Swede

[herfordshire]

I have been gardening for 58 years since the age of 7 and I have never had any luck with swede they turn out to be the size of raddish. Can anyone give me some advice please.

[djhs196]

I've had some success with Swedes - I harvested and ate the first one at the weekend.

I grow mine in with the brassicas, under a cover of fine enviromesh for the whole growing season. I keep the rows close so that the combined tops keep the roots in shade and hopefully reduce water loss from the soil. I expect the mesh may also keep it a little more humid, but the reason I use it on there is to protect against flea beetle.

The key i think is making sure that they get adequate water tho - I treat them as a "thirsty" crop when doing the rounds. Hope that helps.

[zazen999]

I treat my swedes with no care and attention and they come out fine.

Literally;
chuck some seed in a small pot and ignore for 3 weeks.
Tip the pot out and pop somewhere for another month whilst the spuds are growing [I mean a seed bed or some corner somewhere in real soil, not in a pot].

transplant when you have room

water in

ignore.

come back in a few months and see the swedes starting to bulk up.

[burnie]

Haven't grown any brassica's this year due to bad infestation of cabbage butterflies caterpillars last year,but I've never had problems growing Swedes,usually grew "marion" and fed with chicken pellet manure.

[herfordshire]

Thanks for help with my swede problem will give it a go

[janto]

The only problem i have is pigions.allways put a met over trhem now

[jlottie]

I've had problems in the past too, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed this year. I sowed the seed into modules in June and when big enough planted out, they have been covered with fleece ever since and although I have found a few caterpillars they are doing really well

[SarzWix]

Swedes like 'heavy ground' ie. clay soil, so if you don't have that, you have to try & mimic it. You can sow seeds into module/cell trays of compost, really firm down the compost, dib a small hole & sow 2 seeds, firm the compost down on top. Keep damp until seeds germinate, then thin out the weakest seedling. Transplant the seedlings into their growing position when they have a set of true leaves - if sandy soil, really tread the soil before & after planting, if loam or clay, firm the plants in by treading after planting.
Keep them watered in dry spells - a good soaking once a week.

The plants can be susceptible to other brassica problems such as cabbage white caterpillars, flea beetle (if the ground is too dry), club-root, etc.

I've grown Best of All & Marian and they both did fine.

[Cloud]

Trouble is that swede are are a member of the brassica family and suffer all the same problems.

[jlottie]

I thinks that swedes are worth persevering with, my crop is now ready for pulling and apart from a few caterpillars have grown relatively unscathed. There is always next year

[lynda66]

i'm not sure what's going on with mine, my turnips in the next patch were broadcast over the bed and trodden in, i did exactly the same with the swedes, the turnips have been producing decent sized turnips for the last few weeks, but the swedes have no swelling yet at all ...... is this normal for them to take much longer than turnips? the turnips are purple milan, cant remember the swedes

[zazen999]

Yup, they take alot longer than turnips. You could get 2 or 3 crops of turnips in the same time it takes a swede to grow.

You've just got to leave them be. They will thicken up in their own good time.

[Snadger]

....................................The plants can be susceptible to other brassica problems such as cabbage white caterpillars, flea beetle (if the ground is too dry), club-root, etc.

I've grown Best of All & Marian and they both did fine.

Marian is one of the clubroot resistant ones!

[lynda66]

Yup, they take alot longer than turnips. You could get 2 or 3 crops of turnips in the same time it takes a swede to grow.

You've just got to leave them be. They will thicken up in their own good time.

that's ok then i thought i'd done something wrong, will look forward to them swelling then.

[Two_Sheds]

Swedes like 'heavy ground' ie. clay soil

I can't grow swedes to save my life (it's free-draining sandy soil here)