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Booming brassicas, dilly dallying dill and allium

by Caro
(Cape Town)

a really upstarting Chinese cabbage

It is 15 June or near mid winter in Cape Town. We have had rain for two weeks and cold weather has also finally arrived. I transplanted Four weeks ago, I transplanted two sets of plants. I planted up my tube system with onions and dill which had recently germinated in sixpacks, it still looks the same, the onions have not 'moved' but the dill is maybe twice the size. Three days later I also planted well grown mustard and Chinese cabbage seedlings from small pots into the garden beds. These have trippled in size, changing the colour of the back garden. Now I planted onion and dill according to sowing timetables on the internet. I think they are scarcely worth sowin in May. They are just dormant and taking up space. I would sow them much earlier, let them grow to a decent size in Autumn and then plant them out in early winter so that they can enjoy the damp chilly weather. In contrast, the brassicas love this kind of weather no matter what size they are. This is the kind of information which simple sounding 'how to' pages seldom impart. It is the fruit of experience. So glad I set out to maximize my vegetable garden this year and really tackle the challenges like succession, planning and nursery practice.