Brassicas - an update

My little Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Cavolo Nero plants are no longer that little. They have grown a lot in the last couple of weeks.

They are big enough to be planted out, but there is no space for them yet. My intention is that they should succeed the Broad Beans, but (happily) the BBs are still going strong and there is no way I am going to dig them up prematurely. The brassicas will have to wait a bit longer.

A couple of days ago I tidied-up the bigger brassicas plants, which are growing in one of the raised beds. They have been underneath a net up till now so it hasn't been easy to weed them. I removed the bigger weeds, and any of the lower leaves of the veg that had gone yellow. There was surprisingly little slug damage, but just to be on the safe side I applied a few more blue slug-pellets. Since I have seen so few butterflies I deemed it safe to leave the net off, allowing the plants to get a bit more light - for which I think they will be very grateful in our current gloomy weather conditions.

Here's a closer look at what's in that bed. There are 3 Brussels Sprout plants "Brilliant" (the tall ones in the photos):

Brassicas behind - Garlic at front

 

Brussels Sprout "Brilliant"



There are also four green Summer Cabbages (Golden Acre), just beginning to heart-up:

"Golden Acre"

And there are four Red Cabbages (Primero F1), which are developing very slowly. They won't be ready for harvesting until the Autumn.

"Primero F1"

The Brussels Sprouts are getting quite tall now, and beginning to be top-heavy with all that foliage, so I will soon have to think about staking them up in case they topple over in the wind. At present they are supported by some stout sticks, but I think they have just about outgrown those. I'll eventually replace them with 6-foot hardwood stakes.

How are yours doing?