Brassica Question

[hamamelis]

I've got a lot of little brassica seedlings of various kinds, and am trying to work out what's the best thing to do for growing them: the bed they're going in has, frankly, rubbish soil, and I'm a bit new to doing soil prep.

I have chicken manure pellets or I can get some rotted very strawy manure- my homemade compost isn't ready yet. Which is best to use? I've got an old gardening book which insists you shouldn't manure shortly before planting with brassicas- but I wasn't able to do any digging this winter, will it be OK to dig it in now, or should I use chicken pellets?

I know manure tends to be acid, and brassicas like alkaline; I do have some garden lime- should I stick some of that on after manuring? Does it need a wait before it's ok to plant?

Any advice appreciated

[Newton]

You can grow them on in pots and plant when bigger........hey will have a better root system then too! So you can prepare the soil in the meantime.........soil is everything so worth e effort.......

[Farmer_Gyles]

brassica beds should have been limed back in the autumn .... although it's not compulsory to lime the brassica beds!

personally i don't bother doing much (or anything) in the way of soil preparation ... i just dig and plant .... other people will insist on very precise soil preparation .... if you can grow weeds there, you can grow veggies .... if i had a bed with really poor soil, i think the most i'd do is dig in a bit of multi purpose compost .... nothing major .... brassica seedlings grow just fine in it ....

maybe someone else can give different advice ....?

my motto .... if in doubt, do nowt!

[Llamas]

Ditto on digging in multipurpose compost. You can feed a bit later but don't go wild like I did once with too-fresh manure. Burnnnn baby burn! All my stems got rotted and what did survive was pretty pathetic and floppy. Next year, you'll have the brassica-worthy soil of your dreams, this year you're likely to at least get some crop and you'll get to enjoy seeing the big difference.

[hamamelis]

Thanks.

I'm afraid I can't really afford to buy in compost at the moment- I've been laid up with back problems pretty much since August, and only just able to dig again, so getting stuff ready over winter just wasn't an option this year.

I am growing them in pots at the moment- I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do in the time I've got before they get big enough to plant- I'd guess I have around a month.

I did try in a different bed with similar soil last year, and they just sat there- they barely grew at all, and the slugs just gradually ate them away, so I know I need to try *something* different.

[Bigmallly]

Not sure if this helps but these were planted into well rotted manure last Oct with a scattering of lime round each plant. Now ready for pulling.

[veggiechicken]

Not sure if this helps but these were planted into well rotted manure last Oct with a scattering of lime round each plant. Now ready for pulling.

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If I have to look at your brassicas again...... !

[Bigmallly]

If I have to look at your brassicas again...... !

Yeh but...Yeh but....Yeh but..............that was a different thread about cages......

[Farmer_Gyles]

I did try in a different bed with similar soil last year, and they just sat there- they barely grew at all, and the slugs just gradually ate them away, so I know I need to try *something* different.

brassicas can be slow .... especially if you're planting things like spring cabbage / PSB etc .... it will depend on the varieties ....
what did you plant out last year? (veggie and variety)
when did you plant it?
and how long was it in the ground for?

slugs never eat my brassicas .... it's the caterpillars that get at mine ....
you can always chuck some slug pellets around (all around the area, not just where you plant the veggies) ....

[veggiechicken]

Yeh but...Yeh but....Yeh but..............that was a different thread about cages......

I still feel the same way about them......