Cabbages

[veggielover]

I'm a tad worried about my cabbages, one lot is greyhound and i can't remember the other lots name.... they look a little leggy to me and are now flopping over the edges of the module trays, i have them in makeshift coldframe hardening off at the mo.

can anyone tell me if this is norm? I've never grown cabbage before!

[teakdesk]

They look fine to me.

When you plant them put the base of the leaves below the surface (ie so that most but not all of the leaf is exposed) and firm the roots really well (use your heel to firm the soil down around the roots - this is known as heeling in).

[veggielover]

seed leaves or 2nd leaves? am i being thick?

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi Veggielover

They are fine, I know this for two reasons:

1)I have grown F1 hybrid Purple Graffiti cauli's under a 200w grow light to make sure they don't go leggy, they look like this.
2)I am now growing a Calbrase, 2 sets of Sprouting Broccoli, two more sets of cauli's and they look like this (Again under a growlight).

Two questions for you:

1)They look about 4-6 weeks old right?

2)I wonder myself if they get so leggy it might be due to heat, how hot was your greenhouse? Mine gets to a max of around 30degrees I bought an extra vent to bring this down I read somewhere it should not go above 25 and if you let it go higher you might get button cauli's for example..

On transplanting them, as teakdesk says plant them down the first set of leaves (seed leaves or what ever) to hide that long stalk underground, really firm them in hard make sure there is no air around the plug you put into the hole, here be dragons if you do (Ie roots do not grow in air), water them well until "puddled" that is when a puddle forms around the top of the plant, you won't drown it.

Also don't be gentle with the roots, give it a good harm firm push, brassicas need a firm base to grow from. Experience has shown us in our first round last year that we did not firm too well down and we had a lot of stalk above ground that blows around in the wind when mature, second set we really planted in deep did a lot better.

HTH

Dave

[veggielover]

They are about 6 weeks old...... the have been grown in a 2 tier placcy growhouse, moved into makeshift coldframe few days ago, been hardening them of for 2 weeks now and overnight for 1 week, gonna plant into ground today.....

[Snadger]

They are about 6 weeks old...... the have been grown in a 2 tier placcy growhouse, moved into makeshift coldframe few days ago, been hardening them of for 2 weeks now and overnight for 1 week, gonna plant into ground today.....

They'll look a bit limp and floppy when you first plant them out but as long as you give them plenty of water they'll pick up pretty quickly!

[teakdesk]

seed leaves or 2nd leaves? am i being thick?

This is a pic of a brussels sprout that I potted on yesterday.

It was in a strip of small 1 inch modules that I sowed from last year's seeds in early February while I was bored one day, left to get scorched in the sun on a windowsill, put on the cloakroom windowsill and forgot, watered occassionally... the root ball is right at the bottom of this pot and the join of the leaves is below the surface.

I have later sown plants that I intend to use as my real cropping brussels and this is just for back-up if the slugs attack but it gives you an idea of how deep to plant.

The main thing is to make sure they do not blow about in the wind.

[gojiberry]

Look to be well ready to be planted out. I tend to try and get stuff out sooner rather than later and mine have been in the lottie for 4/5 weeks now. Have durham early, hispie and april spring as well as summer types which went out 2 weeks ago.

Ian

[veggielover]

I've put some in today..... will see how they do over the next few days then put the rest out