[Elcie]

Hi everyone, going to plant my brassicas at the allotment this weekend and have the net ready!

I am planting them in raised beds which were only dug over this year.  In my experience there will still be lots of weeds which will grow and I don't want to have to keep removing the net to sort out the weeds.

My question is, can I put down some weed membrane or a black plastic sheet I have (which is specifically for this purpose) and grow the brassica through holes in the plastic?  Will it affect the plants growth at all?

[blackbob]

Hi everyone, going to plant my brassicas at the allotment this weekend and have the net ready!

I am planting them in raised beds which were only dug over this year.  In my experience there will still be lots of weeds which will grow and I don't want to have to keep removing the net to sort out the weeds.

My question is, can I put down some weed membrane or a black plastic sheet I have (which is specifically for this purpose) and grow the brassica through holes in the plastic?  Will it affect the plants growth at all?

yip plant through the membrane.i'd think twice about planting brassicas out at the momment,we have some very strong winds forecast and they snap for fun when first planted out.
as a rule weeds aren't a problem among brassicas,leaf cover normally smothers most of the weeds.

[shaun]

thats how i grow mine,give the underside of the teram a sprinkling of slug pellets 

[Dee0]

Hi I know it's an old post but here goes.

That's how I did my PSB, kale and sprouts last year - planted through the plastic.  Do you think it would be ok to reuse the plastic this year for brassicas again but in another position?  Would it carry any diseases or bugs with it?

Thanks for any ideas. 

[Salmo]

Unless you have a history of clubroot I doubt if there is anything to worry about.

I would certainly spread the sheet out and wash off any soil.

You could do this with a dilute solution of Jeyes fluid or other disinfectant to make sure.

I did mine like this but with less robust sheet. Picking cabbage and sprouters with no mud is a real luxury.

[Dee0]

That's brilliant, thank you.

it's the first time I'd grown anything in quantity and it made them almost completely weeding and watering free.  I'm still getting loads from them now!

[Pompey Spud]

I personally wouldn't plant and anything out.
Just going to sow indoors some caulies and romanesco etc.

[DD.]

What brassicas are you planting Elcie? In line with what PS says, my first brassicas went out the end of April last year and I anticipate the same.

PS - re sowing caulis indoors - I hope not in a centrally heated house!

[Pompey Spud]

Nope DD
Unheated conservatory.
Thanks for mentioning it anyway.
I'll probably delay now that the forecast is a week more of cold air.

[zazen999]

Elcie's post was last May.....DeeO bumped this to ask a question about reusing the weed fabric [it doesn't mention sowing or planting them out yet!!!]....pay attention people!!!

[Dee0]

Oh thank you - I was getting really confused then!!

[massa]

this might sound like a daft question but im a newbie to growing veg why should you not start you cauliflowers off i a centrally heated house?

[zazen999]

this might sound like a daft question but im a newbie to growing veg why should you not start you cauliflowers off i a centrally heated house?

Because all brassicas don't need any heat to germinate [if they are sown around April/May time] and grow better if they aren't subjected to heat as they don't grow sappy and weak. Don't forget they are in the ground for autumn and winter so need to be 'hard' not 'soft'....

[massa]

i best move mine then i sowed some caulis last week with my toms and chillis and kale, i put them in the spare room on the windowsill. should i just move the caulis or move them all?