Get the best from your cabbages

Growing fruit and vegetables in the garden and greenhouse continues to be a popular pursuit in the UK and a horticulture expert has issued some advice on getting the best out of one particular variety.

Cabbages can only reach their full potential if they are kept free from pests, the Huddersfield Examiners Graham porter explained.

The expert suggested that growers should use fleece covers to protect their crops from predators such as the White Cabbage butterfly caterpillar.

He added that now is also a good time to boost their chances of success by adding a high-nitrogen feed of diluted sulphate of ammonia to "green up the leaves and give the plants the energy to fill out a little more".

Meanwhile, he explained that apple growers in the UK cannot force their trees to produce more than one crop per year, as has been done in tropical nations such as Brazil.

In other news, the race to win the Royal Horticultural Societys Britain in Bloom contest is underway, with more than 60 towns, cities and villages in the finals of the competition.