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Kohl rabi

TootlesTootles Posts: 1,471 ✭
in Fruit & veg
Any advice appreciated on where best to grow kohl rabi. Plus how big should the plants be before I plant them in their final place? Any other growing tips on this veg much appreciated as always.
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Posts

  • happymarionhappymarion Posts: 4,591

    I grew a fine crop of Purple Vienna Kohl rabi last year outside in a raised bed.  I followed the instructions on the packet for growing outside so did not plant out but thinned out the plants as they get quite big and need a lot of room.  A very useful and delicious veg.  You eat the greens like spinach and the swollen stem like turnip,  great in stews and raw in salads alike!

  • TootlesTootles Posts: 1,471 ✭
    Thanks Happymarion. When I lived in London my neighbours dad gave me one that he'd grown and it was utterly delicious! Now I've moved and have a new veg garden I can't wait to try and grow it myself. Do you get many from each plant? Is the plant size comparable to a courgette plant?
  • TootsietimTootsietim Posts: 178 ✭

    I too direct sow my kohlrabi with good results. A big problem is dry soil, they really do not like going dry at the roots so moisture retentive soil and possibly a mulch, (I use grass clippings, but don't if you use chemicals on your lawn.)

    Lastly, I sow little and often as they are much nicer when small.

  • happymarionhappymarion Posts: 4,591

    I plant gives one stem corm which is what you don't want to let get bigger than a tennis ball in cade it goes stringy.  I found they kept well.  Good advice from Tootsietim about sowing little and often.  I was making loads of stews and soups and freezing them for the winter.  It was a very popular veg. in Victorian times in this country and still a staple in Eastern European countries where they have it three or four times a week like we have potatoes.

  • TootlesTootles Posts: 1,471 ✭
    For some reason I'd imagined I'd get a few from each plant! Doh! I'll try sowing direct. Now a good time to do this? Thanks for the tip on them not liking dry soil tootsietim. Please forgive this next question ( I'm cringing to ask as I must sound rather dim) but is a stem corm something that grows under the soil, like beetroot does?
  • happymarionhappymarion Posts: 4,591

    No, it grews above the soil on the stem.  The stem just swells as the plant grows!  It is fascinating to watch.  You are not at all dim.  Dim people don't ask.

     

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 47,925 ✭

    http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/ghita/ghita1209/ghita120900010/15327961-growing-kohlrabi-plants.jpg 

    This shows it quite well image

    "...tea and toasted buttered currant buns, can't compensate for lack of sun because the summer's all gone..."   Autumn Almanac - Ray Davies
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Leicestershire, UKPosts: 6,968 ✭

    I start in modules and plant out like all brassicas at the 5-leaf stage.  They are one of the most reliable crops on my clay soil.. as long as I remember to net them before the flyling rats (wood pigeons) get them!  Purple vienna here, too - later sowings often last into the winter without going too woody.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • TootlesTootles Posts: 1,471 ✭
    Thanks ever so much folks. Great help as always.
  • happymarionhappymarion Posts: 4,591

    Don't forget when thinning out to put the leavef the thinnings  in your salad bowl - delicious.

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