has my Savoy Cabbage bolted?

[lozza_9]

Hi All

I think my Savoy Cabbage has bolted. I have taken a photo. Can you let me know if I am right before I dig them up over the weekend.

There seems to be little seeds - are they cabbage seeds or just flower seeds.

Thanks
Lozza

[Protea]

'bolted' and 'gone to flower/seed' mean the same thing, either way eventually a flower spike will form (like in the picture).

Bolted is usually used to describe the crop being useless to harvest as they tend to get thrown on the compost heap before you see the flowers form! However, coriander for instance still 'bolts' but tends to be described as 'gone to flower/seed' as they quickly produce flower heads.

having just read that back I'm not sure if it makes sense but hey ho!

[Snadger]

If I was you I wouldn't save seed from a plant that has bolted prematurely as the seed you get will grow plants that bolt prematurely, probably!
Far better to save seeds from plants that aren't F1's and have performed well during the season and set seed at the correct time!

[Nicos]

Often when the plant has bolted the leaves become bitter. Might be worth checking if they are sweet enough to eat?
Also the seed heads might be OK to cook-after all they are in the same family as broccoli!!?

[Two_Sheds]

Also, don't save seeds from brassicas cos they are notoriously promiscuous and you might get any old weedy thing growing that bears no resemblance to a Savoy!
Compost it, or feed to chooks

[berksmike]

I agree with Nicos... You may still be able to eat your cabbage.. Pak choi, broccoli and cauliflowers are all edible brassica flowers so savoy cabbage may be the same!
You may be ok with saving the seed but cabbage seed doesn't tend to be so pricey so I wouldn't take the risk.

[Alice]

Well and truly bolted Lozza. What a shame.

[rustylady]

It has definitely bolted Lozza. Savoys are meant to produce compact heads of edible leaves. Looks as if yours probably wasn't planted firmly enough (or maybe at the wrong time). The flowers will eventually produce seed, but they won't come true to type, so you may as well buy new certified seed for reliable crops. You could probably eat the immature flower heads (bit like sprouting broccoli) but once they start separating into individual flowers they are pretty useless.

[lozza_9]

Excellent, thanks all.
I think I will give it to the chickens to eat. I did buy them from a garden center ( in plant form) and only bought them to make sure it looked like we was growing something on the allotment as we only had it a few months and did not want to get a warning letter. they did the job.

Thanks once again, you guys are fab.

Lozza