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I convinced myself not to thin the brassicas out, under the idea that they simply wouldn't grow as big, but I would have more of them. I'm starting to think that they're spending too much time fighting over water and light rather than growing.


Do you think they'll be okay left to their own devices, or am I going to have to thin them?
I just hate throwing my babies away!

I find brassicas to be my nemesis, I can grow them but they make me struggle, what I have found this year is that my cauli's just put on leaf and I reckon its because they have been planted far to close (I grew them close because I wanted smaller curds), so if it was me I would grow them closer than whats suggested on the seed packet but not to close, so if the packet said grow a cauli at 18" then I wouldnt grow them closer than 9" and next year I am going to take that advice

PS Yours look really lovely and healthy

I gave my friend some cauli's a while back & hers are HUGE while mine are still teeny, teeny weeny! She left lots of space between them and I planted them way too close together I think....so I have decided that you can overdo the planting close together to get smaller curds bit!!

We live and learn

Let them get a little bit bigger then you can eat the thinnings? No waste then

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Sarah

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Brassicas are big greedy plants.
If you don't thin them out, you won't get much of a crop at all.

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Looks like I'll need to thin out 2 in every 3 plants then (Got to keep the nice pattern!).

Are the outside leaves of the cabbages edible? They look like they'll be quite tough.

(By-the-way, from top to bottom they're: Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflowers and Swede)

Depending on the variety, I find that even the outside leaves if shredded rather than cut, and then steamed, are okay to eat. I think they are tougher and less palatable if they are short on water.
Cor, wish my brassicas were that well on !

^Well that's very reassuring, I was concerned they weren't doing as well as everyone else's as I planted them out a little late. I have been giving them plenty of Starbucks' coffee grounds, which they seem to love.
The cauliflower and swede, when I planted them out, I tipped a few grounds into the dibber hole and they shot up!

Perhaps I'll give them a little longer before thinning out, just to see how they come along.

OOh, thanks for that tip Ollie, I have a bunch of seedling in modules that will profit from that ! (Imagine a Thumbs Up emoticon)

If you have enough room,you can thin them out and transplant the thinnings to give you a succession of crops. I've found that brassicas transplant very easily whatever there stage of growth!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I've got complicated with my brassica planting this year. I've interplanted earlier and later brassicas. My theory being that while the earlier ones have grown the later ones will be smaller and still growing. But by the time the later ones have grown large the earlier ones will be gone. This way I've managed to fit a lot more in - not sure if it'll work, but I'll let you know!

It went against the grain thought - I like my rows organised and straight!

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Life is too short for drama & petty things!
So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

I sowed mine too close together and have moved some, they don't look very good at the moment but are coming back to life and I don't have so many bug things eating them either

i had the same theory, but didn't quite manage to put it into practise this year because i wasn't organised enough with the sowing - will be much better organised next year - this year all brassicas are about 12-14 inches apart

Well given your comments I'm pretty happy with how healthy mine are looking considering there's only 9-10" between them

Yes, they look fantastic.
However, they will soon begin to outgrow their space and then they will suffer.... competing with each other for light, food and water.

__________________
~ "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding" ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

I promise not to mention the rather excellent Search function again. Feel free to slap me if I do

I guess 2/3 of them will provide some good compost food then.

Would you recommend:
a) Removing 2 in 3 of them and leaving the 3rd in place
b) Removing all but the largest, most healthy 3rd and transplanting those to the same density

If you see what I mean.

Don't ask me about planting densities, but instead of composting the extra ones why not offer them on Freecycle ? Or if it comes to that, sell them in the local paper. Waste not want not, make a gardening friend...

eat the thinnings, don't compost them.
Shred finely and stir-fry, yum.

As to spacings, you need to check your seed packet ... I don't know what brassicas you've got there

__________________
~ "I would rather do a good hours work weeding than write two pages of my best; nothing is so interesting as weeding" ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

I promise not to mention the rather excellent Search function again. Feel free to slap me if I do

I was wondering how succeful you thought transplanting the larger ones would be.

Hmm, I thought the outside leaves would be too tough to eat.

Will be trying that today then. Thanks

My caulis are about 6-8" apart Ollie and I harvested 4 last night all with a flower about 6" across, so a decent size. The ones that are left in will now grow twice as big. I did this last year and got some huge ones. I suppose this is thinning, but on a large scale!

^Then I guess I'll try that with my caulis.

Have thinned 3 of my cabbages as I think they'll suffer the most, making cabbage soup as I type. But it's going to take a lot of soup to use all of those cabbages up!

Shred it, blanch it, freeze it, use it as and when.