bolting cabbages!!!

brno

hi folks,last year i got my cabbages down good and early and covered them with horticultural fleece.in no time at all i had the finest cabbages i've ever managed to grow!!I took the fleece off one day to give them a weed and at this time of the year there was no more sign of caterpillars so i decided to leave off the fleece (they were already fully grown).I got to eat about 4 of them before the rest bolted.

Was it the drastic change in enviroment that caused it ,when the fleece was taken off? I'd appreciate any advice as i'm trying to avoid same mistake as last year

thanks in advance for any help:D

Cardinal Richelieu

brno wrote: »

hi folks,last year i got my cabbages down good and early and covered them with horticultural fleece.in no time at all i had the finest cabbages i've ever managed to grow!!I took the fleece off one day to give them a weed and at this time of the year there was no more sign of caterpillars so i decided to leave off the fleece (they were already fully grown).I got to eat about 4 of them before the rest bolted.

Was it the drastic change in enviroment that caused it ,when the fleece was taken off? I'd appreciate any advice as i'm trying to avoid same mistake as last year

thans in advance for any help:D

Stress? Unless the plant is fully mature the plant will run to seed as quickly as possible if it thinks its going to die.

Edit: Just reread your post, that you said they were fully grown. Most leafy veg like cabbage and lettuce has a short harvest window especially this time of year before it starts to bolt unless you stagger your planting. You may have just had a glut and not had enough cabbage and bacon dinners, thats why you find people who grow veg suddenly start to barter veg with other growers or give it away to families and friends to earn brownie points rather than see it waste. Some people even cut the cabbage and allow the plant to re-growth from the base. They say the second cut of spinach has better texture and flavour than the first.