Mini cabbages and cauliflowers

[SaraJH]

Morning all!

Can cabbages and cauliflowers be harvested early for 'mini' veg (I love the mini Savoy cabbage you can get from the supermarket) or do you need varieties that specifically state that they are small?

I'm trying to maximise yield from my SFG beds and am hoping that around the 1 per square cabbages/ caulis I can plant four more plants and harvest early, when small, and then leave the centre plant with enough space to grow on?

Thanks

[Alison]

Not so easy with caulis but if you want small cabbages you can just plant most varieties closer together

[SaraJH]

Thanks Alison, I shall give it a go with the cabbages and see how I get on!

[Lumpy]

Like Alison said cauli's might not be worth it as although there are varieities (Snowball - I am probably wrong) I ended up with a huge amount of leaves and heads the size of large marbles. Even the so called mini's take up alot of space.

If you want a smaller Savoy I would recommend Samantha as they are tiny compared to the normal Savoys and it tastes good.

[pepper1000]

I grow greyhound and caserta f1 which is a mini savoy. I grow them in raised beds and you can space the greyhound 30 cms apart

[WendyC]

For cabbage try Minicole and cauliflower Igloo.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Igloo is a nice small cauli, I can get away with one per flower bucket, have to keep a sharp eye on the watering though

[Jungle Jane]

I don't know if the middle plant would have enough space for 5 plants in one foot of space,I would rather try 4 plants 6 inches apart?

[SaraJH]

Thanks everyone, I will look into all your suggestions and I will have to reset my expectations regarding space

[Penellype]

There is a cabbage called Pixie which has small pointed heads.

[arch01]

Another vote for greyhound. I rather like them as they only stand about 25-30 cm tall and can be spaced at 30 cm so they fit under the net tunnel very well and are space efficient too. Made the mistake of planting red drumhead last year not knowing how tall they grew. Much too tall for my tunnels!

[Snoop Puss]

Candid Charm apparently produces small caulis. I'm trying them for the first time this year. According to the instructions (Fothergills), you plant them out 20 cm apart each way and they grow to tennis-ball sized heads. Other suppliers claim they make large heads, mind.