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Shorter plants

barrybiddiscombebarrybiddiscombe Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg
Are there any short varieties of purple sprouting? Love the resulting veg but the tall plants get blown over so easily. Staking and tying in is rather awkward. Also making a netted frame to keep the pigeons of is a problem with the extra height. BarryB

Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 11,170
    edited December 2019
    *Bump*
    Hopefully someone can help you Barry. I don't think there are dwarf varieties but l could be wrong.  Maybe someone can advise re staking etc.  :)
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 28,827
    edited December 2019
    When you plant them, do you bury them up to their first leaves and firm them in well?   That does help.  OH's Brussels plants are now 4' high and still standing, blast them, despite winds of 12kph this last week and very soft ground thanks to all the rain.

    Other than that, erect a windbreak?  We're thinking of trying a Florida weave for our outside toms next year - posts and twine so cheap and easy.  - https://morningchores.com/florida-weave/
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • NollieNollie Posts: 6,762
    No shorter varieties exist, so far as I am aware, but I believe someone in Spain is trying to develop one, which would be handy as they do get so tall.

    Mine were planted and staked sturdily enough, but the size of protective cage needed, as you say, Barry, was enormous. I used netting on the frame to keep out the cabbage whites rather than pigeons, but mine were attacked by swarms of pesky small shield bugs, red and black devils that ate all the young shoots. I tried a very fine mesh but they still got in.

    Someone on another forum said he sows his late, which results in smaller plants, might be worth a try:
    https://forum.kitchengarden.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=8344
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • barrybiddiscombebarrybiddiscombe Posts: 2
    Just found Tamar Organics who offer Broccoli Sante F1 seed with the prospect of shorter plants. With early harvesting June to November. Worth a try. Tamar have a full range of seed and a quick response to online orders at what I feel are competitive prices. 
  • NollieNollie Posts: 6,762
    That’s good to know, Barry. Apart from height the pest problem, I have great difficulty growing broccoli to term because my hot summers get too hot for them - an earlier cropping one might work...
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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