Allotments 4 All

not one decent sized one this year, we grow them in the brassica bed, same conditions as everything else in that bed..do they need anything else apart from bfb, plenty of water and protecting from pigeons and cabbage whites?
thanks in advance for advice  ;D

I always find them the hardest to grow of all the brassicas... perhaps they need more lime?  :-\

right, will try that next year, do they need undug soil like sprouts etc?

That's open to debate too... we dig our brassica beds, as it's heavy clay, so that the roots can get out of the transplant hole easily...  :-\

How were they set away in a tray, cups or directly into the ground. One of the main problems with sweed is damaging the tap root when transplanting and letting them get checked through irregular watering.

I always turn my soil over then rake and make a raised mound about 4" high and plant into this, so far good results

tried direct sowing them this year, got plenty of plants but the root is elongated, the chickens are appreciating the tops  ;D
will try some more lime next year, thanks for the tips  :)

I always grow Marion  (80p for 700 seeds).  I start them all in seed trays then transplant.  All those transplanted have come good though the odd few will take 2 to feed a family.  They always failed when I did direct sowings.  Most are similar or slightly larger than what you would buy in the shops.   I do not treat the ground where swede is to grow with anything.  I just dig it over then pop the plants in.  They always do ok for me and I have never had any problems.  We've been eating them since end of September / early October and have about 30 left in the ground.

Mine have been poor this year, must be a bad year, directly sown.

My   swede  put seed   in  ground   didnt   do any  good  down here  in  medway   kent.
           
                   from   digger46 .

Do Swede get bitter as they get older? my wife says ours are begining to get bitter.

Mine were bitter last year, so I left them in the ground longer and they got a bit better but not great, this years have not grown very big at all, both were sown direct.  :'(      ;D ;D ;D