few questions regarding my allottment - NEWBIE

[jenkers]

Hi all , I wonder if someone can give me some advice on a few things , I have had an allotment for a year and have planted a lot of stuff but theres a few tings I am unsure of , any help would be very very much appreciated

how often should I water , sprouts/cabbages/broccoli/cauliflowers

I have quite a lot of beetroot planted and there is a lot of leaves , do I need to thin out the leaves or or are they quite happy not getting much light

same applies to my sprouts , they are not getting much light due to the amount of leaves , can I remove the leaves or are they happy as they are

[Chestnut]

Hi Jenkers, and welcome to the vine.
This is also my first year with my own plot, so I'm still learning too ;-)
Thankfully the more experienced growers at our allotments are always happy to offer advice, so we have learned a lot from them.

I think the answer to your question on watering will depend on quite a few things, like what sort of soil, whereabouts you are in the country etc

We are on clay, so it holds water quite well. I tend to water seedlings every couple of days in the current warm weather. The stuff that's already in the ground gets a good soaking once a week if we don't have any rain (newly planted stuff got 2 soakings this week due to exceptional weather - established stuff has deeper roots, so should be fine)

For cauli, cabbage, broccoli the plants need a surprising amount of space, because they will eventually grow to about 2 feet in diameter. I haven't grown any sprouts, and beetroot has only just gone in, so you will have to wait until someone more knowledgeable comes along :-)

[Jungle Jane]

I wouldn't remove any leaves,don't know about beetroot but I think they're all quite happy with shade from the leaves. The top few inches of soil is drying here so quickly at the moment with the heat we're having this year only,I'm watering every other day or every third day for plants in the ground.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Jenkers!

First n foremost! Welcome to the vine!

Beets are always top heavy and grow half out of the ground anyway, so no, just take off dying leaves and they'll be more than happy!

Sprouts! My fave crop! You either loathe or love, But very long season growing, bang em in and firm heavily, remove yellowing leaves, stake towards autumn to avoid "Windrock" to the roots which makes the sprouts blow, remove all leaves as winter sets in, and harvest from the bottom upwards!

All the very best with it all Buddy!

[nickdub]

Sounds like you are doing well with your growing of veg as healthy leaves are a good early sign. Probably best to pull up a few plants whole, if you want to thin them a bit - the smaller beets are very often the tastiest, as they aren't stringy - you can chop up the leaves too, and use them in a stir fry or similar - failing that rabbits like them :-). Lots of people eat sprout tops too - bit like a mini-cabbage.

[Cadalot]

The Egyptians grew beetroots for the leafs not the roots in the beginning, until they found they tasted OK and didn't kill them