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Post by meandtk on Mar 7, 2019 15:39:46 GMT -5
Is there a cabbage that will grow in the southern heat and humidity, or should I wait until fall?
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 7, 2019 15:53:51 GMT -5
meandtk, I haven't grown head cabbage, but I grew Semposia last year. It's in the cabbage family or should a I say it's komatsuma mixed with cabbage. It did great for awhile till it got pretty warm. I think you'd be safe till June
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Post by september on Mar 7, 2019 16:04:12 GMT -5
meandtk , I don't know if these would work for you, but I tried these "baby" cabbages last year and they actually grew up into nice sized small heads by fall here in the north. About the size you can buy in grocery produce shelves. Maybe they would mature before the heat kicks in for you. I don't remember which seed catalog they came from, but they are both hybrids. Caraflex, and Triplet Mix.
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Post by meandtk on Mar 7, 2019 16:13:23 GMT -5
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 7, 2019 16:20:26 GMT -5
meandtk, One thing I might mention. They grow very fast as in you can watch them grow. Get ready to pick! They freeze well too. We put several gallon zip locks in the freezer. We ate every one of them too! They are in my diary here.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 7, 2019 16:28:16 GMT -5
They were scalped 4 days prior to taking this picture. The Semposia are growing in each corner.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Mar 7, 2019 17:49:06 GMT -5
One thing that I remember before we gave up growing cabbage. If you carefully cut of the head and leave the bottom leaves on the stem , another small head will often grow. Cabbage worms were a major problem though.
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Post by meandtk on Mar 7, 2019 17:59:55 GMT -5
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Post by bestofour on Mar 7, 2019 21:22:48 GMT -5
I grew cabbage once. Couldn't keep the worms away.
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Post by paquebot on Mar 7, 2019 21:32:20 GMT -5
Look at the Day to Maturity listed with each variety. Cabbage can generally be classes as early or late. Early is in the 60-70 days while late is often more than 100 days. You should be able to get mature heads from the early ones. I plant both up here to have cabbage available all summer and fall.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by meandtk on Mar 7, 2019 21:45:00 GMT -5
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 7, 2019 21:55:27 GMT -5
I grew cabbage once. Couldn't keep the worms away. You can save on bacon that way. LAUGHING!!!!!
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Post by bestofour on Mar 8, 2019 20:17:31 GMT -5
eww
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Post by spacecase0 on Mar 8, 2019 22:48:01 GMT -5
the only thing that I learned about brassicas in the last few years is that they just don't germinate if the temperature never falls below 60F so whatever you do with them, don't think you can get them to germinate in the middle of a hot summer.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Mar 8, 2019 23:11:12 GMT -5
the only thing that I learned about brassicas in the last few years is that they just don't germinate if the temperature never falls below 60F so whatever you do with them, don't think you can get them to germinate in the middle of a hot summer. With all those brassicas I grow every year, I start them indoors, so I know that they germinate at temps around 68-70°. I do this so that I can plant them outside, and not have to thin, and cover immediately with agribon. I just do this around 3 weeks before transplant, in trays 72 pots/tray, so they are very small, and most varieties have filled up the pots after the 3 weeks. If I don't cover immediately, rabbits attack them overnight.
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Post by spacecase0 on Mar 9, 2019 0:25:28 GMT -5
the only thing that I learned about brassicas in the last few years is that they just don't germinate if the temperature never falls below 60F so whatever you do with them, don't think you can get them to germinate in the middle of a hot summer. With all those brassicas I grow every year, I start them indoors, so I know that they germinate at temps around 68-70°. I do this so that I can plant them outside, and not have to thin, and cover immediately with agribon. I just do this around 3 weeks before transplant, in trays 72 pots/tray, so they are very small, and most varieties have filled up the pots after the 3 weeks. If I don't cover immediately, rabbits attack them overnight. really ? then I wonder why my seeds will wait in wet soil for 5 months to germinate ?
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 9, 2019 8:32:15 GMT -5
spacecase0, pepperhead212, I also germinate mine indoors and the temperature is about 68 - 80 so I think that the soil may make a difference. I use soiless potting mix indoors and it is very light textured with lots of air spaces. I tried to germinate onions outdoors with no luck but indoors they pop right up. Yes, I know they are not brassicas but it's an example of a seed that I couldn't germinate outside. I have never tried an outdoor germination with any brassicas due to our short growing season for them.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 9, 2019 10:01:29 GMT -5
Okay, that is interesting.
I had noticed that I have trouble germinating onions outside, but I can usually germinate them inside with no trouble. I assumed that something was eating the seeds. Maybe it's the fluffy potting mix I use inside.
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Post by paquebot on Mar 9, 2019 10:27:37 GMT -5
Cabbage will germinate at 41ºF with ideal being 77ºF. Does not like anything higher. I have started mine outside for year. Seems that no matter how much light they were given inside, they always flopped. That does not happen when started under natural sunlight. In fact, I do not sow them in individual cells but rather in "bulk". That way they are forced to grow straight up.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 25, 2019 10:17:11 GMT -5
I just planted some cabbage seed on the 23rd/June. It's really old (1992) so who knows? I planted maybe 100 seeds and am hoping for at least 5 or 6. It's the only green cabbage seed I could find in my seed collection. I don't know if it will even do that well here in summer. (coastal SoCal). Right now we've had a month of daily dense marine layer, with lots of mist in the mornings. But that should end soon. We rarely get 'hot' in summers, with max only a few days in the 90's, and every few years a few days into the low 100s, but that is rare. Though with climate change, who knows. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some cabbage in soon. Those short day cabbages (opps, meant to say 'early') sound interesting. I'll have to go seed shopping I guess. I've been using cabbage more and more in simple cooking and would prefer to grow my own. I also made sauerkraut for the first time this past week and think it smells great in that short a time. Would have tasted it yesterday, but had lots to do away from home and didnt want to eat a home-fermented food 'just in case'. As for germinating temps of Brassicas, I've generally not paid any attention and mostly gotten good germination. But then compared to many of you, our temps do not reach extremes of either hot or cold. Edit, Just happened on a nice seed sale at Burpees, and am in the midst of ordering an array of cabbage seeds. Don't really need anything else. Edit 2: just ordered 6 'new to me' varieties of cabbage. The deal was 10 seed packets for $25, so why not? (SEEDSALE619) Plus 2.99 shipping for seeds. My personal motto: Anything worth doing is worth over-doing.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 25, 2019 10:53:03 GMT -5
Good luck with your cabbage planting. 1992 is really old for cabbage seed, but who knows? You might get a few to come up. And what else are you going to do with seeds that old, right? But you'll have fresh seeds soon for your fall cabbage planting in any case.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 25, 2019 11:23:57 GMT -5
1992 is really old for cabbage seed, but who knows? In 3 years they would have been 30 years old - just reaching their prime, lol. The packet has been stored in a fridge all that time, so there might be a chance to get a few. I planted in 60 small cells, with most getting at least 2 seeds each. Cole seeds can remain viable for many years, but even they must have limits. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Now I just have to wait a week or more for fresh seed....
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Post by paquebot on Jun 25, 2019 12:03:34 GMT -5
U ended up with a mix of 6 or 7 varieties and did not plant them in any particular order. Some were Earliana, Copenhagen Market, Early Golden Acre, Quick Start, Ruby Perfection, Jung's Babies, and Megaton. Also several unknown from a friend. Some are already heading and should be ready by mid-July. They certainly have enjoyed the cool spring. Lots of potential kraut out there.
As for Gianna's climate and cabbage, the most impressive cabbage patches that I have seen were not in Europe but in Durban, South Africa. Sub-tropical and warm enough for bananas but rains every other day. Both warmed and cooled by the Indian Ocean. May be close to SoCal coastal conditions except for the rains.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 25, 2019 12:40:23 GMT -5
These are the varieties I ordered: Early Jersey Wakefield, Charleston Wakefield, Caraflex Hybrid, Salad delight (red), Brunswick, and Earliana. ...pretty much anything they carried that formed a head. I'll have to see which do well here. I think the old seed I planted was 'Copenhagen Market', but am too lazy to look right now.
Glad to hear cabbages did well in Durban. Here we are a true Mediterranean climate, and South Africa, though classed as Mediterranean, is a bit different. Judging by the looks of the plants growing there, it definitely has more of a tropical touch (warmth and moisture). And Durban is even further northeast than Cape Town.
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Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2019 19:52:29 GMT -5
I normally do not plant cabbage because it just does not do well in hot climates.
This year, however, I was taken by an ad that promised that a strain of Chinese cabbage would produce conical heads a foot high and would grow well into hot weather. I spread some seed in the cold frame, promptly became ill and got six weeks behind. I did at last plant four plants, gave away a dozen more.
By George! The stuff delivered. Saturday we split a head with the neighbors, and today we put one in a pot of corned beef. Nice, big beautiful heads of cabbage shaped like blunt artillery shells. Fellow I know here, native to the area, says that if I plant that in August I will have cabbage all winter.
Bugs are getting after it in the last week; tomorrow I spray, probably with Captain Jack's.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 10, 2019 13:24:01 GMT -5
Nice - congrats on the summer cabbage!
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