Topic: Covering brassica's with fleece??

[veggie lover]

Is it advisable to cover my cabbage seedlings/ sprouts etc with fleece! the ones i  have currently planted are covered in aphids and been eaten by flee beetles!... not having much luck ???
I have plenty of fleece but will they cook underneath with the high temperatures or cause any other problems?

Any other advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[cleo]

I`m a fan of fleece-especially to avoid those cabbage whites. I would suggest you try to avoid direct contact between the fleece and the plants though. I use the well known alkalthene water pipe hoops but last year let the plants grow too large and had some rotting where the plant was in contact with damp fleece.

And no-they will not cook

[veggie lover]

Thankyou  for your advice cleo! i'll give it a go  ;)!

Anyone else cover their brassicas and if so what with?

[Tee Gee]

As you may have seen from the slide show I placed in the forum I only use nets and that is only to keep Birds & cats off basically.

I think fleece might create problems rather than prevent them i.e. you are creating an atmosphere more conducive to attracting insect life rather than preventing it, then there might be fungicidal problems as you create a more humid atmosphere.

Keeping plants at recommended spacings and weeds at bay are probably a better option!

[tim]

Each to their own!

TG's point about fungus is borne out by the mesh maker's advice not to keep it on beyond x weeks.

[veggie lover]

How long do you keep your fleece on Tim?