SAVING SEEDS - CABBAGE FAMILY
By: Ron
The One Who Walks Two Paths
Well, it seems that I forgot to harvest a cabbage last fall and this spring the head has split open and I have a 2-foot tall flower stalk. They are supposed to grow upwards of 5 feet. The flower stalk will look like a large Yucca flower.
Plants from the cabbage family include cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi. They are all biennials (meaning they flower and die in their second year), so to save seed from any of the above several things need to be done. One must choose only the best of the plants to carry over the winter. This will ensure only the best genetics from the crop will carry over. You need to make sure when winter sets in that you have mulched heavily enough that the plant will not freeze.
One way to do this is to dig a trench below the frost line and dig up the plant roots and all, then place them in the bottom of the trench and backfill with straw, leaves or any other type mulch. Mound this several feet higher than the surrounding soil, or if you have a root cellar dig the plants up, place in large tubs and carry them over in the cellar. The only thing is don't let them dry out to the point the soil becomes either rock hard or dust. Then come spring, as soon as the soil can be worked, plant the cabbage back out in the garden and cut an X in the top of the head to the depth of 2 inches. This will ensure that the flower stack has a good chance of coming out of the top. As the stalk grows stake it to ensure that it does not break off. The flowers will be yellow and the seed pods will look like broccoli seed pods. As it is very difficult to find five foot pantyhose, the best way to harvest the pods is watch them twice daily and pick all the pods that have turned yellow. Place them in an old pair of panty hose to further dry and split. Separate the seed by plant so that when you have collected and dried the seed you can test 20 of the seed on a wet paper towel for germination. As some cabbage plants are sterile this will allow you to weed out any sterile seed before putting it up for storage. Any plant that does not produce at least 60% germination should not have any seed saved from it.
How many cabbage plants do you need to set aside for seed? Well, it should be a minimum of 6. This will ensure if one of the plants ends up being sterile you will still have seed to plant.
Seed Viability - 5 years
Pollinated by - insects
Isolate from other types of cabbage - yes (by at least 100 feet)