Does anyone have experience of growing brassicas in raised beds?

One of the claimed advantages of raised beds is that one never needs to
tread on them - so the soil does not become compacted. This goes again
the traditional wisdom that brassicas need planting in very firm ground.
Ideally brassicas also need to be part of any crop rotation.

Any comments? Some suggest that the reason for firmly planting
brassicas is to prevent root damage due to windrock. Perhaps this can be
mitigated by planting with the lower leaves right on the soil and
careful staking..

Andrew

On 10/04/2018 13:00, Skyman wrote:
Does anyone have experience of growing brassicas in raised beds?

One of the claimed advantages of raised beds is that one never needs to
tread on them - so the soil does not become compacted.Â* This goes again
the traditional wisdom that brassicas need planting in very firm ground.
Â*Ideally brassicas also need to be part of any crop rotation.

Any comments?Â* Some suggest that the reason for firmly planting
brassicas is to prevent root damage due to windrock. Perhaps this can be
mitigated by planting with the lower leaves right on the soil and
careful staking..

Andrew

What you say about form ground and wind rock are really only applying to
Sprouts.

In article ,
Skyman wrote:

Does anyone have experience of growing brassicas in raised beds?

No, but I have some comments.

One of the claimed advantages of raised beds is that one never needs to
tread on them - so the soil does not become compacted. This goes again
the traditional wisdom that brassicas need planting in very firm ground.
Ideally brassicas also need to be part of any crop rotation.

It's fine in theory, but rain also compacts soil! And it's NBG for
vegetables that can't be grown in rows. While brassicas can, it adds
to the amount of netting and hassle, if you need to net them.

Any comments? Some suggest that the reason for firmly planting
brassicas is to prevent root damage due to windrock. Perhaps this can be
mitigated by planting with the lower leaves right on the soil and
careful staking..

It can. Brassicas will grow new roots from the stem, so long-stemmed
plants can be planted quite deep.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.