Brassica seeds in modules

[Digeroo]

So I sowed several type of brassicas in modules.  They germinated well and started to grow and then did not get much bigger. 
There was not much wrong with the compost the courgettes plants became huge.
In the end I planted out some very poor looking brassicas and once outside they have done well, just starting to crop the broccoli.
So what am I doing wrong.
For many years we have had a great guy at the local market.  His brassicas seedlings were amazing, so I have not bothered with my own.  He has now retired.
So what am I doing wrong?
I made a mistake and manage to plant some Dahlia seeds and cabbages in the same tray.  Dahlias great, cabbages stopped growing. 
I watered, I tried feeding.  I thought they might be too hot on the windowsill, so I put some out, but a deer ate them.
I really do need to get my act together on this before next year.  Bought seedlings at our local garden centre are very expensive, and they are not even in single modules. 
I sowed some cabbages direct, and covered with some blue netting,  someone stole it, and the pigeons attached the cabbages.  And there were two foot prints in my seed bed.

[Digeroo]

[Tee Gee]

They germinated well and started to grow and then did not get much bigger.

Snap!

Exactly the same symptoms I have suffered from this season!

My findings....the compost was too acidic!


As I said I had problems as described above and tried all sorts of things to rectify the situation in the end after seeing the state of the root systems of dead or poorly plants....they had not developed!(see pic)

I suspected the compost pH but did not have a decent pH meter to prove this, so I searched high & low on Amazon and finally plumped for one (very few had 5* reviews)


As soon as I stuck the meter into the compost the needle flew over to the acidic side of neutral and on one occasion I got a reading of 5 although to be fair most were between 6 and 6.5.

In fact, I tried my old meter which I have never seen the needle move out of the 6.6-7.7 zone, this time it did!


It was then I decided to start mixing my own compost again! So again I went onto Amazon and bought some John Innes base fertiliser to add to my existing compost along with a regulated quantity of lime!

Touch wood! The plants that I have re-planted into my own mix are surviving but due to the initial check in growth they are not up to the standard I would like.


I mentioned the following in a previous thread that on the compost bag in fairly large print "That this compost is not suitable for commercial use" Why I asked myself!


I got on to the producers as opposed to the suppliers, and they said that I was using a "Retail" mix rather than a commercial mix the recipe is quite different!


So not a level playing field then! Something I have always suspected since the emergence of Peat free/reduced composts!


Now for my opinion and it is this: The commercial stuff has the cream of the peat and the retail stuff has the dregs!

So with sphagnum based peats which comes from 'bogs' rather than 'heathland' the commercial stuff gets the actual moss but the retail stuff gets the silt from the bottom of the bog!

Now as we are often told  peat stores large quantities of C02 which is (in my opinion) washed through into the silt at the base of the bog turning anything that is in contact with it into an acidic material i.e.......................the stuff used for RETAIL compost! Hence, the warning on the bag.


Now back to your Brassicas!

Brassicas need an Alkaline soil/compost and do not perform well in soil/compost with a pH of less than 7

So if my comments above have any truth in them then this is why your Brassicas are not performing as well as you would like them to!


p.s I must emphasize that all I have written above is my personal opinion and I have no real proof if I am right or not, that is for you to decide!

[JanG]

Very interesting.

I too have found things not prospering and on reflection mainly brassicas. I've started to plant into bigger modules or small pots before planting out, and adding slow release fertiliser at that stage, all of which is time and resource heavy. At the same time, guarding against flea beetle seems to have become more difficult but that's another story.

This is all unfortunately also true of the peat-free composts I've tried this season which might be too acidic but for different reasons presumably. I had been thinking that they just don't hold nutrients to the same extent as peat-based composts.

So, food for thought. Thank you.

And commiserations, Digeroo, over stolen netting, attacked cabbages and footprints. Triple whammy. Not nice.

[lottie lou]

Still having probs with sticky fingered neighbours I see. Commiserations

[bridbod]

Maybe try adding some powdered eggshells to the peaty compost to increase the Ph.

[Plot22]

I think that Tee Gee makes  good point I use Clover Professional seed compost not general purpose compost which I buy from my Allotment association for all my seeds and I have a 95% germination rate. With brassicas I then pot them on using general purpose professional compost into cardboard pots from the £1 shops. When I set into their final position I just tear the bottom of the cardboard pot off and set to avoid disturbing the roots. I have set this year 40 cauliflower, 24 calabrese , 10 various cabbage and 40 odd brussels and I have probably only lost 2 or 3 plants.

[ACE]

Every one of us should be writing to our MP.  They should be investigating the rip off composts. This has gone on too long. Perhaps we can get the snowflakes riled up to hold a 'Plant lives Matter' demonstration. I am not savvy on the starting of an E petition, but one needs to be started and hold the purveyers of this rubbish posing as compost to account. We have all the buzz words, sustainability, food miles, obesity, etc etc etc. Allotment holders rise up and be counted. POWER TO THE GARDENER.