If at first you don't succeed

[zazen999]

Then keep at it! It doesn't mean you can't do it....

I started growing these 3 years ago and only now have I got one that is worth harvesting.....

They are the lovely pointy cabbages that I've always dreamed of.

Will be used in tonight's dinner, plus a home made coleslaw.


p.s....the secret to cabbages to get them to heart up - solid soil - this bed had been undug and the cabbage seedlings grown in modules, and using a bulb planter I took out a plug of soil, popped the root ball in and firmed it in as hard as I could. I've done nothing to these apart from take the netting off when they got too big for it.


Yum.

Any old timers got any 'at first you don't succeed' stories for the new shoots amongst us?

[binley100]

They look good. what type are they ?

[zazen999]

Filderkraut

Nice aren't they!

Cabbage Filderkraut Seeds | Johnsons Worlds Kitchen Vegetable Seeds | PlantMeNow.co.uk

[binley100]

Talking cabbages, how do you get them to flower so you can save seed?

[zazen999]

Just leave them be and they will flower if you don't harvest them....you get a flower spike up the middle.

[Alison]

Looking good

I have no problems with getting them to heart up but I do wish they'd grow to a more respectable size!

Re seeds, they'll bolt if you leave them long enough and produce a flower stem although some of the ball types do benefit from being cut across the top to let the flower grow unheeded.

[Snadger]

They grow like weeds on my plot! Don't remember planting them anyway!

[missalaska]

They look similar to the Cape Spitz / Sugarloaf which we get here - mine bolted and I've currently got a gecko living in one that has exposed flowers.

I'm going to sow some again this weekend. Thanks for the tip about solid soil - it has given me an idea as to where I can plant them out.

[Bigmallly]

Nice looking cabbages Zaz, well worth the wait. Can I grow carrots?.........can I heck but I'll try again next year, think I'll try sand & tubes next year.

[taff]

Haven't got an if at first story, but I have got an if you're patient story.

SOmeone gave me the rootball of a white jasmine plant, no shoots, just the roots, so I put it in an old trough, and left it. Nothing happened the first year at all, so I thought it was dead. I left it anyway and this year it has sent out numerous shoots and is now sitting happily in the ground by a fence.
I also sowed artichoke seeds, they sprouted, and did nothing after that, I planted them out more just to see what would happen and nothing did, they got eaten by slugs.
I pulled out 3 of them to make room for something else and because I thought they were dead, didn't notice the tiny one left at the side, which now, 8 months later is a strapping example.
Patience.....

[Two_Sheds]

My if-at-first story must be carrots. Although my soil is perfect for them (sandy, loose) we are also plagued with root flies.

This year was my biggest crop ever: I think the constant rain drowned all the maggots

[Croila]

My "if at first" is pointed cabbages! I tried growing some this year but the dreaded cabbage root fly maggots got them. I've now got eight in pots out in the back garden which looked like they were just starting to heart up nicely, but they're now under a foot and a half of snow. So I guess I should really go out there and try and liberate them ... But it's SO COLD!