what is it with brassicas

[sarah]

my brassicas are doing my head in ,they are behaving like teenagers, they wilt if i dont water them, they mope if i do water them, the first sowing gave up the ghost and croaked (apart from the trusty psb) and the second lot just cant be fagged to do much other than grow all leggy and then get all uppity when i make them a nice new bed. I tell you i have had it with brassicas.  How do they ever survive in the real world?

seriously though, i am stuck with what i am doing wrong, i have never had a problem before. Is it just a bad year? is it just me? bad seeds?  I am trying to raise red cabbage, calabrese and savoy. o and psb, which is fine.  ???

[sarah]

[Tee Gee]

Just a passing thought;

What sort of compost are you using, I have been using a batch of multi purpose and I have found it is difficult to keep wet, I guess there is no 'wetting agent' in it, plus it shrinks.

Since changing the compost I am getting better results.

[tim]

Where are they?

Are they newly potted on or planted out?

What size & how many true leaves?

[sarah]

ok well, the compost is bog standard quite cheap stuff from inexcess, its a bit fibruos and light, i mix a bit of vermiculite in with it.  its not great but everything else seems ok with it.  The few survivors of the first sowing were potted on about two weeks ago and have about three true leaves and are about three inches tall, they may be ok just rather moody. they are in the mini greenhouse sulking. The second sowing are barely showing thier first true leaves but i had to pot them up today because they were about three inches tall and falling all over the place, they have been indoors on a sunny windowsill, plenty of light, plenty warm.  Youre going to tell me they should have more true leaves arnt you Tim and they have been too warm? ???

[Svea]

if tim wont, i will ;)

brassicas are pretty hardy animals, if you ask me. so after mine had germinated, i put them on a cold window sill, and they have been out on the balcony now for the last two weeks. they havent grown much but become bulkier.

i remember last year they were quite leggy - topping up a bit with compost helped no end. also i think as soon as i planted them into the soil they raced away - maybe they didnt have enough nutrients/space in the pots, who will ever know.

[tim]

So, Sarah - you sowed them indoors. Leggy? = insufficient light and/or too warm.

Sulking? Depending upon the transfer - ie with how much soil on roots etc - they can take quite a while to settle down & restart growing. Too hot (sun) after potting up, too wet. & they will sulk. A just moist compost , in some shade, should stay moist for a week.

These (Calabrese) were potted up a week ago because I had sown them too shallow & too close.

And how they were - a disgrace!!

[sarah]

Thanks Tim,and Svea, I feel a bit more reassured now, I think they have been too warm,  I will put them out intothe mini green house and see how they go.

[RSJK]

Altough I start some cabbage of in my greenhouse for early production, most of the seed is sowed in rows in the open and then transplanted into position when large enough to handle, you get a much stronger plant by sowing directly into the soil.

[Mrs Ava]

My savoys have been badly behaved like that this year, everything else has been fine and dandy!  If this lot don't pull their socks up, there will be no savoys for this family come autumn!

[Tee Gee]

This is the stage I prick them out at;

[tim]

Snap?

[kitty]

they will do if you handle them roughly tim..more care! ;) ;) ;)

on a more serious note-whats the spacing you use for calabrese please?
kitty

[telboy]

3' each way?

[Tee Gee]

I grow mine in beds that are not walked on so I plant them closer.

4 plants to a bed 5ft-6ft wide and about 18" between rows and I am very happy with what I get.

[tim]

Depends a lot on what variety & whether you want meal sized or full sized heads.

18"-24" would be my norm. The sprouting types need a bit more, I think.