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fruit and veg

Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
in The potting shed
planted broccoli and caulies last autumn, cant remember the variety, they have grown amazingly well, over a mtr tall, but are just leaves,  I guess |I could eat them, but what happens to the curds, any ideas folks?

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  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    My only suggestion to a fellow Sussexer would be that those two brassicas are, I'm told, different to the others in that, whereas most like alkaline soil, they prefer a more acid type which helps form the curds.  My source is the local postman, to whom I always turn for advice locally.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2020
    Sounds as if you missed the boat with the broccoli.  Ours were planted out last autumn and harvested in March/April. Didn’t you get any lovely purple shoots?

    As for the caulies, all brassicas, but particularly cauliflower, need to be planted very firmly, even  staked in lighter soils, if they get blown about by the wind they are prone to being ‘loose’, not hearting up and then bolting. 

    Do you know what type of cauliflower you planted out? If they were planted out in the autumn I can’t imagine that they were the summer type, but autumn is a bit late to plant out the maincrop varieties. 

    Does this help? 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Our soil is acidic, no, cant remember the type, nope, no lovely purple heads, I have grown them before, I bought plugs this time, grew my own from seed before.  They are in a cage jobby to keep them away from the dreaded catapillars, so well staked.  Thanks Dove, at least it says on there that caulies arent the easiest things to grow, annoying though
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