We enjoy Brassicas, but are challenged with growing them. We have clubroot is present annnnnd…….de draai, or draaihartigheid. I do not know if there is an English word for this. This draai is caused by the Brassica gal mosquito (literally translated from Dutch). Its larvae eat away the heart of the plant and the leaves coming out of the dining area of the larvae, then grow in a turning fashion…hence the name, de Draai. Draai in Dutch is turn, in English. The heart is destroyed, so you will never get anything to harvest; however, the leaves keep growing like gangbusters. It is a sad situation. It makes my heart as empty as the plant itself. Yes, considering that we spent a lot of effort planting, netting and so forth. A few piccies follow. We planted four cauli plants and four broccoli plants. Two broccolis produced heads, and that was it. All the rest have the draai. Here my two pride and joys: …and the other one: A couple of foto’s of the draai: It is a real shame, ach, but that is the way it goes— some days you get the ‘gator and some days the ‘gator gets you.
What a pain and shame on those mosquito larvae insects. Happy you have a couple nice cauliflowers to harvest. The cauliflowers in your pics look absolutely award worthy , just perfect and delicious. A fav snack with dip or roasted. Many gardeners experience similar issues every season. There is always something that sneaks in our gardens attacks fav veggies or flowers . Army’s of destroyers lurking round to finish off months of hard work before we can see the finished product . We call the gall mosquito here Swede midges which can substantially reduce market yield and quality of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower crops. Yeap, I totally get it… Sometimes your the bug…and sometimes your the windshield…
OMG ..Pics don’t look like broccoli ! OK ..I see now what you mean regarding your pic. I was looking for the alligators. LOL Note to self don’t listen to the news while reading posts.
I thought they were green tinted cauliflowers at first but then realized they weren't. One of my brussels sprouts collapsed last winter (I have to grow brassicas in winter due to heat here.) but I have no idea what got it. The core was all mangled and it started tipping like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Finally the damage was revealed on the outside of the stalk so that was that. Nothing else was affected. BTW I just planted my brassica seed a couple days ago for setting out late Sept. early October.
Pac— to be fair, the lighting on this foto misrepresents its true colour. Annie— it would be great to harvest them in the winter. Zigs— ta. I will baby these two a bit until harvest. tch, these insects are the reason I stopped growing brassicas.
