Hi
Does anyone have nursery bed & sow their brassicas outdoors? I've resowed mine upstairs in the back room after my spindley ones, but germination is a bit erratic. (Still not happy with the compost but other things are doing fine so rationally can't be that!) Hence thinking of starting them in a plot on lottie which I can spare then use it later in the season.
Trouble is I can see myself weeding around them quite a bit, or do you just let them fight it out until big enough, what feed does the soil need to support them when little & do you need to lime at this stage?
Westi
Nursery Bed for Brassicas?
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Westi, i think i'm about one of the last people that seem to do this now. But i only use the nursery bed for the main sowing in April, of the over-wintering brassicas, and maybe for a few late Autumn brassicas.
I don't lime the ground especially for the seed bed, but i do keep it weed free.
Not that i'm very good at growing weeds.
I don't lime the ground especially for the seed bed, but i do keep it weed free.
Not that i'm very good at growing weeds.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
Westi, I grew all my brassicas in a nursery bed for many years but found that, unless the weather was just right at the time of transplanting them, bare-rooted, into their final position (i.e damp and cool), they took some time to establish, even when puddled in. So for the last few years I have sown them in roottrainers in the unheated greenhouse about the end of March and then gradually hardened them off before planting out when about 5 inches tall. The transplanting seems to be much less critical.
When I did use a nursery bed, I certainly limed it the same time as liming the main brassica bed.
When I did use a nursery bed, I certainly limed it the same time as liming the main brassica bed.
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Monika, i do agree with you about the transplanting, so i try and do the transplanting when we are due some showers. I also soak the nursery bed the night before i'm going to transplant, and this alone makes a huge difference to the young plants.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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Motherwoman
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An outdoor seedbed was the way it used to be done and one of the major problems was slugs so make sure you use your prefered method of control and possibly a small net or fleece tunnel over the top as well.
Hi Westi,
When I first started there was only the nursery bed option open to me.
Netting was not around then either and not only slugs were a problem but Pigeons were the worst of my enemies. Slug pellets had yet to come on the market so the nursery was ringed with proper coal soot which slugs do not like and the use of string over the bed did most of the time ward off the Pigeons.
I would suggest that a polythene cloche might suit you down to the ground with the use of some slug pellets.
I do not really know your needs, how many you grow, so am not too sure that my advice is of any use to you however well intended.
JB.
When I first started there was only the nursery bed option open to me.
Netting was not around then either and not only slugs were a problem but Pigeons were the worst of my enemies. Slug pellets had yet to come on the market so the nursery was ringed with proper coal soot which slugs do not like and the use of string over the bed did most of the time ward off the Pigeons.
I would suggest that a polythene cloche might suit you down to the ground with the use of some slug pellets.
I do not really know your needs, how many you grow, so am not too sure that my advice is of any use to you however well intended.
JB.
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PLUMPUDDING
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I've had good results with either method, but find that I sow far more than I need in a nursery bed, so if you just want a few of several different kinds you will probably be better growing them in modules.
Brassicas are reasonably frost hardy and make stronger plants if they are grown slowly in cooler conditions, so if you start them off indoors try and pot them up and get them into a cold frame outside before they get soft and leggy in the warmth of indoors, or sow them in modules in the cold frame. Just be ready to cover the frame with a bit of fleece or sacking on very cold nights until they get established and plant them out in May. (Probably OK earlier further South.)
Brassicas are reasonably frost hardy and make stronger plants if they are grown slowly in cooler conditions, so if you start them off indoors try and pot them up and get them into a cold frame outside before they get soft and leggy in the warmth of indoors, or sow them in modules in the cold frame. Just be ready to cover the frame with a bit of fleece or sacking on very cold nights until they get established and plant them out in May. (Probably OK earlier further South.)