moisture can cause greens to rot.
The plant should be fertilized twice a month. weak solutions phosphorus (superphosphate) and potassium (potassium sulfate) fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers (saltpeter, urea) should not be applied, since mitsuna actively accumulates nitrates.
Fresh manure cannot be used either. From pests (cruciferous flea beetle, slugs, etc.) I pollinate green bushes with ash, tobacco dust, and spray with infusions of wormwood or tansy.
FOR THOSE WHO LOSE WEIGHT
Mitsuna helps cleanse the blood of “bad” cholesterol, remove salts from the body, strengthen the immune system, resolve tumor tumors, improve vision and increase skin elasticity, cure vitamin deficiency and anemia. Nutritionists recommend including this greenery in the diet of people on diets.
RUCCOLA'S FRIEND
In cooking, mitsuna is used in the same way as arugula. These herbs even taste similar. Personally, I add mitsuna to salads from fresh vegetables and fruits. I decorate the first and second courses with it. It goes well with fish and stewed vegetables. One day I was going to make sushi with seaweed, but there was none in the refrigerator. So instead of seaweed, I boiled mitsuna. The sushi with it turned out to be even tastier.
The herb is stored in the refrigerator by wrapping it in cling film, about a week. For the winter, greens can be dried, salted, pickled.
Good day, friends!
The word “exotic” is most often associated with unusual plants, extremely rare in vegetable gardens, flower beds and orchards. But it turns out that curiosities can also be found among ordinary and common species. A striking example cabbage, or rather Japanese cabbage, can serve.
In Russia growing Japanese cabbage It is carried out extremely rarely, but on the Pacific coast it is a traditional vegetable. Experts find it difficult to say for sure which country should be considered its homeland - China or Japan.
Biological features
Japanese cabbage is a one- or two-year-old crop belonging to the cruciferous family. It grows up to 50 cm in height, forming a spreading rosette of leaves with a diameter of 60-80 cm. The leaf blades are long (30-60 cm). They can be smooth, lanceolate-shaped or heavily dissected. Characteristic feature culture is that after cutting the leaves grow back on the plant.
Varieties
To grow Japanese cabbage in the middle zone, breeders have developed two adapted varieties - “Dude” and “Rusalochka”. Both
varieties are salad varieties. “Dude” is an early ripening variety - only 30-35 days pass from the moment of sowing to the formation of the harvest. Cabbage of the "Rusalochka" variety requires a longer period - 50-60 days. Both varieties are stem-resistant. This feature distinguishes Japanese cabbage from Beijing and Chinese cabbage.
The yield of vegetable crops depends on growing conditions. Moreover, in open ground it is slightly lower (0.8-1.5 kg per 1 sq.m.) than in protected ground (3-5 kg per 1 sq.m.).
Sowing
Exotic cabbage can be grown in conditions middle zone in a seedless way. Seeds begin to be sown in the soil after it warms up to at least +10°C. As a rule, this time falls on 
mid-April or early May. Overseeding can continue until August.
The seeds are deepened into the soil by 1-2 cm. 10-15 cm must be left between individual specimens, and 20-30 cm between rows.
Beds for Japanese cabbage must be prepared in the fall. To do this, humus (4-5 kg), superphosphate (20-25 g) and potassium (10-15 g) fertilizers are added to the soil for each square meter. In the spring, before sowing, the substrate is fertilized with nitrogen, which can be ammonium nitrate (15-20 g per 1 sq.m.).
To avoid splash infectious diseases and the proliferation of pests, Japanese cabbage is recommended to be grown after, nightshade or crops. Beetroot and perennial herbs are also considered good predecessors. According to the rules of crop rotation, it is strictly forbidden to sow cabbage after any representatives of the cruciferous family.
Agrotechnical care
To cultivate Japanese cabbage, it is necessary to select well-lit beds with light, fertile soil. The culture does not like acidic soils, so if necessary, the substrate is fertilized with lime to achieve a pH of 6.5-7.5. The soil must be well drained, as the crop cannot withstand stagnant moisture.
But at the same time, obvious drying out of the soil should not be allowed, so watering should be regular.
The culture is very responsive to phosphorus and potassium fertilizing, which can be carried out twice during the growing season. It is recommended either not to use nitrogen fertilizers or to apply them in very small quantities. Japanese cabbage, like other types of cruciferous vegetables, is distinguished by its ability to accumulate.
The plant cannot be called heat-loving - for growth and development, warming the air to 15-22°C is sufficient. Too much heat and increased insolation, on the contrary, are harmful - burns may appear on the leaves. At the same time, the vegetable safely tolerates a drop in temperature to -4C.
Beneficial features
In its biochemical composition, the plant is close to its family relatives - Chinese cabbage. But the leaves contain much less mustard oils, due to which Japanese cabbage has a more delicate and mild taste. This property determines the possibility of its inclusion in the menu of people suffering from peptic ulcers and heart diseases.
Fresh leaves are most often used for food. Japanese cabbage is useful to add to salads, cold appetizers, and sandwiches. Much less often, the vegetable is subjected to heat treatment - added to soups or stews.
Japanese cabbage is not only a useful vegetable crop, it can be successfully used to decorate the landscape. Master growing Japanese cabbage on the site, after all this plant looks beautiful both in borders and in flower beds. See you!
Japanese Mizuna cabbage is still little known to our Russian summer residents, although it is the fastest ripening of all the eastern cruciferous species. In addition, it requires a minimal amount of care, so only the lazy cannot grow this vegetable. Mizuna is often grown directly on the windowsill, which is much easier than doing it in open ground.
What is Mizuna?
Japanese cabbage in the photo looks almost like arugula, but in fact it is a pepper salad of brown or bright green color. As its name suggests, the cruciferous vegetable is actively cultivated in Japan. But the word “cabbage” seems out of place here, because Mizuna (Mitsuna) does not form a head of cabbage, limiting itself to a lush rosette of patterned leaves.
It blooms with small yellow flowers. The seeds are very small, like poppy seeds. In the ground, a root crop 10-20 cm long is formed, which tastes similar to rutabaga.
Japanese cabbage can be eaten within a month after sowing.
Today in Russia they sell mainly varieties such as red Mizuna, “Rusalochka” and Japanese cabbage “Emerald Pattern”, the cultivation of which is not only useful, but also a pleasant experience. Only two varieties are registered in the State Register:
- Dude. Ultra early ripening variety. No more than a month passes from the appearance of the first shoots to the cutting of ripe leaves. Suitable for growing both indoors or in a greenhouse, and in open ground. Intended mainly for salads. It has strongly dissected leaves and a horizontal rosette. On average, one adult plant weighs 400 grams, and up to 6 kg of harvest can be obtained from one square meter. The leaves grow back very quickly after pruning.
- Mermaid. This variety of Japanese cabbage is considered mid-season - 2 months pass from germination to maturity. The rosette is slightly raised or simply horizontal, consisting of an average of 50 leaves 40 cm in height and 65 cm in diameter. The leaves have white petioles and a feathery lyre-shaped shape. The weight of each individual plant reaches a kilogram, and from a square meter of land you can also harvest 6 kg of crop. The variety is resistant to both cold and heat.
The vitamins and minerals that Mizuna is rich in effectively strengthen the immune system, prevent infections, and also reduce the risk of developing cancer.
The vegetable has an excellent taste without the slightest taste of bitterness. Good for salads, sandwiches or decorating any other dishes. Also, boiled leaves are sometimes used to make sushi and rolls, replacing seaweed.
Growing Japanese Mizuna Cabbage
Japanese Mizuna cabbage does not present any problems in cultivation even for a beginner. You just need to follow a few simple rules.
- The plant loves nutritious, not too clayey soil.
- It is advisable that the landing site be illuminated by the sun most of the day.
- If grown in beds, the vegetable can be planted in the soil after tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
- It is not advisable to plant after cabbage, radishes or mustard.
In the Russian Federation, a plant can produce several harvests in one season - usually in May, July and August. The first planting of Japanese cabbage should be done in the spring, but replanting can be done throughout the summer.
With different varieties of Mizuna, for example, Japanese cabbage “Mermaid”, cultivation from seeds is practiced. When planting seeds, they are immersed in the soil by 0.5 cm with an interval of 10 cm, and the distance between the rows should be at least 30 cm. Immediately after sowing, the ground must be covered with film. In just a week the first shoots will appear.
Immediately after this, you can remove the film and simply watch the growth of the vegetable, carrying out simple care.
Japanese cabbage grows most comfortably at temperatures from +15 to +21°C.
The soil must be kept sufficiently moist, so regular watering is important. But with organic fertilizers, it is important not to overdo it - the plant tends to accumulate all foreign substances in its leaves. Mineral fertilizers are not needed at all.
When the plant has grown, it can be carefully transplanted into a container and taken to the apartment. On the balcony or windowsill, cabbage will feel great until the onset of frost. And due to its pleasant appearance, it will also serve to decorate the room.
Getting rid of pests
Like many other types of cabbage, Mizuna is susceptible to attacks by the cruciferous flea beetle. But it is undesirable to use any chemical poisons to destroy it, because the leaves will be eaten. It is better to use more natural means - tobacco dust and wood ash.
From a tincture of tobacco dust, you can prepare a solution in proportions of 1/10 and spray the plant with it.
However, in stores you can also find products that effectively eliminate pests, but are not harmful to health. In order not to delay the fight against insects, you need to inspect the cabbage daily for their presence.
Taste and Application
The leaves of Japanese cabbage are very delicate to the touch. The taste is a bit like radish or mustard, but much milder. Unlike leaf mustard, there is no pronounced bitter taste because Mizuna has much less mustard oils.
Greens can be cut, but it is still recommended to uproot the plant when harvesting, especially if you plan to store it in the refrigerator for a long time. Cabbage in the refrigerator can remain practically fresh for a week. This advantage will be appreciated by summer residents who come to their plot only on weekends.
You can eat Mizuna in any form you like - fresh, dried, pickled. It goes well with cheese in salads or sandwiches, as well as with meat, fish, and fruits. However, it quickly becomes sluggish in a salad, so such dishes are not prepared “with reserve”. Mizuna can be an ideal substitute for spinach in many dishes and even surpasses it - its taste is much more interesting.
There are two types of Japanese cabbage - mibuna (with lanceolate leaves) and mizuna (with carved openwork leaves).
I have been growing Japanese mizuna cabbage for several years now. Previously, I bought Aelita seeds, which I mentioned in my review. This cabbage is rich in elements such as copper, zinc, manganese, magnesium, cobalt. And one more feature - it accumulates a very small amount of nitrates.
There are no particular problems with growing, the main thing is that the soil is non-acidic and well-cultivated. I sow the seeds in the ground. Germination and productivity are good, the rosettes are lush, and after cutting the leaves grow back quickly. During this time, only a couple of plants came into flower. Since this cabbage does not like to get soaked, I prefer to grow it in high beds along the edge.
In Russia, only two varieties of Japanese cabbage, “Rusalochka” and “Dude,” are included in the State Register.
Variety "Dude" - mizuna, early ripening (30-35 days). I first saw and bought the seeds of this “Dude” back in August at “Perekrestok”, the price is about 9 rubles. Since the variety is early ripening, I decided to try growing this crop in the fall. I sowed some seeds at the beginning of October in the greenhouse. The shoots appeared quite quickly, but the cabbage grew quite slowly (it was October, after all). However, today I brought a harvest of young leaves, which taste like salad leaves, only with a very light (horseradish-like) bitterness - just perfect for salads and sandwiches. I advise you to pay attention - tasty and very healthy.
