Cauli and cabbage - will they be okay in undug ground?

[shirlthegirl43]

Thread title kinda says it all. I have run out of energy to dig over the last 6-8 foot of garden. I have 2 nice beds which will be roots and peas and I have a bean trench and another raised bed. However, I just can't see me getting the last bit dug - I have seriously overdone it recently and don't want to risk a flare-up of my CFS by tackling something if I don't have to.

The weeds have been cleared off the last bit and I wondered, since brassicas like firm ground, if I could just make holes and plant them in. The ground has grown nothing but nettles and brambles for years and the soil is generally rather lovely loam. There is a bit of burned out waste in layers in the soil.

If it is okay to plant in that way, should I put a sprinkle of chicken poo pellets in the holes when planting?

Cheers folks.

[Finedon.Dandy]

I was about to say Shirl that brassicas like firm ground so I think you may be ok.

[peanut]

I just lifted turf and put my PSB in last year...it thrived! Was planning to do the same for my Cabbage and Romanesco this year. I didn't add anything to the soil.

[rustylady]

Should be OK, just keep it weeded.

[Snadger]

I tried this technique myself last year.......just hoed the weeds off and planted. Sorry to say it wasn't a success! The roots hardly made it out of the original rootball it was so hard.

I think the old adage of firm ground for brassicas means just that, firm ground, not compacted ground!

Ultimately it will all depend on your soil type!

[momol]

Thanks for starting this thread Shirley, I will have to resort with this technique too as we found ourselves new house with big garden (yes, we will be moving soon AGAIN... hectic ,hectic, endlessly hectic). I will surely try it regardless it will fail (got nothing to loose ). Good luck with your!

[shirlthegirl43]

Spam reported folks.

[Mrs Dobby]

Yep, I reported it too STG! Great minds think alike eh?

As to the caulie / cabbage question, sorry, no idea, but if you've no other choice, then go for it! They only have 2 choices afterall!

[Dibblecat]

Hi everyone and Happy Friday to you. My cabbage bed, though dug about 6 weeks ago, is displaying some persistent weed things. Could you wise, wise people tell me if I would be OK to remove the current crop of weeds, lay weed supressing membrane and plant my cabbages through that? Would this also do away with the need for collars? or would cabbages not like this approach?

Thanks in advance.

Dibblecat x

[Winged one]

Dibblecat,
I am definitely NOT a wise, wise person, but will tell you what I am doing anyway. Last year we planted in bare earth and all was well but a certain amount of weeds came through (new plot, not cultivated in a while).

This year, we only got around to clearing he bit at the back where this year's brassicas are going the day before we planted our plugs from home. It had been covered with plastic all winter, but lots of couch grass roots etc that we couldn't clear it all. So while part of it is still bare earth, a lot (including all the space for the brussels sprouts and PSB for the winter, and about half of the summer brocolli and cabbage area) is covered with weed suppressing membrane and the plants planted through that.

I haven't bothered with cabbage collars at all - cos I am a newbie and learning lots as I go along. But so far had last summer's caulis, cabbages and broc with no porblems, as well as the current harvesting of PSB, cabbage and cauli again with no issues. Maybe that's just beginner's luck.

Wings

[Farmer_Gyles]

Hi everyone and Happy Friday to you. My cabbage bed, though dug about 6 weeks ago, is displaying some persistent weed things. Could you wise, wise people tell me if I would be OK to remove the current crop of weeds, lay weed supressing membrane and plant my cabbages through that? Would this also do away with the need for collars? or would cabbages not like this approach?

i'm no expert, but i'd say that was it was dug over recently, it should be fine, so hoe the weeds off, lay the membrane, plant your cabbages through the membrane - that's what i did
i started my brassicas (and everything else) in cells and potted on to 3.5" pots, and planted out when they were getting too big for the pots .....
all looks ok so far ....

and i've got no idea what a collar is ....

[Snadger]

Hi everyone and Happy Friday to you. My cabbage bed, though dug about 6 weeks ago, is displaying some persistent weed things. Could you wise, wise people tell me if I would be OK to remove the current crop of weeds, lay weed supressing membrane and plant my cabbages through that? Would this also do away with the need for collars? or would cabbages not like this approach?

Thanks in advance.

Dibblecat x

Yes and yes!

As long as the membrane was the type that allowed water to percolate through, it should be fine. Easist way I would imagine would be to cut a small cross where each plant was to go, plant the brassica and the membrane should then fit back snugly against the stem making the use of collars not necessary! Let us know how you get on!

[Dibblecat]

Thank you all for your help. Like you Winged One, I'm waging war on a plot that has not been cultivated for a few seasons so any bits I don't have to keep weeding are a bonus! I'm planning to do it over the weekend as long as beer and weather don't get in the way!

[SarzWix]

Shirley, I think it'd be fine to plant your brassicas like that, as long as you loosen some of the surrounding soil a little with a hand-fork before planting - much less tiring than standing digging the whole bed! And if you can mulch the surface (with straw maybe?) in between the plants, so much the better - the worms will do some of the loosening work for you while the plants are growing?

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks Sarz. Haven't gotten round to doing anything with it this week - full of good intentions that came to nowt.