Fall Cole Crops

[b54red]

We had a second bout of cold that lasted 5 nights and the beds had to be kept covered. The result has been that when I removed the plastic and waited a few days I found that all my broccoli that had already headed and most of my cauliflower had frozen to the point that they started rotting. To make matters worse the squirrels have been relentless in their pursuit of my cole crops. I planted a lot of new ones the past two weeks only to have them eaten to the ground by squirrels. I have to say that the few heads that I was able to eat were some of the best I have ever had and I think it was due to the cold. My mustard plants survived with little damage and once the plastic was off they started growing again and have been wonderful and without the aphids of the earlier batch I grew. My rutabagas only had frost cloths over them and they have suffered from the cold but most are recovering nicely.

Bill

[agee12]

I plan to start the following indoors in the next week or so:

• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cauliflower

Things I will plant later (before end of August):

• Bok Choy and other Asian Greens
• Kale
• Mustard
• Spinach

Non-Cole Crops

• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Peas

[GoDawgs]

These are the things I'll be planting this fall:

Broccoli, Packman - I'm still working on trying to stretch out the planting so that I'm not hip deep in broccoli one week and have none afterwards. It's for fresh eating only (no freezing) so this fall I'm growing twelve plants and starting three plants every ten days. The second set of three got started yesterday. When the heads are gone there will be plenty of sideshoots.

Cabbage - Stonehead (which will make first) and Charleston Wakefield (which will finish a bit later). Four plants of each were started Jul 21

Collards, Vates - Three plants were started Jul 21. For just two people, I've found that four plants each of collards and kale are too much so just three this time. Maybe two of each in the spring if three are too much. I give away the excess.

Kale, Premier - Same as the collards

I quit growing bok choy as it is a huge flea beetle magnet.

Agee, what's your secret for brussels and cauliflower? Sure wish I could grow both but have had no success with either despite multiple tries. The brussel plants grow fine but the little heads never tighten up. And I finally read that my cauliflower failure is due to temp fluctuations. Too many warm spells popping up during head formation.

Non-cole stuff: field peas (planted yesterday), scallions, onions, garlic, bush beans and a few more tomato plants (already going), carrots, daikon and other radishes

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by agee12

I planted Brussels Sprouts yesterday, I wanted to get those started because of their long growth cycle.

I am also planning broccoli, spinach, chard, collards, peas, lettuce, mustard, bok choy, radish, beets and maybe carrots.

Basically the same except I didn’t start any Brussels. I may try starting now to overwinter,wonde if that’s possible? I will also do turnips and Gailan,plus Rabe,onions and maybe some garlic. Lots of lettuce,kale ,beers and chard,our favorites.

[b54red]

I have already started some rutabagas, mustard, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower. Hope to get some lettuce, spinach and onions going soon. I'm trying to get a space ready for carrots which I usually start planting in October and continue to set out right up into January.

Bill

[GoDawgs]

Got the cabbage, kale, collards, and broccoli in a few weeks ago. Tomorrow I'm planting garlic and on Oct 1 the onions, scallions, carrots and turnips will go in.

I'm trying to get everything in, up and running and mulched. I need to have surgery on Oct 17 so I want the garden pretty much on autopilot before then. One of my two knee replacements is 16 years old and it needs to be done again as it's about worn out. So I'll be out of garden commission for a little while and sister Pickles will be tending to things.

[agee12]

I expect the brassicas (broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale) to be slow growers but mine are growing very, very slowly. I doubt if I have more than four sets of true leaves. I am not worried about the kale because I am growing for leaves and that will happen eventually, but I was hoping to get a harvest of broccoli and brussels sprouts in by December or January. Personally I don't mind them over-wintering but I've read that the flavor is better if the mature vegetable has been hit by a frost. Also I got harvestable broccoli this past spring, but I am 0 for 2 with brussels sprouts and it is looking like I will be 0 for 3 with the only hope being that I planted a different variety of brussels sprouts so maybe this variety of will head up before bolting.


ETA:

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

These are the things I'll be planting this fall:

Broccoli, Packman - I'm still working on trying to stretch out the planting so that I'm not hip deep in broccoli one week and have none afterwards. It's for fresh eating only (no freezing) so this fall I'm growing twelve plants and starting three plants every ten days. The second set of three got started yesterday. When the heads are gone there will be plenty of sideshoots.

Cabbage - Stonehead (which will make first) and Charleston Wakefield (which will finish a bit later). Four plants of each were started Jul 21

Collards, Vates - Three plants were started Jul 21. For just two people, I've found that four plants each of collards and kale are too much so just three this time. Maybe two of each in the spring if three are too much. I give away the excess.

Kale, Premier - Same as the collards

I quit growing bok choy as it is a huge flea beetle magnet.

Agee, what's your secret for brussels and cauliflower? Sure wish I could grow both but have had no success with either despite multiple tries. The brussel plants grow fine but the little heads never tighten up. And I finally read that my cauliflower failure is due to temp fluctuations. Too many warm spells popping up during head formation.

Non-cole stuff: field peas (planted yesterday), scallions, onions, garlic, bush beans and a few more tomato plants (already going), carrots, daikon and other radishes

Sorry I did not respond to this earlier. I have not had success with brussels sprouts and this is my first year growing cauliflower. I got germination with the cauliflower but I have to look at my labels to see if it is still alive. I got good survival last year with my broccoli seedlings, I planted Calabrese, but this has not been a good year for broccoli in terms of germination and survival.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by agee12

I expect the brassicas (broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale) to be slow growers but mine are growing very, very slowly. I doubt if I have more than four sets of true leaves. I am not worried about the kale because I am growing for leaves and that will happen eventually, but I was hoping to get a harvest of broccoli and brussels sprouts in by December or January. Personally I don't mind them over-wintering but I've read that the flavor is better if the mature vegetable has been hit by a frost. Also I got harvestable broccoli this past spring, but I am 0 for 2 with brussels sprouts and it is looking like I will be 0 for 3 with the only hope being that I planted a different variety of brussels sprouts so maybe this variety of will head up before bolting.


ETA:

Sorry I did not respond to this earlier. I have not had success with brussels sprouts and this is my first year growing cauliflower. I got germination with the cauliflower but I have to look at my labels to see if it is still alive. I got good survival last year with my broccoli seedlings, I planted Calabrese, but this has not been a good year for broccoli in terms of germination and survival.

I have been growing Brussels sprouts for years with usually good success. The biggest problem down here is getting them started early enough. BS grow very slowly until the cooler weather of fall. I start my seed in air conditioning in late July or early August. I do now set them out until the nights are nice and cool and the days are no longer hot which down here can be anywhere from mid October to mid to late November.

They are extremely heavy feeders so it is important to prepare the soil very well. I usually put in lots of cottonseed meal, some alfalfa pellets, some chicken manure, and compost. I space the plants about 3 feet apart and mulch them lightly to keep down winter weeds and prepare a hoop to cover them if temps are going into the very low 20s or below. I try to feed them every week or two with some Urban Farms Vegetable formula or some Miracle Grow. They need to grow right through the winter and the earliest I usually get sprouts is in late Janurary but usually in February they start making pretty good. Once the spring warmth gets here they will make like crazy until it starts getting too hot. As soon as it feels like it is getting a bit too warm I crop the top to encourage faster growth on the remaining sprouts.

You need to get a variety that makes as quick as possible down here or unless we have an exceptionally long and cool spring you will not make much. The variety that I have had the most success with the last few years is Hestia.

Bill

[agee12]

This year I got very flaky in terms of trying to decide should the seedlings be inside where it's cooler, be outside in full shade or outside in partial shade.

Last year I planted them outside in pots in the shade and got better germination and growth rate than I am getting this year. I actually planted peas not too long ago and kept them inside and then several seedlings went splat and I suspect that I got hit with damping off which is now making me think that is why I had such low germination and survival with my 2018 brassicas. I associate damping off with winter and early spring sowing so I did not take the precautions that I took when I seed started during the winter / early spring.

My initial thought for 2019 is that I am going to seed start for brassicas as early as June. It may turn out that that's too early but I have enough seeds to succession plant. Also if I do keep the seedlings inside I will also take precautions against damping off.


ETA:

Maybe I will try and get ahold of some Hestia seeds as well. I recall reading a description of them and they did seems like a good fit for my area but I think that the vendor was out-of-stock at the time I was considering buying the seed and since then I have gotten seeds from other sources, but I may need to add them back on my shopping list.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by agee12

Last year I planted them outside in pots in the shade and got better germination and growth rate than I am getting this year.

I think you're right about some shade. One quarter of my garden is in the shade until about noon-thirtyish and the fall brassicas seem to do a lot better in that environment. They can get a three year rotation there so that area will now be a permanent brassica location.

Originally Posted by agee12

My initial thought for 2019 is that I am going to seed start for brassicas as early as June. It may turn out that that's too early but I have enough seeds to succession plant.

If it helps, after playing with start times I now start my fall brassicas at the end of July for planting about the second week of September. They are grown under the lights for about three weeks and then to acclimate to the heat, they harden off out on the front porch prior to planting out. That's where the half day of shade in the garden comes in handy.

I'm still playing with start times for broccoli succession planting. This fall it was three plants started every two weeks. We'll see.

[b54red]

I know that sometimes it is not successful but I never set out broccoli plants until cool nights set in. The problem with fall broccoli here is that it has a tendency to head far too early and when the plants are far too small if they are set out when it is too hot or if an Indian Summer happens. You can't predict or prepare for an Indian Summer but I do hold out on planting most of my brassicas until it gets cooler. I just hat picking broccoli no large than a quarter or even smaller off six or seven inch tall plants. It is still hitting into the nineties nearly every day and I am very impatient to set the plants out but I am keeping them in the air conditioned greenhouse a bit longer. It is just too hot to set them outside except at night right now. I hope it cools down a bit more or I will not have much of a fall garden except for tomatoes and peppers.

Bill

[b54red]

Well the hurricane knocked over my large tulip poplar that was providing some shade for my greenhouse and most of my plants baked inside in the heat. I had the air conditioner going but didn't even consider it getting that hot this time of the year with both the air conditioner and a light shade cloth. I may not have any Brussel's sprouts or much of anything else to plant for the late fall and winter this year. Hopefully I will be able to get things going again before too long and I am trying to keep some of the plants alive on my porch but most don't look like they will recover. I do know I will be able to put in some more mustard greens, carrots, nest onions, and maybe get a decent stand of lettuce if I can ever get the garden cleaned up so I can prepare a bed of two for them.

Bill

I’ve started my cool weather stuff including peas, favs beans, chard, arugula, lettuce, kale, cauliflower, broccoli and kohlrabi. I’m probably forgetting something, lol.
For some reason I cannot look at kohlrabi without cracking up. These are inter planted with turnip and lettuce.

The mustard, arugula and other spicy greens are really taking off now. The cat’s meow is the wasabi arugula.

[NarnianGarden]

Very lush and green looking leaves, PlainJane!