Topic: Planting out and thinning

[queenbee]

Why oh why do my brasicas look so sad when I plant them out, they seem to wilt before my eyes. Also I have just thinned out my root crops and they too look very dejected. I have done this for 25 years and I still anticipate the loss of the whole crop which never happens, They usually perk up after a few days but I still after all these years feel this year is a failure, I look for trouble, blight, carrot root fly, cabbage white, Club root and white fly. Veg growing should be a pleasure and yes it is, I bet there are many of us who feel the same at this time of year. Come late July and August  when we harvest it is a different story. Long live growing vegtables.

[saddad]

 :-X

[gwynnethmary]

 Come late July and August  when we harvest it is a different story.

I'm going to be in Sweden for almost 5 weeks in July  and August.  We have some very nice looking tomatoes in the greenhouse for someone else to water and eat, as well as all of the lottie veg.  I'll need to plan better next year!

[1066]

When you plant them out they look like they are way too big for the seed tray but when you get them in the ground they look positively tiny!

[Digeroo]

I water my brassicas very well first. Having dug them up very carefully  I then puddle them in ie fill the planting hole with water and drop them in and pile the soil into the water.    Then they get the soil well compacted round them and mulched up.   Then I water them again, and cover with black fleece o keep them cool.  Actually I think  it is best to plant out brassicas in the rain.  But I am becoming a wuss and declined to do it this morning in the drizzle.   

Having done this in the evening or dull day they are normally fine in the morning but get another water just in case.

My big problem is I always plant them out far too close.   I have bought a trowel with a long handle which is actually good at measuring more suitable distances. 

I sow mine singly in the seed trays and after a few days add some more seeds to modules that are empty.  If they are separate pots, I simply sort them out and sow something different in the empty ones.  But most are in nursey bed they are a good size when they get moved.  Four leaves for me.