Brassicas planted too close together.

[bario1]

Hi All,


I panic planted a load of brassica seedlings a month ago as i was going on holiday for a couple of weeks - i now realise that they are too close together, they have shot up and are now around 2 feet high, and are already looking a bit crowded. There are PSB, cabbages, cavolo nero, and curly kale.
What i want to know is can i dig them up and plant them a bit further apart at this stage? Will they tolerate being moved now they are established?

Thanks,

Bario.

[JoeDaStudd]

Personally I would just eat the ones you don't want and plant more.
That way you get a nice meal or two now and staggered crops.

[bario1]

I don't have any more seedlings ready to go at the moment, so i want to keep these ones for mature plants that i can 'cut and come again'. Isn't it a bit late to be starting off kale now?

[Guykp57]

I've just sown cauli seeds with carrot seeds and spinach undercover at allotment, hopefully something will take..not sure about Kale though, hopefully somebody more experienced on vine will be able to help. P.s don't forget your winter spuds.

[Yasai]

I'm no expert as this is my first year of gardening but I did the same thing (fretted endlessly about it)and found that the cabbages grew/are growing fine. The PSB, however, didn't like it one bit. Consequently one plant produced lots of florets whilst the other one, which didn't have enough space to spread out, produced only a handful. So, if you leave your PSB as is, you may have the same problem but at 2ft high, I'd think it'd be a bugger to move though. If you regularly harvest your kale being planted close together shouldn't be too much of an issue...which is to say, that it hasn't been for me.

[Two_Sheds]

can i dig them up and plant them a bit further apart at this stage?

If they aren't too mature, it should be fine. Puddle them in well when you transplant them.

[peanut]

I have lifted and replanted fairly established PSB many times with no ill effect, mainly due to them being attacked by Cabbage Root Fly, despite using collars. I lift them carefully, wash the roots off to get rid of the maggots and replant them.
Providing you keep them well watered they should be fine.

[WendyC]

P.s don't forget your winter spuds.

Do you mean the seed potatoes that are advertised for cropping at Christmas? I had assumed this thread was about planting out, outside, in the ground. No potatoes are frost hardy and they would need protection of a greenhouse in time. Not sure of the first frost date for Edinburgh, about 6 weeks from now at a guess?

[Guykp57]

Hi WendyC, I've just put my Xmas spuds into allotment hopefully not a waste of time or money..will probably put down a leaf mulch when weather starts changing. Bought the tubers from Dobies so I'd like to think they know what their doing selling them. Will keep posting pics as time goes by.

[WendyC]

Never grown them myself so I wish you luck. Dobies doesn't mention frosts but another supplier says protect from frost and suggests putting in pots or bags to enable them to be moved into the greenhouse if needed. I'll be interested to see how you get on.

[bario1]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll try moving the psb further apart at the back of the bed, and leave the kale where it is. I'm not bothered about winter spuds, can't see them working this far north, plus I've still got a ton of spuds sitting in the ground that I'm trying to get through!