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Cabbages and Sweetcorn Help?

lis2lis2 Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg

Hi Everyone, Im newimage  to both this forum and growing Veg!!  Sorry if this is so basic..I have planted a few seeds this year (and bought a few carrots and spring onion ready to go) and was wondering if you could help me?!  My cabbages and sweetcorn have grown it's a miracle?!   BUT now i don't know what to do with them!  do I replant them into bigger pots?  how many to a pot of both?  Also I think I've done the wrong thing in growing multiple cabbage seeds in one bit of soil so now I don't know whether to separate them in order to re pot too?   Any help on this or general how to keep them thriving would be gratefully received thank you!  image

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Posts

  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    Hi lis2 Sweetcorn are looking good and need planting out in the garden asap when they've been hardened off (unless they have been grown outdoors).  Plant them in blocks of 4 (about 18 inches apart )as they are wind pollinated and this ensures you get the sweetcorn cobs.  Sunny and sheltered from strong winds. You might need to tie each plant to a cane as they grow.  keep them well watered.

    Cabbages are a bit small to plant straight out in the garden but I'd get them each growing on into small pots now, they'll soon catch up if you keep them watered.  Make sure you cover them at this stage as pigeons will devour them in a about 5 mins!!  I always cover mine in the garden to stop the butterflies laying their eggs.

    Both veg could do with a scattering of Growmore when you plant them in the garden.  Well done with your early effortsimage

  • lis2lis2 Posts: 3

    Hi Dorcas, thanks for your reply image 

    both of them were put straight outside when i planted them, i have a tiny concrete "yard" out the back of my flat so everything is in pots.  Its south facing so gets alot of sun but shade too as theres a sort of awning, mostly protected from wind and luckily I've never seen a pigeon out there in 10 years!  

    will re pot the sweetcorn as you advise in blocks of four.  Would a troff like the one they are already in be suitable?  or do you think a bigger pot more suitable? 

    re the cabbages, do you separate each stem and re pot? or a few per pot?!  Im laughing at how basic this question is... I'm sorry! 

     

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Decide how many cabbages you will realistically eat and thin out the seedlings to give approximately that number.



    You are better off growing fewer better plants. Choose one seedling from each clump and pinch off or pull out the rest.



    When each plant has some true leaves (they only have seed leaves at the moment) you can plant them at the correct spacing, in the garden.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    Sweetcorn would be better off planted in the ground rather than containers, if that is an option?


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





  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    Cabbages should be ok in troughs but will be a bit smaller.  Unless you're feeding a small army, I agree with Welshonion.  If you want to grow sweetcorn in pots, you'll need one that's about 12 inches square and 12 inches deep and put 4 plants only in it.  If you're restricted to pots, try to buy mini vegetable seeds (Sweetcorn 'minipop' for example) next year.  All the main seed manufacturers do them.  Mini veg such as carrots, leeks, pak choi, cauliflowers, beetroot, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes all do well.  Not forgetting fruit if you're feeling adventurous - strawberries do particularly well in containers - anything from 1 plant in a 5 inch pot, to 5 or 6 in a 12 inch container.  Then you could plant an Autumn fruiting raspberry 'Autumn bliss' - 1 per 12 inch pot.  They are extremely easy to grow and at the end of the season just cut it down to ground level.  You might have a tiny patch but you'd be amazed how much you could grow in itimage

  • lis2lis2 Posts: 3

    Thank you all for your advice,I really appreciate it!   I have repotted the corn to give them more space and have repotted some beans to for more space.  Going to do the cabbages today.  No unfortunately its just a little concrete patch of ground, no grass so everything has to go in pots..   Since repotting the corn and green beans half of each have gone very floppy and not looking too good at all, not sure what I have done wrong?  Half of them still look ok?  mmmmm... any thoughts? 

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  • DorcasDorcas Posts: 159

    It's always a bit of a lottery when you pot on as the roots can get too disturbed and give up.  I'd be inclined to carry on watering for a bit as if they were ok and you might find they re shoot from the base.image

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Sorry, but there is no way the sweetcorn is going to thrive as they are in your photo. They grow tall. They need to be at least 18 inches apart each way. It really isn't a crop for the containers you have.
  • Zoomer44Zoomer44 Posts: 3,267

    I agree, sweetcorn, neither corn on the cob or mini pop, which grows to the same hieght as corn on the cob, needing just as much root space to grow, isn't the best veg to grow in a pot.

    Cabbage isn't a good crop for containers either.

    There are lots of other vegs though which grow well in pots..

    I'd advise stuff which is quick to grow from sowing to harvest - radish, lettuce, spring onions, there must be more...

    Pea's and beans, can be grown in pots, these don't necessarily need to be dwarf varieties providing the pots are big enough for healthy root growth. 

    Courgette's, outdoor toms, spinach, chard all do well and spuds can  be grown in bags.

    Hope this is helpful..

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