Look on the seed packet for the expected length of the root vegetable.Ĩ. Prepare your soil to a fine tilth to at least a spade’s depth or to a depth 6cm deeper than the length of the vegetable e.g. After that, as days lengthen, the bulbs will swell. Vernalise your garlic (put it in the fridge) for 40 days before planting to give it a false winter which will allow it to develop roots and shoots before the shortest day (21 June). The next day the seedlings will stand upright. Lean the seedlings against one side of the farrow, backfill with soil and water in. Raise in punnets and plant in a farrow (use the edge of a hoe for this). As the plants expand, the leaf coverage makes it difficult for enough rain or even hand watering to get to the soil. Lay dripline if possible between rows of brassicas. These eggs turn into very hungry caterpillars.Ĥ. Net all brassicas and secure the bottom of the net with weights to prevent the white cabbage butterfly from laying eggs on the foliage.

This prevents wobble which leads to poor anchorage in the soil and small heads.ģ. Plant brassicas so that the lower leaves are partially or wholly submerged in the soil. It is available from Yates as ‘Nature’s Way Caterpillar Killer’.Ģ. Before planting out, dip seedlings in Dipel, an organic bacterium that takes care of green caterpillars, the eggs of which may already be on the underside of the leaf. Brassicas – cauliflower, cabbage, cabbage, kaleġ.

Planting cauliflower seedlings