Growing Broccoli

I love Growing broccoli. How about you?

Quiz?

What recent American president does not like this wonderful plant?

The first President Bush (41) did not like broccoli.

Broccoli is a cool weather plant. It likes to grow in cool weather before the warm spring heat arrives. I have had plants even survive temperatures down to 26F in my vegetable garden.

When I plant the seeds directly outside, I like to space them six inches apart with two to three seeds in a hole. Once they start to grow, I will thin them to 12" apart. I will plant them about 12" apart if I have a row of them.

To find out about growing broc in the Fall go to Fall Vegetable Garden.

And if you have read our section on the indoor greenhouse, you will see that we have also started some inside. They seem to be progressing quite well.

With broccoli what we are eating is the actual seed before it flowers. Once the seeds start to flower it is no good.

When growing broccoli plants, keep them moist to within one inch of the surface. Stick your finger into the soil and if it goes down one inch before hitting moisture, then it is time to water your plants.

CULTURE: Growing Broccoli is closely related to cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts and, like these other members of the Brassica genus, requires a fertile soil with good moisture-holding capacity or irrigation.

While more heat-tolerant varieties such as Windsor are being developed, broccoli does not generally do well in hot weather, the best success being with spring and fall crops.

HARVEST: Before flower buds open, cut center head. Hydrocool or ice as soon as possible. Harvest secondary side shoots regularly to encourage continued production. Irrigate regularly.

STORAGE: Store at 32°F (0°C) 10-14 days.

DAYS TO MATURITY: From date of transplanting 68; add about 20 days if direct seeding.

Broccoli is a heavy feeder and does best under fertile conditions with adequate soil moisture throughout the growing period.

EARLY CROPS: Use early and mid season varieties. Sow 3-4 seeds/in. in flats, cold frame, outdoor seed bed or in 1-1 1/2" plug trays 4-6 weeks before transplanting out. If possible keep soil temperature over 75°F (24°C) until germination, then reduce air temperature to about 60°F (16°C). Transplant outdoors 12-18" apart in rows 18-34" apart.

FALL CROP: Use mid-season and storage varieties. Start seedlings as above in May and transplant to the garden in June-July. To ensure mature heads, seed the crop early in areas where heavy freezes occur early in the fall.

DIRECT SEEDING: Sow 3-4 seeds 12" apart, 1/2" deep, rows 24-36" apart, thinning to one plant in each group.

DISEASES: When growing broccoli adhere strictly to a preventive program including: (1) long crop rotations with non-cruciferous crops, (2) clean starting mixes and outdoor seedbeds, and (3) strict sanitation practices. Black rot, black leg, and alternaria can be seed-borne. We stock lab-tested lots when available and hot water treat (to eliminate black rot) questionable lots.

NOTE: A disease-free test result does not guarantee a seed lot to be disease-free, only that in the sample tested, the pathogen targeted was not found. However, no method of seed treatment can positively ensure freedom from disease.

INSECT PESTS: Treat flea beetles on young seedlings with rotenone, pyrethrin, or by covering with floating row cover from day of planting. Broccoli worms and loopers: Dipel. Root maggots: cover seedlings with floating row covers. Cutworm prevention: Prepare soil 2 weeks before planting to cultivate-in cover crops and destroy weeds.

For seeds, OG means "organically grown" and signifies seeds harvested from plants grown organically, without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and according to National Organic Program standards.

For supplies, OG signifies products that are approved for use in growing certified organic crops; supplies are listed by OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) when noted in the product description.

Generally, growing broccoli will need one inch of water a week depending on the temperature in your area and the thickness of your mulch.

In the picture below is the Broccoli I am growing for the Fall 2009 season. I need to thin them but they are doing good otherwise.

Update:

12-19-09

In the picture below is my growing Broccoli after about 90 days. The plants are big and healthy but they are not producing the vegetable yet. We have had a lot of cloudy days and they have probably not gotten enough sun. We have had some freezing temps as well but I do not think this has bothered them.

Broccoli is a good Fall crop. Plant early in the Fall and reap a harvest of growing broccoli during the winter. This is if you live in South Texas. You will have to experiment with this wherever it is that you live.

It will not grow properly when it gets hot--above 85F. It will grow, but like green beans, it will be hard and stringy.

Each plant in your vegetable garden will produce one head that weighs about two pounds. When cutting the head off, cut at a slant. This will drain any water that may tend to stand on the cut stem.

After the main head has been harvested, little, but tasty heads will form. These can be cut when young and quite tender.

Once the plant is finished for the season, chop it up and put it back into the garden, or on your compost pile. You can also throw it on the lawn and run over it with your mulching lawnmower.

Some suggest that the heads should be soaked in a salt water solution just in case there are any critters in there we have missed.

Broccoli will keep about a week to ten days in the refrigerator.

The surplus crop can be chopped up, blanched and frozen. It keeps very well in the refrigerator.

Blanching is putting the vegetables in boiling water for about five minutes or so, then taking them out and running under cold water to cool them down quickly. This prepares them for the freezer.

The quicker you can freeze your harvest, the better it will taste.

It takes about 58 days for this plant to mature in your vegetable garden. I may have waited too late to plant mine. But we will see.

Because it is a tender and very green plant, growing broccoli will come under attack by any number of creatures. As they do, we will deal with them. (My plants were attacked by some sort of green worm. I was able to hand pick these off and end their attack.)

Below is a picture of my Fall Broccoli. It is finally putting on a head. We should be able to harvest it in about three to four more weeks.

The leaves are laying over after a cold night of 15 degree temps even though I had a small heater in the greenhouse. I thought they were finished but they came back with some minor leaf damage.

In the pictures below are the broccoli we are growing for the Fall. They are progressing very well now, despite the cold and cloudy weather.

These are some of the best heads of broccoli I have ever grown. They also tasted very good as well. We ate some fresh and froze the rest of it.

02-08-2010

Below is are pictures of a head of broccoli I let grow out. The heads will flower if they are left to keep growing.

Your Garden Story

Do you have a garden story to share with us?

Thank you for visiting this page on growing broccoli.

Go to Home Page from Growing Broccoli.