cabbage-section
Cabbage is a brassica with thickened, overlapping leaves on the terminal bud of the
plant. When the cabbage is cut in half, the structure of the bud can be seen.
Cabbage is usually eaten cooked, but sometimes it is eaten fresh in coleslaw. Cabbage may be pickled in sauerkraut.
It is possible to grow brassicas (cabbage family) in the garden without
using sprays or other chemicals.
Sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflowers are damaged by:
* aphids
* white fly
* cabbage
* white caterpillars
* and other insects.
There is a net, specially designed to keep insects out. If this is
spread over the plants it has a dramatic effect.
net
Clean, chemical free, (& bug-free) veg can be proudly presented to the
kitchen, when you know how to grow organic brassicas!
celtic-cabbage
The F1
The F1Celtic winter cabbage, planted out in June, is growing fast. The Celtic cabbage produces a rock hard ball which is capable of standing for months without splitting. This is important when growing in the garden for a family, because it is difficult to have a
harvesting programme which gives fresh veg every day.
celtic-cabbage-under-enviro
The cabbage plants have been covered with a tunnel of enviromesh, which
has kept the aphids and cabbage white butterflies off the cabbage, so
they have remained clean.
Mid-July and August is a good time to sow Spring Cabbage in the
vegetable garden for harvest next April or May.
Spring Cabbage seed should be planted 0.5cm deep in a seed bed or trays of seed compost. The seed bed should be kept moist.
In 5 or 6 weeks the spring cabbage plants will be strong enough to
transplant to their final positions. Cabbages like a deeply dug, well cultivated soil.
Firm the plants well into the ground and water well until they are established.
The Spring Cabbage will be produce good firm hearts ready for harvest in
April and May. The cabbages can also be cut as Spring Greens earlier in
the year.
TopVeg is growing the variety Offenham 2 – Flower of Spring.
The winter cabbage plants, an F1 hybrid Celtic, have been taken out of the brassica plant-bed
where they were sown, and planted out into the main brassica bed.
brassica-plant-bed
It is slightly on the late side and the plants are a bit big, so they
will have to be watered well and given extra tlc. The winter cabbage
were planted in rows 45cm apart, & 40 cm apart within the row. The
winter cabbage have been given more space than the summer cabbage so
they can produce bigger heads.
winter-cabbage-plant
The whole of the brassica bed is covered with a micromesh to keep the
cabbage white butterfly and aphids off. Some people place empty
eggshells on sticks, to frighten the cabbage white butterflies away. A
net is a big investment, but it does ensure 100% return on effort, by
keeping the pests out.
The net also keeps the pigeons off, which can reap havoc on young plants
in a few hours.
The cabbage plants grown from seed sown a month ago are large enough to plant out into their growing site. They have 2 cotyledons (seed leaves) and 2-3 true leaves.
brassica-seed-rows
cabbage-plants
Before starting, the plant-bed is watered to make the soil crumbs stick together and adhere to the plant roots. The strongest plants in the bed are selected, and dug up with a trowel. The summer cabbage are replanted in rows 45cm apart, and 30 cm between plants within the row. Summer cabbage can be closer together because they are cut with smaller heads.
cabbage-row
There are now three different stages of plants in the cabbage patch.
They are all covered with mesh to protect them from aphids and cabbage white butterflies.
brassica-bed
brassicas under mesh
enviromesh-over-brassica
Flea beetle can be a problem in the vegetable garden during May and June. They attack members of the brassica family including radish.
Various genera and species of flea beetles cause problems in the garden, all members of the Chrysomelidae family. One example is the cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala).
Plants affected
Cruciferous plants such as cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, turnip, swede, radish, salad rocket. Other plants, such as nasturtium and stocks can also be attacked.
Symptoms
Small, rounded, irregular holes in cotyledons and leaves of seedlings. In severe cases the leaves look as if they had been peppered with fine shot.Seedlings are most vulnerable to flea-beetle when stressed, particularly by dry, poor seedbeds where crop growth is slow.
Flea beetle life cycle
Flea beetles overwinter in leaf litter as adult beetles & emerge in spring to attack the seedlings of brassicas and other host plants. They are quite mobile and may fly a kilometre to find food. In late summer there is sometimes a significant migration of adult beetles from oilseed rape fields into gardens when damage to mature plants can occur.Female beetles lay their eggs in the soil near suitable plants in May/June. The larvae of the large striped flea beetle feed in ‘mines’ in leaves; the larvae of other species feed on plant roots, but this does not usually cause severe damage. These larvae pupate in the soil, new adults hatching out in the autumn. Adults feed for a few weeks before hibernating. These adults will survive until the following July or August.
Control of Flea Beetle
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