Am I missing something with kohlrabi? I’ve tried to grow it several times over the past few years and haven’t ever been able to get it to form a bulb (?). Mine just always produces only leaves. So I’ve never even gotten to taste it but I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. I’ve tried fall and spring planting. I’m in Birmingham, AL zone 8. Any ideas? Thanks!
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I would expect fall planting to work well for you. It does take quite a long time to make a bulb (far longer than turnips). Though if you cut off the bulb and leave the root, it will put up a couple of suckers that produce much more quickly.
Is it bolting, or just growing leaves?
It’s not bolting, just growing leaves as if it’s kale. I think I planted in September this year and it’s still at the at stage. I thought it was typically less time to harvest. I think I had in my calendar to harvest sometime in November.
That sounds normal for my experience/climate (inland Los Angeles, we’ve had a grand total of 12 nights below 50 degrees so far this year). I wonder if it’s day length sensitive and needs the longer days to make a bulb. If that is the case, landracing with selection for short-day bulbing would be valuable to some of us. Regardless, it’s my husband’s (from Montana) absolute favorite, so it gets garden space. Meanwhile, our third round of turnips for the year is in the ground, because those do produce properly in the short days.
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