Cabbage Query

[Samuel1988]

Evening all,

The cabbages I planted around 2-3 months back seem to be having a spot of bother.

The stems are 'bent' that is they are not vertical and are laying on the ground and a few have had a passing slug munch the stem.

I was talking to a fellow person on my allotment and she said something around the lines of it could be that I have not planted them deep enough/firmed them in enough.

Can any one confirm this could be the cause?

Now I do recall not firming them up a bit...

Can I still get a crop from them/can I harvest them before they produce the cabbage head?

I guess we learn more from our mistakes!

P.s some have yellow leaves at the bottom - is this a sign of potential nutrient deficiency or could it simply be a dead leaf?

Many thanks,

Samuel

[Kleftiwallah]

Cabbage seedlings cannot be firmed enough! A good heel round the plant should do the trick. Plant so firmly that a tug of a leaf breaks the leaf rather than unrooting the cabbage.

Cheers, Tony.

[rustylady]

Cabbages do need to be really firm as Kleftiwallah said. You can still use the cabbage leaves to eat, and the yellow leaves at the bottom are just what cabbages do.

[binley100]

Remove and compost the yellow leaves to stop any disease from taking hold on them ...

[Two_Sheds]

The cabbages I planted around 2-3 months back ...

September is really late to be planting them, so they aren't going to be very big.

It's usual to sow them in April/May, then plant them out as seedlings in July (ish)

[rustylady]

September is really late to be planting them, so they aren't going to be very big.

It's usual to sow them in April/May, then plant them out as seedlings in July (ish)

Spring cabbages maybe?

[Thelma Sanders]

Spring cabbages maybe?

That's what I was wondering.........
some of mine are bendy because it was very windy just after I planted them - I'm still expecting to eat them, as long as the slugs don't eat too much of them