Bendy brassicas - can they be salvaged?

[janeyo]

Hi I planted my brassicas out about a week or so ago and covered them with cut off bottles due to naughty pigeons about.

I have been checking them every day but when I checked them this evening they have gone mad today and started to come out the tops! When I took the bottles off some of them collapsed.

Are they gonners? Or will they bounce back? Can I stake them maybe? Not sure if they are now ruined.



Thanks, janeyo

[allotmentlady]

they dont look to clever do they??? Hmmm I would stake them up, mound up soil at the base and fingers crossed.

[janeyo]

I will do so first thing, thanks. I have netted the bed so the pigeons can't get at them too. maybe I should have done that instead of the bottles but wasn't sure about the frosts either.

How long before they might perk up? So I know how long to give them before giving the chooks a feast, lol.

janeyo

[JO,JO]

i have had cabbages in and when i first planted them i thought they had deid but a week later there was progress,me thinks caulis and cabbages are fickle things lol

[Snadger]

You could ridge them up like potatoes and they will root into the ridge soil. What brassicas are they?

[janeyo]

Some are caulis and most are brocolli (not sprouting)

janeyo

[Alice]

They don't look like gonners to me JaneYo. Give them a few days and see what happens. If they're still flopping about, dig them out and replant - as deep as you can put them and knuckle them in firm. Give them a week from there and see how they are. Good luck.

[Flummery]

I prefer netting to keep the pigeons off. Problem with pop bottles is that things can get damp inside and start to rot a bit. The top ones in the pic look a bit shiny and uncomfy. However, as the others have said, it's not terminal. Still need to protect from pigeons though!