Questions tagged [brassicas]

Plants in the 'cabbage' family, a genus of mustard.

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Crop rotation theory v. practice

Every guide to growing vegetables will have an early section on rotating roots, brassicas and legumes. There might even be a little diagram with neat evenly spaced and sized areas marked out for each ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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15 votes
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Do brassicas like to be transplanted deeper than the previous pot?

I know that tomatoes should be transplanted deeper than they were in the previous pot. When I'm potting up broccoli and cabbage, are they the same way? Can I bury part of the stem when I go from a 6-...
bstpierre's user avatar
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14 votes
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How should mustard seeds be collected?

This is probably a simple question but I just want to know any common advice for collecting seeds from mustard greens. 4-5 self-seeded mustards (Brassica juncea) popped up in the autumn and I just ...
Lisa's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
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How dangerous are the roots of brassicas (cabbage, broccoli etc)?

I've read that putting the roots of brassicas in the compost is a bad idea because of the risk of disease. I've also read that you shouldn't even plant them in the same spot for three years! What ...
Peter Turner's user avatar
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What is the best time and method for planting cauliflowers / broccoli in a southern US climate with frosts?

Inspired by the various brassicas questions, I was thinking of trying to grow some. Choosing something that I would eat, I'm thinking of either broccoli and/or cauliflower. From what I have been able ...
winwaed's user avatar
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Does it matter if my cabbage forms its heart some way off the ground?

My cabbages have been growing strongly, but until recently mostly big loose leaves, not hearts. Now they're beginning to heart up, but some way up the stalk and off the ground (about 12-15cm up the ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
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My broccoli has started to head up. Anything I should know?

First time broccoli planter. A couple of my plants have just started to form heads, is there anything special I need to do? How do I know when its ready? Also, what is the proper way to harvest ...
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10 votes
2 answers
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How to protect broccoli seedlings from high winds?

I am experimenting this autumn with more autumn/winter vegetables than I am used to. I have cabbages and leeks near maturity which will be the main events, but I've also put in some August sown purple ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
11k views

Why are the tops of my Brussels Sprouts turning purple?

What does it mean when the tops of the Brussels Sprouts start to turn purple?
corymathews's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

When do cabbage moths lay their eggs?

I just transplanted my kale starts and I'm going to put my cabbage & broccoli plants in next. Last year we had some significant damage & developmental delays from cabbage moth caterpillars ...
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8 votes
1 answer
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When should I start worrying about holes and leaf damage in my brassicas?

Brassicas are notoriously hard to protect and we have all seen cabbage and broccoli leaves stripped down to a sort of skeleton as a result of pests. But netting goes a long way to solving the problem. ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
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Are new caterpillar eggs added daily to a brassica that's already under attack?

I've got a few broccoli plants which are under attack from caterpillars. They aren't currently netted. I manually "weeded" all the caterpillars off the most distressed plant (and some of the other ...
Tea Drinker's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
242 views

Brassicas seed saving

I plan on growing a few different brassicas such as cabbages and bok choy, and I'd like to collect seeds from these open pollinated varieties so that I don't have to keep buying seeds. How do I ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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1 answer
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Do white butterfly decoys work against Pieris rapae?

I've seen various articles/posts to say that decoy artificial white butterflies, such as the one I just made, are effective in preventing attack of brassicas by the white butterfly Pieris rapae. The ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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1 answer
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Should I cut off the stems of my bolting pak choi?

My whole pak choi spring harvest is bolting right now (I sowed in a green house very early to get a second one in if need be). However I read that with pak choi when the plant is bolting it usually ...
Hans's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
652 views

Is this a brussels sprout plant?

I'm in North Carolina and a couple of these plants just sprouted in my garden. It is currently about 3 feet tall after at most a month of growing. Because of the leaves my intuition is these are ...
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4 votes
3 answers
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I thought I was growing cauliflowers

I planted these about 6 months ago thinking they were cauliflowers. Most of them seemed to go to seed(?) but one looks rather good and I am proposing to eat it. What are they and why did most of them ...
idontgetoutmuch's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
127 views

Why is my Cauliflower not producing nice shape

See picture. Instead of one large cauliflower head it is producing individual florets. What is the possible reason for that? I have done the usual watering and fertilizing so don't think that is the ...
JStorage's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Harvesting Broccoli

I am growing some late season broccoli in my backyard in a raised bed. How do I decide the right time to harvest the broccoli? Are there any visual clues I can use? I can't use the time from ...
JStorage's user avatar
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4 votes
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Need help identifying this worm

I noticed small holes in my kale and was concerned. When I looked under the leaf I saw this green worm (easy to spot). On more inspection I identified another 15 worms on this kale plant and another ...
JStorage's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why does my cauliflower plant have leaves which are damaged and full of holes?

See attached picture of my cauliflower plant in my raised bed. Other plants are healthy but this one does not look as healthy. What could be the reason?
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4 votes
2 answers
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When to transplant brassicas in legumes bed

I am growing sweet peas, broad beans and chickpeas for the summer, in an outdoor raised bed. I bought some nice organic broccoli, brussel sprouts and kale seeds for autumn-winter harvesting, and in my ...
usumdelphini's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
313 views

What is the optimal raised bed depth for Brassicas?

I built two large raised beds in my new garden, but couldn't manage to fill them to the top. The bottom is closed with cardboard and has a layer of prunings and hay 1-3 cm deep. I planted anyway 10 ...
usumdelphini's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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Diagnosing white fuzz on kale. Is this powdery mildew?

I think I'm dealing with powdery mildew, but I want to confirm that diagnosis. Context: I'm in Portland, OR. I've got several raised beds with a couple kinds of kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, some ...
emersonthis's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
48 views

Redbor Kale having issues

All of a sudden the outer edges of some of the redbor kale leaves seem to be drying. Anyone know why this could happen?
JStorage's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
791 views

Why are my Brussels sprouts rotting

This plant is in its second year now, with lots of tiny Brussels sprouts. They don't seem to grow much at all in size, and many are rotting with the leaves going brown. What's causing this, and how ...
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
193 views

What is this liquid that looks like dew drops on my brassica leaf margins?

I fertilized my plants today and watered them well. Tonight, when I looked at my vegetable patch, I found tiny drops of transparent liquid on some of my half-grown brassicas. They're on the leaf ...
Chris's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
590 views

What is this leaf vegetable with thin pale green stalks and mid-green leaves?

I thought I planted the Asian vegetable seed bok choy but what is coming out from the ground does not look like bok choy? Do you know what it is?
Audrey's user avatar
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1 answer
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What are these little black bugs on my arugula in Denver CO?

There are little black bugs slowly eating away my Arugula. I live in Denver CO. The weird thing is, we have a pot of Arugula ~50ft away from where the other Arugula is planted and it's completely fine....
iloveitaly's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
115 views

Who left these eggs behind?

Found these on the leaves of my Brussels sprouts. Just wondering if I should remove them or leave them be. Yes, snail damage present as well so I need to remove from under the leaves.
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
538 views

Why would broccoli become all twisted at the root system?

I was looking at my broccoli plant today because it was at about a 60 degree angle, and noticed that the broccoli stem is twisting back and forth. What would cause this? I'm doing charged core ...
black thumb's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
22 views

Will my Gai Lan come back on its own?

I planted a dozen gai lan plants in a container last year. They did very well and I got a nice harvest of leaves, and then let them go to seed. It's been a very warm winter here in Portland, OR, and ...
FuzzyChef's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
297 views

What is this plant? Looks like a brassica, if so, what type?

My mother just bought some flowers, and would like them identifying. She thinks they are brassicas, but would like to know what variety... Anyone any ideas? Thanks
Avrohom Yisroel's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
376 views

Why is my purple sprouting broccoli growing pods?

I noticed today my purple sprouting broccoli is growing pods where leaves should be. Why is this? What can/should I do about it? I found a picture from someone else:
black thumb's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Why has my broccoli fallen over?

I have tried to grow broccoli a couple of times and the plants often topple over. A couple of years ago I grew from seed, this year I bought in some plants and planted them out a few weeks ago. Both ...
TafT's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
66 views

What kind of cabbage is this?

This sprouted without us planting it. What is it? Leaves do not taste very much.
trmdttr's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
63 views

What's up with this rot on our brassicas?

We've got some rot on the kale, cabbage and harvested broccoli plants that we haven't seen in the last 5 years of growing these. It's been a weird year for my garden here in Northern VT all around: ...
doub1ejack's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
31 views

How can I keep broccoli flowers from forming the same day the bud appears?

I'm growing purple broccoli, and the petals from the flower on top is forming the same day that it appears. How can I prevent this from happening so quickly? It's forming white petals if you're ...
black thumb's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
553 views

What are these small black flecks on my brussels sprouts?

I've been battling aphids all summer and they were ruthless to all my brassica plants. It's the beginning of October and they seem to have backed off of my kale (what's left of it), but I've still ...
emersonthis's user avatar