[mushroom]

I pulled my cabbages today - they never did 'heart' but then again, they were planted at completely the wrong time of year. I just planted em because they were a gift (as plants at the 5th leaf stage), and, at that time, i had nothing in the ground.

What amazed me was, given the size of them above ground (they got big!), their root system was tiny! Very shallow! Are they meant to be so? if not, what could it mean?

[muntjac]

the soil neede breaking up to allow the roots to get down and water on the srface keeps them shalow

[mushroom]

do ya think this caused them not to heart? how deep do the roots usually go?

[WG.]

do ya think this caused them not to heart? how deep do the roots usually go?

Unlikely - you said above that they were planted at completely the wrong time of year. Without knowing the variety and having pictures, it is hard to tell how yours were but it is surprising how little roots are on even a very large cabbage/cauli.

Remember the lentil recipe for your outer cabbage leaves : http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=30944#30944