Topic: Broccoli Early Purple Sprouting help please

[MrsKP]

I've sown some trial seeds (everything i have sown I call trial and that way if it all goes bandy I won't feel so bad) in a very small seed tray indoors (not per packet instruction).  The seedings are now about 2" high and all have at least one true leaf.

Do I leave them where they are until July (per packet instructions) or do i put them in their own little pot and put them in the soon to be completed g/h.  And if i'm potting them, do i plant up to the first leaves ?

Sorry if this has been covered before, I have searched ... honest ... but am still confused!

 :-*

[tim]

If they all have 2" spacing & a deep tray, I would leave them till they are stiff 5-6"  seedlings.
If not, then I would pot them up into 2 or 3" pots - deep!

Or, if you're thinning them out, you could risk a few in a seed bed (covered against attack!) - for later moving to final positions?

[MrsKP]

erm .......they have no spacing and a not very deep tray  ::) so I'll be potting them up to their wee necks .   :P

I was going to sow some more direct once the threat of frost is past but I was impatient and threw a few in just to see what happened.  A couple have started wobbling over a bit so i guessed it was time to do something with the little darlings.

I really don't have the room for planting somewhere until their final positions, it's either indoors, g/h or the final position itself.  So pots it is until the weather warms up.

Thanks so much Tim.

[tim]

You need succession, anyway - I would delay your next sowing for at least a couple of weeks.

[MrsKP]

i now have a unheated bedroom full of babies up to their necks.  lord knows what i'm going to do when everything else needs the same treatment  :o

i have now run out of pots too and have resorted to loo rolls and milk bottles.

i need an allotment  :P

[tim]

Have you nowhere outside to park them?? Once accustomed, they'd be fine.

[SMP1704]

Mrs KP

I know that you are a bit further north that me, but could you not pop them out on the patio during the day?  or putting them in that mini greenhouse I spied in your shed piccie? and leave the door rolled up, unless there is a frost.

They are quite tough really, after all they will have to spend winter outdoors.

[MrsKP]

running out of room there too SMP, but I will have a shuggle.  Just recently it's been a bit hit and miss with what the weather is like when i leave for work in the morning and how it ends up later in the day.  I could go to work with the sun out, door up, only to find that a gale has taken the kite halfway down the street, babies and all.  Alternatively, leave the door shut cos it's pishing down, to come back and find the g/h temp has soared to 80+ degrees.

it's a bother  ;D, but something will have to give way soon.   ;D

[amanda21]

I have just sown a row of early PSB on the plot.  Is it necessary to move them on elsewhere once they are bigger or can they just continue to grow where I sowed them - after thinning out of course?  I keep reading about seed beds!

If they do indeed need to go elsewhere - is it appropriate in the crop rotation plan that they go in where I hopefully will have dug up my first early potatoes?

Sorry - another question - how many plants should I be aiming for - there are only two of us that eat it in the family but I am assuming it freezes ok?

Cheers

[supersprout]

Hey amanda,

Yes, it's usual to grow PSB in a seed bed, then transplant at wider spacing, into richer soil, and with slightly deeper holes to support the stem. This also saves space (imagine thinning to 1.5-2 ft between the plants) If it suits you to leave them where they are, that should be OK - after all, that's how they would grow in the wild. But you might pay attention to mulching them a few times during the year, to feed and support them.

If you're lucky you'll get early PSB from late Feb to early April, several feeds off each plant. I grew 28 plants for the two of us - WAY too many - but am having no trouble giving away the surplus ;). Depends how many you eat, and how often! Although you can freeze PSB successfully, we don't - by the time of the last sprout, asparagus and other fresh greens should be available to take over.

They can go in after the spuds come out, though it might be worth checking the ph of your soil before planting - traditionally lime would be added to the soil, but my PSB have been very tolerant of mildly acid soil.

[MrsKP]

roflmao, i've just counted my "trials" and have got 27 !!!!!!  if they all survive my transplanting of today, i'll not bother sowing any more as i have no idea where i'm going to plant them all out to. lol, oh i'm chuckling now, if i have any measure of success this year, i'll definitely have to look at a proper lottie for next year.  my ideas are much bigger than my current space.  the flower bed is looking under threat just now  ;D

[kitty]

if you read  my psb post you'll realise its absolutely NO use asking ME about it!....
i'm learning...i'm learning......