[Kleftiwallah]

I have a raised bed 8' X 4 1/2' I have an assortment of brassicas I wish to squeeze in there.  Two types of cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts.  I know 'the books' say 2-3 feet in all directions, but just how many can I shoehorn into this bed?

Cheers and looking forward to your replies. Tony.

[rowlandwells]

I've always been told to give my brassicas room to grow although last year we did plant our cabbage I think a bit to close in the raised beds they did form but not as big as I thought they would

some folks say you can close plant with raised beds some say you need to space the plants i planted my brussels close and they didn't crop very well don't know if close planting encouraged the infestation of aphids but we gave our broccoli space and we had good results even though the plants where pulled down by the environmental mesh being to tight


according to my catalogue they recommend planting brussels at 60x60 cm and cabbage 30x60cm but its going to be interesting to see how other gardeners reply to this topic

[sunshineband]

With all of these, it depends on the eventual size of the mature plants given enough space. Greyhound cabbages are pretty compact, large ballheads can be nearly a metre across their leaf area. Closer planting does reduce their size, but too close and they don't give you much.

And as Rowland commented, too close does also allow pests to proliferate too

I can only say that I planted 6 Brussels Sprouts (Crispus) in a space 1.2 square and they were fine. Clapton caulis only had 4 plants in that space, (whereas larger caulis only 3) and large cabbages 3 plants just squeezed in, but smaller ones 4 - 6 would be fine

It is one of those "How long is  a peice of string? " type questions really, but i hope that helps a bit

[Kleftiwallah]

Many thanks for those knowledgeabe replies.
 I may have to find somwhere else for a type of brassica. 
Which of the usual brassicas require the most sun?

Cheers,   Tony.

[Goosegirl]

I've always found I can get away with some shade during the day because they don't mature and go over as quickly.

[Hampshire Hog]

Interesting question I have just planted up 8 Brussels into a raised bed simply because that’s how many in the strip I bought! (Couldn’t face thought of not planting them all)
Historically I haven’t seen any major issues with planting reasonably closely in a raised bed. Only thing I learnt was that I seemed to get better results when I remembered to lime the bed before planting up. Will watch out for bugs I normally get a fair number of white fly.
Cheers HH

[Kleftiwallah]

Good morning Hampshire Hog, and all others...
well they are in, far too close together but as you said it seems a shame not to plant all the veggies in a strip.

I have some lime but sadly I didn't lime before planting.  I may lime half the bed and watch.  I may take some plants out that grow faster than others giving the slower ones more room.

Cheers,  Tony.