High-yielding late hybrid of broccoli cabbage Marathon f1

Broccoli is the ancestor of cauliflower, but it is healthier due to its high content of vitamins and minerals. Culture refers to unpretentious, and numerous varieties and hybrids allow you to easily grow this vegetable in the garden. The Marathon F1 hybrid is considered one of the best.

Description of Marathon F1 cabbage broccoli hybrid

The homeland of broccoli cabbage is considered the Mediterranean, from where it spread throughout the world. Modern breeders have bred numerous crop hybrids that are characterized by increased yields and disease resistance.

Reference. Marathon F1 also belongs to hybrids. It was bred by Japanese breeders of the Sakata company.

The popularity of this hybrid is due to its high taste and useful properties:

1. Vegetables are high in protein and low in fiber, which is why they are often used. for the preparation of dietary meals.
2. Broccoli contains vitamins C and E, as well as potassium, calcium, chromium, magnesium and phosphorus.
3. Regular consumption of such cabbage helps speed up recovery and has beneficial effects on overall health due to folate, choline and methionine.
4. Sulforaphane is another important component of Marathon cabbage. It has antibacterial properties and accelerates the regeneration of mucous membranes.

The Marathon F1 hybrid is considered versatile. It is suitable for steaming, frying and baking. Its forks are dense, so the vegetable can be freeze or keep fresh in a cool basement.

Other features of the hybrid:

1. Late ripening. Forks reach technical maturity 110 days after germination.
2. High productivity. On average, from 1 sq. m of the garden, 3 kg of vegetables are harvested, but with proper care, the yield can be higher.
3. Disease and pest resistance. The crop is resistant to major cruciferous diseases and pests, but in some cases the forks can attack the caterpillars. So that they do not eat cabbage before ripening, the bed is covered with a special covering material - lutrasil.
4. Cold resistance. The hybrid tolerates cold weather and sudden temperature changes, but during heat or drought, its yield decreases.

Externally, Marathon F1 cabbage is practically no different from other varieties of broccoli. The shade of heads of cabbage ranges from green to blue-green. The ripe forks are dense, but loose, resembling an ellipse in shape, and its weight reaches 800 g. The average length of a ripe head of cabbage is 20 cm. The bushes themselves are powerful.

Since the Japanese hybrid is late and tolerates cold better than heat, it is better grow in temperate climates. It is suitable for the Moscow region, the Urals and Siberia, but cultivation is possible only by seedling.

Advantages and disadvantages

When creating a hybrid, breeders managed to improve some of its characteristics. Due to this, it is popular with farmers around the world.

The main advantages of Marathon F1:

1. High productivity. In most late-ripening hybrids, it is lower and does not exceed 2.5 kg of vegetables per 1 sq. m.
2. Versatility. Thick and loose forks are great for heat treatment, freezing and long-term storage.
3. Taste qualities. Hybrid Marathon F1 has a delicate, pleasant taste, and the inflorescences remain elastic even after cooking.

The only drawback of culture is considered to be heat intolerance.Because of this peculiarity, its cultivation in the south does not bring abundant harvests.

Features of planting and growing

Broccoli Marathon F1 is grown only in seedlings. In theory, seedless cultivation is possible in warm climates, but this crop does not tolerate heat well, so this method is practically not used.

Reference. Seedlings are planted only in heated soil in late April or early May. Accordingly, sowing seeds for seedlings begin in March.

Before sowing, the seeds are processed. This increases the germination and productivity of the crop. The seeds are sorted and the largest are selected without mechanical damage. They are soaked for 1 hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then slightly dried.

Sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out as follows:

1. Planting material is placed in one large container or separate peat cups. In the second case, the seedlings will not have to dive.
2. The depth of the planting holes is no more than 1 cm. The seeds are laid out at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other and sprinkled with a thin layer of soil.
3. The earth is moistened with a spray bottle, covered with foil and placed in a well-lit place. When the first shoots appear, the shelter is removed, and the soil continues to be moistened as it dries.
4. Seedlings are planted in separate containers, when 2-3 true leaves are formed on them.

In open ground, seedlings are transplanted in the phase of 4-5 true leaves. Containers with seedlings are pre-moistened to make it easier to remove the plants.

Transplanting to open ground has nuances:

1. A place. Broccoli belongs to light-loving crops, so the site is chosen sunny and protected from drafts.
2. Priming. It is advisable to choose land with low soil acidity. If this is not possible, chalk or lime is scattered over the surface.
3. Garden bed preparation. Includes digging, weeding and composting.
4. Landing scheme. The bushes of the hybrid are spreading, so they need a lot of space to form large forks. When planting seedlings, a distance of 30 cm is left between individual plants, and 50 cm between rows.

Care

Despite the fact that broccoli is considered an unpretentious crop, it must be looked after during the growing season in order to get a rich harvest:

1. The soil in the garden is periodically loosenedto enhance the flow of oxygen and moisture to the root system. At the same time, weeds are removed and the bushes are spud.
2. Water the cabbage generously and regularly - every 6-7 days in the morning or in the evening. The amount of applied liquid is determined individually: the soil under the bush should be moistened to a depth of 12-15 cm. On the garden bed, you can arrange drip irrigation or apply moisture manually under the root using a watering can. In hot weather, additional spraying of the leaves is practiced.
3. Fertilize the culture several times per season. The first time is 2 weeks after transplanting. At this stage, plants need nitrogen, therefore, mullein infusion (0.5 liters per 15 liters of water) mixed with urea (1 tsp) is used as fertilizer. The second time the bushes are fed with saltpeter (1 matchbox of the substance is diluted in 10 liters of water) three weeks after the first fertilization. The third feeding involves the use of potassium-phosphate fertilizers (40 g of superphosphate, 20 g of ammonium nitrate and 10 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water) and is carried out a month after the second.

Diseases and pests

The advantage of broccoli Maraton F1 is that it has a well-developed immunity to traditional cabbage diseases (black leg, mosaic, keel, white and dry rot), therefore prophylactic or therapeutic treatment with chemicals is usually not carried out.

In some cases, aphids or fleas settle on the bushes. To scare off pests, every 10 days the plants are sprayed with a weak infusion of onions or garlic (2 kg of crushed product is infused in 10 liters of water).

Growing difficulties

Broccoli is not yet the most common crop in our gardens, so some have problems growing it:

1. The absence of side forks and a shallow central head indicate that the seedlings were planted too densely. To increase yields, crops are thinned out, leaving only the strongest plants.
2. The center fork is small and does not tie for a long time. This problem arises if overgrown seedlings are planted on the garden bed. There is no way to fix this problem.
3. Broccoli does not develop and withers - the reason is in the acidic soil. Such cabbage yields only on neutral and slightly alkaline soils.

Harvesting and storage

When harvesting broccoli, timing is critical. Unripe heads are unsuitable for storage and processing, and overripe heads bloom, and they can no longer be eaten.

Important! The visual criterion for the readiness of cabbage for harvesting is the germination of leaves through the head.

There are other signs of technical maturity:

1. The diameter of a ripe head of cabbage is about 10 cm.
2. The mature head is deep green with closed buds. If the cabbage begins to turn yellow, and the inflorescences begin to open, such a fork is collected first and immediately eaten.

Harvesting is best in the early morning. Forks fade quickly under the scorching sun. Cut them so that about 10 cm of the stem remains below. Digging a bush by the root or plucking a vegetable is not recommended.

Harvesting times vary by region, but on average the forks are cut in late August or early September... Over time, small lateral heads form on the bushes remaining in the garden bed, which are also eaten.

Fresh broccoli is stored for no longer than a week. For long-term storage, the cabbage is cut into inflorescences and frozen. The Marathon F1 hybrid is late, so it can be stored in a cool basement at a temperature not exceeding + 2 ° C. Each inflorescence is tightly wrapped with cling film and placed in one layer in a wooden box with holes. Shelf life - no more than 8 months.

Advice and feedback from experienced gardeners

Many summer residents who have practical experience in growing Marathon F1 cabbage advise not to buy seedlings on the market, but to grow them on their own. This will ensure that the plants belong to this particular hybrid. In addition, the summer resident can independently control the development of seedlings and transplant them into open ground in time.

The unpretentiousness and high yield of the hybrid is also confirmed by the reviews of those who grew it.

Victoria, Voronezh: “In the past, we always bought broccoli at the store. They were afraid to grow in the country, as they considered it too capricious. As an experiment, I bought a bag of Marathon and grew seedlings. All the seedlings took root in the garden, and we managed to collect so many forks that now we have the whole freezer in broccoli. "

Alexander, Astrakhan: “I have experience in growing different types of broccoli, but when I read the reviews about the Marathon variety, I tried to plant it, and now I consider it the best among the late ones. It grows for a long time, but the taste is very delicate, and the inflorescences can be stored all winter. "

Conclusion

The variety of broccoli is great, but among the late hybrids, Marathon F1 stands out. As the cultivation experience shows, this culture is unpretentious in care, it tolerates cold normally and has a high yield, so it can be grown in the Moscow region and central Russia.