Why are my red cabbages tall and leggy?

[BertieFox]

This isn't the first time I have grown red cabbages in my polytunnel at this time of year so can't understand what has gone wrong this year.

I bought the plants in our local market back in late February or March and planted them at a good spacing in the polytunnel as usual. But instead of growing into proper 'cabbage' plants and starting to heart, they have grown extremely tall, around 2 feet tall, and leggy. I can't imagine they will form more than a tiny head in consequence.

It looks like it might be a lack of light but it's the same polytunnel as I have used successfully for a number of years, and we have had plenty of bright sunny days earlier in the spring.

I am left wondering if it is a problem with the variety or some kind of physiological problem. The only different thing to normal year is that I heavily mulched the ground with wood chips, but these have not been dug in of course.

Anybody with similar problems? Advice?

[Bigmallly]

Is it possible that they are not Cabbages but maybe PSB or Sprouts...........just guessing really.

[Penellype]

I was thinking the same as BM. The only other thing I can think of is that we have had the sunniest April on record, and maybe they have got too hot in the polytunnel and are bolting.

[Alison]

I was wondering if they were the same variety as you've grown before. I find that by now it's too hot in the tunnel for brassias, I overwinter some in there but they've all been eaten by now and with the hot weather a few weeks ago it could easily have sent them over the edge. Hadn't thought about them being a different brassica though, that could be an option.

[BertieFox]

The variety could be the problem, now you mention it. I always got the plants before from an excellent market trader in veggie plants, but he has retired and these are new people. Looking at the plants, I began to wonder if they were some kind of cross, and that the seed had been collected in poor conditions.

But we DID have extremely hot conditions in late March/early April, so it is also perfectly possible that they are just bolting. I will see what they do and harvest them as flowering shoots if necessary but I will need to replace them very soon now with the toms, aubergines and peppers anyway.

I'll try to post a photo of the red cabbages later. But thanks for all the advice.