Another brassica failure

[Marb67]

Why oh why oh why does this always happen to all my kale and purple sprouting broccoli ? Sow seedlings in J Innes number one. Seedlings come up healthy. Pot on in J Innes number two with some pearlite mixed in. Keep out of direct sunlight, keep pots moist from underneath and not overwatered and this happens. Leaves go pale, white and drop off while plants shrink in size. I need large kale in my square foot garden beds. Gutted

Why also does this site not set my images the correct way up when i upload them ?

[snakeshack]

I just bung mine in mpc and leave them until planting out and have no probs

[veggiechicken]

How big are they when you pot them up? They need to be strong seedlings to cope with the shock.

[Greenleaves]

I dont pot mine on until i have two true leaves, have you tried sowing in situ Marb?

[Marb67]

Thank you for the suggestions. That may be it veggie chicken, potting them on too soon perhaps. I have pot them on in thise biodegradable pots so they can perhaps go straight in the soil or is it too late now ? I even used that microysal fungus on the roots to give them a good start. Simlar is happening to my planted out spring onions. They seem to be getting smaller, not bigger.

[Greenleaves]

Mycorrhizal fungi doesn't help with brassicas Marb

[Marb67]

Mycorrhizal fungi doesn't help with brassicas Marb

I will bear that in mind in future but to be honest, I had this problem before I used fungi.

[Greenleaves]

My Brassicas are hit and miss, just had to resow mine last weekend as i left the greenhouse door open and the frost took them. I sow very generously and dont pot them on until there are two good true leaves. I then plant them to the depth of the true leaves.

[roitelet]

Good to see you back Marb even though it is with problems.

It's not too late to re sow kale and let it get bigger before potting on. Your compost does look a bit wet but that may be that's the photo.

[veggiechicken]

Don't know if this helps Mark's Veg Plot: Pricking-out Brassicas and Lettuces
I haven't sown any so far this year - I don't have much luck with brassicas either - even when I sowed 140 seeds last year

[Marb67]

Will have a read up thanks. I might re-sow also. The pots are moist in the photo because they have had a watering from underneath. Ifi dont keep moist the soil in the pot shriks and it all dries up v quick.

[Greenleaves]

Trouble with those Marb, i think they actually take the moisture away from ythe roots. If i do use them i stand them in a seed tray filled with compost and then water that.....might be worth a punt?

[Scarlet]

Why also does this site not set my images the correct way up when i upload them

Good to see you back Marb

If you crop your photos slightly before uploading they will upload the correct way up.

[Bigmallly]

You're not on your Jacks when it comes to Brassicas Marb, I have just ripped out all of mine as every single one had bolted.............hey ho, it creates space for something else. Don't let it get you down, these things are sent to try us & try us they certainly do.............

[Snoop Puss]

Trouble with those Marb, i think they actually take the moisture away from ythe roots. If i do use them i stand them in a seed tray filled with compost and then water that.....might be worth a punt?

I've never got on well with that kind of pot. I've moved over to root trainers (not the deep ones though) and they seem to work well.

What I do is sow loads of seeds in each module and then snip off the ones I don't want. I don't bother with pricking out or potting on. Too much effort and too much risk of failure. You get so many seeds in a packet that this doesn't seem too extravagant.