Seeds germinate in about two weeks. Broccoli needs moist soil to create well-formed and flavorful heads. Supplement the plants with additional water if you don't get at least 1 inch of rain each week.
Keep your garden weed-free and watch plants closely for signs of insects that can damage or kill your broccoli. Harvest broccoli heads as soon as they are ready. Broccoli plant flowering will occur if you let it continue to develop.
The University of Minnesota Extension recommends immediately removing any heads that begin to flower. One issue that many growers face is bolt, or flowering. Broccoli is a cool-season vegetable that can bolt when temperatures are warmer than expected, causing the broccoli to go to flower. This can cause your harvest to taste bitter. Another common problem in broccoli is a hollow stem, notes Clemson Cooperative Extension.
This condition can usually be prevented with proper care and soil preparation. What are your tips for picking and storing this vegetable? Do you have experience harvesting and using the leaves or side shoots? Share your suggestions and questions in the comments below! Ready to refine your broccoli-growing expertise even more?
Read these helpful articles next:. See our TOS for more details. Uncredited photos: Shutterstock. With additional writing and editing by Allison Sidhu. Heather Buckner hails from amongst the glistening lakes of Minnesota, and now lives with her family on a beautiful homestead in the Vermont Mountains. She holds a bachelor of science degree in environmental science from Tufts University, and has traveled and worked in many roles in conservation and environmental advocacy, including creating and managing programs based around resource conservation, organic gardening, food security, and building leadership skills.
Heather is a certified permaculture designer and student herbalist. She is also a fanatical gardener, and enjoys spending as much time covered in dirt as possible!
Great post. Helped me a lot. First year growing these, so the information helped. Thank you. I am so glad I came across this article. This is my first year growing broccoli. I have one in a container and one in the ground, not planted at the same time. The one in my container is measuring at 2 inches. I am super excited! I grew up eating broccoli at almost every meal. Safe Storage Recipes and Cooking Ideas. Make Your Parents Proud Every time I pile up my plate with a heap of freshly cut broccoli from the garden, I feel an extra sense of pride in knowing that I am carrying on an honored family tradition.
About Heather Buckner Heather Buckner hails from amongst the glistening lakes of Minnesota, and now lives with her family on a beautiful homestead in the Vermont Mountains. More Posts Notify of. Oldest Newest Most Voted. The very small heads that come later will be used in quiches. I place the broccoli in the top of a steamer and steam them for 3 minutes. Often, I will use tongs partway through and move the large stems around so that all of them get some heat.
I use my salad spinner next. I fill the base with cold water and add a bunch of ice. Putting the basket on top of the ice, I slip the steamed broccoli into the basket to cool it down. This greatly helps to keep the cabbage moth away. Otherwise, these worms can make a mess of the crop and render it unappetizing. See more about growing and harvesting broccoli.
She also has chickens. Celeste Longacre does a lot of teaching out of her home and garden in the summer. Visit her web site at www. My broccoli is taking up more room than I thought and the leaves are getting so big that they are starting to go over into the other vegetables I have planted. Will it hurt the broccoli if I cut some of the bigger leaves off on the bottom?
You need to weigh the benefits of your other veggies with the potential benefits of the broccoli. It will probably make the broccoli smaller. My plants are going to seed before they get a good head.
Others are developing a bunch of small but not solid heads on the same stalk. What am I doing wrong? Live in Pacific Northwest in the coastal foothills. Weather has not been hot and I have been watering. I'm having the same problem with my broccoli and this is the 2nd year in a row it has happened! After the first year, I thought perhaps it was too hot last summer here in the PNW so this year I planted in an area that is slow to sun but still gets hrs or fairly sunny exposure.
Can someone please tell us whats going wrong? I adore broccoli and really don't care for the store bought veggies anymore Broccoli normally bolts due to sudden changes in temperature, but nutrient deficiencies can also cause the plant to bolt.
Contact your local Cooperative Extension office , which should be able to do a soil test for you to see if your soil is missing any key nutrients. Additionally, adding mulch around the plants will help to keep weeds at bay and keep the plants cooler.
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