Just an update for info on this really – I’ve just had a good crop of Caulis, they seemed to recover from the midge and only grew one stem which yielded a good cauli. As for the PSB it is cropping well now, having continued to grow multi stemmed after the midge, just the main stems are smaller so the nice head that you get from that is small, but still it could have been worse. Even the Red Russian Kale which looked totally knackered is recovering and putting out some new stem with small leaves!
And so…..
Currently pondering my planning dates for Brassicas and the swede midge is at forefront of my mind…. have ditched the Red Russian as it just got battered but want to keep PSB and some Caulis, .thinking one strategy is to just plant as late as possible – first generation peak apparently comes late May to early/mid June and so if no Brassicas that they like around hopefully they’ll go elsewhere…. so how late could the dates for Purple Sprouting be? Could I sow in June and plant out end of July and still get an ideally sized plant? Or maybe I should grow a little bigger in pots before planting out end of July?
Thanks Stew