Firstly, hello to everyone on this KG Forum. Although I registered some while ago, this is more or less my first posting. I'm currently convalescing after an op, so whilst I'm frustratingly "inactive" in the garden, what better time to plan my veg growing on paper!
I get confused when to sow broccoli and cabbage. In order to harvest summer/autumn/winter/spring, just how crucial are the sowing dates? I have found that information on some seed packs shows such a long sowing window. Is there a simple rule to follow and are there any varieties particuarly recommended. What should I be sowing now, or am I too late for some of the varieties?
Thanks in anticipation of any advice!
Brassica types and planting
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vivienz
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Hi Helen,
Welcome & congratulations on your first post!
I'm sure the more expert forum members will be able to give you a text book of advice on wide ranging areas of brassicas, but I would say from my own experience, decide what you really want to eat first, then how much of it you will want.
I get through at least a head of calabrese each week, so I've got about 20 early ones that I planted out last weekend after an early sowing, and I will make successional sowings over the next few months to ensure a small but continuous supply. Varieties with a long sowing window are ideal for this kind of thing as it means that one packet of seed can see you through the season for that particular crop.
You're certainly not too late for anything at the moment - you can get in with sowings of fast growing, sweet summer cabbages, autumn cabbage and get your overwintering stuff started off in May.
As you sound a little less active at the moment, you could simply start off your seeds in a pot on the windowsill, then prick them out into modules ready go out later in the season, when you are too!
There are specific varieties for certain seasons, such as very hardy savoy cabbages and sprouting broccoli to overwinter, but I would always be guided by what you actually use. And don't forget that you will probably grow other things at the same time, so you may need smaller quantities than you first think!
Hope the convalescing goes well.
Best wishes,
Vivien
Welcome & congratulations on your first post!
I'm sure the more expert forum members will be able to give you a text book of advice on wide ranging areas of brassicas, but I would say from my own experience, decide what you really want to eat first, then how much of it you will want.
I get through at least a head of calabrese each week, so I've got about 20 early ones that I planted out last weekend after an early sowing, and I will make successional sowings over the next few months to ensure a small but continuous supply. Varieties with a long sowing window are ideal for this kind of thing as it means that one packet of seed can see you through the season for that particular crop.
You're certainly not too late for anything at the moment - you can get in with sowings of fast growing, sweet summer cabbages, autumn cabbage and get your overwintering stuff started off in May.
As you sound a little less active at the moment, you could simply start off your seeds in a pot on the windowsill, then prick them out into modules ready go out later in the season, when you are too!
There are specific varieties for certain seasons, such as very hardy savoy cabbages and sprouting broccoli to overwinter, but I would always be guided by what you actually use. And don't forget that you will probably grow other things at the same time, so you may need smaller quantities than you first think!
Hope the convalescing goes well.
Best wishes,
Vivien
Welcome Helen and I hope you recover soon.
I agree with Vivien. Sort out what you like to eat first. You get a really good crop of Purple Sprouting Broccoli. It's a good doer, lasts for ages and will see you through to spingtime. Calabrese is the same. A really good variety that I use is Olympia. You get a really good size head, plus loads of off-shoots and the plants are very hardy.
Sprouts are good too, but mine always blow, for some reason. The red ones are very tasty and very sweet.
I start the lot off in trays and pot on as and when I need to. I also sow in succession too so the season lasts for longer.
Good luck and ask anything. Someone will know the answers
I agree with Vivien. Sort out what you like to eat first. You get a really good crop of Purple Sprouting Broccoli. It's a good doer, lasts for ages and will see you through to spingtime. Calabrese is the same. A really good variety that I use is Olympia. You get a really good size head, plus loads of off-shoots and the plants are very hardy.
Sprouts are good too, but mine always blow, for some reason. The red ones are very tasty and very sweet.
I start the lot off in trays and pot on as and when I need to. I also sow in succession too so the season lasts for longer.
Good luck and ask anything. Someone will know the answers
Lots of love
Lizzie
Lizzie
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Mike Vogel
- KG Regular
- Posts: 865
- Joined: Tue Jun 20, 2006 10:31 pm
- Location: Bedford
Hi Helen,
As someone who has managed to grow caulis where the italians round here [whatever the Italians say you can believe implicitly] say they don't grow well, I may be able to help.
Firstly, I tried growing calabrese and caulis to mature mid-late summer in my first year. This meant sowing in Jam/Feb and planting out March/April. Being in full-time work, I was not able to get to the plot often. The weather that spring was dry and the heads of the calabrese were almost non-existent and the caulis didn't head at all, although remarkably some did produce heads the next spring.
After another effort I gave up trying to grow summer-cropping brassicas. I'll certainly try again when I've retired and can guarantee visiting the plot when needed.
I grow purple sprouting brocc, Purple Cape cauli and a white cauli, until this year All-the -Year-Round. I sow in modules in June. By late July they are ready to be put in the soil where the broad beans were grown earlier in the year, or where I have previously sown winter tares or clover to fix nitrogen. Sprouts, i think, should be sown a month earlier if they are an early-cropping variety.
Brassicas like soil with a lot of compost, but they don't like recently dug soil, so I would not dig too deeply where you want to grow. Another tip I've read is to plant them deeply; don't worry about burying the lower leaves, as they'll form extra roots at the nodes. Or dig a v-shaped trench and plant in the trench. As the plants grow, the soil at the sides of the trench will gradually fall in around the growing plants and provide more anchorage.
Sprouts and caulis don't do too well in raised beds, uness planted very deep inded. Broccoli does better, and calabrese is said to be a good crop for them.
Hope some or all of this helps, Helen; gives you something to look forward to when you recover, which I hope will be very soon.
Good luck,
mike
As someone who has managed to grow caulis where the italians round here [whatever the Italians say you can believe implicitly] say they don't grow well, I may be able to help.
Firstly, I tried growing calabrese and caulis to mature mid-late summer in my first year. This meant sowing in Jam/Feb and planting out March/April. Being in full-time work, I was not able to get to the plot often. The weather that spring was dry and the heads of the calabrese were almost non-existent and the caulis didn't head at all, although remarkably some did produce heads the next spring.
After another effort I gave up trying to grow summer-cropping brassicas. I'll certainly try again when I've retired and can guarantee visiting the plot when needed.
I grow purple sprouting brocc, Purple Cape cauli and a white cauli, until this year All-the -Year-Round. I sow in modules in June. By late July they are ready to be put in the soil where the broad beans were grown earlier in the year, or where I have previously sown winter tares or clover to fix nitrogen. Sprouts, i think, should be sown a month earlier if they are an early-cropping variety.
Brassicas like soil with a lot of compost, but they don't like recently dug soil, so I would not dig too deeply where you want to grow. Another tip I've read is to plant them deeply; don't worry about burying the lower leaves, as they'll form extra roots at the nodes. Or dig a v-shaped trench and plant in the trench. As the plants grow, the soil at the sides of the trench will gradually fall in around the growing plants and provide more anchorage.
Sprouts and caulis don't do too well in raised beds, uness planted very deep inded. Broccoli does better, and calabrese is said to be a good crop for them.
Hope some or all of this helps, Helen; gives you something to look forward to when you recover, which I hope will be very soon.
Good luck,
mike
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