The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: Lesley Silvester on November 29, 2011, 12:44:07 pm

Title: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on November 29, 2011, 12:44:07 pm
Finally planted out my cabbages.  I still have some in the seed tray in case of failure and because I have no where to put them and can't bear to throw them away.  Anyone tried growing cabbages in buckets?
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: deepinthewoods on November 29, 2011, 05:10:48 pm
yep. only a few savoys but they did fine, maybe a bit smaller. most brassicas have small root systems.
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on November 30, 2011, 12:28:41 am
I'll give it a go then.  How many did you put in one bucket?
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: deepinthewoods on November 30, 2011, 09:05:53 am
just the one, try to use a loamy soil mix.
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on November 30, 2011, 09:18:46 pm
Thanks for that.  Now where did I put those buckets?   ;D
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: deepinthewoods on December 01, 2011, 07:44:21 am
that i cant answer! ;D
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 01, 2011, 08:43:43 pm
that i cant answer! ;D
   ;D ;D ;D

It's only a garden.  How hard can it be to find some buckets?   ???  I'm asking me here, you understand.  ;D
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Chrisnoel on December 10, 2011, 08:25:00 pm
that i cant answer! ;D
   ;D ;D ;D

It's only a garden.  How hard can it be to find some buckets?   ???  I'm asking me here, you understand.  ;D

If you plant 2 or three cabbage plants in the same place, let them grow and remove the strongest one and use, leaving the other/s to continue growing!!!! cut the stems?stalks with secatures.
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 11, 2011, 12:48:54 am
I can never bear to pull up the weakest plant.  I even sow my cabbage seed singly.

It's not an issue now anyway.  B****** pigeons ate them.
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: ellied on December 17, 2011, 07:14:28 pm
Sorry to hear pigeons got your cabbages, I suppose this time of year there's so little available they spot them a mile off ::)

I've still got cabbages, savoy and sprouts in the garden well frosted - will they grow any more or should I pull them up now?  Sprouts a real disappointment as the one plant that produced the sproutlets grew them open rather than tight so they look useless :(

Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Lesley Silvester on December 17, 2011, 11:50:15 pm
At least they didn't get the ones I'd planted out - they are covered with mesh for that very reason.  The ones they had were the tiny ones still in the seed tray but they have actually started putting up new leaves, so I will have to resume my bucket search.
Title: Re: Cabbages
Post by: Plantoid on December 18, 2011, 10:50:01 pm
Sorry to hear pigeons got your cabbages, I suppose this time of year there's so little available they spot them a mile off ::)

I've still got cabbages, savoy and sprouts in the garden well frosted - will they grow any more or should I pull them up now?  Sprouts a real disappointment as the one plant that produced the sproutlets grew them open rather than tight so they look useless :(


 Leave them where they are unles your have below minus three centigrade for three or four for three days continously .

Most cabbages and sprouts can take several days of hard frost down to about minus 4  but after that they start to get slowly killed off by the cold

 You can however saw offf a frozen cabbage and defrost it and sort out any good bits to have that evening /day . The frozen saw off cabbage can be allowd to defrost in a garage over a day or so  but it will need eating  once it has defrosted.

 I'd also leave the sprout plants alone , break off and eat the bolted sprouts as boiled cabbage or use them in soups or as bubble  squeak  with a bit of pepper & butter on them etc. ... take them from the bottom up to the first set of smaller sprouts you see that are tight formed.
 Then see if you get any new tighter sprouts forming up by the tops in a few weeks time.

If it's still bolted sprouts , you can still leave the plants in situation  because the tops can be eaten as greens in late Feb /early March when little else is available & the stalks fed to chickens etc. .
Then you can try your hand at making walking sticks out of the sprout stalks if they are long enough  ...just like the Victorians did.