Kohl rabi

[CaptainMyCaptain]

I planted some of these from seed and have a mass of greenery but no bulbs forming. I thinned them out a bit but it hasn't helped. Is there still hope or should I pull them out and plant something useful before it's too late?

The sprouting broccoli is very leafy too but I think that still has time to form florets.

The peas, nearby, are doing fine.

I'm hoping someone can advise.

Kohl rabi - the "bulbs" are a swelling of the stem as the plant stores food for the winter. You've still got time. I wouldn't pull them up just yet. In general I wouldn't give up on any cabbage until it flowers (and of course flowers is what you want on broccoli)

Thanks. I pulled a few out because they looked a bit crowded but I'll leave the rest.

Thinning out was probably a good idea. They seem to need a surprising amount of room.

I'm always a bit reluctant to thin out seedlings - it seems such a waste but I know it must be done.

Ask yourself whetehr you want to thin out to 6 plants and get 6 kohl rabi, or keep all the seedlings and get none.

Or you could transplant the seedlings you remove.

It's easier if you limit your sowing in the first place. For example plant radish seed individually, space at least 1 inch apart.

I only have a tiny garden so I only plant a, few of everything anyway but sometimes judge it wrong and plant them too close together. I think that there are some conditions that lead to excess greenery and not enough of the food part of the plant whether tuber, seed pods or whatever. I wondered if this is what had gone wrong but not sure whether it was too much/not enough manure for example.

In my experience you need a lot of leaf growth to get tubers or any other storage organ. And drought leads them to panic, forget the over-wintering storage, and go straight to flowers and seeds.

There's hope yet then. I'll keep them watered (plenty of rain lately).