Transplanting question

I suppose lots of people have their own way of doing it, but my method includes giving the plants a thorough watering first as this will reduce shock of being disturbed.

Next, prepare the planting hole - make it bigger than the rootball of the plant, add some compost (optional - it can help for roots to be able to take up nutrients not long after planting.  Also consider how fertile the soil is - you could add some fertiliser such as BFB or Growmore into the hole as well)  If the soil is dry put some water in.  You can put lime in the planting hole if there is risk of clubroot or if the soil is on the acidic side.

Carefully loosen the soil round the plant and down - use a fork rather than a trowel in case the roots have spread out wider than you thought, and scoop up.  Avoid the soil round the roots being disturbed if you can, and transfer to the planting hole.

Brassicas can be planted deeper than the original soil level.  Back fill with the soil and compress round the soil (depending on the soil, using the heel of your boot may be necessary) - this helps to prevent rocking in windy conditions, as brassicas are not fond of loose soil round the roots.  Presuming these are for sprouts next spring (?) you might want to consider staking for additional sturdy support as the plants get bigger and have to endure winter and strong winds.

Finally, give the plants another thorough watering - if you did damage any roots, the water will keep the plants from wilting so quickly.  If you transplant on a hot day or windy day, this will become more evident but normally they recover well afterwards.

Checked growth can happen if roots are damaged or disturbed, but I'd say brassicas generally are a lot hardier than say, tender summer crops so should be alright. 

I by far favour sowing brassicas in modules, potting on into 3" pots and then planting out with a large root ball.

1 - It's by far more economical with seed.

2 - Having club root the plant has a better chance with the bigger, undisturbed, root ball - this applies even if you don't!

3 - Back to the club root issue, I can safely pass on spare plants without the fear of passing on club root.

I have done this with the cabbage and kale, basically I am using my first year as a bit of an experimentation phase, thus tried both direct sowing and module sowing.

Regarding 1. the seed was large enough that I could drop individual seeds an inch or two apart, even carrot seed is large enough to do this I find, so the wastage option is not so much of an issue. One packet of seeds is way more than I need for myself anyway.

If you don't have a car, it is easier to transport a packet of seeds to the allotment compared to 30 or so plantlets in 3 inch pots.