Cabbages - help

[Catherine]

Can anyone tell me what to do with my cabbages as I started them off in the polytunnel and when the seeds appeared I put them in to 3" pots. I heard that to help prepare them for putting in the plot when you had club root it was better to pot them on into bigger pots to make them strong. My problem is that they are now looking leggy and I dont know whether to plant them in the garden or put them in a bigger pot. Decisions decisions... Last year I just put them in my seed bed until they were big enough to put in the ground and never got them into pots. But they didn't do well.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, do you mean you have clubroot on your plot.

If you don't, i would plant them straight out.
Plant them a little deeper than you would most plants, and firm them in well.

[Geoff]

I have club root but don't go bigger than 3" pots. If they are leggy but the roots aren't filling the pot stand them outside somewhere sheltered if possible to let them grow a bit more and develop better roots. I usually add a little lime to the potting compost as I move them into the 3" pots. As OH says, if you don't have club root plant them now.

[Catherine]

We unfortunately have club root on our plot. Do you think I might have moved them into too big a pot maybe. SOme of them I have put into bigger than three inch pots.

[Colin_M]

Hi Catherine, I think Geoff's raised a good point.

By April/May cabbages should be fine outside, so may be finding it a little tropical in your polytunnel. Whether that's causing the legginess I don't know. However I think you could
- Get them out of the polytunnel
- Consider planting at least some out in their final spots with a dusting of lime in the planting hole

Finally, I may have been guilty of setting you off down the starting in pots route. It has worked allright for me and I actually still have about 8 plants still in my greenhouse (though they're in 6" pots so may be faring better). However I generally move mine outdoors as soon as they're a few inches high. In fact all the rest of this year's batch got planted out a few weeks back and are racing away.

As a final thought, if your lot don't survive, you still have time to start some more.

[Catherine]

Thanks for that I will get them all out of the polytunnel today but do they need hardening off or just wack them out and let them fend for themselves?

[Johnboy]

Hi Catherine,
I should whack them in as soon as possible as the base temperature has risen alarmingly this last week.
Generally speaking once cabbages have 4 true leaves they can be planted out and as soon after they have attained this stage the better. I appreciate that you sadly have club root on your plot and a slightly more mature plant is the order of the day.
I feel that when planting on you should include a very small amount of super phosphate in the compost.
This will give your plant a superior root system which will stand your plant in good stead with the rigours it is going to have to endure during the season. Cabbages to not mind a little bit of being pot bound and just so long as you plant then out using a dusting of lime in the planting hole, which should be as close to the pot you are using, the better. Dig your hole and then insert a pot, the same as you are using, then push the soil around the pot and then remove the plot and, after dusting the hole with lime, insert the plant very carefully.
Then say a little prayer!
Best of luck with your crop.
JB.

[Catherine]

Thanks Johnboy I will do that today. And hope for the best. Cause I've got a lot of plants to go in. Think I was heavy handed in the seed sowing.

[Cider Boys]

After planting out try and protect them if you have problems with pigeons and if you know a sure way to protect, other than netting or bird scarers please let me know.

Barney

[Mike Vogel]

OH recommends planting them somewhat deeper than usual. If you know there's clubroot around, drop some lime into the planting holes. You could take out a deepish V-shaped trench and plant by burying the first true leaves; the plants will root at the node. The soil taken out of the trench will then fall back in gradually, with luck to cover the nodes of the next leaves up. These will also root.

And lime the soil where you are going to grow them next year!

Good luck, Catherine.

mike

[Catherine]

Thanks Cider Boys and Mike We dont normally have problems with pidgeons but having said that there was a huge one sitting on top of the shed this morning looking at my purple sprouting broccoli. We will be planting this weekend so hopefully we will take everyones advice and we will get some good cabbages from it. I will keep you informed!!:D

[garden_gal21]

Approximately how big do cabbages have to be when you plant them out? Mine are summer cabbages "Greyhound" and it's my first time growing them.

Thank you,

Jennifer

[Geoff]

If you look at JB's post above he explains it. I have club root so grow them in 3" pots to 5 or 6 leaves with a good root system but if you don't have this problem you can plant them at say 4 true leaves.

[Catherine]

Well my cabbages are in the ground and growing well is there anything that I can underplant them with to use the space because there seems to be quite a lot of bare soil I was thinking of carrots maybe, dont laugh please. Or lettuce or leeks!!! I am struggling for space this year.My OH knee is getting better after the op but not ready to do some digging as he found to his cost last week. I have been buying large pots from LBS to plant my butternut squashes as they are getting desperate. The cabbages would be out before the leeks would need the space. Or am I going really mad, we haven't had rain since May 1st.