"cut and come again" cabbage.

amandstu

Will this work for me?

I have a few Greyhound plants that have hearted up and so I have started to pick them.One or 2 I have simply cut out the heart leaving a good few leaves at the base.

Can I expect that the plant will now continue growing so that I can harvest more leaves as well as shoots (since I have noticed that they grow the same way as broccoli and are just as nice to eat) ?

Or are these plants likely to die now?

Secondly and unrelatedly am I right to cover up my spinach (actually Swiss Chard) plants will fleece in order to sop them bolting with the onset of this hot and very sunny spell?

tommy2bad

Yes, the cabbage will regrow, sometimes up to 3 smaller heads. My mother used to say 'put the sign of the cross in the stalk'. Duno what that was about but we always had cabbage

Never heard of fleece to stop bolting I thought it had more to do with bad watering practice stressing the plant into a panic to reproduce.

amandstu

Thanks. Bad watering? As in letting the ground dry out? Could overwatering be bad as well?

Would it be better to water in the morning or the evening?

I have tried fleece before as I read that spinach liked shade and because it (the fleece) might keep the temperature lower underneath.

But I can't say that I felt it helped.

amandstu

tommy2bad wrote: »

Yes, the cabbage will regrow, sometimes up to 3 smaller heads. My mother used to say 'put the sign of the cross in the stalk'. Duno what that was about but we always had cabbage

Never heard of fleece to stop bolting I thought it had more to do with bad watering practice stressing the plant into a panic to reproduce.

I think your mother may have been wrong regarding the stalk.I cut the heads off the cabbages and they have restarted growing in 1 or 2 places.

But when I put a cross in the stalk (of just one of them -to see) I found that it made the stalk rot (it is very tender in the centre and the water lodged causing something that looks a bit like tooth decay.

Maybe you could nick the "bark" if you knew what you were doing but it doesn't seem necessary to me.

Does anyone use fleece to protect ,say lettuce transplants in the first few days to get them settled in without loosing their leaves? Or would it be enough just to keep the soil nice and moist ?

yellowlabrador

amandstu wrote: »

Does anyone use fleece to protect ,say lettuce transplants in the first few days to get them settled in without loosing their leaves? Or would it be enough just to keep the soil nice and moist ?

I never transplant lettuce, I sow in situ and thin. I find that transplanting them sets them back. Another alternative is to plant in modular cells and then transplant the plug.

amandstu

Some of my transplants are quite robust if the root ball is not damaged and there is a fair bit of soil attached.

But there are some that are scrawnier and so I have pay extra care that they take off without too much of a setback .

And so I try to shield them from the sun ( if it is a hot spell ) with fleece -just for or days.

I also thin some of them and the ones that are left tend to do quite well (if I don't leave the thinning too late probably) .

My Potatoes

Lettuce and cabbage that are referred to cut and come again (CCA) tend to be of certain varieties.
If you try this with other varieties, the plants will often bolt or lose their vigour.
Give it a go, see what happens.

genuine leather

I always cut an X on stem of the cut cabbage and will get four smaller heads with a loose leaf but lovely nonetheless.
Have had a few bolters this season with the hot weather, i find a good watering,preferably from the sky, and 2-4 inch mulch of homemade compost around the plants keeps moisture at their feet and helps prevent bolting.
I sow a 4ft row of mixed and or french mixed lettuce quite thicky i a wide drill every 4-5 weeks. i dont thin out at all,i pick many leaves off different plants daily. They wont bolt for a long time and at that stage the next row is ready and the chickens love the bolters.
Its just a way i found that works good for me without a glut and with them close together the hot days dont seem to effect them.
GL

amandstu

genuine leather wrote: »

I always cut an X on stem of the cut cabbage and will get four smaller heads with a loose leaf but lovely nonetheless.
Have had a few bolters this season with the hot weather, i find a good watering,preferably from the sky, and 2-4 inch mulch of homemade compost around the plants keeps moisture at their feet and helps prevent bolting.
I sow a 4ft row of mixed and or french mixed lettuce quite thicky i a wide drill every 4-5 weeks. i dont thin out at all,i pick many leaves off different plants daily. They wont bolt for a long time and at that stage the next row is ready and the chickens love the bolters.
Its just a way i found that works good for me without a glut and with them close together the hot days dont seem to effect them.
GL

I can only think that the cut I made was too rough and got infected.Even so the ones that I didn't cut have made new "heads" anyway.

I use the "bolters" (the cabbages that is ) in their own right.I think they can be every bit as nice as sprouting broccoli (our dog used to love them too)

genuine leather

amandstu wrote: »

I can only think that the cut I made was too rough and got infected.Even so the ones that I didn't cut have made new "heads" anyway.

I use the "bolters" (the cabbages that is ) in their own right.I think they can be every bit as nice as sprouting broccoli (our dog used to love them too)

Yeah i agree everything after the main head is cut is a lovely bonus,especially the brocoli,their sole aim to produce flower and seed. This time of year there is just so much variety of veg to eat from the garden.All the work and preparation(and poor spring) coming to fruition:)

We have a veg eating dog also,she particularly likes broad bean and peas:)