Topic: Swede

[BarriedaleNick]

My swedes have been rubbish for years but I blame my soil - solid clay. 
However OH is on a new plot this year with lighter sandy soil so I am keen to give them another go.
However on my packet of Virtue Swede it says "Do not Transplant" - Well this is maybe where I have been going (growing) wrong all these years as I do everything bar a few veg in modules and transplant.
So is this no transplanting a thing for all swede or perhaps this variety is particular?

[Beersmith]

I will read the responses with great interest, because when it comes to growing Swede I'm rubbish.

Sown direct they always seem to get badly hit by flea beetle.  Left uncovered butterflies and pigeons attack. Under fleece or net they seem prone to grey and woolly aphid. They can also suffer from all the other brassica problems.  If the slugs don't get them the white fly probably will. To  me they always seem to grow slowly. After several seasons of more or less total failure I no longer try.

Like Nick I'm keen to try again and do better!

[johhnyco15]

i always transplant swede the two varieties i can grow here on the sunshine coast are tweed and ruby all the rest just dont seem to grow  maybe give them a try  oh and i dont set seed untill the 1st of june

[BarriedaleNick]

I meant to add that on our first visit to OHs plot we saw some swedes as big as my head (which is quite large!) - grown by a lady with no experience!
I am hoping it is the soil that causes me to be rubbish and OH's plot will be miraculously grow amazing swedes but I suspect it may be shoddy technique..

Cheers Johhnyco15 - I have some ruby just sown so I may be a bit premature but I have an old packet of tweed in the box so I'll leave them there for a few weeks..

[mrrigsby]

I have Tweed swede seed from Marshalls this year and included in the instructions on packet is sow indoors in modules from April to June. We shall see.

[Tee Gee]

My opinion on the direct sow as against transplanting  is.....it depends upon how long they are in the container.

Like most ROOT vegetables they do not take too kindly to transplanting if the root system has started to coil around the base of the container.

The best time to transplant is just before this stage so that the tap root can progress unhindered.

Perhaps root trainers are a better option than modules which are usually quite small at least it gives them a bit more time to grow if the season is running late like this season is.

With Swedes I treat them as a winter veg as a rule,( Turnips are a different thing) so I usually don't sow till late June at the earliest,when I sow directly into the soil, however I till don't have the answer to Flesbeetle!

As I said this is only an opinion!

[Plot 18]

I sow mine (Tweed) at the end of May in paper pots, then plant out pot and all when they have 2 or 3 leaves. I plant them with a small handful of chicken pellets at the bottom of the planting hole - works for me ;)
IMO they like to grow in moist soil and don't take kindly to drying out, so on my clay, I grow them alongside celeriac so both can be kept well watered.

[Deb P]

I did mine into large modules mid may, into individual pots, water well with liquid seaweed and plant out under fine netting late june/early July. I'm on heavy clay, but it's improved over the last twelve years with a lot of manure, mushroom compost and calcified seaweed added every year.

[BarriedaleNick]

Ok - thanks everyone. 
So I think
1 - delay sowing
2 - use root trainers when potting on or use a large pot.  I have biodegradable pots OH bought me that might do for this.
3 - Water and feed well

Simples - here's to swede as big as my head!

[brownthumb2]

 I read this thread with great interest I never knew swede could be transplanted   I might try this year as of yet I haven't any sown  and find with my knees very hard at thinning out   direct sown stuff

[Beersmith]

As always an excellent selection of informative comments.

I particularly noted how late many growers sow or plant. Previously I had been sowing Swede at about the same time as my beetroot, usually late April or early May. Too soon it seems!!

Borrowing a few of the other hints, I am galvanized to try again!!

[Vinlander]

Feeding well is important - the packet might make you think you can use them like cabbages and produce medium crops on non-mollycoddled soil - but not with swedes - to do well as #2 on a rotation it has to be a rich rotation (mine is optimised to avoid 'soft' plants that can't cope with pests, drought and frosts - oh, and harder work that only yields more boom and bust - smaller numbers of huge plants all ripening together).

Cheers.

[BarriedaleNick]

Just wanted to come back to this after getting some really good swede this year.
Not quite as big as my head but big enough and they are firm and tasty.
So thanks for all the advice - as always it is excellent.

[Plot22]

I have never had much success with swedes in that they have been too small or hit with Club Root or slugs. However this year has been my best ever year because I delayed planting ( direct into the bed ) until late May and used a Club Root resistant variety. I also read that they like to be singled early in their growth rather than let them mature and disturb the their root system.

[johhnyco15]

Just wanted to come back to this after getting some really good swede this year.
Not quite as big as my head but big enough and they are firm and tasty.
So thanks for all the advice - as always it is excellent.

thanks for letting us know how you got on glad you have got a good crop nick. fantastic!