VEGETABLES - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 50

All the brassicas hate being too cramped in pots as they grow and moving them on to a
larger size as the roots hit the bottom of the pot is a good idea.
Even the two Japanese varieties recommended need a fair bit of space though, Kabuki tak-
ing the least at a final spacing of 12 inches (30cm) and Sakura needing 18 inches (45cm)
minimum. If pot growing, a minimum pot size of 8 inches (20cm) is needed.
Brassicas, being primarily a leaf vegetable, should be fed with a multi-purpose feed high
in nitrogen rather than tomato feed.
Brussels Sprouts
I really can't recommend growing sprouts in pots. They need a fair amount of time and space
to develop and, unless you have the space for large tubs, they're unlikely to do well.
None is suitable for close spacing, needing between 18 inches (45cm) and 36 inches
(90cm) between plants and you can't bring them on too far in pots before planting out. If you
really love sprouts, as I do after starting to grow my own, then give them a go but otherwise
they're not a good use of limited space.
Cabbage
If you're growing in a small garden's border, then you may be tempted to try the decorative
cabbages that have been developed as foliage plants for the flower border. Don't. They just
don't have taste. Anyway, I'd contend a proper ball red cabbage is just as attractive as any
foliage plant.
There are a number of smaller varieties well suited for both small space growing and con-
tainer growing. One advantage of these smaller types is that they are the right size for the
smaller modern family. The football size cabbage might well make two meals for a family of
six or eight but a family of three will be heartily sick of cabbage by the time it is gone.
Minicole is an excellent small cabbage with great flavour, well suited to pot or close spa-
cing. It's also popular with commercial growers for coleslaw making.
Hispi is slightly larger but again has excellent flavour and is suitable for pot and close spa-
cings. Its pointed style looks attractive in mixed pots as well as singly and it matures quickly.
It can be grown at most times of the year and would be my choice if I could only grow one
variety. It's got the RHS Award of Garden Merit as well.
Pixie is another pointed variety with the RHS Award, although I found Hispi gave me bet-
ter results.
Puma is a variety that works well for producing 'baby cabbages' at close spacing but if you
have enough space to harvest alternately and leave some to grow on, it will produce 1kg (2.2
lb) heads of good quality. It's difficult to find seed though.
Other varieties worth looking at: