Once again - wilting Brassica seedlings!

[JimmerG]

AArrrghhhh!

This has happened 3 years in a row now.... EVERY other seedling I've ever planted, tomatoes, aliums, beans, curcurbits etc etc all do fine once I stick them outside in my poly growhouse. Its always brassicas that I struggle with. Last year it was PSB, this year its savoy cabbages! The seedlings are about and inch and a half tall - just about to throw out their second set of leaves - then they wilt and half of them die - half struggle back to life.

Has anyone else found this? Did they get too hot in the sun, too cold at night, or are they not good at temperature changes. Are they known for being a little delicate?

Its driving me up the wall!!

J

[zazen999]

Too warm....sorry.

Try sowing outdoors.

[FionaH]

Right off to take cabbage seedlings out of greenhouse

[JimmerG]

Oh well - at least I have a definitive answer.... thanks

and maybe FionaH's seedings have been saved through my own losses!

[Two_Sheds]

Just my two-pennorth ... they're too warm.

Sow them outside.

[Pickle]

My brassicas are in an unheated greenhouse. The caulis and the cabbages are doing OK but my Brussels have started to wilt. They are about 2 inches tall. Could my unheated greenhouse be too warm too? As they've been in a greenhouse do I need to harden them off or should I just put the tray outside and hope for the best? This growing veg malarky isn't as easy as I thought it would be

[womble]

Yes, my unheated greenhouse got too warm last week and burnt my sprout seedlings, they are now outside on the path.

I stuck them straight out, as they had been through loads of cold nights anyway in the greenhouse.

Yes veg growing isn't as easy as some of the books would lead us to believe

[Pickle]

Thanks Womble.
I've just been to have another look at them and now I'm wondering if I should be potting them on. They're more like 3 inches not 2 inches and starting to get their first proper leaves and I was wondering whether they just don't have enough support around their stems. They actually look quite healthy not wilting like I thought but are flopped over. What do you think?

[womble]

My cabbages grown by my friend emilymup are, or were the same. She grew them in a coldframe, which was great but the stems don't get hard because it's a controlled enviroment with no wind. Whenever I have grown brassica seedlings outside in a seedbed this has never happened.
I stuck them outside and the weak stems are starting to harden off.

You have to understand I'm not saying that they were grown in the wrong way, she got them in nice and early, earlier than would have been possible in a seed bed outside, but in doing so made them a little overprotected.

If I was you, I would either pot them on and put them as low as you can, or stick them out. Put them in a sheltered but a place that lets them get some wind to toughen them up.

I did ask on here about cutting the seed leaves off brassica seedlings before planting them up to the first true leaves, as I'm sure I have done that before to give extra support, but no one answered, anyway yours haven't get enough leaves on them yet to do that.

[Pickle]

Thanks womble. Will get them out a bit later and try and pot them on too. Really looking forward to homegrown Brussels so want to give them a good start. I love potting on so will have fun doing that later

[coreopsis]

I sowed some brussels and cabbage inside and outside.The ones outside are fine although the germination rate is very poor-I have just a few plants per tray.The ones inside are sprouting like mad and once they are a bit bigger I'm going to put them outside.Hope it won't give them a "thermal shock"

[Two_Sheds]

Guys - you need to Harden Off any plants that have been grown under cover, before you plant them outside.

I sowed some brussels and cabbage inside and outside.The ones outside are fine although the germination rate is very poor-

Germinate inside, then put out when they pop through the soil.

I haven't sown my winter veg yet - they get sown in late April/May: outside, no protection.

[SarzWix]

Germinate inside, then put out when they pop through the soil.

I haven't sown my winter veg yet - they get sown in late April/May: outside, no protection.

That's what I do with mine, although rather than inside, I put them in the cold frame to germinate in modules, then put them on some old wire shelving in the shade til I'm ready to plant them out.

It can get 'Scorchio' in an unheated greenhouse during the day, and brassicas really don't like it, whereas they can cope with a touch of frost, so best off outside.

[Demeter]

Thanks Womble.
I've just been to have another look at them and now I'm wondering if I should be potting them on. They're more like 3 inches not 2 inches and starting to get their first proper leaves and I was wondering whether they just don't have enough support around their stems. They actually look quite healthy not wilting like I thought but are flopped over. What do you think?

If they are 3" tall and do not yet have true leaves they sound as though they may be getting quite leggy - no wonder they are falling over?! I find in my unheated (placcy) greenhouse the seedlings on lower shelves can get a bit leggy / bend towards the light as it is not really bright enough for them. Perhaps that isn't helping, but putting them outside would solve any light problems as well! I would just be worried about whether weak leggy stems will cope well with much of a breeze?