Cabbage heart

[Myrkk]

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on why my red cabbage dont seem to be hearting. They’ve grown well and are a little taller than I’d like but seem all leaf and no heart. I tried putting a feed on them and they are firmed in. Could it be the unseasonably hot spell we had in Scotland in late April early May?

[Westi]

Hi Myrkk! I'm blaming the heat for my cauliflower fails. They just started to heart as tiny little guys which I've not experienced before & my neighbour showed me his & they are the same. The other brassica's are doing fine. I made the mistake of giving mine a chance but they failed. Neighbour took his as just him & enjoyed his cauliflower cheese. My red cabbages were no shows, but this is strictly a problem of mine neighbours are fine.

Mine are all club root resistant varieties & someone else told me club root seeds life is not as long but never had a problem before & been growing them for ages in both hot & milder spells. Fresh seeds bought just in case though! Will be interesting to see if others from your area have had any problems though!

[Geoff]

Timing seems a little strange. I grow red cabbage for Autumn /early Winter and wouldn't expect any sign of a heart yet. I grow Lodero, what are yours?

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[Myrkk]

No idea Geoff. I didn’t have time to grow from seed this year so just bought from a local garden centre and label just said red cabbage.
From your pic though mine are much bigger hence I’m a little surprised there are no hearts starting.

[Westi]

Since my last input I have weeded all my Brassica's & cut back the excess grape vines I can see that I do have club root resistant Red Lodero growing & they are the same as yours. I am not worried about this, they look like this every year & seem to take ages to heart, literally months so not ready until toward the end of the year. Maybe what you bought are club root resistant varieties like Geoff & mine? I can say they are quite tough guys as stood up to the neglect & masses of huge weeds as they were the last bed weeded; didn't get much water either as couldn't see where they or other brassica's were even in there.

All the cauli's gave up completely & cabbages seem behind but I had to focus on the other side for ages to improve the soil as the floods dried out & the soil was compacted really deep so took ages.

[Myrkk]

I think mine are starting to heart now. I’m just a little concerned as they have quite long stalks, I’d say a good 6” to 8” or so. From memory I seem to remember my past cabbages having short stalks. Hopefully they don’t fall over and break.

[Westi]

Hi Myrkk!
I would think about staking these from now as they don't like root rock & if stalks long they will be at risk of wind doing this. It probably wouldn't hurt to give them a little mound of soil at the base as well for extra support, won't upset the plants if stems that long. Mine are just sitting still, but looking happy enough.